The leaves are turning beautiful colors, the air is crisp, pumpkin spice lattes are back, and college football is entering the conference season. Simply put, the transition from September into October is perhaps the greatest time of the year. Well, unless you're a Maryland Terrapins fan like ACSH President Thom Golab.
But no matter how much fun we're having on the side, we never lose our focus on defending good science. Here's where we appeared in recent days:
(1) Dr. Alex Berezow gave a talk at the 9th European Beer and Health Summit in Brussels, Belgium. There has been a trend in recent years to attack the consensus that moderate alcohol consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle. The new puritans are basing their claim on shoddy evidence, which Dr. Berezow debunked in his presentation.
(2) Dr. Josh Bloom's article on the upcoming flu season was cited twice by Action News Jax, a CBS affiliate in Jacksonville, FL. Dr. Bloom noted that there are signs that we should be concerned about the flu season since the nasty H3N2 virus is the predominant strain in Australia. However, we also should not be exaggerating the threat, as some news outlets already have done.
(3) ACSH's coverage of the vaping-related deaths continues to draw media attention. Dr. Bloom's article explaining the chemistry of vaping was cited by New Jersey news website NJ.com and Times of CBD. Dr. Bloom describes how water and oil don't mix, especially when it comes to vaping. It seems that many of the people who became ill or died improperly used the devices. Neither e-cigarettes nor your lungs are built to inhale oil, but that's precisely what some people did when they loaded their devices with THC-infused oil.
(4) Overpopulation is a myth that Dr. Berezow has addressed frequently. Many allegedly educated people insist the world is overpopulated and humanity is reproducing out of control, despite the well-documented fact that population growth is slowing. Additionally, demographers believe the human population will peak and then decline, perhaps this century or next. Our work on this topic was cited by PanAm Post.
(5) Dr. Berezow's article on seasonal fluctuations in deaths was cited by Jack Dini in Canada Free Press. In the United States, people are likelier to die during cold months (like January) than hot months (like August). A similar pattern should be expected in other rich countries, many of which are located away from the equator.
(6) The Times Leader of Pennsylvania cited our work explaining that even young people can have heart attacks, so people should be aware of the signs. (Note: The Times Leader article focused on cardiac arrest which is different from -- and far more lethal than -- a heart attack.)
(7) Dr. Berezow continues to do his twice weekly radio segment, "Real Science with Dr. B," on Seattle's Kirby Wilbur Show. In his latest segment (beginning at 20:17), he discussed the Triple E virus and the world being unprepared for a serious pandemic.
