Why Do We Still Pretend Diets Work?
Everyone sort of knows that diets peter out. Eventually you stop following them, and the weight comes back. What most people don’t know is that they often lead to weight…
The Weekly Pulse: What’s With Periods and the Vaccine?; Biden Allows Fetal Tissue for Research; Chauvin Verdict “Accountability, Not Justice”
Overall, it’s clear menstruating people need to be included in clinical trials—the lack of data on the subject means we can’t know for sure one way or another how the…
In Search of Lost Smell and Taste
“Even though we don’t pay that much attention to our sense of smell, as humans we’re constantly engaged subconsciously with the smells in our world, and that gives us a…
What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines, Birth Control, and Blood Clots
The blood clots that might be linked to the new vaccines are part of a condition known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), and they have not been well studied.…
Syphilis, sex and fear: How the French disease conquered the world
It got its name in the mid 16th century from a poem by a Renaissance scholar: its eponymous hero Syphilus, a shepherd, enrages the Sun God and is infected as…
There Is Little Evidence That Mass Transit Poses a Risk of Coronavirus Outbreaks
“many have blamed subways and buses for coronavirus outbreaks, but a growing body of research suggests otherwise.” The piece noted that epidemiologists use the term “cluster” to describe major coronavirus…
Medicine Is Getting More Precise … For White People
In the past, many of humanity’s individual variations were invisible to us, but today, new technology offers us a way to peer into each person’s genome, allowing doctors to personalize…