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Check it out: the latest sleep device from Apple — the Sleep Pill for Sense, sits on your nightstand, helps you fall asleep, and helps you wake up at consistent times each day.

Lost in the synthetic-natural debate is something that actually matter. It is called semisynthesis, and it has saved many lives. Here's how it works. 

Even if you have healthy, adult teeth and gums your dentist may recommend X-rays be taken every year. The dental profession, however, says otherwise. Annual preventive X-rays, called bitewings, for healthy dental patients are not necessary, according to the American Dental Association.

Rice goes with chicken. Rice goes with shrimp. Rice goes with beans, and with Chinese food, too.
But R.I.C.E. is also the most essential serving for ankle sprains, yet for one in two of the millions of Americans who are annually hobbled by a misstep, this recuperative dish is not even on their post-injury menu. 
The well-known acronym stands for the four-step treatment that should be administered following any ankle injury:

It's a longstanding myth that suicides increase during the holiday season. Regardless, suicide is a major public health threat impacting all ages, careers, genders, and socioeconomic strata at alarming rates – throughout the calendar year.

You better hope that Santa doesn't leave you lipstick under the tree. Because if he does, according to the Environmental Working Group, you'll never see Easter.

On the 12th Day of Christmas ACSH gave to me 12 swimmers cupping....
 

To start the second week of our Christmas song, we're presenting seven wacky weight-loss diets — ranging from blood types to tapeworms — that have all reached fad proportions at some point. Read them ... and avoid them!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas, ACSH-style ... 

Dr. Kabat, a cancer epidemiologist at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine, explains how we are scared of the wrong things – and why. A compelling read, and a must for anyone wanting to take a critical look at the mass of conflicting information we're constantly bombarded with.

When submitting a scientific manuscript to a journal for review, it's usually safe to say that the worst possible outcome is that it will be rejected. However, a far worse fate is indeed possible – plagiarism – and it happened to Dr. Michael Dansinger. 

Do you "hold the fries?" You might want to if your pants buttons start blowing off. But don't do so because of a deep-fried, phony chemical scare: acrylamide. 

A new study published in JAMA details the U.S. county-level trends in mortality rates for major causes of death. While a bit flawed, it's a step in the right direction as regional health disparity is often way more vital to informing policy than national tendencies.

The Food and Drug Administration told Swedish Match that its snus tobacco product will not receive a MRTP designation, as a Modified Risk Tobacco Product. Snus, a small packet of moist tobacco used orally, is popular in Sweden, which has a substantially lower rate of cigarette-related death and disability than other European Union nations.

By now, anyone even slightly versed in health issues understands that cigarette smoking can irretrievably damage the lungs — whether via lung cancer or other disease processes. Even those who've never smoked may develop these conditions. A recent study indicates that never-smoking women are more likely to develop COPD than never-smoking men.

It is that time of year, and some will talk about fire safety around Christmas trees. But why no mention of the possible dangers in celebrating Chanukah – which begins on Dec. 24 and ends on Jan. 1? Let's fix that. 

How about an invention that will benefit everyone? 
They don't come along very often, but with a little luck Dr. George Bonheyo (1) and his group at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) might have something very big on their hands—a novel way to clean up oil spills, with the aid of chemically modified sawdust.

Maternal opioid use is growing nationally. A new study reflects this, its impact on babies and regional disparities. As a result, babies are suffering withdrawal at alarming rates. Our directives must address the symbiotic relationships that perpetuate the current and intergenerational struggles of families. 

The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to revisit a challenge to the NFL's class-action lawsuit brought by former players. The high court's refusal, which ends a landmark case that began in July 2011, allows for payments approaching $1 billion to start being made this spring to more than 20,000 former players.

To kick off our "12 Days of Christmas" holiday list, highlighting the top stories that we've debunked this year, we start with ... the perennial nuisance, the National Resources Defense Council. Those folks made our 2016 list because they just love scaring people over nothing. Here are a few examples.

Standing on the doorstep of 2017, we can only wonder which anti-science voices will be the loudest next year, as we consider how best to debunk their anti-science messages.

Chiropractors appear to have a "you have it, we treat it" type of philosophy. That makes us question the validity of their far-out claims and wonder about the evidence that's supposed to support their statements. And we are not alone.

More vaccinations mean fewer people are getting preventable diseases. But 2016 was a year filled with the fervor of the anti-vaxxer movement. And alarmingly, that dangerous zeal for stopping this effective public health measure, which helps save the lives of children, looks like it is ramping up as we head into 2017. 

In June, we were besieged with headlines stating that hot drinks cause cancer. It was all due to a letter from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the same letter that overturned its long-standing claim that coffee causes cancer. The bottom line: IARC is confusing. So this holiday season, go ahead and have your coffee -- as hot as you like it.

On the First Day of Christmas, ACSH gave to me... The End of the NRDC
On the Second Day of Christmas, ACSH gave to me... Two Killer Coffees
On the Third Day of Christmas, ACSH gave to me... Three French Fries