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Imagine you need emergency surgery, but the hospital’s computers are down – victim of a malicious ransomware attack. Processing blood-typing must be done by hand, delaying the results; X-rays can’t be transmitted to the radiologist on call for review. The hospital is refusing to pay the cyber-terrorist's ransom demand. All the while, your medical records (and you) are in limbo.

Less really is more, bagel rolling, how lucky we are, and the power and limitations of “following the science.”

For most of us, hiccups are a minor nuisance. But for a very few, it can be a chronic and debilitating condition. 

Facebook has proven itself incapable of reliably preventing the spread of "misinformation." If we needed more evidence, the company recently threatened to "restrict" the account of a prominent researcher for talking about science.

COVID-19 remains a seasonal respiratory virus, and the pandemic has waxed and waned with our summers and winters. A new study tries to quantify the impact of three climate variables: temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet light. The study also updates our understanding of PM 2.5.

The lockdowns caused by COVID-19 were a tradeoff between our actual and economic lives. The US, by and large, chose lives over economics. But rather than an either-or, could we have decided to save both? A new study suggests yes.

What can science tell us about fatherhood? Fathers historically have gotten a deserved but bad rap acting primarily as “hunter-gatherers” rather than as caregivers.

Do kids need COVID shots? It's a difficult question to answer, but incendiary commentary has unnecessarily muddied the issue. Let's take a look at what we know so far.

The New York Times (correctly) reports that a COVID pill is needed, not just a vaccine. But the paper also tells this story in its typically biased manner, implying that the government, not drug companies, discover drugs. It's a bunch of nonsense that dates back to... forever.

What do granite and bananas have in common? Radioactivity. As it turns out, radioactivity is all around us and has been for eons.

Methamphetamine has made an unprecedented comeback, surpassing even fentanyl in drug overdose deaths in certain parts of the U.S. It hasn't shown up by accident; it's an offshoot of the misinformed anti-opioid movement. But it took two different government screwups to cause this latest mess: one that gave us pure, cheap meth and another that gave addicts the reason to use it. Nice going.

The major health systems are classified as non-profit organizations, exempting them from a variety of taxes, while obligating them to "give back to the community.” New research shows what "giving back" really means.

The most deadly tree in the world, the Manchineel, can only be found in one place in the United States: South Florida, mainly the Everglades. We should all be thankful for this because the Manchineel is so dangerous that you can't even touch any part of it. And eating it is an especially bad idea.

A niche publication, E&E News, reports to a wide variety of institutional stakeholders on environmental and energy issues before Congress and federal regulatory agencies. Last week, in its report on the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, its editors felt it better to report half-truths.

On this week's menu: Why is it harder to get a Chick-fil-A franchise than to get into Stanford? ... The CVS-Aetna monopoly on pharmaceuticals would put John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil to shame. ... Wind may not be as green an energy sources as we thought. ... And finally, the genes we share: we are more alike than not.

A man who is not a Liberal at sixteen has no heart; a man who is not a Conservative at sixty has no head.
—Benjamin Disraeli [1]
How accurate is this statement? A new study provides an answer.

The scientific publishing industry is thoroughly dishonest and corrupt, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the journal Science are now also a part of the problem. Here's a disturbing case in point.

How I went from PhD microbiologist to founding editor of RealClearScience to the Vice President of Scientific Communications at the American Council on Science and Health.

On May 15, 1850, effective treatment for the coronavirus and its infectious friends was put forward, subsequently ridiculed, and now ignored -- at our collective peril. Wash your hands. Fairly simple, yet so challenging to do. And a new study looks at how not washing your hands hastens global pandemics.

I pitched a column to the journal Science titled, "How I Became a Junk Science Debunker." It was initially accepted and went through two months (and nine rounds) of editing. At the last moment, however, the column was spiked by senior editor Tim Appenzeller (pictured). Why? Because I'm a corporate shill, of course.

Q: When are environmentalists (such as those with the Union of Concerned Scientists) opposed to efforts to conserve water and energy? A: When hotel housekeeping unions get mad. As we've long said about them, when it comes to saving the planet, ideology trumps science and common sense.

There's nothing quite like the moment when your doctor says: "you have heart disease" (or diabetes). Sinners then repent with thoughts such as: "From this point on only healthy nutritious foods, daily exercise, and perhaps a bit of mindfulness." But do the sinners really repent or is that just something they tell themselves until the shock wears off, allowing their old ways to return?

We must eliminate both. Here's one group's plan to do that.

Boeing has designed self-cleaning airplane bathrooms that implement UV light. To stop the spread of infectious disease, the entire airplane cabin -- and perhaps other public places -- should also be bathed in UV light.

At least 10% of the U.S. population is currently taking a statin to help lower cholesterol. But can statins help prevent dementia? More importantly, can these same statins accelerate dementia? And how can we explain how statins are responsible for such dramatically different responses? Let's take a look.