Science Controversies
Viewpoint: The rosy-eyed view of the changes that could be coming with the EU’s approval of agricultural gene editing
In recent years, there has been a need for the rapid development of new varieties to address the negative constraints ...
Most scientists reject social media while others consider it their obligation to counter junk claims. Here’s the best of the best
Once upon a time, science communication was a niche hobby, reserved for the rare few who could translate lab jargon ...
Grim reality of global far-right/MAHA/RFK, Jr. vaccine rejectionism: Child mortality reverses course and is now on the rise
For the first time in 25 years, child mortality rates for preventable diseases are projected to increase, after having declined ...
Challenging Kennedy—MAHA skepticism disinformation: No, the vaccine schedule is not a haphazard, scientific mess
Parents face an overwhelming amount of conflicting vaccine information, so it’s natural for questions to surface: Why are some vaccines given ...
AquaWomb offers a life support system for precarious, premature babies. Not everyone thinks that’s a great idea
In the US, more than 10,000 infants are born each year within ... precarious boundaries. Premature birth remains the nation’s second-leading cause of infant ...
Near-death experiences: What happens in the brain when you edge toward the cliff of death?
At the Daily Mail ..., Wiliam Hunter [reported] on a recent study of 48 near-death experiences: Some participants described seeing heavenly beings, while one even said they ...
Dumb transhumanist idea? Elon Musk and other technology superstars want to upload their brains to AI computers
Michael Hendricks, a professor of neurobiology at McGill, said: “Rich people who are fascinated with these dumb transhumanist ideas” are ...
How to future-proof global food security to meet 2050 demands
Food security faces growing challenges due to population growth, resource limitations, economic pressures, and industrialization-induced lifestyle changes. Traditional food systems ...
Viewpoint: Follow the science? In this era of hyper-partisanship, Republicans and Democrats follow different paths
We’re often told to “follow the science” — a comforting phrase that suggests clarity, objectivity, and consensus. But in today’s ...
Beautiful and delicious mutants on your plate: The misunderstood world of crop improvement
When most of us hear the word mutation, the images that come to mind are not positive. We think of ...
Viewpoint: Win for politicized junk science—Vaccine crisis escalates as RFK, Jr.’s hand-picked cronies gut life-saving hepatitis B shot recommendation
Recent weeks have brought good news about vaccines, with studies indicating that flu vaccination reduces heart disease, shingles vaccines can prevent ...
In case there was any remaining doubt: 7-year long primate study proves no health issues are linked to GMO crops
Genetically modified foods have become increasingly prevalent in daily life, raising concerns about their safety and public acceptance, which in ...
Amber alert: Can GLP-1 drugs safely and effectively address everything from expanding waistlines to fading libido to memory loss? Hold your horses
In a presidency marked by destructive health decisions, President Donald Trump’s proposal to lower prices for popular weight-loss drugs, known broadly ...
GLP podcast: Dr. Strangelove come to life. The anti-fluoride conspiracy, explained
For 70 years, a persistent minority of academics and activists has claimed that fluoridated drinking water poses a serious but ...
Viewpoint: Life inside the anti-vaccine ecosystem is even scarier than you can imagine
Peter Hildebrand choked back tears as he told the crowd about his daughter, Daisy. She was 8 years old when ...
Viewpoint: Who’s Who of litigation-financed junk scientists publish screed in European pay-for-play journal designed to target safe chemicals and their manufacturers for billion-dollar tort actions
Springer Nature published on November 4, 2025, in Environmental Sciences Europe, "Scientists' warning: we must change paradigm for a revolution in toxicology and ...
Roundup litigation reprieve? U.S. government backs Bayer’s claim that its glyphosate is safe-as-used finding preempts random, conflicting state-by-state ‘failure-to-warn’ claims
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed a brief on Monday urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review Monsanto’s federal ...
Viewpoint: ‘Gold standard science’ farce: RFK Jr.’s pledge dangerously mocks U.S. healthcare and endangers medicine globally
The message is hammered over and over, in news conferences, hearings and executive orders: President Donald Trump and his health ...
Viewpoint: Toxic politics and the culture wars—MIT’s ‘Undark’ caves to the MAHA—RFK, Jr.—predatort lobby
Few issues reveal the corrosion of scientific reasoning in contemporary politics more clearly than the escalating fight over the alleged ...
Viewpoint: White genocide—The potential for ideologically weaponizing AI is growing and potentially dangerous
The AI chatbot Grok went on an antisemitic rant on July 8, 2025, posting memes, tropes and conspiracy theories used ...
We are on the verge of engineering embryos immune from hereditary diseases—and a couple has already volunteered to provide their fertilized egg for a test run
Herasight, which formally launched this summer with backing from influential Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Draper Associates, is charging $50,000 for ...
While AI revolutionizes the world, the human brain rots
The most high-profile study this year about A.I.’s effects on the brain came out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ...
Viewpoint: Environmental toxin hysteria—MIT’s Undark embarrasses with hysteria-driven story aligning itself with false claims that ‘environmental toxins’ (whatever that means) are crippling our health
MIT’s Undark magazine describes itself as a publication that “will explore science … as a frequently wondrous, sometimes contentious, and occasionally troubling byproduct of ...
Viewpoint: South Korea’s outdated crop gene editing regulations stifles agricultural production
At a policy seminar where Korea’s science community, agriculture sector and government gathered to discuss regulatory reforms for gene editing ...
Citing no evidence, RFK, Jr.’s newly-appointed FDA vaccine advisor spreads false information about risks of immunizations, setting the stage for lax policies and a surge in preventable diseases
The Food and Drug Administration will upend its approach to immunizations for respiratory illnesses, including flu vaccines, according to an ...
Rod Kissmee claims ‘‘I have very strong sperm!’: Welcome to the wild west world of social media sperm selling
A man going by the name “Rod Kissme” claims to have “very strong sperm”. It may seem like an eccentric ...
Viewpoint: ‘Organoid intelligence’?—Ethical questions arise in using organoid human brain nuggets to study disease
As months turned to years, Dr. Arlotta’s team set a record for the oldest documented brain organoids. “We never thought ...
