Science Logic
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Why I’m still not ready to get the COVID vaccine

Israel Budz

Vaccine hesitancy explained

Come on, Champa Bay, let’s get vaccinated | Column, June 1

Like everyone else, I looked forward to the COVID vaccine as if my life and everyone else’s depended on it. But then I began to read the data and became skeptical about what we’d been told about the novel SARS-CoV-2. The turning point for me came when the experts said we’d have to continue to wear masks and practice at least some degree of social distancing despite being vaccinated. It was evident the world would reopen when the government said so. That is not science; that is control.

I’m not a virologist. I don’t have a degree in anything except, perhaps, common sense from a background of hard knocks. I lived through several virus outbreaks over my lifetime; many with a much higher death rate, especially among children, pregnant women and the elderly than the novel

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Education Games
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Lingokids raises $40 million for ‘playlearning’ educational games platform

Israel Budz

Where does your enterprise stand on the AI adoption curve? Take our AI survey to find out.

Lingokids has raised $40 million in funding for its educational games platform. And the company said it now reaches more than 30 million families worldwide with its mobile apps.

The company targets its “playlearning” app at children 2-8 as it tries to expand their vocabulary, improve their literacy skills, and develop important 21st-century skills in a fun, safe environment.

Lingokids also invites families to take part in their kids’ playlearning journey through exciting play-together activities. All told, the company’s apps have more than 600 learning activities and songs. The games teach an array of topics and everyday language, as well as 21st-century skills like creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.

The apps feature fun, unique characters, developed by Guillermo García-Carsí (creator of the famous cartoon Pocoyó) and his team. Featuring both original

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Science Fiction
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The Best Sci-Fi Books To Read This Summer

Israel Budz

IRA FLATOW: Whether you’ve had a hard time reading during the pandemic or you’ve zoomed through your to-do list and are craving more, you’re going to want to check out our annual list of the best summer science books. And this time, we’re doing something a little bit different.

The world is beginning to open up, right? But many of us are not quite comfortable traveling like we once did. So what better way to escape without going too far than immersing ourselves in science fiction? So you hit the beach, and you hit another dimension. Travel to space from the safety of your backyard, or take a hike back in time to an alternate era.

Joining me now for what we’re calling SciFri’s Summer of Sci-Fi. Get it? Are my two guests with some superb selections for summer reading, Annalee Newitz, science journalist, author of Four Lost Cities– a

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