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Vision techniques have become so sophisticated that you can sit in a chair, feel absolutely nothing, and walk out 30 minutes later with 20/20 vision. And, not only that, the knowledge imparted by an ophthalmological surgeon at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

A review paper (1) recently found that organic crop yields are 19-25% lower than conventional systems.

Time Magazine's Alice Park wrote a bizarre "letter' in JAMA, which apparently hoped to scare us about a group that found more glyphosate in urine samples than they expected. Her primary source: A guy with a "Ph.D" from an unaccredited institution who writes about yogic flying and ghosts.

Do massages stimulate a chemical reaction in the body? Is there a scientific basis to explain why customers feel better, or relaxed, or energized by the experience? While massages feel great and produce short-term satisfaction, specific evidence supporting claims of longer-term health benefits is harder to come by.
 

Few economic opportunities, poor health outcomes, and higher death rates (both natural and self-inflicted). It is difficult to overstate the severity of the crisis facing rural America.

Stephen Harrod Buhner, an herbalist healer, claims that beer will give men "moobs" because of hormone-disrupting chemicals. But there's a much simpler explanation: obesity. That's something every boob should know. 

The kettlebell is one of the least known, most mysterious pieces of exercise equipment there is. Yet it's excellent at toning muscles all over, and it burns calories quickly and efficiently while simultaneously producing cardio and strength benefits. In fact, many people swear that this odd, dopey object has fortified their exercise mentality.

Science struggles in a regulatory environment that increasingly puts the precautionary principle over benefit, and regulators that cater to environmental groups that view science as some corporate conspiracy.

Alzheimer’s Disease is so frustrating to its victims, caregivers, and scientists looking for effective treatments. In what at first glance is a "Dracula moment," Alkahest – a Silicon Valley start-up – weighs in on the effects of infusing the plasma of younger, healthier individuals into patients with Alzheimer's.

If you're inviting gramps over for a steak dinner, don't give him the rare part. French researchers found that protein from beef is best assimilated by older folks when it's well-done.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” - Alice in Wonderland
Science is, above all, a methodology designed for discovering objective “truths” about the natural world. All lawyers and politicians speak quite highly of Truth, and all routinely claim that it is on their side, rather than their opponents’, however, the real function of legal and political debate is not to discover truth, but to win. And, whenever “winning” is the prime directive,

If your TV doesn't work, it's annoying. If your AC goes on the fritz during a heat wave, that's annoying and possibly dangerous. But when a fire extinguisher fails, that's a disaster. There are 40 million potential disasters in North America right now.

It's hardly a secret that men find women with long legs attractive. What's less obvious is that the reverse also appears to be true. Even after controlling for height, women find men with slightly longer legs than average to be more attractive.

This article, written by Dr. Alex Berezow, was cited by New York Daily News. Obviously, measles outbreaks are garnering a lot of national attention. People seem to have forgotten that, at one time, measles killed thousands of Americans every single year. To this day, measles kills more than 100,000 people around the world annually. But without a doubt, health officials –- especially those who trek to remote and sometimes dangerous locations to administer vaccines – are true public servants.

Wasting food, a precious resource, is bad. Does French regulation make for less waste? Or could there be an equally simple free-market solution?
 

The FDA really doesn't want you taking pain meds. How strong is the agency's position on this? Pretty strong – enough to recommend that physicians receive extra education in alternative pain management methods. While that's fine in theory, one of the methods happens to be acupuncture, which is not fine at all.

Drugs submitted for FDA approval must have safety and efficacy data for the condition they're designed to treat. Sometimes, however, a drug is found to be effective for another condition, and doctors are within their rights to prescribe it for such "off-label" uses. Such may soon be the case for metformin.

If we can tune out, move away from, and shun people with whom we disagree, is this course of action also acceptable? 

Significant issues have plagued a paper that appeared in the journal Science since its publication a year ago. Consider the case now closed with the recent ruling that the two primary investigators involved committed scientific misconduct. 

With the rise in popularity of open-access publishing, and over 28,000 scientific journals in existence, it's often hard to tell which journals are reputable and which are simply junk. A new study did a cross-section analysis and came up with 13 traits of predatory journals, so now you can tell the difference. Here's how.
 
 

The main difference between a cat and a lie – Mark Twain once said – is that a cat only has nine lives. As for today, the false linkage between autism and vaccinations continues.
 
 

That a person with such a hostile view toward industry-funded science serves on the editorial board of a major scientific journal is disturbing. That she possesses no academic qualifications to justify her position as "senior editor" is a scandal.

Jacob Thompson, a 9-year-old suffering from cancer, whose request to help him celebrate his last Christmas went viral – and was met with a global outpouring of love – has died. His death was due to neuroblastoma. What exactly is it?

A single injection of a potential drug makes green lizards turn black in one minute. It's because the drug turns on the production of melanin, a colored pigment that protects us from sunlight. Could this drug reduce our chances of getting melanoma? Maybe. 
 

This method uses revolutionary “dipstick” technology. The protocol involves a tissue sample that's ground up and the dipstick, made of wax-coated filter paper, is inserted, almost immediately capturing the DNA and RNA.