Science Controversies
The dawn of the era of the AI therapist
Given the clear demand for accessible and affordable mental-health services, it’s no wonder that people have looked to artificial intelligence ...
‘We are approaching a watershed moment for psychedelic health care with ‘magic mushroom’ psilocybin the star’
In the billion-dollar race to commercialize psychedelic medicine, psilocybin, a naturally occurring hallucinogen better known as magic mushrooms, or “shrooms,” ...
What might be the consequences of designing your baby?
Soon, all of humanity will be customised in the same way to design the next generation. Gene editing may be ...
Viewpoint: Trump is undermining U.S. success in science and innovation
Ever since World War II, the US has been the global leader in science and technology—and benefited immensely from it ...
Viewpoint: Media and science misinformation are rampant and corrupting. Finland believes they have a solution
In an era defined by “fake news”, public trust in institutions is increasingly under threat, along with our ability to ...
Judging junk science: Here are the tools available for the courts to identify and block predatort and activist misinformation
Much has been written advising laypeople to navigate conflicting medical opinions and identify the golden truth amid the pervasive muck ...
Viewpoint: Lancet’s reputation as a leading science journal takes another hit in its capitulation to MAHA fearmongering over ultra-processed food
The new Lancet Series on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) draws on decades of global data, mechanistic evidence, and more than 100 ...
Gene editing opens the door in Indonesia to dramatic advances in sustainable farming but skeptics remain
Like other developing countries, Indonesia is facing a familiar dilemma: how to feed a growing population while protecting its extraordinary biodiversity ...
Mandatory teaching of creationism: Oklahoma senator files state bill mandating teaching of ‘evolution science’
Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, is pushing back against an evolution-only curriculum in Oklahoma schools with newly filed Senate Bill 1868 ...
Viewpoint: It’s grim. U.S. science after a year of RFK, Jr. and Trump
More than 7,800 research grants terminated or frozen. Some 25,000 scientists and personnel gone from agencies that oversee research. Proposed ...
What’s at stake as Europe attempts to depoliticize its agricultural biotechnology regulations and bring them more in accord with science
The current European regulatory framework relating to new genomic techniques (NGTs) is undergoing a thorough review. The ruling of the ...
Restrictions on synthetic dyes and ultra-processed foods: RFK, Jr.’s MAHA movement policies gain traction in statehouses
When one of Adam Burkhammer’s foster children struggled with hyperactivity, the West Virginia legislator and his wife decided to alter ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. and the future of children’s vaccines—Less science guidance, more parental gut opinions
For decades, Americans have looked to the federal government for advice on which vaccines their children should get and when ...
As abortion pills face new politically motivated legal threats, a new study defends the FDA’s evidence-based science
The abortion pill mifepristone is one of the most politically contentious medications in America, one increasingly targeted by anti-abortion activists ...
Yet another study rebukes RFK. Jr.’s false claim that Tylenol (acetaminophen/paracetamol) use can lead to autism
US President Donald Trump said in September there had been a "meteoric rise" in cases of autism and that Tylenol, ...
Viewpoint: France’s Le Monde endorses bizarre activist conspiracy disinformation about the ‘dangers’ of gene-edited crops
Le Monde published on December 10 (date on the web) and 11 (date of the print edition, published the day ...
Microplastics are invading our brain and bodies? New research says the claims in most studies are wrong and some are a “joke”
High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say ...
Viewpoint: Why RFK, Jr.’s promotion of ‘natural medicines and food’ is simplistic, often ignorant, and sometimes dangerous
Often, we’re given a choice between certain things – such as foods, medicines or procedures – that are deemed natural, ...
RFK, Jr. quietly undermining science consensus that cellphones are safe
The Food and Drug Administration quietly removed webpages saying cellphones aren’t dangerous as the Department of Health and Human Services ...
Viewpoint: Trump’s support for nuclear energy is a win for the climate
A president whose pandemic response was viewed by many as incompetent at best and brazen denial at worst spearheaded the ...
Viewpoint — Lysenkoism 2.0: RFK, Jr. is more dangerous than the 1930s Soviet scientist Trofim Lysenko, whose crackpot views killed millions of people and set back Russian science for decades
We don’t need to look to dystopian authoritarian theocracies portrayed in science fiction novels and movies to know that it ...
Coalition of medical expert organizations formed to counteract RFK, Jr.’s rejectionist recommendations
Six leading medical organizations plan to ask the courts to throw out revisions to the childhood vaccination schedule .... Mr ...
RFK, Jr. adds two vaccine and antidepressant rejectionists to U.S. vaccine advisory panel
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed two new members to the Centers for Disease Control and ...
Viewpont—’Weight gain is not a necessary component of a highly ultra-processed diet’: A nuanced look at America’s ‘deadly diet’
In the past half century, nutrition scientists have blamed health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease on many ...
Viewpoint: COVID vaccines caused ‘turbo cancers’? MAHA disinformers revive long-debunked claims
... I saw a post on X, the disinformation hellsite formerly known as Twitter, by eminent oncologist and cancer researcher ...
Viewpoint: America’s upside-down, upside-down food pyramid is bad science
Health Warning: Like every other Food Pyramid released in the last two weeks, this article is satire. Although most of the ...
Vaccines do more than prevent disease, especially for older adults
Let’s be clear. The primary reason to be vaccinated against shingles is that two shots provide 90 percent protection against a painful, ...
