Truth or truthiness? As I scientist I hope for truth. I hope we all evaluate evidence, determine the real true state of the world, and use that information to guide choices. Yeah right. I know better.

Today, Election Day, feels like an appropriate time to ponder truthiness. Stephen Colbert, the satirist from Comedy Central, has built a career on it. So has Eryn Newman, a postdoctoral scholar at UC ...

A decade ago, the dictionary people at Merriam-Webster performed a great public service by bestowing its word of the year award to “truthiness.” Truthiness has become one of my favorite words. It is ...