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Traditionally, science has been a refuge from this hyperbolic nonsense. But no longer. More and more scientific journals are wading into partisan politics. Current Biology, in its most recent issue, has published a feature article that is every bit as ghastly as it is incoherent.

In December 1912, Charles Dawson, an amateur antiquarian and solicitor archaeologist, presented part of a human-like skull to the world, claiming it was the “missing link” between ape and human. However, new dating technologies in the 1950s revealed that these bones were nowhere near old enough to make up such a link. But now new evidence points the finger of suspicion even more firmly at Dawson, and suggests a sole hoaxer was responsible.

You wouldn’t want to be cared for by a doctor who doesn’t wash his or her hands. You wouldn’t want to be operated on with instruments that weren’t sterilized? So why would you want to be treated by a doctor wearing a white coat that hasn’t been washed in a week? Many white coats are covered in bacteria like MRSA -– and they are dirty. So it’s time to hang them up for good.

Miami is now a very scary place to be, and Zika is the reason. Health authorities are taking the matter seriously. They are spraying a very toxic insecticide from planes. Sometimes tough times call for tough measures, and this is one of them.

The 1938 Code of Federal Regulations was created because of companies like Hampton Creek. The government wanted to give the public confidence that a company wasn't just slapping the name of a famous food on a jar -- a jar which may not contain that thing at all.

Here'e to appreciating how, through precisely-calibrated nutrition, these extraordinary Olympic athletes become powerhouses of performance. Aside from their sport-specific training, it can be argued that Team USA is only Team USA because of the U.S.O.C's Sport Nutrition Team, which puts the right food on the training table and guides each athlete through their individualized schedule of consumption.

In Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia, infantile beriberi is a public health concern. If not arrested it can be fatal. If a pregnant woman consumes a diet deficient in thiamine, her breast milk will not supply enough to her baby to prevent beriberi. A possible means of ameliorating this situation is to fortify a commonly-consumed food with thiamine.

As we wrote recently a number of Olympians swear by "cupping therapy," which they claim allows them to recover from injury and overcome muscle soreness more quickly. Although it's a bunch of nonsense, it still may have room for improvement.

A new nanostructured material selectively destroys bacteria, while leaving eukaryotic cells alone. Antibacterial surfaces such as this are needed for medical devices.

Great frigatebirds seem to defy the rules of gravity, and now they are redefining basic physiology. To understand how birds who remain in flight for weeks at a time also sleep, scientists recorded their brain activity with surprising results. They were found to not only sleep one hemisphere at a time, but even more surprisingly both hemispheres of the brain slept simultaneously -- while in flight.

A team of chemists demonstrated that they can identify the true animal source of leather goods by examining collagen. This technique could be enormously useful for investigating cases in which counterfeit leather goods are suspected.

Some Olympians are using a recuperative procedure known as "cupping therapy," where hot glasses or cups are placed over sore areas of the body. And while there's no scientific study proving its effectiveness, don't tell that to these pumped-up, polka-dotted performers, because to them the process is absolutely beneficial to their quest for Olympic gold.

It's well known that even healthy elderly people have decreased appetites and may eat less than is necessary to promote continued health. A new study suggests that an elevated level of an anorexic hormone — PYY — might be involved.

For marketing purposes and to reinvent themselves, some food companies are now adding rather unusual colors to your favorite foods. For example, McDonald's in China unveiled two new sandwiches with red and green buns to celebrate the release of "Angry Birds."

Women who use estrogen-containing contraceptives may have an increased level of vitamin D in their blood. However, a recent study suggests that the vitamin level can drop if she decides to become pregnant and stops taking the pills. It's important for women and their doctors to be aware of this possibility.

In the first article of this series we discussed the last of four measures that the Center for Medicare Services uses to establish hospital star ratings — the patient experience — which heavily weighted in determining hospital ratings.
New York hospitals had significantly longer delays than national averages, and the ratings reflect this.

A novel (and sorely needed) asthma drug is making some noise during Phase II clinical trials in Great Britain. Inflammation and constriction of the airways was shown in a small number of subjects. Should this hold up in larger trials, it could be a game changer for all asthmatics.

Spoilage in milk, and risk of food poisoning, happens because of the presence of harmful bacteria. That is why pasteurization saves so many lives and the raw milk food fad has orders of magnitude greater risk of causing illness.
So do you want milk to last for two months? A new science study shows it's affordable and works.

One of the profoundest mysteries of medical microbiology is why some people become deathly sick from rare infections while the vast majority remain unscathed. Now, a common horse bacterium has killed a Seattle area woman.

1. Organic honey is disappearing in the US, and for a reason that makes sense. Beehive keepers have learned that there is no organic solution for varroa mites, the pests implicated as the key reason why honey bees sometimes have greater than average seasonal deaths. And they would rather lose their organic sticker than lose their business.

A study in the Malaria Journal suggests that chickens may be helpful in the fight against malaria. Unlike humans who in the United States last year consumed 90 pounds of chicken each, mosquitos are a bit fussier. Who knew?

Although the vaccine for Human Papilloma Virus has been available for a decade, people are still warming up to it. The HPV vaccine, which offers protection against various cancers -- in men and women -- is only approved for those ages 9 to 26. so people really should get it while they can. And that is why the indifference is a concern.

A drop in T-cell production may mean that astronauts are at least temporarily immunocompromised by space flight. To those of you who are eager for a trip to Mars, add "immunosuppression" to your list of concerns.

The latest anthropometric data from NHANES have been released — and the picture isn't pretty. Over a period of approximately 20 years, both men and women have added weight, especially around the middle.

Hot enough for you? No problem, just go back inside into your air conditioned house. But animals don't have the same luxuries. Here's how some creatures beat the heat in the hot summer sun.