Science Controversies
‘They are an essential part of a healthy diet’: Debunking MAHA’s rejection of seed oils
For years now, seed oils have been cast as the quiet villain of modern eating. Scroll through social media, and ...
Longevity cure? Don’t waste your money on NAD anti-aging supplements. They don’t work
Recent studies on aging have latched onto a “player” in longevity that had hitherto received little attention: nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, ...
Viewpoint: America’s reproductive health safety net is fraying as political wars escalate
In late October, Maine Family Planning announced three rural clinics in northern Maine would close by month’s end. These primary ...
The Casey Means file: For MAHA, ‘her lack of clinical grounding isn’t a bug, it’s a feature’
Here’s what [Casey Mean] said, in rotating order, regardless of the question: root causes. Real food. Informed consent. Have a ...
Is the longevity treatment boom over-hyped?
At Biograph, a longevity clinic with locations in New York City and San Francisco, an assessment day can last up to ...
RFK, Jr.’s aversion to legislation raises the question: Will his revolution endure?
Over the course of his year in the Cabinet, Kennedy has racked up major wins for his Make America Healthy ...
Teaching AI to have a soul
As the resident philosopher of the tech company Anthropic, [Amanda] Askell spends her days learning Claude’s reasoning patterns and talking to the ...
Is there a way to stop climate disinformation? Spain has a plan
Propagandists flood our feeds with climate denial, conspiracy theories, and outrage to divide the public, inflame geopolitical tensions and destroy trust in ...
Viewpoint: Opposing expanding nuclear energy production—Here’s what left-wing junk science looks like
If you want to know why progress on nuclear energy was so halting during the Biden years, despite the administration’s ...
Trump-MAHA coalition near a breaking point?
Donald Trump issued an executive order [on February 18, 2026] to boost production of glyphosate, a widely used pesticide that’s ...
Tuskegee redux: RFK, Jr.’s unapproved, unethical vaccine experiment in Guinea-Bissau
[T]he grant request, marked as unsolicited, proposed a randomized controlled trial in the impoverished West African nation of Guinea-Bissau. The ...
‘Why do humans have language and other animals apparently don’t?’
Why do humans have language and other animals apparently don’t? It’s one of the most enduring questions in the study ...
Operation Stork Speed: RFK, Jr. targets baby formulas
When Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. summoned infant-formula executives to Washington last spring, he arrived with ...
Vaccines turbocharge cancer? Misinformation meme explodes online
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, claims that vaccines can cause severe disease have been widespread on social media, ...
Viewpoint—First year scorecard: ‘The damage HHS secretary Kennedy has done to science and public health is appalling’
It is beyond comprehension that the Senate confirmed [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.] to oversee America’s health. The risks are so ...
Viewpoint: When it comes to chemicals in medicine and agriculture, ‘natural’ is often less safe than synthetic
Almost nothing in your life is natural. And that’s a good thing. Take a look around—your smartphone, your fridge, your ...
Tracking U.S. vaccine policy—Mid-February 2026
Between federal lawsuits, sweeping schedule changes, and states mobilizing their own legal challenges, the last few weeks have been a ...
49ers injury conspiracy theory: Power-station radiation isn’t to blame, but anti-technology hysteria reigns
As a San Francisco 49ers fan since I was a child, it was painful to watch the Seattle Seahawks run ...
9 top RFK, Jr. science controversies
From sweeping changes to vaccination protocols to scientifically dubious assertions about a host of childhood maladies, here are some of ...
Viewpoint — Parts per billion, panic per bite: Healthy Florida First food hysteria and the war on modern agriculture
The Make America Healthy Again coalition is at it again. An increasingly organized alliance of anti-vaccine activists, environmental litigators, and ...
GLP spaces on X: Florida’s anti-glyphosate hysteria, dissected
Panic erupted in Florida earlier this month after surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo held a press conference launching the state's ...
‘A chill through the entire vaccine industry’: RFK., Jr.’s flip-flop on Moderna’s mRNA vaccine latest setback
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was picked in November 2024 to become the next health secretary, public health experts worried ...
Vaccine rejectionist Jenny McCarthy ridiculed online after again spreading false claim that Tylenol causes autism
Anti-vaccine advocate Jenny McCarthy has sparked backlash on social media after she shared a video discussing the unproven "correlation" between Tylenol's active ...
AI regularly passes on misinformation because it relies more on the source than the science
Artificial intelligence tools are more likely to provide incorrect medical advice when the misinformation comes from what the software considers ...
‘Not backed by evidence’: RFK, Jr. wrongly claims that keto diet can cure schizophrenia
... Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s claim that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may cure certain psychiatric conditions is misleading and not ...
Viewpoint: How increasingly politicized foundations use dark money contributions to bolster advocacy campaigns at odds with science
Western societies are creating billionaires at an unprecedented rate. But these newly minted accidental philanthropists are not like the Rockefellers, ...
AI medical advice: Not ready for prime time
Medical artificial intelligence (AI) is often described as a way to make patient care safer by helping clinicians manage information ...
