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Why are catalytic converters becoming an endangered species? Because they contain three valuable metals - platinum, palladium, and rhodium - making them worth hundreds, even thousands of dollars, stolen or not. It's the rhodium thieves are after. It's very rare, very expensive and has some strange properties. Could there be a better time for a Dreaded Chemistry Lesson from Hell? I think not.

I’m a big fan of the theory that the medium is the message. More specifically, linear media, like words in paragraphs and articles, promote our more linear, analytic thinking. Non-linear, more visual media, like memes and pictures, promote our more emotional, intuitive thinking. Here, an analysis of the language found in books is an example of what I mean.

Catchy phrase, but let me ask you this: does it have a different meaning to you when spoken at a Women’s Day rally as opposed to an anti-vaccine mandate confab? It does for me; I wonder why.

The scarlet “A” was meant to shame Hester Prynne, stigmatizing her to the community as an unworthy individual. Today, the letter is often replaced by words. A new study suggests that physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants often use stigmatizing words in describing their patients. But as you will read, many of their “findings” depend upon whether you believe those words are, in fact, stigmatizing at all.

Methane is a far more potent (30-80 fold) greenhouse gas emission than carbon dioxide, but far less is generated in the Anthropocene era, and carbon dioxide gets most of the headlines. Methane is most frequently blamed on cattle and leaks in our natural gas distribution system. But it made the headlines last week.

Baby food giant Gerber faces a class-action lawsuit alleging that it falsely marketed some of its products as "non-GMO." The litigation is frivolous, but Gerber could have done itself a favor had it avoided labeling schemes in the first place.

It's time for the UK to embrace the benefits of crop biotechnology to boost its farm sector. I make the case in a recent report for the Adam Smith Institute.

Where did hobbies come from? Is it time to reboot “willpower?” How rice crippled a country. And a report from a youngster about their first time being really ill.

In an attempt “to ensure the full potential for optimal health for our patients,” the American Medical Association, in conjunction with the Association of American Medical Colleges, developed a whitepaper, Advancing Health Equity: A Guide To Language, Narrative And Concepts. It is a challenging document to get one's head around. Let’s you and I take a deeper look inside.

California is poised to empower children as young as 12 to receive COVID vaccines without parental consent. The Golden State is on the wrong path.

The CDC has reported that COVID-19 vaccines are working well, but reduced protection against mild and moderate disease over time is apparent. It is appropriate to examine trends now that our primary vaccination program has been in place for a year. While recently vaccinated members of a population have much lower rates of infection, some suffered breakthrough infections that may be associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness.

Even as the Supreme Court authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to mandate vaccination of all Medicaid and Medicare employees–including those not employed by the federal government, a Texas court [1] just blocked the federal government from mandating vaccination over its own employees. That case surely will eventually reach the Supreme Court. All the while, we will grapple with the delay in vaccination – the effect of which, for the moment, is not entirely known. Perhaps, this is all about “decision-making under uncertainty?”

In an essay in the London Review of Books, David Wallace-Wells contrasted the 5.5 million annual global deaths from COVID [1] with the 7 million deaths attributed to air pollution (AP) projected by the World Health Organization [2]; he bemoaned the lack of attention being given to the latter. [1] He noted that other AP mortality estimates run as high as 8.7 million and 10 million if indoor air pollution were included. This is getting downright scary.

According to a recent paper, fatigability – how physically tired we feel after specific activities – is a reliable marker of our aging. It can also be used to identify those of us who might be moving towards an eternal nap faster than others.

The World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a dose-response function for PM2.5 that lumps outdoor ambient air quality, second-hand (passive) smoking, and indoor household air pollution. It has been used in 80 published studies of the “Global Burden of Health” (GBD). Here I take a closer look and incorporate some additional risk estimates.

The 2021 annual conference of U.S. Mayors adopted a resolution to create community “Blue Zones,” as part of the Well-Being Initiative to Combat Disease and Comorbidities. The Blue Zones program is derived from the work of Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow, who identifies regions around the world where people purportedly live extraordinarily long and happy lives.

Ah, the influencer. It’s a new job category for someone who can move markets – at least for goods – by sharing their love of them. This used to be solely the domain of celebrities, but social media has significantly changed that. So when it comes to subjects related to nutrition, the question is: are they using their influence to help or hurt?

Perhaps. A new study in Science suggests a very high prevalence of the Epstein-Barr virus in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This strong evidence may aid those suffering from MS and give us all a better sense of how endemic infections may have long-term consequences that we are slow to recognize because of the long delay between infection and symptoms.

It's been said that women will do almost anything to look good. If that’s true, they can’t even compete with some male bodybuilders who take legal drugs, illegal drugs, and down another substance you might find distasteful. Perhaps disgusting. And it doesn't even work. Unreal.

The anti-biotech group GM Watch recently touted the results of a new study as evidence that the EPA has underestimated the risk posed by the weedkiller glyphosate. It's an illustration of what goes wrong when you force data to conform to a predetermined conclusion.

Way too many people have experienced the discomfort of food-borne illness: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. These illnesses are usually mild, but occasionally they can lead to hospitalization, even death. It may surprise you to know that fresh fruits or vegetables can be the source of these illnesses.

Even as the Secretary of Labor (who oversees OSHA) had his wings clipped by the Supreme Court regarding mandatory employee vaccination, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) was given leave to fly, or rather to mandate vaccination of all staff of programs servicing Medicare and Medicaid enrollees. The number expected to be affected: some 10 million people.

The New York Times recently published an excellent story illustrating what causes vaccine hesitancy and how to effectively combat it. Is the media finally learning that forcing shots on people doesn't work?

Reconsidering zoos, the most famous of monkeys, the symbolism of masks and a goldfish drives their aquarium.

Popular Science has joined the ranks of mainstream outlets that shill pesticide propaganda. Last week, the magazine published a story about glyphosate so atrocious that it could have been written by an activist at the Environmental Working Group.