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This article is the first of a three-part series adapted from an essay written by Dr. Alex Berezow, which is now archived at Suzzallo Library's Special Collections at the University of Washington. In Part I, he discusses the most famous unsolved problem in mathematics, the Riemann Hypothesis.

The science that is being used to tackle the Wuhan coronavirus is impressive. The viral genome was solved in days and released to the world. Companies and academic institutes are working like mad to come up with a vaccine. But it may not matter. Here's why.

There’s been endless debate about which is the best way to eat, and many an extreme diet created in both camps to line the pockets of dodgy doctors. However, if a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine is anything to go by, it’s just not worth getting worked up about.

Dr. David Shlaes has written numerous times on "pull incentives" to encourage new antibiotic discovery, and why professional societies (like the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the AMA) aren't providing enough input to emphasize the importance of emerging bacterial resistance. Today our ACSH advisor expands on both topics.

Here's a Q&A on the impacts of the coronavirus in the USA, and other countries around the world.

Here's what's grabbing our attention this time: Making the perfect cup of coffee ... a scientific basis for the generational transmission of traumatic events ... a book describing the "Forrest Gump" of the early 1800s ... and considering atmospheric gas responsible for an enormous loss of species.

Ontario may be cold, but the same cannot be said of its chief medical officer. Let's hear it for Dr. Nancy Whitmore, the head of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. She has the ethics and the courage to make changes in policy that should have never been in place to begin with. Barbaric forced tapering will no longer be permitted, and doctors and patients will make treatment plans together. The U.S. should be looking north.

From an American Dental Association publication to Yahoo!, ACSH has been all over the media in recent days! Take a look at what we've been up to.

Plenty of attention is focused on the growing number of cases in China of the Wuhan coronavirus -- also known as 2019-nCoV -- and those around the world. According to the New York Times, as of this writing, there are at least 132 reported deaths and nearly 6,000 confirmed cases of the disease. While the number of fatalities continues to grow, let's take a moment to understand what these numbers might mean.

Here's what we have this time: How to fund the scientific enterprise ... Our complicated relationship with nuclear power ... Ways to read and enjoy more ... and an overlooked environmental consequence to legalizing marijuana.

We've all seen the ads for genetic testing. They seem to come in two forms. In one, testing tells me more about the ancestors I expected to find; in the other, I have to exchange my kilt for lederhosen. A new study looks at one way in which people respond to these findings.

There is wide agreement that fake news, exacerbated by social media, is a major social problem and threat to democracy. Yet, we tend to view the problem as being caused by "other people." Actually, you should look in the mirror: You're part of the problem.

Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health published one of the dumbest papers we've ever seen. They claim that some areas in which fracking takes place (Texas only) have more sexually transmitted diseases. Embarrassingly funny and, yes, "fracking" stupid.

Like ACSH itself, ACSH advisor Dr. Jeffrey Singer is a proponent of harm reduction. Here's his take on a report, issued by the health and medicine panel of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), titled "Opportunities to Improve Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Services." Not surprisingly, Dr. Singer calls for needle exchange, methadone use, and the use of prescribing pre‐​exposure HIV prophylaxis (PrEP) and post‐​exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

Bundling surgery and surgical fees into one payment for a so-called episode of care is the goal of CMS. It's meant to reduce costs. But what if physicians don't deliver all the expected services? Should they reimburse some of the money? The RAND corporation says yes -- and estimates the savings at nearly $10 billion annually.

The biggest political and economic effects of pandemics come, not from the disease itself, but instead from public panic and panicked government responses.

Patients who experience life-altering hospitalizations -- in this case, strokes -- are often discharged not to home, but to either inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) or skilled nursing facilities (SNF). A new study shows that patients sent to IRFs do better than those assigned to SNFs. But as always, the story is more complicated.

It has been my long-held belief that my hair turned gray principally due to my children's antics and travails. A new study suggests that I was partially correct. [1]

What do you get when you mix a warming climate and criminals? According to a new study, you will get more crime. Should you add that to your list of downside events as our world heats up? Not so fast.

Fish sticks, for many a dinnertime staple, cast an environmental shadow. Fisheries contribute 4% of agriculture's 10-to-32% contribution to Green House Gases. And given those ranges, it should be no surprise that the “environmental performance” varies between the fisheries under discussion. How bad is a fish stick? It depends on what you count, and over what time horizon.

For centuries farmers have tried to bend their crops -- nature’s bounty -- to their will to create bigger, more plentiful, perhaps ever-tastier foods. In the past, this genetic editing, known as hybridization, has been luck of the draw. But new genetic technologies have changed that random-luck equation. A new study looks at how your scientific literacy impacts the perception of these changes, and whether knowing more reduces fear.

Tylenol-stuffed mouse bombs dropped in Guam. Back-seat skeleton drivers, and if you gotta go it might as well be from a yummy cake. And a gratuitous shot at J&J. Here's your Screwball Science News of the Week.

What does the science say about the safety of America’s chicken farming practice?

Do you want to use recycled pee for your garden, but first make sure it's safe? How about the world's smallest gold coin? And loud-talkers are not just annoying; they spread germs. Oddball news of the week.

Here's what's in store: The comeback of an environmentally friendly, sustainable building material ... Is perfection the enemy of the good? ... Can Big Data be too big? ... And long before Big Food, there was the "Agro-mafia."