French philosopher Joseph de Maistre is credited with saying, "Every country has the government it deserves." That may serve as a stinging rebuke to those of us who dwell in 21st Century America, where partisan gridlock, mutual distrust, and general nastiness have culminated in an election that has made history for all the wrong reasons. 

We humans like to think of ourselves as on the top of the heap as compared to all the other living things. About 50 years ago, a person's estimated number of human genes was in the millions. Today we’re down to about 20,000 (while bananas have 30,000). It’s time to rethink the question of how the complexity of an organism is reflected in its genome.

http://acsh.org/news/2016/10/25/kathleen-gyllenhaal-health-meets-hollyw… to our three part series discussing the science behind director Kathleen Gyllenhaal's latest documentary, IN UTERO.  This article takes a deeper look at the health ramifications of toxic stress in prenatal life and its role in contributing to adult disease.  Part I of our Q&A with Gyllenhaal emphasizes health, Hollywood, how a story gets told and the parallels between funding for film and scientific research. In the concluding Part II Q&A, we explore her insights into motherhood and the impact of her recent film.  

1. If you read The Economist, you will note an article by our Senior Fellow In Biomedical Science Dr. Alex Berezow. The Economist audience cares about sexual cannibalism? In spiders? EVERYONE cares about that. It's lurid, it's provocative, and it's in October, which means it feels like Halloween.
Sure, it feels vaguely socialist to have the male of the species sacrificing himself for the good of the many, but parents do that all of the time. 

If fisherman might be inclined to keep his favorite fishing spot a secret, but sometimes it helps to tell others. They may return the favor and tell you about other great places. It's a dilemma that also faces hunters. When should you share information, and when should you go at it alone? A new study might have some answers.

A recent report stated that placebo treatments for pain can be effective even when patients know that it’s a placebo. On closer examination, however, this became somewhat less newsworthy. It has all the classic hallmarks of a fluke result that's partly the result of the statistics used, and partly over-interpretation of fairly modest results.

There exists a long list of reasons not to take drugs: addiction, decreased productivity, deleterious health effects, damage to personal relationships, and the chance of fatal overdose are just a handful. To this tally of negative consequences, researchers have added another: an increased risk of suicide.

Recognizing the rapid rate of technological change in U.S. households, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced new guidelines for Children's Media Use that can be applied to all kids under 18, including infants. This welcome news gives parents a roadmap for navigating the often-perilous topic of determining the right amount of time that children can spend staring at computers, smartphones and TV screens. 

American Council on Science and Health Director of Medicine Dr. Jamie Wells has been named one of America's Top Pediatricians by Consumers' Research Council of America.

The Environmental Protection Agency is punting a final decision on the safety of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate to the next administration. The lengthy process has been fraught with delays, accusations of political maneuvering and even Congressional investigations.