Let’s continue our countdown of the top articles written by ACSH this year.
5. Susan Goldhaber returns with an article on science in the courtroom, specifically that perennial toxic bad boy, glyphosate. There is a great deal of science, epidemiology, and statistics to understand why glyphosate is or is not a carcinogen. But as Susan writes, the ability of experts to clearly explain the science to juries is moving verdicts from the emotional to the more rational. (By the way, her writing on science in the courtroom was prescient as the case against Zantac as a carcinogen was thrown out of court in early December as having no scientific basis.)
Science Finally Winning The Day In Glyphosate Cases
4. Cameron English returns to discuss a nutritional article claiming that ultra-process foods can kill you. As one reader commented, “ if ‘Lean Cuisine’ dinners [are] considered ultra-processed … I'll be dead next week. Along the way, Cameron touches on food myths, including the underlying belief that adult food choices are driven more by marketers and designer foods than conscious food choices. “It's a condescending, simplistic answer to a complex public health problem.”
'Ultra-Processed' Food: The Nutrition Myth That Won't Die
3. Dr. Josh Bloom wears many hats, but I especially love, as evidently so do our readers, his forays into explaining chemistry – Chemistry Lessons from Hell®. In this episode, he wrote about the theft of catalytic converters, with Steve and Irving waxing poetic on the value of rhodium. By the way, Josh was there first; the mainstream media started writing about the problem several months later.
Stolen Catalytic Converters? It's The Rhodium. A Dreaded Chemistry Lesson From Hell.
2. For an audience that is older and conservative, our readership does seem to have an interest in all things cannabis. While it is true that the boomers seem to be imbibing more with wacky weed, this article by Jeffrey Singer, another of our Board of Scientific Advisors, reprinted from his writings at the Cato Institute, looks at actions by the administration to decriminalize marijuana and make marijuana research possible.
President Biden Makes An Encouraging Announcement On Marijuana
1. You had to know it would once again be Dr. Bloom, now returning to his pharmaceutical side. It is not really a Chemistry Lessons from Hell®; that would be too much, even for a top ten. But it is close. Paxlovid was released for public use in late 2021. Just a month or so after it began to circulate, Dr. Bloom chimed in with how it works and an excellent assessment of how effective it would be. It also took the time to explain how it interacted with other commonly used medications.
The Drug That Makes Paxlovid So Effective Can Also Make It Dangerous