Dumbing down everyone- one article at a time

I guess everyone is familiar with the usual "You don't believe how Pamela Anderson looks like today", "What this father did after his wife confessed will shock you" and "Why the dentists hate this Single Mom" articles that are flooding every. single. fucking. news outlet.

They want clicks, and this is how they get them.

And now it seeped into popular science reporting, too.

"Why The Science World Is Freaking Out Over This 25-Year-Old's Answer to Antibiotic Resistance"

Let's look at the actual publication, shall we?

Fist of all, nobody is freaking out. Scientist usually don't freak out unless there's an asteroid on a collision course to Earth, or a super virus emerges that kills 100% of infected people turning them into zombies.

Second: that "25-year-old" is not some girl toiling over some high-school project in the garage coming up with a world-saving method.

She is a competent PhD student who is working under the supervision of her PI as part of a team. She was given a topic to research at the start of her program, and she is constantly getting feedback, support and whatnot from her supervisor and peers. Crediting her, and her only for this is just as unfair as giving the Nobel Price for the leader of a research team only.

Science is a collaborative effort. This infantilisation of reporting just makes things really, really bad for all parties included. Your dumbed down readers get a bit more dumb for one.