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Big Pharma
Air Force Again Requires Flu Vaccine for Select Personnel
The Air Force restored the annual influenza vaccine mandate for select personnel once again, following the service’s exception request from the Pentagon’s optional policy.
The flu vaccine is a requirement for all active duty, reserve components and civilian personnel of the Department of the Air Force that fall under certain designated categories, according to a memo signed last week by the Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Richard Anderson.
For those required to vaccinate, the department lists recruits, training populations and congregate living; rapid deployment forces and “no-fail” missions; deployed forces; healthcare personnel; civilian personnel in child services programs; and Air Mobility Command aircrew in support of transportation taskings and en route care as well as executive airlift personnel.
‘Homestead’ Star Bailey Chase Says California Vaccine Plans Were ‘Final Straw’ That Drove Family Out of LA
“Homestead” star Bailey Chase is opening up about the “final straw” that drove him and his family out of California for a new life in North Carolina. During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the 54-year-old actor, who shares daughter Waverly, 12, and 10-year-old twins Maggie and Gauge with his wife Amy, explained that concerns over how California’s COVID-19 restrictions would impact his children led him to leave the Golden State behind.
“That happened five years ago in the throes of COVID,” Chase said. “My wife and I picked up sticks with our three young children when they were mandating vaccines out there.”
“They said they couldn’t go back to school without it,” Chase, who stars as former Green Beret Jeff Eriksson in “Homestead,” continued. “And that was the final straw. And we’ve been in the mountains of North Carolina ever since living our best life.”
Americans Are Lying to Their Doctors to Get Antibiotics — and That’s Great News for Superbugs
A recent study reveals that many patients aren’t above telling a little fib to get their preferred medication.
Researchers at the University of Utah and other institutions conducted a survey of people across the country. More than a quarter of respondents admitted to lying during a doctor’s visit in order to be prescribed antibiotics, they found. Unfortunately, these lies aren’t so harmless, since they can contribute to unneeded side effects, inappropriate antibiotic use, and the growing problem of drug-resistant bacteria, the researchers say.
“These findings signal a significant issue for health professionals making antibiotic prescribing decisions and for the fields of antimicrobial stewardship and public health,” they wrote in their paper, published Friday in JAMA Network Open.
Bacteria Are Beating Antibiotics. Here’s the Most Frustrating Part.
Every few years, Washington rediscovers that America’s medicine cabinet is dangerously dependent on foreign manufacturing, so Congress holds a hearing and moves on. But antibiotic resistance is the slow-moving crisis beneath that anxiety, and it deserves more than a hearing. It is, by any honest reckoning, a national security threat. Yet the United States is holding at arm’s length the very tools that would blunt it, stalled not by science but by inertia.
Resistant bacteria directly caused about 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019 and were associated with 3.7 million more, according to a landmark study in the Lancet — a toll greater than that of HIV/AIDS or malaria. Effective antibiotics are the invisible precondition for much of modern medicine: chemotherapy, transplants, joint replacements, intensive care, safe childbirth.
A 2015 study estimated that if the antibiotics used in American surgery and cancer care lost even 30 percent of their effectiveness, the country would see roughly 120,000 additional infections and 6,300 additional deaths a year from those procedures alone.
Children’s Health
FDA Proposes New Infant Formula Nutrient Requirements
Infant formula makers would face new nutrient floors and ceilings and mandatory relabeling under a Food and Drug Administration proposal published November 2, with comments due March 2, 2027. Compliance would not required until three years after a final omnibus rule takes effect, meaning benefits would not begin accruing until 2031.
The nutrient levels now in force were set in 1985, with only selenium added since then in 2015. HHS framed the proposal as part of Operation Stork Speed, announced by HHS and FDA on March 18, 2025, and the Make America Healthy Again initiative.
The agency says the purpose is “to ensure that infant formula provides adequate nutrition to support the growth and development of infants from birth through 12 months of age while avoiding excessive intakes that could pose health risks.”
Nearly 2 of 3 Teens and Tweens Use AI Chatbots, New Research Shows
Artificial intelligence chatbots are increasingly becoming a regular part of life for American youth. Two new surveys show that nearly two-thirds of tweens and teens use AI chatbots. While most kids use the technology for help with school work, and for companionship and emotional support, certain uses were linked with worse mental health symptoms.
One survey, done by the online safety advocacy group, Common Sense Media, found that AI use starts early — years before kids hit the minimum age of 13 on most popular chatbots. Nearly half 9-to-12-year-olds have used an AI chatbot or companion. By the time kids are 13 years old, nearly three-quarters of them have used chatbots.
The other survey, done by the mental health advocacy group JED Foundation, found that 90% of the 5,500 9-to-17-year-olds in schools across the country have used an AI chatbot. Nearly two-thirds use it both for schoolwork and as companions, or when they are stressed, lonely, anxious or overwhelmed.
Toddlers Need to Move, Too
Physical activity among schoolchildren and teens gets plenty of attention. But what about babies who spend time strapped into car seats, toddlers who travel in strollers and preschoolers who run, climb and hop?
For the first time, ParticipACTION has devoted a full report card to children ages 0 to 4. Produced by a team of experts from Canada and abroad, the report defines 14 indicators for assessing the habits of very young children. These indicators include not only physical activity but also sleep, screen time, sedentary behavior, play and the neighborhood and environment.
“We wanted to look at lifestyle itself,” said Marie-Eve Mathieu, a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences at Université de Montréal and a member of the report card’s research committee.
Autism Study Finds Equal Accuracy But Different Brain Responses
A new study reveals that autistic and non-autistic adults perform equally well on perceptual tasks but differ significantly in how their brains process feedback and evaluate decisions. Researchers identified three distinct differences in neural and behavioral responses to mistakes, task difficulty, and recent experiences, which remained consistent in a follow-up study conducted one to two years later.
The findings provide new insights into the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying autism and may help explain differences in how autistic individuals adapt to changing environments. Why do some people adapt more easily than others to changing circumstances?
A new international study led by Prof. Merav Ahissar of the Hebrew University’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) offers fresh insights into how the brain processes feedback, and why this process may differ in autism.
The researchers discovered that although autistic and non-autistic adults performed equally well on a simple auditory task, their brains responded differently to information about their mistakes, the difficulty of their decisions and their recent experiences.
Big Chemical
Common Pesticide Linked to 2.5 Times the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
A pesticide used for decades in agriculture may be linked to a much greater risk of Parkinson’s disease, and scientists have uncovered a possible explanation for how it damages the brain.
Researchers at UCLA Health found that people with long-term residential exposure to chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide, had more than 2.5 times the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease compared with those who were not exposed. Laboratory experiments also revealed how the chemical can interfere with the brain’s ability to remove damaged proteins, leading to the loss of nerve cells essential for controlling movement.
The study, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, goes beyond identifying a connection between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s. By examining what happens inside affected brain cells, the researchers uncovered a biological mechanism that could eventually provide new ways to protect the brain from damage.
Tons of Tiny Pieces of Plastic Are Polluting the Gulf. How Harmful is the Problem?
A small band of workers combed the sand at a popular spot along Louisiana’s coast, and it didn’t take them long to find what they were seeking. Beyond the shallow marshes plied by egrets and just over the dunes at Elmer’s Island Wildlife Refuge, the crew scooped up plastic tubing, plastic bags, plastic utensils and plastic bottles.
They weren’t only seeking plastic trash. But for a long time now, plastic garbage has accounted for the vast majority of what they find — pointing to the slowly accumulating crisis of microplastics, the leftover, tiny bits of broken-down plastic trash. “The tide rises again tomorrow morning, the same amount of trash is back,” said Emily Braud, a volunteer and marine debris coordinator for the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.
“You have to think of it on the positive side, as we’re making a difference. We’re stopping these big plastics from becoming microplastics.” Her crews have collected 1,124 bags of trash so far this year, but the total amounts to a drop in the ocean — in a very real sense.
Iowa’s Cancer Crisis Could Reshape the State’s Biggest Midterm Races
Rising cancer rates and their potential link to farm pollution are causing a crisis in Iowa, throwing uncertainty into the midterm elections in a state that has shifted ruby-red in recent years.
Iowa suffers from the second-highest rate of new cancer cases in the U.S., and it’s one of the few states where the number of cancer cases is rising. Across the state, the cancer crisis has become a major campaign topic.
Candidates from both parties have made tackling the environmental causes of cancer — and blaming “Big Ag” — a key part of their platforms. It’s an attack that previously would have been unheard of from Republicans in the Corn Belt hub.
Big Food
Energy Drinks Can Be A Heart-Stopper For Young Adults
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Energy drinks can be literally heart-stopping for young adults, a new study says.
Caffeinated energy drinks and stimulant supplements are consistently linked with cases of cardiac arrest and heart attack reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), researchers are slated to report in Chicago Saturday at a meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA).
Further, nearly half (45%) of reports linking these products to heart health emergencies involved young adults 18 to 34, researchers found.
“These products are marketed as everyday pick-me-ups and sold next to soda and bottled water, so most people assume they carry no real risk,” researcher Sai Samayamanthula, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said in a news release.
Swedish Dietary Surveys Link Higher Ultraprocessed Food Intake to Poorer Nutrition
A higher proportion of ultraprocessed food in the diet is generally associated with poorer dietary quality and, among adults, a somewhat higher prevalence of overweight and obesity. This is shown by a study that also critically examines the concept of ultraprocessed foods. The work is published in the Nutrition Journal.
The study was conducted at the University of Gothenburg in collaboration with the Swedish Food Agency, using data from the agency’s national dietary surveys. The study population included adults (18–80 years old), adolescents (11–17 years old) and young children (1.5–4 years old).
Big Brother (Big Tech)
‘I Was Scared To Go Into a Shop’: Innocent Shoppers Caught in AI Facial Recognition Nightmare
A man who went to Home Bargains to buy vitamins says he was wrongly accused of shoplifting by a facial recognition system. His experience is among several cases reported by TechRadar, as Sainsbury’s moves to introduce the technology across 200 stores.
A routine shopping trip to buy vitamins left one man afraid to enter shops after he was wrongly accused of shoplifting by a facial recognition system at Home Bargains.
‘I was scared to go into a shop,’ he told TechRadar. His wife, identified as Mary, described him as ‘distraught’ and said the incident left him feeling ‘isolated’. The couple were ordered to leave by store management, seemingly without an opportunity to refute the accusation, according to TechRadar.
The incident is one of several accounts detailed in an investigation by TechRadar journalist Samuel Woodhams. Futurism also reported on the cases, drawing on TechRadar’s findings.
The Tech Industry Is Investing in Mega Gas Plants to Power Their Data Centers
Not too long ago, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was pledging to use his company’s size and scale to galvanize corporate America to confront global warming. If Amazon “can meet the Paris agreement 10 years early, then any company can,” Bezos said in 2019, laying out how the company would eliminate its planet-warming emissions much faster than the timeline agreed to by the world’s governments. (Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)
Microsoft, Google and Meta subsequently vowed to move even more aggressively.
But now Amazon and the other tech behemoths are setting a very different example. Rather than racing toward their net-zero targets, they are driving emissions sharply higher with their quest to expand AI and cloud computing.
