Upholding a Vaccine Mandate, the 9th Circuit Embraces an Alarmingly Broad Definition of 'Public Health'
The appeals court held that the government may require COVID-19 shots based purely on the benefits to recipients.
Science
Science Needs Dissent: NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya on COVID, Autism, and Climate Change
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya defends open disagreement, criticizes groupthink, and argues that democracy depends on our ability to speak and listen across political and scientific divides.
Did USAID Really Save 90 Million Lives? Not Unless It Raised the Dead
A Lancet study’s inflated numbers are being used to push a partisan narrative, not inform public policy.
Although Meth Is Irresistible, The New York Times Says, Addicts Often Prefer Small Cash Rewards
The success of "contingency management" belies the notion that addiction is an uncontrollable disease caused by a drug's impact on dopamine levels.
The Depopulation Bomb
What if the challenge for humanity’s future is not too many people on a crowded planet, but too few people to sustain the progress that the world needs?
Jurassic World Rebirth Chases Summer Movie Nostalgia
In this painfully mediocre Jurassic Park franchise placeholder, even the hypocrisy is nostalgic.
No, That Viral Study Doesn't Show You Can Improve Your Mental Health by Deactivating Instagram
While a viral post called the results “shocking,” the study itself found little evidence that social media use harms mental health.
Despite What Robert F. Kennedy Wants You To Think, Cell Phones Do Not Cause Brain Cancer
Unfortunately, the director of Health and Human Services leads a movement prone to untrue beliefs on medical matters from cell phones to vaccines, pesticides, and genetically modified crops.
Does Drug Use Lead to Addiction, or Are Some Brains More Prone To Use Drugs?
Researchers argue that "we may need to reevaluate the causal assumptions that underlie brain disease models of addiction."
SCOTUS Upholds Tennessee Law Banning Medical Transition for Transgender Kids
With the culture war blazing, not even the Supreme Court could agree on the medical facts of the case.
Lab-Grown Salmon Gets FDA Approval
States keep banning lab-grown meat. Entrepreneurs keep innovating anyway.
The Dreadful Policies Halting Archeological Discoveries
Italy is full of treasures from the ancient world, but its government is discouraging their discovery.
Photo: Dire Wolf De-extinction
A biotech company used DNA from thousands of years ago to clone three wolf pups that resemble the extinct dire wolf.
Is Donald Trump To Blame for a COVID Lab Leak?
Criticisms of the president's alleged flip-flopping on gain-of-function research funding miss some key context.
Eisenhower Warned Us About the 'Scientific Elite'
The Trump administration's plans to slash science funding could end up liberating researchers from the corrupting influence Dwight Eisenhower warned about.
When the U.S. Military Gave People Radiation Poisoning
"We did a lot of field studies and got nothing to show for it," said one U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory researcher.
Richard Dawkins: Why Atheism Is Winning
The evolutionary biologist challenges modern dogmas, defends scientific objectivity, and warns against the rise of ideological orthodoxy in society.
Reason Nominated for 17 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominees include stories on inflation breaking brains, America's first drug war, Afghans the U.S. left behind, Javier Milei, and much more.
A New Survey Suggests Illicit Opioid Use Is Much More Common Than the Government's Numbers Indicate
The survey estimates that 7.5 percent of America adults use illegally produced fentanyl each year, 25 times the rate indicated by a government-sponsored survey.
Trump's Budget Calls for $17 Billion Cut to NIH, Citing Lax Oversight of Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan
The White House budget plan says the agency's failure to prove it was not complicit in a possible lab leak shows it's "too big and unfocused."
Virtual Fencing Can Help Buffalo Roam and Antelope Play
Hundreds of thousands of miles of fences ensnare and sometimes kill wild animals. GPS technology offers an alternative.
4 Apocalypses That Never Were
Climate change is real and may cause real problems. But media outlets keep pushing hysterical myths that don't materialize.
The First Colored Eggs Appeared Long Before Easter
The dinosaur ancestors of birds laid blue, brown, and speckled eggs as far back as 150 million years ago.
3 Apocalyptic Climate Change Predictions That Failed To Come True
Yes, the climate is warming. But, despite what you may have heard, we can deal with it.
Study: Kids With Smartphones Are Less Depressed, Anxious, Bullied Than Peers Without Them
A large new study finds smartphone ownership positively correlated with multiple measures of well being in 11- to 13-year-old kids.
North Carolina Is the Latest State To Try To Restrict Lab-Grown Meat
Cultivated meat isn't challenging slaughtered meat anytime soon. But states keep trying to restrict competition.
Will Jay Bhattacharya Get Gain-of-Function Research Under Control?
The past three administrations have tried and failed to implement binding regulations on risky research that likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Mouse Has Two Biological Dads?!
An experiment with staggering implications for the future of human reproduction.
France Accuses Trump of Booting Space Researcher Over 'Personal Opinion'
Border officials reportedly barred the academic from visiting Texas after finding anti-Trump messages on his phone.
Pandemic Lockdowns Made the World Ruder
The new, coarser world will likely be with us for years to come.
Researchers Used Mosquitos To Deliver Malaria Vaccines
What if mosquitoes could deliver not just the disease but the protection to an infection that kills hundreds of thousands of people annually?
Are COVID-19 Vaccines Safe and Effective?
Five years after Donald Trump declared a national COVID-19 emergency, here's what the research says.
Do Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin Work?
Five years after Donald Trump declared a national COVID-19 emergency, here's what the research says.
Is Science Rigged for the Rich?
A recent study claiming inequality of opportunity in the sciences commits statistical and conceptual errors that make its findings meaningless.
No, HHS Didn't Spend $8 Million 'Making Mice Transgender'
HHS, like all government programs, has plenty of silly and wasteful line items in its budget; there's no need to just make things up.
Alton Brown: A Culinary Legend Offers Food for Thought
The Good Eats host talks about the virtues of Cap'n Crunch, why fusion cooking isn't cultural appropriation, and how Martha Stewart's perfectionism ruined dinner parties.
Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Shows Potential in Early Trial
The five-year survival rate of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is currently 13 percent.
Gambling Addiction Isn't Surging
A new study claims addiction is on the rise because internet searches for gambling terms are increasing.
Photo: The First Nuclear-Powered Battery
A radioactive isotope embedded in a diamond has the potential to power devices for thousands of years.
The Most Controversial Paper in the History of Psychedelic Research May Never See the Light of Day
Researchers gave psilocybin to two dozen religious clergy. Was it guided by science, religion, or some awkward combination?
Why Texas Lawmakers Tried To Stop America's First 'Shaken Baby Syndrome' Execution
Robert Roberson was sentenced to death based on outdated and largely discredited scientific evidence.
Michael Shermer: Conspiracy Thinking, Wokeness, and the Future of Free Thought
The founder of Skeptic magazine discusses whether conspiracy thinking is on the rise and whether it's coded right or left.
A Scary Government Report Implies That Moderate Drinking Is Manifestly Reckless
The focus on the health risks of alcohol consumption gives short shrift to the reasons people like to drink.
Why We Are Still Arguing About the Health Effects of Moderate Drinking
The evidence is vast but open to interpretation because observational studies are inherently ambiguous.
A Rancher Cloned a Giant Sheep. The Feds Jailed Him for Allegedly Risking Ecological Disaster.
Federal prosecutors said creating hybrid animals is "unnatural," yet the practice is common in the game industry.
