A large outbreak in Washington State of hundreds of cases of mumps – a disease projected to be eliminated from the United States by 2010 – is raising new questions, two in particular. Why is it back? And can we ever rid the nation of it for good?  

1. Nutella scare redux. After we criticized the EU food safety in USA Today for its badly-reasoned claim that nutella was going to give people cancer, they have promised to reexamine palm oil health risks.

A fungus harvested from termite nests has been traditionally used to treat these two conditions. Now, Taiwanese scientists think they have discovered a plausible scientific rationale for this practice.

There are so many fad weight-loss diets out there that it's hard to pick a few favorites — but we did. Some are based on pseudoscience, and others on nothing at all. But all demonstrate the amazing creativity that can be brought to bear on a serious problem like obesity.

Guys, you know the rules: Always pick the urinal the furthest from the other guy. Little did we know that this issue was of such import, that a couple of lunatics with expertise in math and computer science would quantify urinal selection behavior. Sorry, you'll have to read it. It's not live streaming. 

The Brookings Institute recently released a study on what it terms the "Privacy Paradox," in that officials believe that our concerns about privacy are not monolithic, but contextual. Privacy involves withholding information from others to protect a social image, either for a person or the community he/she inhabits. 

A grassroots science movement has amassed a gigantic following on social media, which in turn has resulted in substantial mainstream media coverage. The site, still in development, states that "anyone who values empirical science" can participate. That's good. Unfortunately, other statements are sending mixed messages.

According to a recent study, those who had the opportunity to receive "individual wellness coaching by telephone for weight management lost an average of 10 pounds each and changed their weight trajectories from upward to downward."

Don't have the money for an elite wellness getaway? Here are some low-budget alternatives.

Food Safety News has reported that Whole Foods has shut down all three of its regional kitchens because the FDA "discovered a long list of 'serious violations,'" some of which resulted in surfaces being contaminated with Listeria.