LGBTQIA+ People’s Perspectives on LGBTQIA+-Targeted Policies and Mental Health jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... via @jama.com "...participants expressed feelings of chronic worry and hypervigilance, social isolation, and hopelessness and powerlessness..." Alberta situation? Ugh.

I'm a supplement cynic. I assume bunk until proven otherwise (rare). In today's health influencer era, sale of supplements = major red flag! 🚩 Great resource...👇 Supplements: key facts, research studies, & advice journalistsresource.org/home/dietary... by @naseemmiller.bsky.social

Resisting AI slop www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... BIG concern about AI: "...its use in the production or review of research papers could degrade reliability of the scientific literature."

Not needed. Potentially harmful. Less #sleep. Sum: don't. Use of pre-workout dietary #supplements is associated with lower sleep www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "Pre-workout dietary supplements have high levels of caffeine."

Thanks much, @bigthink.com, for picking "The Certainty Illusion" as a 2025 fav! 🙏 10 of Big Think’s favorite books in 2025 open.substack.com/pub/bigthink...

Why are young men ‘T maxxing’ testosterone? theconversation.com/why-are-youn... "...taking testosterone when there’s no medical need has serious health risks." "...trend plays into the insecurities of young men and developing boys..." If not CLINICAL need, potential for real harm.

This Common Vaccine May Slow the Progression of Dementia or Even Prevent It people.com/this-common-... via @people "We’re much more confident that what we’re actually looking at here is cause and effect." #VaccinesWork

How 2025 showcased the power & resilience of #science www.nature.com/articles/d41... A year of chaos. But... "Some stood up for scientific values" Others kept the flame of "evidence-based policymaking burning." Many fed "humanity’s insatiable thirst for knowledge" #GoScience! #ScienceMatters! 💪

PolitiFact labeled 2025 the 'Year of the Lies' www.pbs.org/newshour/sho... @politifact.bsky.social: "The volume & severity of inaccurate claims was just overwhelming..." Lies about vaccines. Lies about Tylenol. Lies about immigration, crime, tariffs. Lies about media bias. Lies. Lies. Lies.

South Carolina serves up another taste of RFK Jr.’s America www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202... "...just a taste of what’s coming" if US follows "reckless path being charted by anti-vaccine activists" like RFK Jr, et al. Alas, scientific realities lost on those driven by ideology.

Exposure = Normalization Study: Shocking headlines spark initial doubt but eventually build belief www.psypost.org/shocking-hea... "...clickbait-style language might hurt credibility in the short term, it may be effective at planting information that people eventually accept as true."

But I'm still waiting for the National Team to call! I'm ready! 💪 Long-term study reveals physical ability peaks at age 35 news.ki.se/long-term-st... "...but it is never too late to start exercising." "...physical activity can slow the decline..." #Move!

So much exploitive & harmful BS... 👇 Cancer Misinformation in 2025: How Viral Narratives Are Putting Patients at Risk oncodaily.com/oncolibrary/... via @oncodaily.bsky.social Watch for lies about: - unproven therapies - conspiracies to withhold unproven therapies - unproven cancer risks - etc.

My best gifts to myself usually involve the joy of reading. This year the theme was an extra appreciation for science & unshakable truth-telling in the face of big lies. Thanks to authors like @michaelemann.bsky.social @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social @brittlestar.com @caulfieldtim.bsky.social etc.

The Damage Kennedy Has Done in Less Than a Year www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/o... “None of these changes are evidence-based” [read: harmful BS] And will “sow confusion, undermine public trust & ultimately drive the nation’s vaccination rates down.” Sum: evil sh*t. #VaccinesWork

🚨 Replacing US vaccine schedule with Denmark’s is negligence www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202... @drdemetre.bsky.social Denmark: small, universal health care, every parent has access to care & every gap is quickly closed US: Millions of uninsured, poor prenatal care, fragmented systems, etc.

“Marina Vance had an E.P.A. grant to help homeowners counter the impact of wildfire smoke, until the agency deemed the research “no longer consistent” with its priorities.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/s...

Stem cells [BS] in your YouTube feed: www.cell.com/stem-cell-re... Influencer with most the most impact: Joe Rogan. He "positioned himself as an explicit online mediator of information about stem cell procedures." "Notably he did so without any acknowledgment of their unproven status."

Political identity drives embrace of BS. Linking personal identity to political issues predicts a preference for extreme candidates www.psypost.org/linking-pers... via @psypost.bsky.social From study: "...as attitudes become more identity relevant, they become more extreme..."

#Cancer #misinformation everywhere... "...exposure to such misinformation was reported by a vast majority of participants." "...underscoring the need for better survivorship communication" Fear & Medical Misinformation Among Patients with Breast Cancer jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Good stuff... 👇 5 lessons about misinformation from ancient Greek and Roman scientist theconversation.com/5-lessons-ab... 1. Start with observations 2. Think critically 3. Acknowledge what you don’t know 4. Science is part of culture 5. Science is for everyone

Regulating DTC #microbiome tests academic.oup.com/jlb/article/... "...often misleading to consumers..." "...the tests lack analytical and clinical validity." "...may have many 'false positive' or 'false negatives' and can harm consumers." Needed: more stringent regulation!

More than 20% of videos shown to new YouTube users are ‘AI slop’, study finds www.theguardian.com/technology/2... Generates "...63bn views & 221 million subscribers..." From study: "...new research shows that 21-33% of YouTube’s feed may consist of AI slop or brainrot videos."

The Role of Doctors Is Changing Forever www.newyorker.com/culture/2025... by @dhruvkhullar.bsky.social "...a thriving profession will set norms, correct itself, and defend against unrestrained commercialization and exploitation."

What motivates conspiracy belief? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Dimensions, include: - Truth-seeking - Group cohesion (eg, weaponizing narratives to scapegoat minority groups) - Cognitive needs (eg, illusory pattern perception) - Content-anomie

Of course, biggest factors in a long & healthy life: luck, socioeconomics, luck, and more luck! Remember to pick your parents & socio-economic situation carefully!

I've worked in this space for so long that I get too grumpy about these kinda "healthy" lists... Reality (my take): we've long known all about the basics, including... 1) Exercise 2) Real food 3) Sleep 4) Prevention (vaccines, don't smoke, etc) 5) Community! www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

🚨 Important piece. Agree! How Culture, Incentives, & AI Challenge Scientific Integrity ai.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... via @nejm.org Need to fix: "deeper cultural pressures in science that reward speed & novelty over care & verification." Let's value "replication, transparency, & rigor..."

Please, please get your vaccines. Good for you. Good for community. Good for healthcare system. Emergency wards coping with 'extreme overcapacity' in flu season: cbc.ca/news/canada/... #VaccinesWork

The nearly 80-year-old law that could hamper RFK Jr.’s drive to remake vaccine schedule Legal experts say Kennedy needs to follow established legal procedures to prevent any policy changes from being dismissed by a judge. www.cidrap.umn.edu/c... Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr cc

It ain't about science. It ain't health. It ain't community. It is politics, politics, politics. Vaccine beliefs tied tightly to political identify. 👇

Again, the DOJ's own research finds immigrants AND undocumented immigrants commit LESS crime. Immigration ≠ > crime and < safety. Period. Deportation ≠ > safety and < crime. Period.

Debunk the immigration crime myth www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana... "...immigration has crime-reducing effects..." journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1... "...immigration is consistently linked to decreases in violent (eg, murder) & property crime..." www.antoniocasella.eu/nume/Adelman...

Remember: it is a LIE that immigration is associated with crime (on the contrary), including undocumented. This isn't said enough. Connecting immigrants to crime is a foundational LIE. Always be skeptical of a policy or action based on this spin. Eg: siepr.stanford.edu/news/mythica...

Reminder that the head of the NIH is an economist who has never conducted NIH-funded research, spent years doing paid speaking engagements for far-right extremist groups, & is best known for a study where he committed serious ethical violations & ended up wrong by greater than an order of magnitude.

What 2025 told us about the state of health care in Canada www.cma.ca/latest-stori... via @cmadocs.bsky.social 1. health care is key to a stronger country 2. navigating AI 3. stand up for science to fight false health information 4. docs still struggling with burnout 5. reconciliation key

"It’s never a good sign about a person’s leadership when he has to continuously publicly congratulate himself about what a great job he’s doing." Especially when "claims are utter BS." More Makary malarkey: open.substack.com/pub/garyschw... by @garyschw.bsky.social

Conspiracy beliefs are higher in societies with lower freedom of speech www.psypost.org/conspiracy-b... "Conspiracy beliefs can create strong group identities, giving believers a sense of belonging & special insight..." and undermine trust in institutions, science, & democratic processes..."

A scary trend driven almost entirely by the spread of (political identity associated) misinformation...👇 As Measles Cases Rise, Views of MMR Vaccine Safety and Effectiveness and Willingness to Recommend It Drop www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/as-measles-c... via @asc.upenn.edu Dark Age 2.0

As someone who writes for a living, this is... rough. 👇 "...the creative-writing students universally preferred the A.I. version." "Seven excellent readers had mistaken an A.I. model for me" [a renowned author]. Excellent article: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-... by @vauhinivara.bsky.social

File under “Things Insecure Dictators Do”…👇 www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

“They’re going to bring back suffering and death. I don’t say that with any hyperbole, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” Dr. Sean O’Leary - @ameracadpeds.bsky.social RFK Jr. Likely to Swap U.S. Childhood Vaccine Schedule for Denmark’s www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/h...

The more authoritarian a country (👀 looking at you, U.S.) the more susceptible to conspiracy theories. Quality of democracy "plays a protective role against the acceptance of unwarranted beliefs."

Bold claims. No good evidence. Light regulation. Stem cell supplements: A growing market with growing risks www.signalsblog.ca/right-turn-s... "...for scientists, clinicians, and informed consumers, the expansion of this industry raises critical concerns about safety, evidence and regulation."

MAGA's obsession with the thriving socialist Scandinavian countries is kind of hilarious. Up next for MAGA: free healthcare, free university, progressive tax rates, robust social assistance, reproductive freedom, restrictive gun laws... and, um, lots of amazing bike lanes???

Another day, another science-free harmful policy. We can't become numb this BS. Speak up. Push back against the noise. #ScienceMatters. #VaccinesWork. HHS planning to overhaul childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots, source says www.cnn.com/2025/12/18/h...

CDC awards grant to controversial Danish researchers with ties to top FDA official www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/c... via @statnews.com "...a study on hepatitis B vaccines that some experts say may be unethical and is unlikely to generate data relevant to use of the vaccine in this country."

Gullible enough to buy this 100% BS "wellness" product? "Vibrotactile Technology"? Sigh. These magical patches can help anything! Performance, mood, will power, immunity.... Again, sigh. Patches have names like "Freedom" "Liberty" "Victory". Target audience (read: gullible demographic) obvious.

Want a younger, healthier brain? This type of exercise can help. www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202... "...middle-aged men and women found that those with more muscle mass tended to have younger brains..." #Move #Lift!

Exploiting rage for $$$👇 America’s Polarization Has Become the World's Side Hustle www.404media.co/americas-pol... "A huge amount of the viral content about American politics & American news on social media is from sock puppet & bot accounts monetized by people in other countries."