GLP Spaces on X: End public science funding—sensible policy or sheer madness?

GLP Spaces on X: End public science funding—sensible policy or sheer madness?

Is it time to eliminate public funding for scientific research? It's an undeniably radical proposal, but one supporters say is ...
Viewpoint: Natalcon—Behind the scenes at the rightwing conference advancing a strategy to surge government support for increasing the U.S. birthrate

Viewpoint: Natalcon—Behind the scenes at the rightwing conference advancing a strategy to surge government support for increasing the U.S. birthrate

Daniel Colligan |
Widespread concern about falling birth rates has prompted some to politically organize around reversing their decline. Representatives of this pronatalist movement ...
2000%? RFK, Jr. claims that chronic disease in the U.S. has skyrocketed in 20 years. Here’s why that's absurd

2000%? RFK, Jr. claims that chronic disease in the U.S. has skyrocketed in 20 years. Here’s why that’s absurd

Glenn Kessler |
“We’ve got the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world. When my uncle was president, 3 percent ...
Viewpoint: Why does ‘Big Organic’ oppose hydroponics and other sustainable farming innovations? [Hint: $$$]

Viewpoint: Why does ‘Big Organic’ oppose hydroponics and other sustainable farming innovations? [Hint: $$$]

Hank Campbell |
I get pitches for stories every day and sometimes I want to see if the world that opposes science has ...
Air is a major conveyor of microplastics—and some of it is ending up in our bodies through the food we eat

Air is a major conveyor of microplastics—and some of it is ending up in our bodies through the food we eat

Willie Peijnenburg |
Plastic production is increasing sharply. This has raised concerns about the effects of microplastics (typically defined as plastic particles smaller ...
Animals have developed a mind-boggling variety of ways to become male or female.

Animals have developed a mind-boggling variety of ways to become male or female.

Hannah Thomasy |
[S]o far, researchers have uncovered a dizzying array of exceptions to the XX/XY “rule:” birds and butterflies that use the ZW system, in ...
Leveraging RFK, Jr. vaccine disinformation, anti-vaccine grifters blame measles on bioweapons, sell fake ‘AI created’ supplement cures

Leveraging RFK, Jr. vaccine disinformation, anti-vaccine grifters blame measles on bioweapons, sell fake ‘AI created’ supplement cures

David Gilbert |
Anti-vaccine activists with close ties to US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are falsely claiming that the measles public health ...
Nugget size ‘clean meat’ chunks of chicken with natural texture could revolutonize food, medicine and drug development

Nugget size ‘clean meat’ chunks of chicken with natural texture could revolutonize food, medicine and drug development

Peter Guo |
Scientists have grown a nugget-sized piece of chicken using a new method that can deliver nutrients and oxygen to artificial ...
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X, Y, sex and gender: When genetics pulls a fast one

Henry Miller |
The spectrum of information that can be obtained by prenatal testing is wide and rapidly increasing. Many mutations, or "abnormalities," ...
Here’s a visual tour of what makes the human brain distinct from our ape relatives

Here’s a visual tour of what makes the human brain distinct from our ape relatives

The human brain isn't just distinguished by its problem-solving abilities. It's also designed to deeply process emotions and social interactions, ...
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GLP podcast: Common sense ‘out the window.’ Whistleblower Jamie Reed challenges safety, efficacy of ‘gender-affirming care’

We've all heard the claims about gender-affirming care. The effects of puberty blockers are reversible; most experts agree that medically ...
Modern humans overlapped with at least seven now extinct hominid ancestors, and in many cases integrating their DNA

Less than 1,300—Our human ancestors were on the verge of extinction one million years ago

Joseph Shavit |
[A] groundbreaking study published in the journal Science sheds new light on a dramatic event that nearly erased humans from existence ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. ignites debate over the American diet and the future of meat but his solutions are simplistic and unrealistic

Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. ignites debate over the American diet and the future of meat but his solutions are simplistic and unrealistic

Jessica Scott-Reid |
Now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has kicked off his Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA Commission, food system advocates ...
Viewpoint: Hard-wired gender—Don’t believe ideological claims that there are almost no sex differences in how males and females think

Does pornography alter your brain?

Danielle Sukenik |
Statistics show pornography to be commonplace: A 2018 study found that 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women had consumed it ...
eugenics society poster s

Viewpoint: Surging anti-immigration sentiment helps revive America’s eugenicist impulses

s.e. smith |
In a moment when the experiment of the United States is teetering on the brink, the Trump administration is weaponizing ...
‘We eat first with our eyes’: The line between appetite and indulgence is dangerously blurred

‘We eat first with our eyes’: The line between appetite and indulgence is dangerously blurred

Chuck Dinerstein |
From an evolutionary point of view, finding nutritious food sources is essential. While today, our foraging consists of walking down ...
Do liberals and conservatives shopping at the supermarket think about food differently? Brain imaging suggests they do

Do liberals and conservatives shopping at the supermarket think about food differently? Brain imaging suggests they do

Amanda Bruce et al. |
This study examines if the political affiliation of adults who self-identify as Democrat or Republican differs based on brain activity ...
Cancer death rates continue their quarter century decline, but ethnic disparities remain

Cancer death rates continue their quarter century decline, but ethnic disparities remain

Recinda Sherman et al. |
Progress has been made in reducing overall cancer mortality, largely driven by sustained declines in lung cancer. Cancer mortality declined ...
Viewpoint: Food dyes? Herbicides? Vaccines? … Water? Yes, they are all toxic depending upon the circumstances so beware of scare claims

Viewpoint: Food dyes? Herbicides? Vaccines? … Water? Yes, they are all toxic depending upon the circumstances so beware of scare claims

Andrea Love |
We are back at it with the next edition of Fundamental Elements, a new section of ImmunoLogic. The goal? Break ...
Viewpoint: Here’s how Environmental Working Group’s Carey Gillam, Le Monde and the Oak Foundation destroy reputations while promoting the tort industry

Viewpoint: Here’s how Environmental Working Group’s Carey Gillam, Le Monde and the Oak Foundation destroy reputations while promoting the tort industry

André Heitz |
The small media and political monitoring company v-Fluence – also known for one of its products, Bonus Eventus – has been the target ...
Convergent evolution: How complex brains developed independently in humans, birds and reptiles

Convergent evolution: How complex brains developed independently in humans, birds and reptiles

Fernando García-Moreno is an evolutionary and developmental neurobiologist. He says for a long time there's been a debate about how ...
Protein propaganda and expensive pee: Supplement shakes and massive steak consumption have no health benefits and is a waste of money

Protein propaganda and expensive pee: Supplement shakes and massive steak consumption have no health benefits and is a waste of money

Gretchen Reynolds |
The nearly ubiquitous social media message is, whoever we are, we need more protein. ...  “Whey protein has falsely been ...
(Positive) eugenics is increasingly fashionable — The movement for gene manipulation is soaring among those who can afford it

(Positive) eugenics is increasingly fashionable — The movement for gene manipulation is soaring among those who can afford it

Anne Louie Sussman |
In the United States, despite more than $1 billion invested in fertility-focused start-ups in the past decade, there is remarkably ...
Anorexia cases in the U.S. have doubled in recent years, and treatments remain elusive

Anorexia cases in the U.S. have doubled in recent years, and treatments remain elusive

Ericka Andersen |
Over 10,000 Americans die from eating disorders every year, according to the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Such prolonged ...
Viewpoint: Junk science—The corrupting dangers of predatory journals, absent peer review and ideologically-tainted research

Viewpoint: Junk science—The corrupting dangers of predatory journals, absent peer review and ideologically-tainted research

Katie Suleta |
Unfortunately, junk science is quite common. Myriad systemic pressures have led to this point, but we now must face the ...
Viewpoint—Undermining science: RFK, Jr.'s war on expertise

Viewpoint—Undermining science: RFK, Jr.’s war on expertise

Geoffrey Kabat |
During the Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year, it became clear that the man nominated by Donald Trump to become ...
Future evolution: ‘Biologist Kevin Esvelt’s work highlights biotechnology’s immense potential for good—but also for catastrophe’

Biotechnology breakthroughs in medicine surge

A.M. Jamsheed Basha |
Biotech breakthroughs are lighting up new ways to care for our health. Researchers are using smart ideas, from gene editing ...