"Numerous studies have indisputably demonstrated that particulate inhalation results in health problems far beyond the lungs," write the authors of an article in Nature Communications saying they can detect small micron particulate matter in a few placentae and therefore, what, that birth defects are probably happening?

The weather has always been political, writes Jeva Lange in The Week. The ability to anticipate and react to weather-related events separate leaders from has-beens.

But only very recently has the uncertainty of weather prediction also started to be exploited for political gain. And both sides do it. Warmer than 1980? Blame climate change. Fewer hurricanes? Blame climate change. And opponents of climate science engage in the same cherry-picking.

On December 21st of 2018, President Trump signed the First Step Act of 2018, which made significant changes to drug sentencing laws.

Now Michigan is going to replace drug dealers in prisons with minors who have flavored vaping products. Under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recent executive order, anyone found with four or more flavored vaping products is “presumed to possess said items with the intent to sell”, punishable by imprisonment of six months and a fine per item. 

In 2010, physicists reported an exceptionally precise measurement of the size of the proton, the positively charged building block of atomic nuclei, using special hydrogen atoms in which the electron that normally orbits the proton was replaced by a muon, a particle that’s identical to the electron but 207 times heavier.

They found the muon-orbited protons to be 0.84 femtometers in radius — 4% smaller than those in regular hydrogen, according to the average of more than two dozen earlier measurements. Which would mean protons really shrink in the presence of muons due to unknown physical interactions between protons and muons.

Hundreds of papers speculated about the possibilities.

On this date in 1939 Marvel Comics #1 was on newsstands, featuring Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner (he was Aquaman before Aquaman.) 

So why does the cover say October? Comic books did what magazines did (and do), and instead of a publication date they put a pull-date on the cover, which would be the date the issue was to be removed and returned to make way for the new issue on newsstands. There was no direct sales then, like dedicated comic book stores are now, you went to the rack in a store or on the street and purchased them. So on that Tuesday in 1939 while Germany was about to wrap up its takeover of Poland, and the USSR was about to take its cut, this comic appeared.

I recently watched the History Channel show "Alone" and for all but one season(1) it is just what it sounds like. They take 10 people and throw them into a difficult situation where they have to survive alone.

Fat shaming, slut shaming, you name it and someone is complaining that other people are being judge-y about we choose to live our lives. On Twitter the only things it is okay to shame in 2019 are Republicans, scientists, and vapers.

Four years ago, I can't recall having heard of JUUL despite ending smoking, which means supporting smoking cessation and harm reduction tools like vaping, being a cornerstone of my science and health mandate.

Then suddenly they were everywhere. A vaping culture that had no market leader, and certainly did not appeal to young people - as if Blu using Jenny McCarthy was appealing to anyone except old former smokers - had a clear favorite almost overnight.

Earthjustice, originally created by Sierra Club so they would have yet another group to sue companies and government for stuff Sierra Club wanted to sue over, is at it again, this time claiming 40 percent of bees are dying (a lie) and that the neonicotinoid sulfoxaflor is causing it.

There is no evidence for that, which is why EPA approved it, yet the trial lawyers insist a $200 billion pollinator market is at risk unless EPA settles with them quickly so environmental groups can then sue the company (Corteva) that makes the product.