Science Controversies
Colossal Bio grows chicks in 3D-printed artificial eggs. Breakthrough or copycat technology?
The baby chicks were shifting and starting to pip—or trying to hatch. But not from an egg. Instead, these chickens ...
Viewpoint— “A safe space to chat, flirt, and be intimate without sex”: Are new AI companies exploiting vulnerable asexuals?
Kor “got really addicted” to their NSFW role-playing AI chatbot last year. The 35-year-old artist from the Midwest recalls a ...
Vagus nerve wellness grift: How to build a billion dollar business. Are you listening, Kelly Ripa?
“There are billions of web impressions and social media posts on the vagus nerve,” said Dr. Kevin Tracey, a neurosurgeon ...
Gutting the National Science Board: How the Trump-RFK, Jr. crusade is erasing the separation of science and state
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump,” read 22 emails sent from the White House Presidential Personnel Office on Friday afternoon, April ...
‘Turbo cancer’ or mRNA cancer cure? Strategies to counter misinformation
Scientists are making rapid progress toward a long-awaited goal that could help to reshape cancer care: mRNA cancer vaccines with the potential ...
Here come the biohackers’ Enhanced Games—The Olympics for athletes doping up on steroids, hormones and peptides. What’s wrong with that?
This past week, in a city built on risk and reward, billionaire biohacker Christian Angermayer went about his wellness routine ...
‘Realistic and durable’: EPA proposes loosening restrictions on some PFAS ‘forever chemicals.’
The Trump administration ... moved to partially roll back drinking water protections from toxic “forever chemicals.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ...
The Orange Bowl without oranges: Can CRISPR save Florida citrus?
The famous Orange Bowl may still host an annual New Year’s Day football game after 91 years in celebration of ...
Chiropractors may no longer be modern-day snake oil salesmen, but the benefits of their therapy are limited–at best
Roughly 11 percent of American adults saw a chiropractor in 2022, mainly for pain management. Chiropractic care is offered by ...
Viewpoint: NAD is the wellness grifters latest evidence-lite longevity fad. At least the mice are impressed.
NAD has been discussed in the wellness world for years. In 2019, Jennifer Aniston mentioned it in an interview with ...
Meat sits atop the U.S.-RFK, Jr. food pyramid. How healthy is the carnivore diet?
Meat is king, according to the U.S. government. The new dietary guidelines encourage people to consume red meat regularly, and ...
Facts & Fallacies Podcast: Limit free speech to blunt social media misinfo?
Information, much of it false, spreads at lightning speed in today’s digital age. The problem is more troubling than it ...
Social media’s health advice red flags
Researchers ... looked at the social media profiles of 6,828 health and wellness influencers with at least 100,000 followers. Only ...
Viewpoint—‘Technology is pulling us apart’: Environmental, political, and economic
It could be the relentless news agenda, but the news has been relentless throughout my 11 years as editor-in-chief of ...
Viewpoint: Indian PM wants farmers to switch to 50% organic. It would take at least 10 years, likely won’t work, and isn’t more sustainable
... Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided it was time to ask Indians to brace themselves for price shocks and other ...
Financial incentives, over diagnosis, and weak oversight: Autism claims are driving up Medicare costs
As we recently argued, the American healthcare system’s structure of open-ended reimbursement, subjective diagnostic criteria, and fee-for-service billing creates powerful ...
AI likely to improve health care, research shows—but not for blacks and ethnic minorities
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into health care, including but not limited to diagnosis and treatment plans, drug development, prediction of health risks and ...
Newest hantavirus conspiracy: Online disinformation turns outbreak into latest ivermectin grift
Conspiracy theorists, wellness influencers, and grifters have already started promoting wild claims about the hantavirus outbreak that began aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship on ...
Viewpoint — Alternative medicine and the placebo effect: Selling a reassuring illusion of health
For many people who can afford it, it is not their doctor, but an acupuncturist or massage therapist who will ...
Viewpoint: ‘Crisis of public trust’: Autism support community shocked RFK continues to peddle false claims about the danger of vaccines
Misinformation from top health officials in the Trump administration has created a “crisis of public trust” – and Congress should ...
Viewpoint: Why the retracted Monsanto glyphosate study doesn’t change the science—the world’s most popular herbicide is safe
In 2000, three researchers published a peer-reviewed paper concluding that, “under present and expected conditions of use,” Roundup, a formulation of ...
The FDA couldn’t find a vaccine safety crisis, so it buried its own research
Corrupt and Unethical Leadership at the FDA There is a particular kind of government betrayal that arrives not with a ...
Defying death: The immortality movement goes mainstream
Michael Peel ... [I]n this series, we’re exploring the origins of the longevity movement and how it’s migrating from the ...
Viewpoint: Anti-vax fake ‘turbo cancer’ claims threaten cancer treatment breakthroughs
Since the early 2000s, there have been over 120 promising clinical trials testing the use of mRNA vaccines to treat multiple cancer ...
Viewpoint: Will AI democratize personalized cancer treatment or fuel medical misinformation?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made major advances in biomedical research. It has powered tools such as AlphaFold and systems that ...
Viewpoint: ‘Safer for children?’ Stonyfield yogurt under fire for deceptive organic marketing
In the competitive food marketplace, fear-based marketing continues to be a go-to strategy for some food companies trying to differentiate ...
Facebook swamped by hundreds of thousands of scam ads for illegal or dangerous medical products
Two months ago, a sponsored post for a supplement popped up on Facebook with a miraculous claim: “The doctors have ...
