Peer review is a failure
Methane rising
The Trolley Problem has multicultural answers
Heating with Nukes
Search results
To reduce your risk of a cardiovascular “event,” your doctor will always recommend maintaining a healthy diet and exercise. But how much does a healthy diet actually contribute to risk reduction; is it worth giving up all the “bad” foods that taste so good? A new study tries to find an answer.
The New York Times devoted most of an opinion column to this ill-posed question. That's because concerning an airborne virus such as COVID-19, there are more relevant questions: How do masks work? When should they be used?
Sepsis, an overwhelming infection, remains among hospitals’ most difficult conditions to identify and treat. Algorithms within electronic medical records have been developed to help clinicians. So how is this real-world A.I. of medicine working out? Just a bit better than a coin toss.
Hands began wringing about global warming and subsequent climate change in the 1980s, and those predictions are now being seen. It’s not rocket science; temperature will increase when heat is pumped into a system limited by greenhouse gases. Electric power generation has been the largest source of heat-trapping gases, and the emerging popularity of electric vehicles promises to increase that share. What exactly are the costs and characteristics of electric generating systems?
Roundabouts vs. traffic lights
Françoise Gilot and Jonas Salk
Where will all the gas stations go?
Those dangerous lithium batteries
Long COVID remains chimeric, more a litany of symptoms than a clearcut “disease.” Perhaps a clustering of symptoms might reveal the underlying picture. Researchers using lots of data and statistical analysis identify some patterns.
Masks were once confined to those celebrating Halloween or as historical notes about historic plagues. But they returned to command our awareness in the Age of COVID. There are differences of opinion on how efficacious they are: the overall benefit versus how much damage they might have done. A new study speaks to their physiologic harms.
The rising tide of nearsightedness.
Given a choice, I would rather shop online rather than in person. How come?
Are big box stores the new main street?
We are not the center of the universe.
Spy vs. Spy
The real Uncle Tom
Education
File this under unintended consequences of regulations
The paternalistic model of the relationship between physician and patient is so done. The new relationship is supposed to be an exchange between almost peers – between you, formerly patients, now consumers, and us, formerly physicians, now providers. But is that really the case?
While largely ineffective medications for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease have gotten a great deal of press, an “orphan” disease – sickle cell disease – is in a similar situation. It is a devastating disease, and there seems to be a gene treatment on the horizon, one that comes with risks and benefits. How do patients calculate what to do?
It seems like a bit of common sense: the higher the viral load – in this case of COVID – the greater chance you have to transmit the disease to another. As it turns out, one of the ways we may characterize “infectivity” is when viral load peaks. Omicron infections peak later, and that has clinical implications.
It's irrelevant whether you like turkey or not because someone is going to be handing you a plate of it very soon. And after the meal, there's a good chance that you'll get sleepy. But will the cause of your drowsiness be the turkey, the booze, or your brother-in-law's tedious commentary about his golf game?
Plant-based foods
Banning Kools
A dress with a mystery
Dishing the dirt on the discovery of DNA
Methadone has been known to be an effective treatment for opioid addiction and dependency since the 1960s. Unfortunately, in this country, since 1972, the federal government segregates people with opioid use disorder from people with other health conditions that doctors treat in their offices by requiring them to travel miles each day to take a daily dose of methadone at government-approved clinics. Congress may soon undertake the first serious reform in how people get methadone in more than a half-century.
The guilt trip of buying local – are farmers' markets the carbon saviors they claim to be?
Diversity is key, even in cheese.
Air Canada blames its chatbot, now deemed a 'separate legal entity,' for misinformation in court.
Forget the quaint image of London's smog; Melbourne’s 'thunderstorm asthma' brings unexpected respiratory dramas.
Can autonomous vehicles be made safe?
Is Sabbath the cure for burnout?
It’s back – in this case, Tulare Lake
Smoking Cessation Victorian Edition
And A Bonus Meme
“Electronic cigarettes are the most used tobacco products among youths in the U.S.” So begins a new report in JAMA Network Open. Given all the attempts to reduce use, how are we doing?
It's easy to lose sight of the visceral fear and uncertainty that pervaded the early days of the pandemic.
With each iteration, AI becomes both student and teacher, trapped in an echo chamber of its own creation.
From Wendy's ill-fated foray into dynamic pricing to the prices of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the line between innovation and exploitation grows increasingly blurred.
The issue of reproductive rights, calls for informed citizenship, urging understanding of pivotal issues, particularly those under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. The approval of Mifepristone involves medical advancements, legal complexities, and the enduring tension between societal norms and legislative restrictions.
Negativity's grip on the news scene
Death by paperwork
JFK's tale through a surgeon's call
In social media's grip
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force just recommended that all light-skinned children beginning at the age of six months receive skin-cancer prevention guidance. That's a stark shift from its 2012 recommendations when the panel advised this training start at age 10.
The EPA is evaluating 10 chemicals under the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act. To guide their decision-making, we have created explanations for each, with recommendations when the science is clear. Here is the science story on Pigment Violet 29.
Genetically engineered bacteria can not only degrade plastic waste, but they can convert it into valuable industrial chemicals. There are still unknowns -- for example, how to do this at scale and how it will be regulated.
Pagination
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