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12/28/2021

Surprise: The Pandemic Has Made People More Science Literate

Many people better understand how scientific discovery actually works

For three generations, Betsy Sneller’s family has sipped something they call “Cold Drink.” It’s a sweet mix of leftover liquids, stuff like orange juice and the remnants from cans of fruit, a concept devised by Sneller’s grandmother during the Great Depression.

“All the little dregs get mixed together, and it tastes like a fruity concoction,” Sneller said. Cold Drink is an idea—and a name—born from crisis.

Sneller is now a sociolinguist at Michigan State University who studies how language changes in real time. For nearly two years, Sneller has analyzed weekly audio diaries from Michiganders to understand how the pandemic has influenced language in people of all ages, a project initially called MI COVID Diaries.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.

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