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."

So, to be clear, MAHA / MAGA, this includes manosphere manly-man supplements, testosterone, steroids, etc? In major effort to end gender-affirming care, Trump administration takes aim at hospitals www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/t... via @statnews

MAHA Olympic-level mental gymnastics 👇 Unproven & disproven peptides? Bring em on! Unproven & disproven stem cell therapies? Bring em on! Unproven & disproven supplements? Bring em on! Proven, highly regulated, independently monitored, safe & effective vaccines? Nah.

Flu’s link to cardiovascular disease shows why vaccination is essential www.nature.com/articles/d41... @ashishkjha.bsky.social "...we now have clear evidence that flu vaccination significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, and death owing to cardiovascular disease..." #VaccinesWork

I struggle to find words to respond. But I keep coming back to... cruel. Cruel. Cruel. Cruel. Cruel. Cruel. A fearmongering wedge issue disconnected from reality, dignity, and science. Cruel sh*t. Trump Moves to End Access to Gender-Related Care for Minors www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/h... 🌈 ❤️

Deluded misinformation monger? 1) Evil appreciates evil. ✅ 2) Conspiracy theorists often think more people agree with them. ✅ 3) Believes anecdotes from celebs especially valuable.✅ Jenny McCarthy Claims Hollywood Is ‘Secretly Very Supportive’ of RFK Jr people.com/jenny-mccart...

I guess it is good that men more aware of their role? But SO MUCH GRIFTING BS in this manosphere adjacent space (🚩supplement marketing red flag!! 🚩). Men are convinced we’re facing a male-fertility crisis, they’ll try just about anything to boost their sperm count. www.thecut.com/article/men-...

CDC awards $1.6 million for new hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau. Although the award recipients aren't named, the grant seems tailored to Danish researchers whose work is championed by anti-vaxxers but challenged by mainstream scientists. www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

🚨RFK Jr's horrifying year: "...taken a sledgehammer to the country’s public health infrastructure, emboldened medical charlatans, and set government agencies on wild goose chases to support his pet theories, while downplaying actual threats to health." gizmodo.com/the-worst-wa... via @gizmodo.com

Vaccine hesitancy rising. Research shows this is mostly driven by spread of misinformation. "Only 40% of Health Care Providers feel very or extremely confident discussing vaccine hesitancy, revealing a clear need for better support." leger360.com/in-the-news-...