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Public goods create a peculiar dilemma: everyone likes the benefits, but paying for them is another matter. Economists call this the free-rider problem—people can enjoy protection, clean air, or herd immunity even if someone else pays for it. Attempts to solve that problem often introduce a less celebrated, increasingly vocal counterpart: forced riders, people who feel they are paying for something they never asked for.

Amid an explosion of aging research, there are plenty of “biohackers” out there jumping the gun without waiting for proof of efficacy.

Despite activist claims about trace amounts of glyphosate in foods like cereal, you'd need to eat absurd quantities- like 30+ bowls of Cheerios daily for over a year, before you approach the EPA's safe exposure limits. Sound realistic? Not in the least. Here are 5 quick facts about glyphosate scientists want you to know!

A class action lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare claims that an AI system was used to unfairly deny post-acute rehabilitation coverage for Medicare Advantage patients, sometimes overruling treating physicians' judgments. The case raises a bigger question: when algorithms make important decisions in healthcare, who is really responsible—the machine, or the humans who deploy it?

A short newsletter item summarized a new Canadian study into a simple takeaway: toddlers who eat more ultra-processed foods tend to develop more behavioral problems. The statement is technically accurate—but like many science headlines, it omits the context that explains what the findings truly mean. When the effect sizes and baseline scores are examined more closely, the story becomes far less alarming—and more interesting.

From miracle weight-loss fix to mass tort battleground: drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro promise better health — but also spark mass lawsuits. So, are they a pharma bonanza, a plaintiffs’ jackpot, or both?

Why do some people get goosebumps from a song while others hear the exact same notes…and feel nothing?
New research reveals “musical anhedonia” — a real brain disconnect where music hits your ears but never reaches the reward center. It’s not picky taste, but a fascinating finding from neurology. Let's take a closer look.

In 1921, Otto Loewi woke from a dream with the idea for an experiment that proved nerves communicate using chemicals, not just electricity. By showing that stimulating one frog’s heart released a substance that slowed another heart, he discovered the first neurotransmitter—acetylcholine—launching modern neuropharmacology. His breakthrough transformed medicine, even as his life was later upended by the Nazis despite his Nobel Prize–winning work.

Few topics provoke as much concern as the perception that puberty is beginning earlier than ever. While synthetic endocrine-disrupting chemicals are often cast as the primary culprits, puberty is complex, and evidence from a large population study suggests that energy balance and inheritance may exert stronger, more consistent influences on pubertal onset than trace chemical exposures alone.

One year ago, Los Angeles experienced one of the most destructive urban wildfire disasters in its history. The fires consumed more than 55,000 acres, destroyed nearly 16,000 homes, and claimed approximately 440 lives — leaving tens of thousands displaced and entire neighborhoods altered. While debris was cleared in record time, the health consequences of burning not just forests but entire urban environments are still unfolding.

Words matter in national dietary guidance—especially technical ones. In the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, readers are urged to prioritize oils “with essential fatty acids,” with olive oil, butter, and beef tallow offered as examples. But in nutrition science, “essential” has a precise biochemical meaning—and those examples don’t align with it.

Climate change plaintiffs now claim that greenhouse gases are causing property damage through fire, flood, and frost, ignoring the role of Mother Nature. Creative attorneys are repackaging these natural catastrophes as the consequence of the “nefarious” activities of alleged greenhouse gas polluters, such as oil and gas companies. Whether these cases will be allowed to be brought in state court before sympathetic juries is now a question posed to the Supreme Court.

There’s a difference between explaining science and dancing around it. When the question is basic immunology, the answer shouldn’t require decoding. A straight answer still counts. It was in short supply at the Casey Means hearing.

A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that your daily caffeine fix might be doing more than just perking you up—it could be protecting your brain from dementia.

Fruit flies’ exposure to radiation from the basis of modern federal radiation directives, the debate over how we calculate radiation risk has resurfaced with new Executive orders. The consequences reach far beyond academic quarrels.

Newly published data indicate a quiet shift in hospital nurseries that may signal a broader change in how Americans view routine medical prevention. Hepatitis B vaccination is no longer as widespread at birth as it was just a few years ago. Whether this marks a temporary fluctuation or the start of a sustained trend carries implications that will unfold slowly and measurably over time.

On this episode of Science Dispatch, we take a look at the radiation oncology experience from the perspective of a patient (and radiation expert) who endured 28 mornings of this common but misunderstood therapy. What does the science say about efficacy and side effects? Perhaps more importantly, what can other patients expect from this experience?

There’s no shortage of spectacularly bad advice about dietary fat these days. None quite compares to the Soap Diet — a theory I involuntarily tested decades ago, courtesy of my mother. It's even worse. Probably.

A system that allows drug makers to profit from restricted access will never liberalize on its own—and patients will continue to bear the cost.

Metabolic Health is your body's internal systems: blood sugar levels, blood pressure, lipids, and inflammation. Poor metabolic health can drive up insulin resistance, a main culprit of heart disease, type two diabetes, among other issues.

Constipation is often treated as a simple plumbing problem, too little movement, too much delay. But emerging research suggests that, in some people, the culprit may not be sluggish muscles or faulty nerves, but rather an unexpected partnership between common gut microbes quietly reshaping our intestinal environment.

Food has always carried meaning, but in contemporary nutrition culture, it is increasingly treated as a moral test. In the unqualified world of wellness and nutrition influencers, foods are no longer discussed as more or less nutritious; they are labelled good or bad, clean or dirty, virtuous or problematic. Framing nutrition this way shifts the focus away from health and toward judging both food choices and the people who make them.

New York City’s nation-leading cigarette taxes have pushed pack prices into the $14 range—and pushed consumers into the black market. Evidence from littered-pack studies shows most cigarettes smoked in the city evade local taxes altogether. If policymakers want to see how this escalates, Australia offers a cautionary tale.

A failed private lawsuit accusing major food companies of engineering addictive food has been resurrected by San Francisco’s city attorney, recasting contested nutrition science as a public nuisance. The new complaint invites judges—not legislators or regulators—to redraw the boundaries of what constitutes acceptably safe food. At stake is whether litigation will become the new tool for reshaping America’s dinner table and designing healthy menus.

On this episode of Science Dispatch, we dive into the latest Kīlauea eruption and the alarming chemistry behind the air people are breathing. The volcano is releasing massive amounts of sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrochloric acid, and other nasty gases—creating vog (volcanic smog) that irritates lungs, eyes, and skin, especially for sensitive groups. Here's what you need to know.