San Francisco Mayor London Breed has again flouted the pandemic-control measures she previously insisted everyone else follow. She's a hypocrite for doing so, but her behavior illustrates an important lesson about the risk posed by COVID-19.
Policy & Ethics
Scientific American says there's good evidence to support mandatory masking in schools. A careful look at the data suggest the situation is more complicated.
The FDA just took a significant step toward killing the vaping industry. While ostensibly acting to "protect public health," the agency has effectively banned millions of products and made it harder for smokers to give up their deadly habit.
A recent article in The Washington Post demonstrates that when opioid medications become less available to veterans, suicide rates go up. And not by a little. This only serves to further show the extent of damage done by foolish U.S. drug policies.
As the Biden Administration's booster shot roll out approaches, we have plenty of evidence that the primary COVID vaccines are still very effective, a growing number of experts say, but very little data to justify widespread use of boosters. This kind of open policy debate is exactly what we need.
The federal government has proposed a nationwide vaccine mandate. It's a terrible idea.
As our lives become increasingly digitized, there has been a corresponding rise in concerns about the loss of privacy. That’s despite rules and laws in place meant to safeguard it. But according to a recent study, what we want to share for the public good is at odds with our privacy laws.
The evidence is in: genetic engineering promotes sustainable farming, vaccines save lives, and nuclear energy is our best hope of powering society in a changing climate. But the question remains, how do you convince a generally skittish public to embrace the science behind these technologies? Our answer: make a movie.
A new clinical trial examining the efficacy of masking on COVID-19 transmission has garnered a lot of media coverage. What the study shows and what people have been told the study shows are very different.
California just paused its plans for a statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate. There wasn't an ounce of scientific evidence to support this proposal and enough opposition to halt the legislation, at least until after the upcoming elections. There's an important lesson here for policymakers.
Could governments mandate that we quit reproducing sexually for the sake of public health? It sounds outlandish, but there are prominent thinkers making that case. Their argument is superficially plausible but ultimately absurd, both for scientific and ethical reasons.
What are the boundaries of individual freedoms? Are there limits to our liberty? Does a pandemic change the calculus?