In developed countries, air quality is now great. So great that true smog (PM₁₀ - particulate matter 10 microns in diameter) is basically going extinct in countries like America so epidemiologists and demographers have taken to promoting concern about particles so small they can only be detected with an electron microscope (such as PM_2.5). 

While claims of increased mortality due to PM_2.5 have fallen flat, asthma still exists and it is well-known that asthmatics have shorter lifespans.(1) A new paper speculates that as many as 170 cases of asthma per 100,000 kids each year could be caused by traffic pollution, and specifically Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), which is really common at trace levels everywhere.

In 2016, Americans seemed to have waning trust in science. Back then, only 21 percent had "a great deal of confidence" in science(1) even though American adult science literacy leads the world.

Science has been doing something right in the last few years. That number is up over half, to 35 percent.(2)

People are rushing to buy supplements because of (correct) claims that the microbiome is important. While the science on helpful microbes is correct it does not mean yogurt or any other food - even organic, try as their trade groups try to claim that - is helping any more than that redox science in mitochondria means you should spend your money on antioxidant supplements.

There is no compelling evidence any of that has an impact and if it did, that it would be beneficial.

A new paper in JAMA Network Open takes using epidemiological statistics to support ideological goals to the next level. It suggests that since it seems to have happened in 2016, if a Republican even campaigns for President in 2020 Latina women will have more preterm births. 

A new paper in the journal Early Human Development hopes to use the infant form of the Body Mass Index(BMI) to predict future heart disease.

BMI is famous by now and has been used by government guidance bodies since the 1980s. It was invented nearly 200 years ago but, like homeopathy from the same period, somehow remains dogma to a few. It's a simple math calculation that takes into account height and weight. If you want to calculate yours, multiply your weight by 703 and then divide that by your height squared - (weight x 703)/(height in inches x height in inches).(1)

That is with adults. You can't do it with growing kids. 

If you want to find a nexus of conspiracy theories about science (it's a vast corporate conspiracy among the anti-GMO, anti-vaccine and anti-nuclear crowd, and a deep state conspiracy among the chemtrails crowd) YouTube is a good way to go, shows a new study (open access.)