Science Literacy Project Daily Digest
Kenyan lower court bans importation of genetically modified (GM) foods
Controversy surrounding the promotion of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) [March 7] took a full circle after the Court of Appeal ...
Will RFK, Jr. import European science-deficient food and agriculture policy to the U.S.?
President Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to announce April tariffs on all imported food, framing the move as a boon to U.S ...
Dating apps are flukey. Can AI help save them from oblivion, or will it lead to their demise?
Late last year, Hinge CEO Justin McLeod promised the app would soon be using the tech for everything from making ...
Girl Scout 25-cookie “study” by crack science organization Moms Across America alleging ‘dangerous’ level of pesticide residues sparks class action tort case
The Girl Scouts have been sued by consumers over the alleged presence of "heavy metals" and pesticides in its popular ...
E-taste—What can we expect with the advent of virtual reality ‘bio-integrated gustatory interfaces’
Virtual reality can, in its own imperfect ways, transport a user into distant experiences. With a headset on, an everyday ...
‘Impressive’ and ‘humbling’: Whale language skills equal and even surpass human speech capabilities in some ways
Two new studies have found eerily human-like sophistication in whale songs, challenging notions about our exceptionality and potentially shedding light ...
‘Digital-twin technology’ could revolutionize agriculture. Here’s what happened when it was adopted on one Texas farm
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction — but with enough data, new agricultural models really are able to predict the ...
You’re over a cold but a cough lingers for weeks on end? Here’s why
Have you kicked a cold, bout of flu, RSV, or COVID recently—but can’t get rid of the cough? You’re not ...
Egg industry scrambling: Today’s Neros fiddle as the bird flu crisis deepens while politicians and ideologues ignore solutions to the crisis
A bulldozer belches a black cloud of exhaust as the engine revs. A mound of dead chickens flops into a ...
No, rhino horns are not an aphrodisiac: Dangerous delusions of ‘traditional Chinese medicine’
I recently attended a showing of Oscar-nominated short films. Most were riveting, but none more so than 'The Last Ranger,' ...
The dangerous downside of ‘clean eating’
In 1997, physician Steven Bratman coined the term “orthorexia” (orthos, “right” and orexia, “appetite,” translating to “righteous eating”) in response to ...
Trump-Kennedy NIH shutting down 40+ grants investigating vaccine hesitancy
The National Institutes of Health will cancel or cut back dozens of grants for research on why some people are reluctant ...
A dangerous Wild West: Weight loss and muscle-building supplement industry is an unregulated mess
In this episode of KQED’s Forum, STRIPED’s Dr. S. Bryn Austin, Nicholas Florko (The Atlantic), and Marily Oppezzo (Stanford) explore the ...
Viewpoint: Facing a mega-threat from China, America’s approach to regulating AI is ‘mostly nonsense’
China’s tech industry recently gave the U.S. tech industry — and along with it, the stock market — a rude ...
Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are upending the food industry. Here’s what we can expect going forward
The use of anti-obesity medications (AOMs), led by glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists like Ozempic (semaglutide), has skyrocketed over the past ...
Agriculture and technology inflection point: Are our creaky and faltering century old food systems poised for revival?
The fundamental flaw in our initial wave of agricultural technology wasn’t just a lack of tools, it was a mismatch ...
From claims that Jews kill children to make matzo to accusations that Haitian immigrants are devouring pets, blood libel is a nightmare that never ends
One of the oldest and most widespread versions of [incendiary storytelling] is about Jews, especially how they kill Christian children ...
Viewpoint: US biotechnology innovation efforts dim with biomanufacturing a key laggard
The United States has been the undisputed innovator and leader in biology and biotechnology. Molecular biology and genetic engineering were ...
Gene edited crops inch closer to acceptance as outlined in the European Commission’s new blueprint for the future
New research and innovation partnerships, faster risk assessment and innovation-friendly regulations are all on the table as the European Commission ...
Humans are in the crosshairs of a potential bird flu pandemic. In the age of RFK, Jr., are we prepared?
Scientists are increasingly concerned about a potential bird flu pandemic. The question is, given all the enduring uncertainty around the ...
Viewpoint: Saving the world by having more babies? Time to shut down Peter Thiel’s delusionary wealthy couple
On Tuesday, the Washington Post’s Style section published a profile of Simone and Malcolm Collins, a Pennsylvanian couple who’ve been ...
Turning back the aging clock: Billions of dollars are probably being wasted on genetic manipulation techniques that likely won’t work
A new study from a team of biologists and epidemiologists at UC San Diego is calling into question [the] core ...
Viewpoint: As American farmers increasingly rely on technological innovation, a threatening patent fight looms
During his first term, President Donald Trump prioritized American farmers with policies to protect them from unfair foreign competition...But a ...
A new generation of sustainable crops that redeploy soil microbes to advance sustainable farming is on the horizon
A biological mechanism that makes plant roots more attractive to soil microbes has been discovered by scientists in the UK ...
Agricultural chemicals in the crosshairs as tariff wars heat up
Price discrepancies for agricultural chemicals are decreasing, according to Farmers Business Network (FBN) 2025 Ag Chemical Price Transparency Report. The 2025 ...
Putting your money where your ideals are? Claims that consumers care about food, farming and sustainability are mostly suspect
Sustainability has dominated the food and beverage conversation for the past two decades, with consumers increasingly concerned about the damaging ...
Do you have a ‘favorite child’? Here’s how genes, birth order and other factors influence that
The idea of parental favoritism might seem inherently subjective (what do we mean by “favorite,” exactly?) but researchers have developed ...
