1. How ridiculous is the annual hot dog eating contest at Coney Island? So ridiculous that the judges miscounted wildly on the number of hot dogs and no one noticed. Until winner Joey Chestnut insisted he had broken his own world record and eaten 74 in 10 minutes and the judges had to go back and review the 10 minute tape and actually count this time. And he was right, they were off by a whole plate, not just for him, but for the second place finisher.

Myopia or near-sightedness, and higher levels of education are associated. But which came first? And which is the cause? Can genetic information help us to convert correlation to causation while answering this chicken-or-egg question?

The NRDC, known for its phony chemical scares, may have outdone itself. The group used every trick and half-truth in the book in making a Facebook video claiming that Dow Chemical was using Nazi nerve gas on crops because the EPA okayed it. Good drama. Terrible science. As usual.

A well-publicized paper on suicide rates by occupation might have produced faulty data. A re-analysis is underway, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention taking action.

The most inhospitable places on Earth usually host some sort of life, from the super-hot hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor to the ice of Antarctica. While not as extreme, caves are also quite inhospitable. Complete darkness serves as a harsh restriction on what can – and can't – survive there.

You surely have heard about peanut or pollen allergies. But can people be allergic to cold weather? Apparently, they can when it comes to the cold, otherwise known as cold urticaria.

At the end of life, how do you balance comfort and autonomy? An already-complicated emotional question is made even more difficult when your loved one is severely demented. Families and physicians face this dilemma every day. 

This agonizing situation is a powerful reminder that nature will always be our greatest adversary. That said, current day understanding, innovation and progress is a formidable opponent.

It's been said that truth is the first casualty in war. It could also be said that truth is the first casualty in a decadent and declining society ... and journalists are leading the way.

The U.S. Congress is gearing up to re-fund efforts for biohazard preparedness. But are they getting the science right?