Can Nicotine Treat COVID-19? French Researchers Think So.
Plus: abortion bans defeated again, Peter Thiel company gets contact tracing contract, and more...
Science
Can a Negative COVID-19 Test Be Trusted?
Preliminary research suggests that commonly used procedures frequently fail to detect the virus.
What's Up With All the Contradictory Advice About COVID-19 and Face Masks?
The combination of limited evidence and conflicting priorities has resulted in whipsawing messages from experts.
When Should Lay Voters Defer to the Views of Scientists?
My 2015 post on this subject includes points relevant to our current situation.
American Heart Association Journal Finally Retracts Study Implying That E-Cigarettes Cause Heart Attacks Before People Use Them
The journal's editors recognized the problem before publication, but the authors failed to address it.
U.S. Fertility Reaches All-Time Low as People Choose Things Other Than Children
The global total fertility rate fell by more than half, from 5 births per woman in 1960 to 2.4 today. But don't panic!
8 Months Later, This Journal Still Hasn't Corrected Its Study Implying That E-Cigarettes Magically Cause Heart Attacks Before People Use Them
The Journal of the American Heart Association has responded to critics with nothing but boilerplate promises of scientific integrity.
How Truth Became a Casualty of the War on Smoking
Different types of nicotine consumption pose different amounts of risk.
The Vaping Panic Is a Major Setback for Public Health
"There's no question public health would benefit dramatically if everybody switched completely to e-cigarettes."
Study Finds Almost 40 Percent of People in Eight European Nations Would Like to Live "in a World Where Chemical Substances Don't Exist"
Such scientific ignorance is common in th US as well, and can have a harmful influence on government policy.
If Biden Won't Support Legalization Until We Know Whether Marijuana Is a 'Gateway Drug,' He Will Never Support Legalization
The correlation between cannabis consumption and use of other drugs is clear, but its meaning remains controversial and probably always will.
Environmental Protection Agency
Is Trump's EPA Seeking To Gut Good Science?
Congress wants to know if the agency is strengthening transparency or silencing science.
Study: Styrofoam Might Last Only Decades, Not Millennia, in the Ocean
Researchers from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution say that sunlight can break down polystyrene within a few decades.
The Latest Fight Over Eating Meat Ignores These 4 Essential Nutrition Truths
Don't let the lack of consensus on nutrition keep you from striving for a better way to eat.
Think Globally, Shame Constantly: The Rise of Greta Thunberg Environmentalism
Her future—and that of the planet—hasn't been "stolen" and the best way forward is through serious policy discussion, not histrionics.
Stossel: Life Is Better Than Ever
Don't believe news reports—we're healthier, richer, and safer than ever before.
Are Hookahs More Dangerous Than Cigarettes, or Does Misleading University Publicity Generate Inaccurate Reporting?
The sexiest discoveries are often the ones not found in the actual study.
The Apollo Missions Were Cool, But Private Enterprise Has Been Better for Innovation
People are happier, healthier, and wealthier because freer markets have opened the floodgates of innovation, research, and development.
Bayer to Waste $5.6 Billion Trying to Appease Anti-Pesticide Activists
This will fail and more pressing problems will be neglected
The Case for Designer Babies
We already give our kids music lessons, braces, and tutoring. Why not also give them better genes?
How To Crush 'the Tyranny of Metrics'
Historian Jerry Z. Muller says we waste too much time fixating on measurements that lead us astray.
New Research Shows the European Union's Anti-GMO Rules Are Ridiculously Bad
“Neither de facto [GMO] bans nor mandatory labeling can be justified.”
Are Humans Predisposed by Evolution To Get Along?: Podcast
In Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, Nicholas Christakis says natural selection "prewires" us for peaceful co-existence.
States Sue Over School Lunch Changes, Say They're Not Scientific Like the Obama Rules Based on Retracted Nutrition Studies
Plus: Pete Buttigieg says no to "free college," and the problems with Elizabeth Warren's plan to jail business execs
Remy: Affluenflammation (Red Hot Chili Peppers Parody)
When quality of life improved, doctors discovered a new affliction.
A New Study About Roundup and Cancer Doesn't Say What You Probably Think It Does
Is this just another example of epidemiologists torturing the data until they confess to a spurious but headline-grabbing statistical significance?
Choosing Smart Embryos Isn't Immoral
It would be deeply immoral to require parents to select for particular traits, but it is also wrong to deny them the chance to make life easier for their children.
The Future of Science: Podcast
Michael Shermer, Ron Bailey, and Jim Epstein talk poverty-eradication, genomics, and blockchain at Reason's 50th anniversary celebration
It's OK To Make Money on Genetic Research
Companies should be applauded, not criticized, for working to identify the genetic roots of diseases that afflict humanity.
Proposed U.N. Test Ban on Gene Drives Is Idiotic
The good news is that anti-technology activists are unlikely to succeed in imposing a global moratorium.
Men and Women Are Less Alike in More Feminist Countries
Places that score high for gender equality also show more sex differences on personality tests.
No, Trump Staffers Shouldn't Be Subject to a Lie Detector Dragnet to Find the 'Resistance' Mole
Rand Paul betrays his civil libertarian principles when he calls for using junk science to ferret out disloyalty.
Michael Shermer on Why Even Scientists, Transhumanists, and Atheists Want To Believe in Heaven: Podcast
One of the world's top skeptics of religion casts a cold eye on secular attempts to create utopia and immortality.
Heterodox Academy Fights For Intellectual Freedom and Diversity Among Professors: Podcast
Deb Mashek explains why intellectual diversity can't be optional if we're serious about higher education.
People Are Getting Dumber: The Flynn Effect Goes Into Reverse
Is it genes, or have we "started building a stupidity-inducing environment"?
Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, and the Cult of Silicon Valley
In Bad Blood, Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou explains why Silicon Valley's mystique makes suckers out of billionaires.
Don't Worry About That Diet Soda Habit: Artificial Sweeteners Are Harmless, Say Scientists
After years of being blamed for weight gain and metabolic issues, zero-calorie sweeteners and the drinks they flavor are being absolved.
Writing Sex Offender Laws Based on Fake Recidivism Numbers Is Rational, Court Says
The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously upholds a law banning sex offenders from public parks.
Before Busybodies Opposed Home Genome Testing, They Fought Against Home Pregnancy Tests
History shows we have everything to gain from knowing more about our bodies.
Steven Pinker Thinks Pope Francis Is a Problem, Nuclear Power Is a Solution, And We All Need Enlightenment Now!
The author of The Better Angels of Our Nature is back with a bold new book defending humanism, progress, and capitalism.
Iconic Physicist Stephen Hawking Has Died
The world was a better place because he was in it.
Does That JAMA Study Really Show That Advil Is Just As Effective As Opioids?
Since responses to pain treatment vary widely, it is hazardous to draw broad conclusions from a single study.
