Although most images of sleeping babies are cute, all too frequently they portray an unsafe sleeping environment containing pillows, stuffed animals, blankets – with the babies placed stomach down. All of this sends the wrong message to new parents. But a new educational campaign from the New York City Department of Health is trying to correct this problem.
 

Does getting food assistance from the federal SNAP program mean that people improve their diets? Not so much — at least according to recent nutritional research. Is it even reasonable to expect it to do so?

The FDA just released a list of 25 eating establishments in California, Texas and Oklahoma that received – and may have already served – tuna steaks that tested positive for hepatitis A. The agency is urging those who ate either raw or undercooked tuna from these restaurants within the last two weeks to receive a post-exposure vaccine.

Bourdain, the bad boy chef turned journalist, is far more effective than any of the marches, or journalist headlines or thought pieces. It's hard not to come away from watching his CNN program without a new found respect for the work of scientists.

Childbirth is an unpredictable, sometimes traumatic event – in even the best of situations. Fortunately, most babies do quite well. Now, imagine having a condition where the act itself causes innumerable bones to break, making it life-threatening. 

Glyphosate is perpetually in the news. However, last month was especially busy because various agencies concluded that it either did – or did not – cause cancer or kill butterflies. The herbicide has even been implicated as a cause of autism, but the science is terrible. Perhaps the worst science came out of MIT in 2014 — confusing correlation with causation. A big no-no.

Why are healthcare studies plagued by causal contradictions? Could it be the ancient battle between the beliefs in determinism and free will?

Reducing sodium consumption to ward off hypertension, stroke and heart disease has been the goal of nutritionists for many years. They warned that much of the sodium intake comes not from the salt added at the table, but from processed foods. But a new study indicates that the sodium content of such foods has decreased over a recent 15-year period.

Federal health officials have identified a clear link between the increase in domesticated chickens and the rise in Salmonella incidents. And the statistics indicate that close contact with these adorable chicks and egg-laying birds is accelerating the spread of disease to humans in the home.

If you're in the mood for some Americana, it doesn't get much better than this. Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, a colorful character at the very least was one of this country's most prolific and best-known moonshiners. If you're in the mood for a chemistry lesson or want to go into the business, here's your chance.