That Fuzzy Blob Is Not a UFO
Science writer Mick West examines alleged UFO sightings. He finds that they almost always have far more obvious explanations.
Science
Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics and a Tax Resister, Turns 200
Mendel had a history of run-ins with the state.
It's Long Past Time for the FDA To Approve Over-the-Counter Birth Control
Despite experts recommending that birth control be sold over the counter, the U.S. still treats the pill like it's 1960.
Federal Report Adds to the Evidence That Bitemark Analysis Is Nonsense
Forensic techniques are nowhere near as reliable as cops shows pretend.
The Fight To Stop Research Into a Cheap, Effective Backup Plan for Climate Change
Why are activists trying to stop research into a promising backup plan to handle climate change?
Are Paper Bags Really Better for the Environment Than Plastic Bags?
New Jersey is the first state to ban single-use bags made from both plastic and paper, but one is actually worse for the environment than the other.
FDA Approves Updated COVID-19 Booster Shots
But does everyone really need to get boosted?
Leana Wen Accused of 'Unsafe, Ableist, Fatphobic, and Unethical Practices' for Opposing COVID Mandates
The left-leaning commentator wants to get back to normal. So more than 600 experts want to censor her.
When Scientists Are Gullible Activists
Here are some reasons trust in science has been dwindling.
Michael Shermer: 'Women Are Not Just Tits and Ass. There's More to It Than That, a Lot More.'
The best-selling author of Why People Believe Weird Things sees a fundamental clash between wokeness and scientific inquiry.
Michael Shermer: How Scientific American Got Woke
The science writer and journalist talks identity politics, wokeness, trans athletes, and why his goal is to find out what is true rather than to "be right."
Researchers Create Artificial Eggs, Chimeric Sperm, and Synthetic Embryos
All of these advances are in mice for now, but maybe these breakthroughs can one day be adapted as human therapies.
Immortality in the Metaverse
The metaverse platform Somnium Space plans to let its users' personas live on.
Updating Coronavirus Vaccines Is Good, But a Universal Coronavirus Vaccine Would Be Better
Time for a new Operation Warp Speed?
The Case for Drinking
Alcohol facilitates human cooperation and creativity on a grand scale, says Edward Slingerland, a philosophy professor at the University of British Columbia.
COVID-19 'Lab Leak' Origin Theory Merits Further Investigation, Says New WHO Report
But the Chinese government continues to stonewall independent investigations.
Destroying Islamic Fundamentalism With Books
Ideas Beyond Borders is bringing ideas about pluralism, civil liberties, and critical thinking to hotbeds of Islamic extremism.
The FDA Completely Botched Its Response to the Baby Formula Shortage
Plus: Resurrecting an extinct tiger, reviewing the police response to the Uvalde shooting, and more...
The Slaughter-Free Future of Cultured Meats
Real factories are beginning to replace factory farms.
Civilization Runs on Ammonia, Plastic, Steel, and Cement—for Now
Vaclav Smil’s How the World Really Works offers hope and despair for techno-optimists.
America's Nuclear Reluctance
The first innovative nuclear reactors designed by American companies may well begin operation in Eastern Europe before they get built in Idaho.
How 'Cranks' Advance Science
A major lesson of the pandemic is that science is "not a priesthood," says Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer, a general surgeon and senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Facing Fauci's Fury: Q&A with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
The Stanford professor and Great Barrington Declaration coauthor stands up to COVID-19 autocrats and disastrous lockdowns by following the science.
The Feds Spent $22 Million Researching Invisibility Cloaks, UFOs, and a Tunnel Through the Moon
However wonderful it is to imagine a world in which these things are possible, the government shouldn’t be shelling out millions to entertain speculation.
Weather Is Not Climate. Or Is It?
For years, experts warned that any given hurricane or heat wave cannot be attributed to long-term changes in average temperatures. But it turns out that climatologists and meteorologists sometimes can establish such causal relationships.
The Fake-Meat Revolution Has Stalled
Consumer trends suggest a meatless near future is increasingly unlikely.
The American Medical Association Should Help Patients. Instead, It's Policing Language.
Protectionist policies are why the U.S. has few physicians and high prices.
That Study of Face Masks Does Not Show What the CDC Claims
The agency further undermines its credibility by desperately trying to back up conclusions it has already reached.
China's Old Climate Promises Are 'New' Again
The Glasgow Declaration's empty platitudes confirm that China will not be hectored by the U.S. into making any significant changes to its climate policies.
If This Is How America COMPETES, We're Going to Lose
Plus: College students and speech, state-funded pre-K fail, and more...
The CDC Is Finally Acknowledging That N95 Respirators Work Better Than Cloth Masks
Why did it take so long?
One Step Closer to Kidney Transplants From Pigs
Researchers are making great progress overcoming the problems that have long plagued attempts at xenotransplantation.
Rochelle Walensky Said an Antigen Test Is a Good Tool for 'Judging Infectiousness.' Now She Says 'Its Information Will Not Be Useful.'
The CDC director's explanation of her agency's confusing advice about home COVID-19 testing is hard to understand.
It's COVID Year 3 and the CDC Is Still Confused and Confusing
Plus: Conspiracy theory research, student loan forgiveness, and more...
RIP, 'Pandemic of the Unvaccinated'
Farewell to a Biden White House messaging strategy that was terrible long before Omicron
The CDC Director's Slippery Response to Criticism of School Mask Mandates Further Undermines Her Agency's Credibility
Rochelle Walensky willfully ignores the weaknesses of a study she repeatedly cited to justify "universal masking" of students.
Why Does Bernie Sanders Think Billionaires Should Get Out of Space?
Today's highly successful space race "is not something for two billionaires to be directing," says Sanders, who favors the government spending taxpayer money to do the same damn thing (but more slowly).
Nicholas Christakis: How To End the Covid Pandemic
Misinformation and bad policy can only be defeated by robust, open debate in the public square.
There Would Be a Lot More Good News if Government Would Get Out of the Way
"The quality of life we have even during COVID is so much higher than anything humanity experienced, and it's only going to get better."
Steven Pinker: Rationality Saves Lives
The Harvard linguist says Enlightenment reasoning is central to both material and moral progress.
The Last Duel Is More Than a Medieval #MeToo
Ridley Scott's jousting film is also a slyly subversive take on cultural perspectives.
Can Antibiotic Goop and an Army of Divers Save Florida's Ailing Coral Reefs?
How an innovative collaboration could help bring back America's only barrier reef from the brink of destruction.
FDA Vaccine Approval Delays Are Deadly
The vaccines seem to be working well, but the FDA isn't.
40 Ways Things Are Getting Better
"What has gotten materially better in America in, say, the last twenty years?" So! Much!
The CDC's Framing of Homicide and Suicide As 'Public Health' Issues Provides Cover for Biden's Gun Control Agenda
The agency returns to a research area where it has caused much controversy in the past.
A New York Times Reporter Claims Americans Distrust the Government's COVID-19 Advice Because They Don't Understand How Science Works
If so, public health officials have compounded the problem with disingenuous arguments, dubious policy shifts, and misleading statements.
