~podcast-25-lead-and | Bookmarks (90)

In early 20th century, public health had great success in preventing disease and death. But in the decades that followed, progress stalled when its attempts to integrate with medicine failed. One public health official writes that we need to understand this past to find the way toward a healthier nation.

Over the last few decades, there’s been a shift in the types of diseases causing the most harm around the world: Chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and metabolic disorders have overtaken infectious diseases. Scientists at a new research center say the trend is due to corporate-produced risk factors.

Investigative journalist Charles Piller, in “Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s,” examines compelling evidence that dozens of renowned neuroscientists appear to be responsible for problematic images used in their published studies into the disease.

A list compiled by a group of Senate Republicans last fall, and released to the public earlier this month, identifies thousands of federally-funded projects as “woke DEI” research driven by “far-left” agendas. Many researchers are baffled by their inclusion — and concerned about what the report portends.

Despite containing language about scientific progress and the pursuit of truth, several of the White House’s recent executive orders contradict biological evidence on sex, gender, and race. One geneticist writes that these false claims serve to worsen inequity and cause harm to marginalized groups.

The Plan Nacional de Búsqueda, or National Search Plan, is a highly anticipated initiative harnessing new technologies and scientific techniques to uncover the remains of Chileans abducted and likely killed as part of Pinochet’s infamous, post-coup purge. But the project is plagued by decades of missteps.

In nearly a dozen states with abortion bans, government officials claimed that zero or very few abortions occurred in 2023, the first full year after the Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion rights. For some data scientists, these statistics suggest a troubling trend: the politicization of vital statistics.

In recent years, media coverage has suggested that attacks on science eroded confidence in institutions. But did they? According to the latest research, public trust in scientists mostly survived the first Trump administration — though did take a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. What will happen to it now?

In an interview with Undark, legal expert Ari Cohn says we are heading into uncharted waters in regard to First Amendment rights as social media giants expand their reach and the distinction between public and private actors becomes blurrier on our tech-mediated town squares.

Bird flu has been spreading through U.S. farms, prompting public health departments to prepare for a potential pandemic. Transforming animal agriculture could reduce the risk of such emergencies and align with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pledge to “Make America Healthy Again,” writes one county official.

A recent survey found that one in eight U.S. adults has tried a GLP-1 drug. (Think Wegovy or Zepbound.) The drugs can be effective against obesity and other indications, but high prices and patchy insurance coverage have left them out of reach for many. What would it take to expand access?

The fusion industry is small but expanding. Over the past few years, nearly 50 fusion companies have sprung up, supported by billions of dollars from investors. But it remains to be seen whether these startups will be able to build a reactors the near future capable of generating hundreds of megawatts.

Researchers and scientists are increasingly worried about the fate of federal government health data after the Trump administration took databases and surveys offline in late January, and they fear other federally maintained databases could be the next to vanish.

In “Seven Deadly Sins,” neurologist and sleep doctor Guy Leschziner combs through the science underlying the greatest transgressions in Dante’s Inferno: wrath, lust, pride, greed, envy, sloth, and gluttony. His goal is to “to gain insights into why we do what we do: the biology of being human.”

The president’s executive orders to freeze federal funding and communications have thrown U.S. scientists into uncertainty, signaling the start of a major conflict around the practice of science. C. Brandon Ogbunu writes that defending that practice will require dealing with some uncomfortable truths.

In January, the FDA released new draft guidance for makers of medical devices that measure blood oxygen levels. This data can help determine whether a patient needs treatment, but the devices are not as reliable when used on people with dark skin tones. The new guidance calls for more inclusive clinical trials.

An executive order signed last week intends to limit insurance coverage for trans youth and threatens to withhold funding from hospitals. Transgender people and their advocates are concerned it will discourage prescriptions and medical procedures they consider, in some cases, to be lifesaving.

India extracts more groundwater than any other country worldwide, and more than the U.S. and China combined. Decades of intense monocropping of wheat and rice, encouraged by the country’s Green Revolution, are driving this demand. The impact is coming to the fore in depleted aquifers and rising rates of cancer.

Stefan Kertesz, a physician and longtime critic of overaggressive cutbacks in opioid prescribing for those with chronic pain, says doctors need flexibility in how they treat their patients. “People deserve individualized care,” he told Undark. “I pray for the day when we stop looking for quick fixes.”

Farming kelp has been endorsed as a strategy for removing and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. But the practice has many pitfalls and could shift the delicate nutrient balance of the ocean. One environmental chemist discusses why kelp farming is just a temporary solution for addressing climate change.

Human diets have long included relatively small quantities of microbes — think of the live bacteria in yogurt. But now researchers at universities and dozens of startups across the globe are investigating whether some microbes could serve as a caloric substitute for eggs, milk, flour, and other ingredients.

President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders and other actions on health care soon after reentering office. Other than signaling he intends to reverse many of Joe Biden’s moves, the orders will have little immediate impact.

PFAS are known as forever chemicals because of their environmental persistence, but as a mother, I also see their multigenerational persistence. Once a person is exposed to the toxicants, they bioaccumulate, and future generations will also be affected.

The danger from large-scale asteroid impacts is not the stuff of science fiction. As new space technologies evolve to detect, deflect, or obliterate asteroids entirely, polls show that funding for planetary defense has long had strong bipartisan support both inside and outside of Congress.