GLP Podcast/Video: Cell phones and cancer; Do you need a COVID booster? The case for/against eating bugs

There’s no evidence that cell phone use causes brain cancer, so why do so many people, some scientists included, believe it does? A new COVID booster will be available beginning in September, but confusion persists about the shot’s efficacy and who needs to get it. A growing chorus claims we need to stop eating animals and start munching on crickets. The science is not on their side.

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Join hosts Dr. Liza Dunn and GLP contributor Cameron English on episode 231 of Science Facts and Fallacies as they break down these latest news stories:

• Why do some global cancer agencies claim that using a cell phone (like drinking Diet Coke with aspartame) poses a cancer risk?

Radiation from cell phones probably doesn’t cause cancer; there just isn’t convincing evidence that links iPhone use to brain tumors. Nevertheless, high-profile figures like RFK, Jr., insist that our mobile devices are serious public health threats hiding in plain sight. Let’s take a closer look at the data with the help of a cancer epidemiologist.

• A new COVID vaccine is arriving this fall. Will anyone take it?

Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are set to release another round of COVID-19 booster doses in September. These shots have been engineered to fight off the latest omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, but questions remain about who needs to be boosted this fall and how to convince them to get the vaccine. Could the answer lie in treating COVID as another seasonal respiratory illness we immunize against every year?

• Meet the beetles: Mealworms could be a food of the future

It’s time to quit eating meat and start eating bugs for the sake of our planet, according to a small but influential group of academics and activists. The media has treated this controversial idea as a necessary and even visionary step in our fight against climate change. Unfortunately, they’ve overlooked many critical flaws in the edible insect story. There’s no reason to abandon meat as a protein source—and several issues that may make it a bad idea.

Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter @camjenglish