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Mysterious Havana Syndrome Not a Foreign Attack: CIA
Sharing interim findings of an investigation into strange illnesses among US diplomats and intelligence officials, the CIA says it’s unlikely that they are the result of directed energy or other weapon levied by an adversary.
Mysterious Havana Syndrome Not a Foreign Attack: CIA
Mysterious Havana Syndrome Not a Foreign Attack: CIA

Sharing interim findings of an investigation into strange illnesses among US diplomats and intelligence officials, the CIA says it’s unlikely that they are the result of directed energy or other weapon levied by an adversary.

Sharing interim findings of an investigation into strange illnesses among US diplomats and intelligence officials, the CIA says it’s unlikely that they are the result of directed energy or other weapon levied by an adversary.

disease & medicine, policy

Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81
Catherine Offord | Feb 2, 2021 | 4 min read
The Cardiff University researcher was famous both for his work on genetic disorders and for his documentation of the history of his field.
WHO Leads in Using Solid Science to Draft COVID-19 Policy: Study
Max Kozlov | Jan 8, 2021 | 5 min read
Governments are variable in their reliance on highly cited research, while international intergovernmental organizations such as the World Health Organization reliably link policy and science, according to an analysis of thousands of policy documents from the first half of 2020.
Opinion: Emergency Use Authorizations Are a Threat to Science 
Kevin J. Tracey and Christina Brennan | Dec 1, 2020 | 4 min read
As COVID-19 therapies get emergency-use green lights, the Biden administration must organize a therapeutic review board to help identify what’s working and what’s not.
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, coronavirus, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conspiracy, QAnon, Twitter, Facebook, Donald Trump, social media, death certificate, statistics, National Center for Health Statistics
No, the CDC Has Not “Quietly Updated” COVID-19 Death Estimates
Amanda Heidt | Sep 1, 2020 | 3 min read
An online conspiracy theory retweeted by President Donald Trump misconstrued data regarding the number of people who have died from the coronavirus.
Ten Minute Sabbatical
The Scientist | Sep 1, 2020 | 3 min read
Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse.
Armchair Virologists
Bob Grant | Jun 1, 2020 | 4 min read
Pretending to be a javelin aficionado is one thing. Professing to have real insight into the ongoing pandemic is quite another.
Special Report
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What Do Antibody Tests For SARS-CoV-2 Tell Us About Immunity?
Katarina Zimmer | Apr 15, 2020 | 9 min read
Studies from serum samples could transform our understanding of the spread of COVID-19, but what antibodies alone say about immunity is not yet clear.
European Research Council President Resigns
Amy Schleunes | Apr 8, 2020 | 3 min read
Mauro Ferrari says the organization’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is inadequate, but ERC members claim his proposals didn’t align with the mission of the council.
Governments Must Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing, Says WHO
Catherine Offord | Mar 18, 2020 | 4 min read
The World Health Organization warns that a lack of data on how many people have the disease could undermine containment and mitigation efforts in many countries.
Government’s Mixed Messages on Coronavirus Are Dangerous: Experts
Ashley Yeager | Feb 28, 2020 | 4 min read
Administration officials have given contradictory statements about how COVID-19 will affect the US, and it is not clear who is leading the infectious disease response effort, critics say.
Bioethicists Criticize WHO’s Malaria Vaccine Trial
Lisa Winter | Feb 28, 2020 | 3 min read
The study, conducted in Malawi, Kenya, and Ghana, did not obtain informed consent from each parent whose child participated, but rather considered consent “implied” because of the particular experimental design.
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Test for Novel Coronavirus Approved for Wide Deployment
Shawna Williams | Feb 6, 2020 | 2 min read
The US Food and Drug Administration authorizes the distribution of the 2019-nCoV diagnostic to state health departments and other facilities.
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Opinion: Health Reform in America—Where Are the Scientists?
Rachel Madley | Dec 31, 2019 | 4 min read
Medicare for All could expand access to medical interventions—the very goal of biomedical research.
China Sentences Gene-Editing Scientist to Three Years in Jail
Emily Makowski | Dec 30, 2019 | 2 min read
The modification of three babies’ genes by He Jiankui drew widespread criticism from scientists.
Tufts to Remove Sackler Name from Medical Campus
Emily Makowski | Dec 9, 2019 | 2 min read
The school will not return donations from the family that made its riches on opioids, but the university will start a $3 million endowment for addiction prevention and treatment.
50 Children Dead from Measles Outbreak in Samoa 
Emily Makowski | Dec 2, 2019 | 1 min read
The public health emergency has spurred a mass vaccination campaign.
Trump Picks Cancer Researcher Stephen Hahn for FDA Commissioner
Emily Makowski | Nov 4, 2019 | 2 min read
The radiation oncologist and chief medical executive at MD Anderson Cancer Center has not worked in government previously.
Zoonotic Disease Research Program Shut Down
Emily Makowski | Oct 28, 2019 | 2 min read
The USAID’s Predict program, which conducted animal virus surveillance and disease outbreak prevention training, is ending after its 10-year funding run.
State Marijuana Legalization Aids Research Very Little
Ashley Yeager | Sep 20, 2019 | 7 min read
Recent federal announcements serve as reminders that in the US policy continues to outpace science when it comes to cannabis.
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