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If you watch TV, ads for Coca-Cola's Smart Water are inescapable. Also inescapable is that the ads suggest that the stuff will make you smart or perhaps offer some other health benefit. But the only thing smart about Smart Water is Coca-Cola's ability to make you shell out money to buy something you could pretty much get from a fire hydrant in Newark.

"It can disappear in a moment," Dr. Chuck Dinerstein said after his near-fatal battle with a pulmonary embolism. How should our mortality influence our worldviews? Unregulated medical devices may put patients in harm's way. Why is the Cleveland Clinic parroting anti-vaping talking points from the Truth Initiative?

The short answer to this question is: If we consider monozygotic (identical) twins, then it's a firm somewhat. A new study looks at the impact of differing leisure time physical activity and twins' health.

I’ve been thinking about Elon Musk’s social platform, Twitter, a lot lately. I wondered how one might keep the public square and identify the village idiots more readily. A new study in Nature’s Human Behavior looks at how knowing the identity of a writer alters our perceptions.

The discharge of ballast water used to balance a ship is a real man-bites-dog story. This is an issue where environmental groups, public health organizations, businesses, trade associations, tribes, and states sing from the same hymnal, yet the EPA refuses to implement meaningful regulations. What is the EPA drinking? It always wants to regulate, even when it shouldn’t.

The American Council on Science and Health recently held its fall meeting of the Board of Trustees, which oversees ACSH’s governance and provides me with great counsel. It is quite a distinguished group. I want to take a moment to introduce our newest trustees, Drs. Nan Hayworth and Mike (Mick) Hitchcock.

Today is Veteran's Day. Although the thoroughly misguided "War on Painkillers," has done more than enough to the American public veterans who are injured suffer even worse. Yet they are told to try "non-pharmacologic" methods before trying even Advil let alone Vicodin. This disgusting practice is hardly the way to honor our veterans.

Last week, the media notified us that airplane seats were being downsized. This is at a time when, for a variety of reasons, we are all upsizing. Here are a few fun facts, including a few the media left out.

Are mental health meds making individuals gain weight faster than you can say "side effects?" The keto diet might just be the secret weapon to keep those pesky pounds at bay, while managing bipolar or schizophrenia symptoms.

It's impossible not to notice the exponential rise in people, posting on social media, plunging into ice-filled bathtubs or extremely cold waters. It's not because they are masochistic, but rather because of the supposed “benefits” that the practice supposedly offers.

Wastewater surveillance for highly pathogenic H5N1 flu virus is a vital tool in pandemic preparedness. To gauge the ongoing threat to humans from the virus, we need to up our game: Wastewater surveillance should be both expanded and more narrowly focused.

The data linking soda taxes to beneficial health outcomes is far murkier than media reports suggest.

Announcement: “Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services recommends Michigan residents and visitors avoid foam on Michigan waterbodies such as lakes, rivers, and streams.” As a former Michigander, I wondered about the scientific basis for avoiding lake foam in all the lakes across Michigan.    

Here's something you won't find on Amazon. Nor is it at the duty-free shops in airports: packaged frozen feces for consumption. Believe it or not, a company called Human Microbes has been buying, packaging, freezing, and reselling the stuff online for people with various gastrointestinal problems. This has the FDA up the company's a$$, which could be #### out of luck before long. Warning: Possibly tasteless!

The following is neither satire nor fiction. California's insane Proposition 65 list contains a number of so-called carcinogens found in coffee. Yet, multiple epidemiological studies conclude that moderate coffee consumption decreases the chances of developing numerous cancers. Only in California could coffee both promote and reduce cancer.

When Average won't suffice, science, a strong-link problem
The body electric
Is the British Museum a crime scene?
Scientific American has been “woke” for over a century

John Batchelor and I discussed the ongoing developments and challenges in addressing COVID-19. We emphasized the importance of staying up-to-date with vaccines, especially for older adults with pre-existing conditions, as I’ve always advised. We talked about the concept of a universal vaccine, which, though difficult to achieve, is actively being researched.

It all began with a grand experiment involving physicians, published in the hallowed pages of the New England Journal of Medicine: a nearly miraculous halving of heart attacks among those taking a low-dose aspirin. New studies have emerged, exploring the changing tides of benefits and harms.

In an invisible dance, micro- and nanoplastics move about ubiquitously, yet unnoticed. These minuscule particles bob and weave into every corner of our existence. Yet, their impact on our respiratory health is unclear. How do these particles navigate the pathways of our respiratory tree, and what does this mean for our well-being?

Genetically engineered bacteria can not only degrade plastic waste, but they can convert it into valuable industrial chemicals. There are still unknowns -- for example, how to do this at scale and how it will be regulated.

Imagine a world where the nuances of religious beliefs intertwine with medical science, shaping the very fabric of healthcare. Welcome to Halalopathy, a concept emerging from a vibrant Islamic culture and pharmaceutical practice.

Vaccine patches should come with the slogan, “No more tears.” Too bad Johnson & Johnson trademarked it for its baby shampoo.

During my recent conversation with John Batchelor, we discussed the ongoing threat of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu, which has been a persistent concern, particularly in Asia, since the early 2000s. Newer variants of the virus have recently posed significant challenges to poultry farmers, especially in Northern California, where millions of birds have been culled to control outbreaks. Of particular concern has been the spread of avian flu to many mammalian species, most recently to dozens of herds of dairy cows in at least 10 states.

We’ve witnessed the opioid addiction crisis suffering through its mismanagement. Now, we face another scourge of addiction – again resulting in untimely deaths of young people while bankrupting and overtaking their emotional lives. This debacle is caused by social media, with recompense and responsibility avoided, and guardrails are yet to be widely implemented.

Metaphors illuminate the complex, yet their light dims with time.
Managers desire control; makers desire time
Historical myths spread far and wide
Peanut butter, a liquid, who would have thought?