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Theranos had been staying afloat on the waves of Elizabeth's Holmes' smoke-and-mirrors act. But what its famed CEO lacked was evidence to support the technology upon which the would-be, blood-test innovator was founded. Unfortunately for Holmes – some, like the SEC – call that fraud. And that's something even Holmes couldn't talk her way out of. 

ACSH President Hank Campbell sat on a Q&A panel for an anti-agriculture film called "Poisoning Paradise," knowing they were going to yell about corporate conspiracies. And he thinks everyone who cares about science should. Not for the activists who want farmers extinct, but for the people who walk out when they see how environmentalists behave. Because those people can be reached.

Commissioner Scott Gottlieb believes that his FDA should be in the business of getting smokers to transition away from cigarettes, to something less harmful like e-cigarettes or other products. That's similar to the policy taken by the UK's National Health Service, and it's precisely in line with ACSH's policy stance of harm reduction.

Starting this summer, the Dubai Health Authority will sequence the DNA of all three million city residents. The hope is that the information, stored in a database, will result in identifying changes in the genes and proteins that can lead to conquering genetic diseases, 220 of which are prevalent in the United Arab Emirates.

William Shubb, Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, has put a halt to the champagne wishes and caviar dreams of California trial lawyers, a U.N. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Working Group participant, and organic industry front groups hoping to profit from a bizarre determination on glyphosate by IARC that weirdly bucked the science consensus.

We've been discussing the uselessness of healthy people taking vitamin/mineral supplements for lo, these many years. But if you don't believe us, just see what some doctors from Harvard are advising their colleagues about who really needs vitamins, and when.

We were pleased to see that we're getting picked up by various media outlets, and in those across the political spectrum.

This uniquely American tendency to assign racism where none exists has struck again in yet another bizarre way. And it's absurd to try to make the case that we are racist toward Chinese food, when the number of Chinese restaurants triples those of U.S. cultural icons such as McDonald's and Starbucks.

CDC data shows that for the past few weeks, of sick people who went to the hospital and got tested about 26% of specimens were positive for influenza. Now in Week 7 of 2018, it has dropped to 25%. Finally, we appear to have turned the corner on this awful flu season.

While BPA hysteria has been going on for many years, for just as long we've been writing that the chemical is safe. As it turns out, we've been right all along (while, as usual, the Joe Mercolas and NRDCs of the world were not).

A team of scholars at Iowa State Univ. presented research validating what the scientific community has long suspected: Some anti-GMO groups are (1) either sending information to Russian propaganda sites to assist in their efforts to undermine American agricultural dominance or, (2) they're acting as "useful idiots" by promoting concern about America's food supply.

Sometimes, even we are surprised by some of the new anti-vaccine ideas that make the rounds. But this one, which was hatched on Twitter, maybe the nuttiest one to date. Thankfully, the pro-science community on this social media site won't let the person who started this imbecilic idea to get away with anything. 

A recent JAMA paper which concluded that opioid drugs are ineffective for long-term pain relief is flawed, perhaps intentionally so. American Council advisor Richard "Red" Lawhern explains.

Recently on vacation abroad I was exposed to a conspiracy tale that went something like this: "I read this thing on Google that says corporations control science." As a result, one thing really stuck out: Americans are a whole lot more scientific than their counterparts in Europe.

The curator of Unseen Oceans, a new exhibit at New York's American Museum of Natural History, explained that one of the primary reasons oceanic discovery is accelerating is because of significant advances in technology – like robotics, satellite monitoring, miniaturization and high-definition imaging.

Just the thought makes some cringe. But the truth is that recaptured, treated wastewater is safe to drink. However, as compared to tap and bottled water, how does it taste? Researchers from the University of California, Riverside set to find out, and the results of their study were not what they expected.

A recent article highlighted the animals responsible for human deaths in the United States. It is time they are exposed for the natural born killers they can be. 

An eye-opening TV report that aired recently featured a service dog that guards its owner from a severe drop in blood pressure, while preventing the resulting falls that can cause concussions. After learning about this wonderfully-skilled dog, it's hard not to reevaluate one's views on the cynical culture surrounding support dogs and their owners.
 

Congress is considering changes to the privacy of our health data, specifically, our medical histories involving drug abuse and rehabilitation. Why are they treated differently? And should we change the rules? Balancing confidentiality with a physician's need to know is not always a simple decision.

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control on obesity trends are mixed. Adults – especially women – continued to gain, but the same wasn't true for younger folks. Maybe, just maybe, there's hope on the horizon for diminishing the obesity epidemic.
 

In our latest #KuriousKiddos segment, Elliot and Sullivan want to know whether or not the legend of swallowing gum is true.. Will you become part Wrigley if you swallow the rubbery goodness?

Dan Berger, Ph.D. is a patent agent, who knows how nuances can result in billions of dollars going to one company rather than another. Even minor errors in drug patents can have enormous consequences. Given the stakes involved, we asked him to discuss what goes on inside pharmaceutical companies, and how their decisions ultimately affect consumers like you.

Deprive yourself of an adequate amount of sleep each night and you'll have a harder time regulating your body weight. Reinforcing that concept, the results of a recent study showed that when would-be dieters get less sleep their ability to lose body fat becomes more difficult.

As the chick readies to hatch, the eggshell's inner surface weakens. How the hardness of eggshells is created by a matrix is fascinating biology. And it may give us insight into a more human problem: the hip fractures of old age.

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.