As a vascular surgeon, the underlying physics explaining the biological system we care for, our arteries and veins, is well understood. But in many instances, the systems we built to carry fluids in the real world have been based more on “the laws of physics” than the “lessons of biology.”

The deluge of the use of the term "natural" for product promotion continues unabated. But perhaps it's getting stale because KinderFarms, Jessica Biel's company, is selling stuff like Tylenol and Benadryl with the promise of avoiding "artificial petrochemicals." That ignores the fact that these drugs are all made from just that. Nope, no kindness or farms. Just another misleading ad campaign.

My background is in public health, and I love the idea of making healthcare accessible for everyone, but health coaching, exemplified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), in its current state, is not healthcare. It’s the Wild West of healthcare, and we need a sheriff.

Perhaps you've seen the television ads asking women whether they know about VMS. Pharma has wrapped an old symptom – the hot flashes associated with menopause – in its medical description: vasomotor symptoms. Of course, now that it's a “medically recognized” condition, it follows that medical therapy and its payment should be covered costs.

I still remember the thrill I felt when I made my first scientific discovery – feeling that the late nights and hard work had all been worth it. I remember, too, the feeling that, at that moment, I knew something that nobody else – anywhere – knew or had ever known. It was a heady feeling. And then I wanted to tell everyone!

Chatbots’ ease of use and ability to rapidly create human-like text, including everything from reports, essays, and recipes to computer code, ensure that the AI revolution will be a powerful tool for students at every level to improve their capabilities and expertise. The list of apps and services is growing longer every day. But, like most powerful technologies, the use of chatbots offers challenges as well as opportunities. We need strategies to minimize the former and accentuate the latter.

Remember plant-based meats? Ok, then how about plant-based yogurt? Roughly 6.3% of the dairy consumed finds its way into yogurt. The environmental footprint of the producers of that yogurt is significant. How does plant-based yogurt measure up nutritionally against the classic?

“It never made sense for the DEA to list marijuana as a Schedule I drug. Making it a Schedule III controlled substance will make researching the drug’s medicinal uses easier. But it still makes federal criminals of the millions of adults who have been using marijuana recreationally for millennia and makes as much sense as it does to require people to get a prescription to ingest beer, wine, or whiskey.”

Wegovy and Ozempic, both GLP-1 agonists, have taken the world by storm, providing a simple way to lose weight without changing our lifestyle. A new report in Science helps us understand what we do not know: the known unknowns of obesity. Let me summarize.

I’ve been fascinated with the Manhattan Project since high school. I’m taking a break from my usual articles to give you my take on Oppenheimer, the movie.