Last year I visited a pharma lab with no benches, no pipettes—just algorithms. In a short repot Overmatter, I give a high-level view of how GSK, Insilico, and others are using AI to design drugs, run virtual trials, and even create “digital patients.” open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

Decades of social media harms on kids and this token move by social media firms ONLY when governments start legislating. This 👉 PR-driven stunt has done more than anything to convince me of the need government action now. They could have done this years ago but chose not to bother.

Last year I visited a pharma lab with no benches, no pipettes—just algorithms. In a short repot Overmatter, I give a high-level view of how GSK, Insilico, and others are using AI to design drugs, run virtual trials, and even create “digital patients.” open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

This is just the most awful story imaginable. Right down to the detail where he is obliged to agree that he was carrying an offensive weapon because of the stick he used as a visually disabled person.

"Should Ford remain deployed until mid-April, it would have broken the post-Vietnam War 294-day record for carrier deployments ... If the carrier is out until early May, it would match the 300-day-plus deployments that carriers conducted to the Gulf of Tonkin" news.usni.org/2026/02/17/c...

This is a really great piece about how being a Congressman is a really crummy job. www.economist.com/united-state...

A Substack post that is going viral about how not to go viral (and live longer). open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

Not a good look. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Palantir sues magazine that revealed Switzerland rejected its approaches

A very popular post about which injectable will actually increase your longevity. overmatter.substack.com/p/your-anti-...

A very popular post about which injectable will actually increase your longevity. overmatter.substack.com/p/your-anti-...

Ethics.

Check out our Executive Director Emer Cooke's podcast recommendations this month 🧪 @economist.com @natashaloder.bsky.social bit.ly/4s4J245

I just paid for the shingles vaccine for precisely this reason! plus shingles is nasty and i want to avoid it if poss.

I just told my son about the craze for injecting random peptides bought on the internet and he said "meanwhile people are worried about getting vaccinations", and I thought "job done". I've always thought the most under-rated milestone in childhood development is when their BS receptors fire up.

Longevity influencers tell millions to take rapamycin, sit in hyperbaric oxygen chambers, blast themselves with red light therapy, and take 50+ supplements daily. Meanwhile something that cuts dementia risk by 20% is invisible. overmatter.substack.com/p/your-anti-...

I just told my son about the craze for injecting random peptides bought on the internet and he said "meanwhile people are worried about getting vaccinations", and I thought "job done". I've always thought the most under-rated milestone in childhood development is when their BS receptors fire up.

Incredible good news here, especially if, like me, you are in your early 50s with a close relative with dementia. The shingles vaccine cuts the risk of dementia by 20%!

Big news in psychedelic meds. Compass Pathways has reported two highly statistically significant Phase 3 results for its COMP360 psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression, putting it in pole position to become the first FDA-approved classic psychedelic. ir.compasspathways.com/News--Events...

We live in a bizarre world where longevity influencers tell millions to take rapamycin, sit in hyperbaric oxygen chambers, blast themselves with red light therapy, and take 50+ supplements daily. Meanwhile something that cuts dementia risk by 20% Is invisible. open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

We live in a bizarre world where longevity influencers tell millions to take rapamycin, sit in hyperbaric oxygen chambers, blast themselves with red light therapy, and take 50+ supplements daily. Meanwhile something that cuts dementia risk by 20% Is invisible. open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

Another day training the algorithms to replace me.

“I find few reasons to be optimistic — between profound regulatory uncertainty, a challenging funding environment, and weakened trust in basic science, it’s tough to see how the industry will improve.” endpoints.news/bat-sht-craz...

"The FDA is just making things up as they go along and not following normal procedures, and we are just stuck on this rollercoaster.” endpoints.news/bat-sht-craz...

The world service really matters. It’s such an important voice available everywhere around the world.

Ffs! This is such a scandal. Just fund the WS properly when democracy is under such threat globally

A really disturbing development at the FDA with a new mRNA flu shot. www.statnews.com/2026/02/10/f...

We don’t know how to have babies safely off planet.

We got lettuce PM from a stitch up organised by MPs. No thank you to whatever your mates are planning.

👉 Labour MPs are playing a game of who to crown as new PM. With backstabbing and Machinations worthy of Mandleson.

All this fuss about Mandleson and he really was the perfect choice.

Back in 2024, I wrote for @economist.com about a then‑emerging idea: that metabolism and mental health are deeply intertwined. The brain is an energy‑hungry organ, and when energy pathways go awry, mood and thinking often do too. www.economist.com/science-and-...

Back in 2024, I wrote for @economist.com about a then‑emerging idea: that metabolism and mental health are deeply intertwined. The brain is an energy‑hungry organ, and when energy pathways go awry, mood and thinking often do too. www.economist.com/science-and-...

Great analysis. It was also clear from the beginning it wouldn't work. Guy's and St Thomas's was the model for all this, but after starting the programme the trust's wait times fell slower than the national average and the theatre staff went on strike...

This really happened—> #PR

Example of a PR pitch this morning using AI to try to flatter me: You have a clear instinct for identifying when growth in a sector begins to alter professional norms and competitive behavior, which is why I wanted to reach out to you directly.

Greetings from Abu Dhabi and the Enhanced Games Training camp.

Greetings from Abu Dhabi and the Enhanced Games Training camp.

i see no reason as to why we shouldn’t use medicines to live better lives rather than fix disease. My concern comes with allocating resources efficiently. Take GLP1s, transformative for many obese people who are priced out of the market by generally healthy people who want to look a bit better.

Attacks on politicians, whether left or right, are unacceptable.

An interesting debate. It would be great to have some real engagement in this important question

Do try this! And report back here!

Right. Am going to try this. Greyscale my phone to make it less interesting.

Genuine question for people who think Enhanced Games is drug abuse: is taking HRT to slow aging drug abuse?

Two bits of wisdom from my children today. 1. turn your iphone to greyscale to make it less appealing to engage with and reduce screen time 2. Water is lava You are welcome

The Enhanced Games is a big event this year. Whether you like it or loathe it I'm going to be covering it. It is like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. But if you don't want to read what I have to say about it, feel free to mute me.

Psst! The Enhanced Games is coming this year. Next week in Abu Dhabi I'll be talking to athletes and scientists at a training camp. To read more Subscribe to my newsletter> overmatter.substack.com/subscribe My previous report on enhanced athletes: overmatter.substack.com/p/boosted-to...

Psst! The Enhanced Games is coming this year. Next week in Abu Dhabi I'll be talking to athletes and scientists at a training camp. To read more Subscribe to my newsletter> overmatter.substack.com/subscribe My previous report on enhanced athletes: overmatter.substack.com/p/boosted-to...

A free copy of The World Ahead 2026, and a gift link to my most popular piece from last year, on alcohol, to the 1,000 subscriber of my Substack Overmatter. Overmatter is about how modern life is being rewired by drugs, technologies, and changing ideas about health. overmatter.substack.com

A free copy of The World Ahead 2026, and a gift link to my most popular piece from last year, on alcohol, to the 1,000 subscriber of my Substack Overmatter. Overmatter is about how modern life is being rewired by drugs, technologies, and changing ideas about health. overmatter.substack.com

I mean, at this stage, the biggest risk to global peace has to be the existence of the Nobel Peace Prize, right?