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Mexico slapped a tax on soda as a way of helping control obesity and diabetes, officials there said. But now that soda sales have risen and the additional tax money is rolling in, what will they do?

To retire or not to retire — an important issue for older folks. Some research suggests working folks live longer, but other studies suggest that people make beneficial lifestyle changes when they retire. What a conundrum! Take a look at both sides.

In mid-2015 Canadian teens (ages 15 to 17) visited more than 4,000 stores to try to purchase e-cigarettes and, on average, they were turned away two thirds of the time. So as in any business, there are bad actors, but not all companies are simply making a buck trying to create a youth market addicted to their product.

Gout was long considered a disease for the nobility, since the wealthy who ate rich foods were most likely to get it. Today, journalists, invariably working for large corporations run by very wealthy people, perhaps can't resist the chance to take indirect jabs at their bosses. In a new paper, gout was found to be the subject of humor in 26.3 percent of articles analyzed.

How the first randomized, controlled trial helped take down the second greatest General in French history.

A team at MIT and Harvard has developed a new method for testing if a person is infected with Zika virus that is more sensitive, faster, cheaper, specific, easy to read, and can even distinguish between different strains of Zika virus. This new device may be a lynchpin in the battle against Zika and future outbreaks.

Why do we bust a move every time we hear a good jingle? Science says it's kind of in our brains to do so— the power of the rhythm gets us every time.

Prostate cancer can be indolent, not posing a risk to life — or aggressive, leading to an increased risk of death. A new analysis from the large EPIC study suggests that increases in BMI and waist circumference are associated with an increased risk of the aggressive form, and thus to an increased mortality risk.

A recent paper published in the journal Pediatrics reveals how musician celebrities often endorse foods and beverages which are of poor nutritional quality, which only adds to the burden of the childhood obesity crisis.

Last week, we sat down with some of our scientists to discuss terms that they wish the general public would stop using when discussing science — and none of them held back. Caution: Comedy ahead.

The tobacco industry just got buzzed with a high-and-tight fastball, a knockdown pitch if you will. And if it chooses to stand up and go to court to fight the legal charges being hurled by the family of Tony Gwynn, the late Hall-of-Fame major leaguer, don't be surprised if one tobacco maker goes down swinging -- even if it has science on its side.

We know what you're thinking: Another video of Ana Dolaskie chowing down a bag of potato chips— What's new? But she's doing it for the sake of science! And hearing the crunch of the chips could make you hungry too!

1. Hillary or Donald? Who will be best for science? Science is a $120 billion a year constituency and health is even bigger. Despite that, it doesn't get a lot of notice in elections. Still, we care about what the future might bring because America leads the world in science output, we practically run the table in Nobel prizes, and we lead the world in adult science literacy. The next President could have a huge impact on that, especially given the funding stagnation of the recent administration.

Palliative care services are misunderstood by clinicians and patients alike. However, research has shown that early discussions and referral palliative care soon after diagnosis yield significantly better results with respect to expectations, quality of life, less aggressive interventions and even survival.

A recent paper in JAMA Internal Medicine was essentially little more than a hit piece on physicians. The authors claim that doctors will write prescriptions for more expensive drugs if they attend a seminar about that drug, and get a cheap meal. But the only thing cheap here is the standards of the authors. Their paper is a travesty.

Researchers have genetically engineered human T cells to produce a CAR protein that recognizes a glycopeptide found on various cancer cells but not normal cells, and then demonstrated its effectiveness in mice with leukemia and pancreatic cancer.

New sleeping recommendations have been released, and just in time to confirm what millions of Americans already knew: We are so sleep deprived. Yawn.

Now that a Vermont law requiring labeling of GMO foods is about to take effect on July 1, the Senate has decided to act to prevent a plethora of state laws to confuse the issue. But wait! We can't really say that the Senate's bill will necessarily clarify anything.

Antiretroviral drugs have had a profound effect on AIDS, however, long-term toxicity of the drugs can be a problem. Fortunately, efforts to discover different classes of AIDS drugs have been successful. The different classes are possible because of knowledge about the life cycle of HIV. Here is a simplified explanation of how this works.

Now that Jason Day, the world's No. 1 golfer, will skip the Rio Olympics due to concerns over the Zika virus, given the overall exodus of golfers it seems like it's now an appropriate to ask this simple question: Why are pro golfers the predominant group of athletes bailing from the Games? One who withdrew gives us some insight.

Obesity is known to raise a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, and in some cases that cancer can recur even after successful treatment. An investigation will examine whether weight loss in obese women can decrease the rate of such recurrences.

There's a syringe shortage taking place in West Africa that's halted its much-needed yellow fever vaccination program. One big area of concern is the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its huge city of Kinshasa with a population of 12 million -- that's 3.5 million more citizens than New York City. At best, this is expected to become an epidemic, and at worst a global health crisis.

A generic version of Crestor—the final statin drug that enjoyed patent protection—was just approved by the FDA. This will benefit consumers and hurt AstraZeneca, the drug's inventor. It is unlikely that we will see any more new drugs from this class, which has proven cardiovascular benefits.

Did you toss the dental floss after recent news that it may not be so beneficial? Dentists aren't happy with you.

Here's a good place to avoid: Rio de Janeiro. What a mess. And it's not only because of the Zika virus. The ocean is going to make many athletes very sick -- and possibly even reading this will make you feel the same way.