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A new opinion article in Biology Letters – "Studying placebo effects in model organisms will help us understand them in humans" – dives into the possibility of studying the placebo effect in animals other than humans.

Postpartum depression of varying degrees is obviously real but it has everything to do with lack of sleep and an abundance of stress. It has nothing to do with whether or not a placenta was eaten. And the risks are not worth it, considering the case study of a child who got sepsis twice because of placenta pills showed.

It's an ongoing debate: Can breakfast help deter obesity? Some research has found no connection. But a recent study of Spanish adults suggests that breakfast-eaters have a lower risk of developing abdominal obesity, the most dangerous kind.
 

A single injection of a potential drug makes green lizards turn black in one minute. It's because the drug turns on the production of melanin, a colored pigment that protects us from sunlight. Could this drug reduce our chances of getting melanoma? Maybe. 
 

1. In Wall Street Journal, Dr. Alex Berezow talked about how reliant we are on GPS. Technology is a great thing, of course, and I bet we would adjust pretty rapidly without it, but there would be a lot of tourists in Washington, DC looking for the White House and ending up at the other 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that is four miles away. That's how goofy the nation's capitol is laid out.

Being an astronaut is a hazardous job. Not only are they exposed to higher levels of radiation and the fury of Earth's atmosphere upon re-entry, they must also handle a nearly 2° F increase in core body temperature.

French President Emmanuel Macron has declared he will ban the American herbicide glyphosate within three years, and sooner if a replacement is ready. Italy has vowed to do the same. Activists have said the replacement is already available, and it has been used in France since 1863 - a fatty acid called pelargonic (a.k.a. nonanoic, because of the nine carbon atoms) acid.

When confronted with the truth, a prominent science journalist claimed that facts don't matter in op-eds. Science journalism is dead.

President Eisenhower's concern about the growing "military-industrial complex," referenced in his 1961 farewell address, became part of the cultural lexicon. But less well known is Ike's second warning, about manipulation of academia by political interests, which would change the nature of the “free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery.”

Clostridium difficile infections are terrible, because they are both debilitating and very costly. But researchers are now considering the use of an unexpected tool that might prevent these infections. 

A website that's purportedly focused on rigorous science journalism has published a conspiratorial anti-glyphosate rant, written by an environmental activist with no relevant academic credentials.

It would almost be hilarious if it weren't so scary. The CDC warned of the possibility that raw milk from the Udder dairy might be contaminated with Brucella bacteria. These bugs can cause miscarriage in pregnant women and illness in everyone. And all this for the unproven and unlikely benefits of raw milk!

Bravo and Andy Cohen have a wonderful opportunity to start an overdue conversation on misuse of medications and the dangers of polypharmacy.

A convicted war criminal, appealing his conviction in a courtroom in The Hague, stood up, proclaimed his innocence and swallowed some unknown liquid which killed him soon after. There's no information about what the poison was, or even what his symptoms were. Here's our guess about what went down.
 

A new computer algorithm may reduce the radiation we receive from medical imaging by a lot. But should we worry about the harmful effects of radiation we receive during medical testing?
 
 
 

As a result of using fertilizer to increase production, cranberry farmers in southeastern Massachusetts ended up with too much phosphorus in water run-off that created potentially-harmful algae growth downstream. Observing this, a researcher from the U.S. Department of Agriculture came up with a sensible and straightforward solution. 

Utilizing speech recognition could allow information to automatically be placed in medical records. That would allow doctors to get back to providing care, instead of performing data entry. 
 

It's quite easily right at the top of the list. In fact, the scientific method is designed precisely to answer it. Rigorously following a procedure involving observation, hypothesis and tightly-controlled experimentation is what separates science from all other disciplines. OK, you ask, so what's the question? Just click here to find out. 

The people at the FDA probably never thought that they would have to officially state that DIY gene editing should not be done. But, they were wrong. People have not only started making HIV gene therapies in their living rooms, but, when they start injecting themselves on FB live, the FDA had to step in.

Earning a living in science has been "uneven" (let's be kind) over the past 15 years. In 2008, in the middle of what would be known as the Great Recession, a chemist with the pseudonym Chemjobber started a blog about finding science jobs. He is now widely followed and we thank him for speaking with us about his experience.  

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that consumption of peanuts and tree nuts – especially walnuts – is associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. That conclusion isn't surprising since a number of the same authors reached it several years ago.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

If marijuana is now a "recreational drug" then what about its second-hand smoke? Does it get ignored? Is there some science to apply in making an informed decision?

Coin collecting is a nice, peaceful, and generally-safe activity. But not when you swallow them. Throw in a few razor blades and an iron shackle and it gets a bit riskier. But is it as risky as a Chipotle meal? 
 

Here's news of a study that's worth reading. And you might want to pour yourself a hot cup of joe while doing so. Researchers report that moderate coffee drinking provided many health benefits, and that any shortcomings from consumption were greatly outweighed by its positive effects.

We expect bacteria to be almost everywhere. New research shows that even though there are bacteria living in ice cubes, those same bacteria cannot survive in whisky. So, the next time that you want to have a scotch, go ahead and throw in the rocks.