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In the United States, we live in an affluent culture whose standard of living is high compared to other nations. Yet, we fail to be grateful for the advances in food science and biotechnology we benefit from, which frees us from the day-to-day task of our food production. One of the major phobias consumers struggle with is related to pesticides.

What happens when you freeze, and then thaw, milk? Visible evidence suggests that it turns into spit-up. But is that what's going on? And why would anyone care? Read on, but only if you have nothing better to do.

Human factors in North Pole efficiency, the cost-effectiveness of Christmas, would we see evolution differently if Darwin played Go, our friends the T-cell, and why it is difficult to separate economics from the form of government we choose.

The rainbow that hung over Scotland’s Kingdom of Fife for a half-hour yesterday stunned me.

Medicine is conservative. We need good, thoughtful reasons to change our approaches to care – a philosophy that we believe has served our patients well. But COVID-19 put that idea on the back burner, especially in the early days of 2020. That was when we had no idea what was wrong and what to do -- and when we threw everything into the effort. How quickly was medicine able to grasp a different approach?

One of the concerns frequently raised by our readers -- and by the public, in general -- is the accuracy and reliability of hospitalizations caused by COVID-19. A new study provides some much-needed clarity (with a bit of misdirection on the side).

With the press flooded with futuristic phantasms of using CRISPR-Cas 9 to genetically engineer "designer" children -- by creating human-induced hereditable mutations -- it's easy to lose sight of ethical, legal, and moral issues arising from currently existing technology. Will we be tempted to "improve" our genetic destiny, and who decides which improvements to make? And who gets them? Are we mature enough as a society to eschew decisions leading to claims of eugenic determinism? And what about the social justice concerns?

Is brown sugar healthier than white sugar? Is honey good for you? How about bean sprouts and lemon water? Strange menu, no?

As two vaccines begin to roll out, the angst previously directed at when this will happen is being quickly transferred to questions of how, and to whom. A new opinion piece suggests some nudges that might make the process of delivering more than a half-billion jabs possible.

Millions of consumers believe that organics are more nutritious than conventionally grown foods. But this defies basic plant physiology.

While there are many ways of spreading COVID-19, the best medical analysis currently is that the virus is transmitted via airborne events from aerosols. (That's a fancy term for breathing.) Perhaps, to stay safe, we might strategically avoid moments that produce the most aerosols.

Drs. Jeffrey Singer and Josh Bloom just published an op-ed in the Philidelphia Inquirer about the pointless and inhumane treatment that pain patients must endure in the name of fighting the "opioid epidemic." Except it's nothing of the sort. We are having a "street drug epidemic." This is why people are dying, not from prescription analgesics.

Recently we've experienced a trifecta regarding the issue of mortality associated with fine particles (PM2.5, i.e., particles with median diameters less than 2.5 millionths of a meter). Let's take a more in-depth look behind the headlines.

The FDA announced Emergency Use approval for the first at-home test for COVID-19. How does it work, and how accurate might it be?

Even in the time of COVID-19, antibiotic resistance remains a problem. Is it a particle or a wave? - turns out it may be neither. Zombies get all the press, but are vampires the real problem? Theory or practice? Finally, more on the science of gift-giving.

Sixth nerve palsy simply means paralysis of the sixth cranial nerve. What causes it, and can it be fixed? My dad is about to find out.

The COVID vaccine is out -- and no one needs it more than the elderly. But vaccines don't work as well in older people. A group at Oxford is trying to address this by adding a simple (but nasty-smelling) naturally-occurring chemical that makes damaged cells eat themselves.

Vaccinations are finally here but it could be well into 2021 until we reach herd immunity. What to do in the meantime? Dr. Henry Miller argues that this is precisely the right time to try to "flatten the curve" again. Miller also argues that doing so is essential to economical health, not contrary to it.

New research debunks the notion that chronotype is a binary choice between "morning people" and "night owls." It also shows that a substantial number of people, if not an outright majority, are not energetic in the morning. It's time to end the tyranny of early birds.

Many people have a very legitimate question: "Should I get immunized with the coronavirus vaccine if I already had COVID?" The answer is yes.

Vaccines have advantages over natural infections. For one, they can be designed to focus the immune system against specific antigens that elicit better responses.

What do we know about the impact of COVID-19 on the physical health of health care personnel? Precious little. And we know even less about the psychological toll. Here are a few insights.

The Pew Research Center released a survey of 12,648 Americans on their current views on COVID-19. The headline was the increasing interest in vaccinations, up now to 60% of those surveyed, since Pfizer and Moderna's announcements. But the headline left a lot of great information "below the fold," if mentioned at all. This special edition of Every Picture Tells A Story shares a few of the salient findings.

More and more states are legalizing recreational marijuana, a drug that remains difficult to detect at a traffic stop. The only data to suggest that marijuana has played a role in motor vehicle accidents is the slight rise in accidents after legalization. But ask a stoner - do a few tokes impair driving? Let's follow the science.

The governor of Washington State has canceled Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, and about 20% of Seattle's restaurants and bars have closed permanently. The governor's arbitrary policies, such as banning indoor dining while allowing customers to eat inside tents, deserve part of the blame. Photographs put the absurdity on stark display.