In 2008, Senator Barack Obama was opposed to gay marriage and worried vaccines might cause autism. A few years later he said neither of those things.

Did Democrats flip to being pro-science and the party followed and then the President reflected those polls? Perhaps he changed from stating party platforms based on voter beliefs to his own once he was elected, then he changed the party, and then the party led its members, finds results in a new paper on party and personal political polarization. 

Magnesium is important in the immune system’s ability to tackle pathogens and even cancer cells but that doesn't mean you should run to a supplement huckster or naturopath. It is magnesium in blood that is needed for T cells to operate efficiently and that means science and medicine, not woo.

Some studies, though only in mice so strictly observational, found that cancerous growths spread faster when the animals received a low-magnesium diet – and also that their defense against flu viruses was also impaired. Lacking a plausible biological mechanism for exactly how this mineral affects the immune system leaves such studies in the interesting but not clinically relevant camp.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 81 countries, rich and poor, mostly do poorly on how well their health systems provide for the physical and mental wellbeing of patients at the end of life.

When it comes to baseball and football, coaches always know the numbers. That helps them make informed decisions on risk and reward. Less well-known is that clinicians also often make important healthcare decisions with the aid of algorithmic tools that draw on large amounts of complex data.

People in Britain, from Scotland to Wales, may maintain a cultural identity, but how much of it is real versus an arbitrary social construct? How much should be decided by genes versus how people choose to identify?

A new study opens up as many questions as it answers about Bronze Age Britain. Where did many of them 'come from'? Inference suggests France.

As Peru's Wari kingdom sought to shore up their crumbling empire over 1,000 years ago they did it with their own form of bread and circuses - cocaine, ayahuasca, and a beer with psychedelics mixed in.

Since the concoction was only made by elites without a penalty of death, festivals became a way to exercise political control among friends and challengers alike. It obviously didn't work forever, the Incas conquered them, but the archaeological evidence provides a compelling look into South American culture of 1000 AD.