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•"The Scariest Health Threat You've Never Heard Of: Autoimmune Disease," from the September 2008 issue of Glamour, quoted Jeff Stier saying, "People want to blame chemicals where they don't have another explanation for the cause of a disease. I think we need more psychologists rather than more toxicologists."
•The September 29, 2008 New York Sun piece "Salt Is Next on City's Hit List" quoted Dr. Gilbert Ross likening New York City's anti-salt plans to the trans fat ban.

As the debate over the origins of SARS-COV-2 rages, the case for silencing social media users grows weaker.

Government conspiracies and industry cover-ups make gripping plots for books and movies, never mind arresting media headlines. That may be what motivated journalist David Kirby to write Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy (St. Martin's Press, 2005). Undoubtedly, the story will sell many copies. I heard there is even a movie deal in the works. But I fear it will cause parents to balk at vaccinating their children against a host of preventable diseases for fear of autism.

The group Americans for Responsible Technology declares 5G to be unsafe. This fringe anti-technology movement is gaining momentum, thanks to activists, their accomplices in the media, and Russian propaganda outlets like RT.

Caveat Emptor. Consumers and Journalists beware-Biodevastation activists aim to target you over the next few days with false and misleading information about food safety, nutrition and the environment. The same people who brought you a long list of other false health and environmental scares-including the infamous Alar in apples scare, the Dow-Corning breast implant campaign-and dozens of other debunked fears are at it again. This time the scaremongers are targeting such safe foods as milk and other dairy products in your local supermarket and at food retail outlets such as Starbucks.

The former administration's policies sent smoking cessation back to the 1990s, telling smokers to quit or die. We can do a whole lot better than that. Let's start by having the new administration wipe out a lot of suspect decisions made by the last one.

We've previously questioned some of the studies that have been accepted for publication in the journal Pediatrics, and now Dr. Sara B. DeMauro of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has done the same in her study which appears in that very journal.

While we at ACSH have been determined to remain on the sidelines of the raging national debate about the fate of Terri Schiavo (this is largely a legal and ethical issue, not a scientific one), we cannot remain silent about the outrageous misrepresentation of scientific facts about this case that has been occurring in the past ten days.

Sodas have been taking a big hit in the war on obesity lately. Perhaps, then, it s not too surprising that average soda consumption by Americans is on a slow downward trend: As of last year, the average American drank slightly less than two sodas per day a 16 percent decrease from the peak of soda consumption in 1998.

The desire for eternal youth, and relief from the aches and pains of age, remains far more potent than the efficacy of stem cells in regenerating our youth and vigor. Into that breach, we find the modern-day purveyors of hope in a syringe. A new study looks at their suspect marketing. We should, too.

Some people just come right out and ask if you will simply repeat, in public, what they say. In fact, it is such a given in the anti-science community, where the technique is so common. Amazingly, brazenly, those folks often just blatantly ask each other to parrot their work, no matter how flawed it is. Here's how Friends of the Earth does it.

The authors had a clear strategy in mind: (1) Do a study on a common household object; (2) Produce boring data that doesn't surprise any microbiologist; (3) Write a provocative, fear-mongering headline; (4) Market it to a gullible, clickbait-hungry press, exhibiting no critical thinking; and (5) Watch the grant dollars roll in.

At age 86, living legend Dr. Buzz Aldrin was recently medically evacuated from the South Pole. In the first of a two-part series, Dr. Jamie Wells shares an experience she had at high elevation with the former astronaut when addressing altitude illnesses, prevention and treatment.  

Surely, somebody can stop the most egregious offenders from spreading health misinformation that hurts or kills people, right? Actually, no, not in a free society. The only solution to fake news is better news.

Completely banning alcohol would only prevent about 3.5% of cancer deaths. That, of course, means the other 96.5% of fatal cancers are caused by things other than alcohol. Given that cancer is the #2 leading cause of death in America, there's a good chance that you're going to die of cancer no matter what you do. So chill out and have a drink.

A recent study suggests that vaping is much less harmful than smoking. The authors and the journal that published the paper tried to minimize this result. Do they have an anti-vaping bias?

A shorter article derived from this "e-monograph" appears in the September/October 2003 issue of Skeptical Inquirer, with the title "Energy, Homeopathy, and Hypnosis in Santa Fe."

One religious group forecast an apocalypse a few weeks ago. They used the Bible as its source. More recently, a newer religion warned of their apocalypse. But those followers cited Science magazine. 

Dengue and chikungunya are both viruses spread by a species of mosquito known as Aedes aegypti. Dengue sickens 50 million people worldwide and chikungunya infected

Heroes aren't always cops, soldiers or scientists. Sometimes they are the wives of scientists. Here's one worth remembering.

Scientists are humans, too. And just like other humans you know, some of them aren't very good at their jobs. There are three main ways in which scientists can mess up. Here's how.

GHB, one of the "date-rape drugs," is being increasingly abused after two decades of low usage. Here's a lesson on the chemistry, biochemistry, and nomenclature of the drug. Admittedly, this sounds deadly boring. But there's more. Juvenile puke humor! Enjoy.

Caveat Emptor. Consumers and journalists beware Anti-biotechnology activists engaged in a week of "direct action" at Starbucks Coffee shops this week aim to target you over the next few days with false and misleading information about food safety, nutrition and the environment. The same people who brought you a long list of other false health and environmental scares including the infamous Alar in apples scare, the Dow-Corning breast implant campaign and dozens of other debunked fears are at it again.

The transformation of Hong Kong, less illuminated scientific pioneers, the many social distance circles, can you believe your lying eyes, and a mysterious ether holding the universe together - scientists call it dark matter.