[NOTE: Part I can be found here.] Later on in his interview, the philosopher and bioethicist Julian Savulescu has much to say about what humans can do on the biological level to help make the world better, in the general … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Part II here.] As soon as I saw the headline for this article, I thought it might be about Peter Singer. I’ve written at great length about Singer before (see this, this, and this), and the title of the … Continue reading →
When I first heard that the measles outbreak in New York was particularly bad among Orthodox (actually, ultra-Orthodox) Jews, I assumed it was because of some religious prohibition about vaccines in that group. That’s also what I read here and … Continue reading →
For some diseases, not as long as one might think. For other diseases, a really long time. And in addition, it’s not easy to ascertain how long they last, particularly for diseases that have mostly been wiped out and for … Continue reading →
The movie “Unplanned” is about many things, but one thing it’s about is a person changing her mind on an important issue. In this case, the issue is abortion, and the change was from being head of a Planned Parenthood … Continue reading →
Many many decades ago I read about the rare people who don’t feel pain, and learned that it’s a dangerous condition. They tend to hurt themselves and not be aware of it, so they can be in a lot of … Continue reading →
I’ve already expressed my own experience with very low-carb diets, many times. Simply put: I can’t stand them and I lose very little weight on them, and what’s more they make me feel ill. If you say to me “but … Continue reading →
…before they decide they’re not good for you again. That article, about the back-and-forth and back-and-forth on eggs and cardiovascular health, illustrates what’s wrong with most nutritional research in humans. Way too many uncontrolled variables. A reliance on self-reports. No … Continue reading →
Here’s an example of how far the left—and some courts—are willing to go in the fight to offer physical (hormonal) treatments to children who identify as transgender, despite parental objections to the hormones at such a young age: Last Wednesday, … Continue reading →
The brain’s reparative plasticity is especially marked in young people, such as this boy who had one-sixth of his brain removed when he was just six years old: What happened to Collins is a remarkable example of neuroplasticity: the ability … Continue reading →
I was initially startled when I clicked on a link to this New Yorker article and discovered that, although it’s in a brand new issue, it’s written by Oliver Sacks. I have long been a Sacks fan (in addition to … Continue reading →
…says the title of this Atlantic article. Aside from its Zen koan-like contradiction, the title is a little bit misleading—if, like me, you’re old enough to remember that “intuitive eating” as a diet strategy has been around for many decades. … Continue reading →