May 6, 2025 06:01 PM
A scary plastic study should probably be recycled
https://www.acsh.org/news/2025/05/04/sca...cled-49453
INTRO: Lately, the press has feasted on a new Lancet article that concludes that about 350,000 of you are going to die yearly from heart disease brought about by long-term ingestion of di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), a chemical used to soften plastics. The good news is that the study's data are hardly convincing. Why? We need to look at the good and the bad – the numbers behind the study and how they were used... (MORE - details)
The race question
https://theness.com/neurologicablog/the-race-question/
EXCERPT: As a scientific concept – does race exist? Is it a useful construct, or is it more misleading than useful? I wrote about this question in 2016, and my thinking has evolved a bit since then. My bottom line conclusion has not changed – the answer is, it depends. There is no fully objective answer because this is ultimately a matter of categorization which involves arbitrary choices, such as how to weight different features, how much difference is meaningful, and where to draw lines... (MORE - missing details)
‘It’s been a tough period’: NIH’s new director speaks with Science
https://www.science.org/content/article/...ks-science
INTRO (excerpts): When Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya took the helm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on 1 April, the agency was in turmoil. [...] Last week saw no letup for the former Stanford University health economist: NIH and HHS were finalizing a new policy on foreign research funding, preparing for a big announcement on plans to develop universal flu vaccines, and prepping for the release of the president’s 2026 budget proposal, which seeks to slash NIH by about 40%.
But the day before that budget was released, Bhattacharya sat down for an interview with this Science reporter. He was joined by NIH Chief of Staff Seana Cranston, a former Congressional staffer who replaced John Burklow, a 4-decade NIH communications veteran. The encounter was brief, sometimes confrontational, and even personal.
[..] Below are some excerpts from before our conversation was cut short, edited for brevity and clarity... (MORE - details)
https://www.acsh.org/news/2025/05/04/sca...cled-49453
INTRO: Lately, the press has feasted on a new Lancet article that concludes that about 350,000 of you are going to die yearly from heart disease brought about by long-term ingestion of di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), a chemical used to soften plastics. The good news is that the study's data are hardly convincing. Why? We need to look at the good and the bad – the numbers behind the study and how they were used... (MORE - details)
The race question
https://theness.com/neurologicablog/the-race-question/
EXCERPT: As a scientific concept – does race exist? Is it a useful construct, or is it more misleading than useful? I wrote about this question in 2016, and my thinking has evolved a bit since then. My bottom line conclusion has not changed – the answer is, it depends. There is no fully objective answer because this is ultimately a matter of categorization which involves arbitrary choices, such as how to weight different features, how much difference is meaningful, and where to draw lines... (MORE - missing details)
‘It’s been a tough period’: NIH’s new director speaks with Science
https://www.science.org/content/article/...ks-science
INTRO (excerpts): When Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya took the helm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on 1 April, the agency was in turmoil. [...] Last week saw no letup for the former Stanford University health economist: NIH and HHS were finalizing a new policy on foreign research funding, preparing for a big announcement on plans to develop universal flu vaccines, and prepping for the release of the president’s 2026 budget proposal, which seeks to slash NIH by about 40%.
But the day before that budget was released, Bhattacharya sat down for an interview with this Science reporter. He was joined by NIH Chief of Staff Seana Cranston, a former Congressional staffer who replaced John Burklow, a 4-decade NIH communications veteran. The encounter was brief, sometimes confrontational, and even personal.
[..] Below are some excerpts from before our conversation was cut short, edited for brevity and clarity... (MORE - details)