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As plant-based diets gain more traction, the vegan population, especially in high-income countries, is rising. Is veganism – avoiding products produced by, or from, animals – a healthy lifestyle? (Spoiler Alert: you already know the answer. Vegans, like the rest of us, have varying lifestyles, some of which are not as good as others.)

Former President Trump said, “we have learned to live with it [COVID-19], just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!” before he recanted that statement with Bob Woodward, saying he knew it was "more deadly than even your strenuous flu." The morbidity and mortality of COVID have indeed changed over time; a recent study helps define whether COVID is becoming a new seasonal influenza.

The mind-body problem is fake science
Zombie pathogens have taken over my brain
There is more to figs than the Newton
Superstition, Enthusiasm, and Politics

There is nothing better than a crisp, crunchy, dare I add, slightly burnt pretzel – whole or in pieces. Add a bit of mustard, and we are set for the day. It is National Pretzel Day, time for a few pretzel factoids.

Once a medical device is brought to market, FDA surveillance of its safety continues. “To facilitate incremental improvements in safety and effectiveness, the FDA allows manufacturers to modify previously approved devices.” Only a few of those modifications require additional clinical testing. How often are those modified devices recalled? Is there cause for concern?

The Chicken Economy
Ode to an IBM Selectric
Can a patient advocate make a difference?
Do plants think?

Kimchi, initially a household staple of Korea, has increasingly found its complex flavors of vegetables, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce being accepted as a global star. Long before refrigeration, fermented foods were a winter staple. A new study looks at the physics underlying the of making Kimchi.

The EPA recently completed a draft health assessment on Chromium-VI that is causing controversy in the scientific community because it concludes that Chromium-VI is likely to cause cancer through drinking water. This conclusion is at odds with EPA’s previous assessments, much of the scientific literature, and assessments by other countries, including Canada.

Once a touchy-feely, consciousness-raising New Age experience, it's now an occasion for environmental activists to prophesy apocalypse, dish antitechnology dirt, and allow passion and zeal to trump reality.

Johnson & Johnson is working on a drug to repair liver damage caused by Tylenol, which has made the company billions since it was launched in 1955. Isn't this a bit like having a dentist's office in the back of a candy store?

Lost in the discussion of the alleged danger of opioid medications is that most of them also contain acetaminophen (Tylenol). Although acetaminophen is generally seen as benign, it is not. Here is what happened when the FDA cut the maximum acetaminophen dose to 325 mg. You may be surprised.

Traditionalism, a synonym for conservatism, is defined as “the tendency to embrace what are perceived to be the longstanding norms and values of one’s group, while rejecting changes to them.” During COVID, much of the writing on human behavior revolved around the actions of the conservatives vs. liberals. An anthropologic study looks at the role of traditionalism during COVID more globally.

On January 11, the CPSC issued a statement of concern about emissions from gas stoves while stating that it had no plans to ban them. Here are the comments I have submitted to the Commission during its public comment period. It’s time for the larger issue of indoor air pollution to get its due.

“Beef,” a new Netflix series, explores “two strangers whose lives collide after they incense each other during an incident of road rage.” Maybe those long-promised self-driving cars will help us become more polite, and road rage will be of only historical interest. A new study looks at when our rage surfaces behind the wheel.

“Our findings suggest that the αSyn-SAA technique is highly accurate at detecting the biomarker for Parkinson’s disease regardless of the clinical features," says Luis Concha, Ph.D., "making it possible to accurately diagnose the disease in patients at early stages.” For those in the Parkinson's Disease community, this is a big-deal, “game-changing” report.

The year saw breakthrough articles on highly successful treatments for sickle cell disease, β-thalassemia, rectal cancer, COVID-19, and malaria, and a terrific bionic pancreas for Type 1 diabetics.

King Charles III's longstanding opposition to genetic engineering is misguided and unconstructive. Genetic modification has long made products better, safer, and cheaper.

The ignorance surrounding what agricultural practices are truly "sustainable," even among people and institutions that should know better, is astonishing. The contributions of genetic engineering will be essential.

First it was heroin. Next, it was fentanyl-laced heroin. Then it was fentanyl. Now it’s xylazine-laced fentanyl. Will nitazenes be next? Will policymakers ever learn that the Iron Law of Prohibition cannot be repealed?

A concerning shortage of Adderall, one of the drugs commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is putting patients at risk. What caused it, and how can we fix it? The EPA has set new guidelines to keep PFAS out of drinking water. There's a problem, however: the agency's standards are absurd.

Ozempic, a drug indicated for Type II diabetes, has become the latest weight-loss darling. Not since ivermectin has a drug gained so much interest from its off-label uses. Let’s take a deeper look at the science and a regulatory conundrum.

What’s the deal with near-death experiences
Giving back “tainted” money can be more complex than it seems
In the rush to make medical records transparent, have we only succeeded in making them more opaque?

Ants – with their wise farming practices and efficient navigation techniques – could inspire solutions for some human problems. From The Conversation, by Scott Solomon, Associate Teaching Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University

When someone does something inexplicable and out of the blue, my husband’s mantra is to ask qui bono. Who benefits?  So why would Emily Oster, an economist without public health or legal training, propose a forgiveness program for COVID disinformation? Why propose not only doing a reset but creating an amnesty program for something that may be a legal wrongdoing?

If you watch TV, ads for Coca-Cola's Smart Water are inescapable. Also inescapable is that the ads suggest that the stuff will make you smart or perhaps offer some other health benefit. But the only thing smart about Smart Water is Coca-Cola's ability to make you shell out money to buy something you could pretty much get from a fire hydrant in Newark.