Coffee is good, then bad, then good
Every week reverses the last and you have stopped believing any of it.
Courses
See what you would learn
Make sense of science in the news without a science degree.
A course on reading scientific claims. It covers how studies support a conclusion, what correlation and uncertainty actually mean, why replication matters, and the questions that tell a solid finding from a headline.
Open Cadence on the App Store, type the sentence when it asks what you want to learn, and answer a few setup questions. Free to start. Android testers can request early access.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to understand how scientific studies support a claim. Teach me about experiments, correlation, uncertainty, and replication so I can make better sense of science in the news.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
- Best for
- Science & nature
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- Where do you meet science claims: health news, nutrition, psychology, climate, technology?
- Have you changed your behaviour because of a study that later reversed?
- How comfortable are you with basic statistics like averages and percentages?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You cannot judge a study
Sample size, control group and p-value are words without weight.
You want to trust science without being credulous
Some findings deserve belief and some do not, and you would like to tell which.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06How science reasons
Hypotheses, evidence and provisional conclusions.
Kinds of study
Experiments, cohorts and surveys, and what each can prove.
Correlation and cause
Why they differ, and the ways researchers try to bridge them.
Uncertainty and significance
Sample size, error bars and what significant does and does not mean.
Replication
Why single studies are weak evidence, and how a field builds confidence.
From headline to finding
Tracing a news claim back to the study and judging it.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Understand how a study supports a claim
Know what an experiment, a survey and an observational study can each establish.
Read correlation and uncertainty
Tell association from cause, and know what an error bar is telling you.
Ask the right questions
Evaluate a headline with a short checklist.
Ideas this course corrects
A study proved it
A study found it. Proof comes from many studies pointing the same way.
Scientists keep changing their minds, so nothing is reliable
Reversals are mostly single weak studies over-reported. Well-replicated findings rarely reverse.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A course on reading scientific claims. It covers how studies support a conclusion, what correlation and uncertainty actually mean, why replication matters, and the questions that tell a solid finding from a headline. It sits under Science & nature in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to understand how scientific studies support a claim. Teach me about experiments, correlation, uncertainty, and replication so I can make better sense of science in the news.
Open Cadence on the App Store, type the sentence when it asks what you want to learn, and answer a few setup questions. Free to start. Android testers can request early access.