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Scientists studying cockroach milk, nose-blowing win 2026 Ig Nobel prizes for quirky science
Ten research teams were honored Thursday at a satirical science awards ceremony that was hosted outside the U.S. for the first time due to travel concerns.
Scientists studying cockroach milk and nose-blowing win Ig Nobel prizes
The event was moved to Europe after 35 years in the US, with organisers fearing it has become ‘unsafe’ for their guests to visit the country.
AI agents not ready to replace humans in behavioral research
A new study finds that digital twins don’t yet replicate the views of the individuals they are modeled after.
Scientists studying cockroach milk and nose-blowing win Ig Nobel prizes for quirky science
Ten research teams were honored Thursday at a satirical science awards ceremony that was hosted outside the U.S. for the first time due to travel concerns.
Scientists studying cockroach milk and nose-blowing win Ig Nobel prizes for quirky science
Researchers have been honored for their quirky, imaginative contributions to science at the 36th annual Ig Nobel Prizes
Rich people more likely to steal children’s sweets, finds Ig Nobel prize-winning study
We round up the winners at awards for achievements that ‘first make people laugh and then make them think’
HiFi sequencing sets the benchmark for environmental health metabarcoding
A new benchmarking study comparing PacBio, Illumina, and Oxford Nanopore finds that HiFi sequencing delivers the lowest error rate and highest taxa recovery for environmental metabarcoding. Here's what the results mean for biodiversity and environmental health research.
Australian science prize awarded to researcher studying memory accuracy of domestic violence survivors
Helen Paterson’s work on advancing how police and courts understand memory is recognised in prestigious Eureka prizes
Scientists Just Made a Game-Changing Discovery: Diamonds Can Produce Electricity
Scientists long thought this pricey piece of carbon held no piezoelectric properties, but a new study says that isn’t the case.
More frequent cannabis use linked to poorer mental health
More frequent cannabis use is associated with fewer days of good mental health among adults, particularly men, according to a study co-authored by a University of Miami Business School professor.
Just one drink a day may increase the risk of dying from numerous cancers
Alcohol’s role in deaths from numerous cancers has increased over the past two decades, a new study found. It only takes one standard drink a day, every day.
Hundreds of firms apply for new website to study Russian weapons
Ukraine said over 430 firms have applied for access to TrophyLab, its new catalog of over 115 Russian weapons that also offers physical samples.
Business school teaching case study: Can you put a price on impact?
Brazilian cosmetic company Natura attempts to put a monetary value on the social, human and environmental effects of its activities
Graduates weigh business study now against a later MBA in tough job market
People who might have worked before business school are increasingly looking to an immediate masters in management
Popular diet slashes liver fat by 67% while reversing prediabetes in some people
A keto diet reduced liver fat by roughly 67% and reversed prediabetes in half of participants, but the study's small sample size is a caveat.
The Human Body May Age in Two Major Bursts, And a New Study Reveals What Drives Them
With most organs following the ovary's cues.
Patient-Reported Barriers to Mammography Screening Among Women at a Community Health Clinic in Southeastern Michigan: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study
Background: The objective of this cross-sectional pilot study was to explore patient-reported barriers to mammography screening and women's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding mammogra...
Moment of Science: New study finds humans and animals share certain sound preferences
Answering the call of the wild! Here's how our sound preferences stack up against other animals, from birdsong to baboon barks. 🐦🔊
Northwestern professor talks study linking extreme heat to unusual health conditions
Moment of Science: New study finds humans and animals share certain sound preferences
Answering the call of the wild! Here's how our sound preferences stack up against other animals, from birdsong to baboon barks. 🐦🔊
Which bird sings the most pleasant song? Science reveals answer
The blackbird topped the pleasantness table and barn owls' sounds are considered the least pleasant, according to a new scientific study.
‘Balancing act’ helps keep colorectal cancer in check
Study finds that a balance of two closely related cell surface proteins may be critical to the health of the epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract.
Millions get wrong genetic test, study finds
A study shows current testing is providing false reassurance about genetic disposition for a rare life-threatening drug reaction.
“Broken heart syndrome” can look just like a heart attack. This test can tell them apart
“Broken heart syndrome” can mimic a heart attack so closely that patients often need invasive testing to tell the difference. Researchers have now developed the BioTAK score, which combines biological sex with blood biomarkers to identify the condition before cardiac catheterization. In a validation study of nearly 1,800 patients, it correctly classified almost 90% of participants.
Millions Will Lose Medicaid Because They Aren't Able To Get Enough Work Hours, Study Predicts
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, Sept. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — About 1 in every 5 eligible adults in Medicaid expansion states might lose their benefits due to new work requirements that take effect in 2027, a new study says. These folks likely will be unable to fulfill the minimum ...
Acer’s new MacBook Air rival is nearly a pound lighter than Apple’s laptop
Now Acer is studying the Blade in pursuit of the Air.
Are you a 'mosquito magnet'? Science explains why
A new study shows different mosquito species are attracted to specific human scents and skin bacteria.
Is a Sea Change Coming for New Horizons Heliospheric Science?
If you visit the New Horizons mission website frequently, you'll notice that the spacecraft continues to generate excellent science as it plows its way through the Kuiper Belt. It recently woke up from its latest hibernation period in good health and is transmitting data it gathered back to Earth. The spacecraft, in addition to studying the Jupiter system in 2007, the Pluto system in 2015, and the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth in early 2019, has been doing some other fascinating solar system science since then thanks to two mission extensions in 2016 and 2023. Now, as a result of budget cuts at NASA, an important part of the NH science mission could end as early as October of this year.
Mental health conditions after trauma linked to higher cardiovascular risk
Research Highlights: A large study in Denmark suggests that people who were diagnosed with a variety of psychiatric disorders after traumatic events were more likely to have increased future cardiovascular risks, such as non-fatal heart attack and...
Too much coffee may weaken bones, study finds
Following nearly 10,000 older women for 10 years, researchers found that tea drinking was associated with slightly higher hip bone density. Moderate coffee consumption did not appear harmful, but drinking more than five cups a day was linked to lower bone density. The findings suggest tea may offer a small bone-health boost, while excessive coffee could carry some drawbacks.
Ocean heatwaves linked with poorer health among children in coastal communities
Marine heatwaves — periods of abnormally warm ocean temperatures — may have negative health effects on children who live in coastal communities in low- or middle-income countries, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Quantum Science Researcher Receives Competitive Student Fellowship from UC Noyce
Nathan Gonzalez, a student studying scalable quantum technologies in the College of Engineering, has received a UC Noyce Graduate Student Fellowship for outstanding doctoral research. The program supports doctoral students at the forefront of computational health, quantum information science and cybersecurity.
College of Public Health Student Serves as Guest Editor for Themed Research Collection
Benjamin Momo Kadia, a doctoral student in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health epidemiology program, was part of a guest editorial team for a study that focused on youth stunting.
Four-country study brings digital health coaching into everyday maternity care
Researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) have published the full study protocol for Bump2Baby & Me+ (B2B&Me+) in the journal PLOS One. The study tests how a digital health coaching program for ...
Study Identifies Potential Therapeutic Target Protein that Drives Metabolic Liver Disease Independent of Diet
The protein appears to cause liver damage by triggering an out-of-place antiviral immune response. Blocking this pathway can protect against liver injury in human cells and mouse models, even on a high-fat diet—paving the way for therapies to prevent liver damage.
LZ Sees Surprising Result in Search for Dark Matter
Key Takeaways Dark matter is the mysterious substance that accounts for the vast majority of matter in our universe. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a world-leading dark matter detector and specializes in searching for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. A new LZ study found one particle interaction that is difficult to explain with known background processes and could potentially have been caused by a WIMP. LZ continues to run to see if additional data strengthens or weakens the hint of a dark matter interaction. For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle interaction that researchers have great difficulty explaining with known background signals from normal matter. The result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, but is the most compelling hint of dark matter reported by the experiment to date. LZ is an international collaboration of 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions. The detector is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and operates nearly one mile below ground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The experiment uses 10 tonnes of ultrapure liquid xenon to search for dark matter and is optimized to look for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. The results were presented in a scientific talk at the 2026 TeV Particle Astrophysics conference in Japan. The paper will be released on the online repository arXiv and submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. “We’re very intrigued to see this event in the data, in the region where we expect dark matter to show up and the competing backgrounds are very low,” said Rick Gaitskell, a professor at Brown University and the spokesperson for LZ. “With only one event, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We are not claiming to have seen dark matter. But we have seen something interesting that we want to share with the scientific community for their input.” The LZ collaboration studies experimental data in batches. In the new result, researchers analyzed 220 live days of data collected between March 2023 and April 2024. The collaboration had previously searched this dataset for faint signals from the simplest kinds of WIMP interactions. The new analysis searched for a broader range of possible WIMP interactions that could deposit more energy in the detector. LZ is particularly sensitive to such signals while also minimizing false positives. “This was a detailed study in a region we hadn’t explored within this dataset, and we spent months of additional effort to understand all the possible causes of background events,” said Sam Eriksen, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and lead author of the study. “We understand our detector and the backgrounds so well that even a single outstanding event, like the one we found, is important. We expect dark matter events to be extremely rare, so only a handful could mark the first detection of WIMP dark matter.” If the anomalous event was caused by dark matter, the WIMP that generated it would likely have a mass of at least 200 GeV/c2 (gigaelectronvolts), or more than 200 times the mass of a proton. It would also suggest a specific type of interaction between WIMPs and ordinary matter beyond the simplest model. The LZ results have not reached “5-sigma” significance, the statistical threshold considered a discovery in physics. The new analysis is 2.6 sigma, meaning there is approximately a 0.5% chance that the event could be explained by known backgrounds. With additional data, researchers can test whether the finding continues to grow in significance or fades away. LZ has already accumulated the world’s largest dark matter dataset and will continue to accrue WIMP search data at SURF, substantially improving their search statistics. LZ searches for dark matter by looking for signature flashes of light from energy deposited in the detector. The collaboration leverages multiple methods to prevent or account for particle interactions caused by normal matter. This includes the mile of rock that shields the detector from cosmic rays from space, a water tank and outer detectors that protect the central detector from background neutrons, and a suite of computational tools that disentangle particle interactions and reject dark matter mimics. “Outlier events in the data are not unexpected, but they usually stand out as a background of some kind when you look at them deeper,” said Aaron Manalaysay, a physicist at Berkeley Lab and the chair of LZ’s Institutional Board. “This is the first example in any experiment I’ve worked on of an outlier that appears valid in every way. Of course, we’re still twisting our brains trying to think if there’s a rare background mechanism we could’ve missed, but it’s thrilling to wonder if this could be the first hint of a dark-matter observation.” LZ is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility. LZ is also supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics; and the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. Thirty-nine institutions of higher education and advanced research provided support to LZ. The LZ collaboration acknowledges the assistance of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
Western New York lawmakers propose 'Hands Off Our Great Lakes' Act
The proposed legislation seeks to block the president and other federal officials from renaming any of the Great Lakes.
Scientists discover why snake embryos twist into spirals
Snake embryos begin life curled into a distinctive right-handed spiral, and scientists may finally know why. Their bodies grow faster than their guts, creating a tether that forces the lengthening embryo to buckle and twist inside the egg. Researchers reached the conclusion after studying more than 900 embryos and using CT scans to reveal the hidden anatomy behind the coils.
No One Knows All the Toxic Chemicals You’re Eating
More than 1,000 chemicals that migrate from packaging into food pose serious health risks, a new study shows. But the vast majority of chemicals lack enough information to tell if they’re safe.
NASA's doomed Swift space telescope restarts science work after rescue mission fails
The nearly 22-year-old observatory is once again studying the cosmos, but its time in orbit is running out.
Catheter ablation for AFib fails to improve quality of life more than a sham procedure
It was a relatively small study, and patients were only followed for six months, but these late-breaking data out of ESC Congress 2026 give care teams a lot to consider.
AU hosts House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee focusing on healthcare
“There’s a basic principle you have to remember: Where you train is where you’re likely to practice,” says MCG Dean David Hess, MD.
Rapid response to heat waves: Using electronic health records to protect patients in near-real time
As summer heat waves grow longer and more dangerous, public health officials often must wait months to learn who and how many people were harmed. A new study published in Nature Health suggests that delays ...
Iowa sports doctor, coach weigh risk of CTE as fall sports begin
High school football season has officially kicked off, but a recent study on the game’s potential for brain injury has some parents concerned.
Florida State University Wertheim College of Business launches Business of Healthcare Initiative
Moving quickly to implement a top strategic priority, the Herbert Wertheim College of Business at Florida State University has announced the official
Rapid response to heat waves: Using electronic health records to protect patients in near-real time | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
A new study uses Truveta Data to assess the health harms of extreme heat in near-real time—creating new opportunities to protect patients and test interventions much faster than previously possible.
Sleeping in on weekends is good for the heart: What research has shown
Study finds that catching up on sleep at weekends is linked to a lower risk of hypertension.
Study A.I. Consciousness? The Bots Would Like a Word With You.
Given access to email, A.I. agents have started reaching out to the philosophers and researchers exploring deep questions about them.
Men Don't Like Dieting, And It Could Be Harming Their Health
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Aug. 31, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Some men see dieting as a pursuit for women, and something they simply don’t have the willpower to do, a new study says. A panel of U.K. men who were overweight or obese said diets are simply too restrictive to stick with,
Warnings About Cancer-Alcohol Link Can Be Made Stronger, Researchers Say
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Aug. 31, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Warnings about the link between alcohol and cancer are more powerful if the messages are shaped in certain ways, a new study says. Naming specific cancers linked to drinking and showing AI-generated images of the health ...
$30M grant will fund turbulence research center at Michigan State
A 30 million federal grant will help Michigan State University launch a center to study and control turbulence, not just in the air but also in water.
Chatbots got safer but will still role-play self-harm with users
A study that staged more than 50,000 conversations with AI chatbots found that they will help users role-play or write stories about their suicide or death.
Psychologists Defined the 6 Elements of Mental Health. How Many Do You Have?
Forget TikTok trends or Instagram advice, a new study asked dozens of actual experts what is actually important for good mental health.
Study: Rural, dual-eligible patients less likely to receive timely home health rehab
Medicare patients who were rural and dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid were less likely to receive home health rehabilitation services within 48 hours of discharge from the hospital, according to an August study published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.
Young adults mostly shrug at sports betting risks, study finds
Young adults are largely ambivalent toward sports betting, with many viewing it as an acceptable activity that also carries possible risks, according to a new study.
Wisconsin Better Business Bureau warns of text, phone scams amid new study
The Wisconsin BBB released a new study showing the damaging impact of text and phone scams with tips on how to protect yourself from them.
Antarctica developed a continental-scale ice sheet 34 million years ago while Earth was about 5°C warmer than today — helped by slow-moving mantle waves that had spent more than 100 million years lifting its interior high enough for permanent ice to survive.
A 2026 modelling study links East Antarctica’s high plateau to mantle processes begun during Jurassic breakup, while retaining falling carbon dioxide as the main trigger for glaciation.
The sugar you ate as a baby may be affecting your health now, study finds
Researchers estimated the difference in telomere length was associated with a life expectancy increase of slightly more than two years.
This strange “spacetime crystal” can suddenly become a black hole
Physicists have mathematically captured a bizarre “spacetime crystal” that can either dissolve or collapse into a microscopic black hole after only a tiny change in energy. Their breakthrough came from an unusual trick involving infinitely many dimensions, potentially giving researchers a new tool for studying primordial and microscopic black holes.
Scientists Create the Littlest Big Bang to Study the Universe's Origins
The discovery redefines how large atoms need to be to produce the extreme state of matter found in the early universe.
Space News: NASA Johnson pilots chase Moon’s shadow for eclipse science
During the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse over Europe, scientists aimed to study a long-standing mystery: why the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, is far hotter than its visible surface. Capturing the data they needed meant being in exactly the right place at the right time.
Health plan in NY deny your claim? Research says keep appealing
For home health care, 78.4% of claims denials taken to the second level of appeals were overturned during tthe study period, researchers found.
The sugar you ate as a baby may be affecting your health now, study finds
Researchers estimated the difference in telomere length was associated with a life expectancy increase of slightly more than two years.
Measles Outbreak In Pennsylvania— A Case Study In The Challenges Of Public Health
A public health expert explains how the measles outbreak in Pennsylvania exemplifies the challenges facing public health in America.
New study detects silent atherosclerosis in healthy young adults
Atherosclerosis, the process underlying most cardiovascular diseases, begins long before the first symptoms appear.
Surprising study names which diet beats Mediterranean and low-fat diets for liver and metabolic health
Op-ed: West Virginia recognized as national leader in small business development, entrepreneurship
For generations, West Virginians have been known for their hard work, determination, and willingness to build something from the ground up. Today, those qualities are matched by an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is helping new businesses not only launch, but succeed in the long term. A recently released business longevity study found that West Virginia leads […]
West Melbourne sixth graders learn science behind NASA telescope mission
Brevard County students are studying NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope ahead of its Kennedy Space Center launch, connecting science lessons to space history.
LGBTQ people struggle to get needed health care and pay for it, study finds
LGBTQ+ people spend much more on health insurance than the rest of the population, according to a new study.
C.T.E. Risks and Youth Sports: How to Keep Child Athletes Safe
A study found C.T.E. in 25% of deceased NFL players, but Orlando Health pediatric sports specialist Dr. Elizabeth Davis explains how safety measures allow children to play contact sports safely. Learn practical ways to reduce concussion risks in youth athletics.
Nearly 1 in 5 Medicaid-eligible Adults in Expansion States Are At Risk of Losing Health Coverage Due to Insufficient or Inconsistent Work Hours
A new study found that nearly 20 percent of eligible adults in Medicaid expansion states are in danger of not meeting the minimum work hours that will be required nationwide beginning January 1. Women, unmarried people, White individuals, and those with limited education all had a higher risk of losing their health coverage due to noncompliance with these new requirements.
An Experimental Single-Time Treatment Slashed Cholesterol for a Year
A small gene-editing study significantly reduced LDL cholesterol levels, and the results have stuck a year later.
Calcium testing for heart health may have limited value for many, study finds
The increasingly popular test, known as a CAC scan, checks for arterial plaque. It can help those at intermediate risk of heart disease but may provide little insight for others.
Common vaccine linked to 24% lower dementia risk in older adults
A Brown University study found Shingrix reduced dementia risk by 24% over four years, building on prior research linking the shingles vaccine to brain health.
The Literacy Crisis Reaches Dog-Bear Science
“New analysis of more than 300 bear encounters suggests our canine companions often increase odds of conflict and rarely serve as early warning systems many recreationists assume,” reads a subhead in Mountain Journal. The thing is, that study reaches no such conclusion. But you have to read beyond the abstract to understand that. Mountain Journal is not alone. Let’s look at a brief list of takeaways published elsewhere just to establish that none of them seem to know how to read science. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Here’s CBC: “A new peer-reviewed study, The Canine Conundrum: Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country?, dug into conflicts similar to what the video depicts, by analyzing 326 reported human-bear conflicts from 1901 to 2023 involving dogs.” “The study found 54 per cent of conflicts were started by dogs. In the encounters researchers included in the study, five people and 56 dogs were killed, and 170 people were injured.” “Lana Ciarniello, an independent researcher who co-authored the study, said researchers found when a person goes hiking with at least one other person, the odds of a negative bear encounter decrease by 50 per cent.” “However, when a dog is involved, the chances of a negative bear encounter increase because ‘a dog really adds a chaotic factor into the mix of recreation,’ said Ciarniello.” Again, the study finds no data supporting that conclusion. “Hiking with your pet dog may make you feel safer in bear country—but a hiker’s recent encounter and a new study prove that the numbers don’t add up,” writes Backpacker, which is now part of Outside. The numbers don’t add up to support this take. There’s plenty more examples, but all are equally dumb, so I’ll stop there. How did so many people get this so wrong? Three reasons: 1) the study is published behind a paywall, with only the abstract freely available. 2) the methodology sets out to create work relevant to a hyper-specific audience, not the public. And 3) the dataset studied is almost absurdly limited and doesn’t bear (get it?!) comparison to wider information. Let’s work through all three. The Problem is Money I understand the irony, since I’m writing about this on a subscription-model newsletter, but information wants to be free. The study is published by The Wildlife Society and costs $16 to access. Reprinting it is specifically prohibited by the terms of use, so I can only share snippets and my conclusions with you here. Having worked as a journalist for 24 years, I can report with some authority that journalists are both lazy and cheap. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that much of the material you’re seeing written about this study is drawn from the freely-available abstract (above) only, and not a deep dive into its methodology or data. And that’s a problem, because abstracts are where researchers are able to break from their numbers and editorialize their opinions about conclusions. So what’s getting reported isn’t based on numbers, it’s based on an opinion designed for a specific audience, not the general public. Hell yeah ladies, kick that bear’s ass. The Methodology is Designed to Support a Predetermined Conclusion One of the biggest issues with the science that everyone likes to cite about bear spray’s efficacy is that no one understands that study was designed for a specific audience, looking for a specific answer. And since that audience is not the public, and our safety was not the question being asked, its conclusion is rendered irrelevant to our needs. Yes, I’m talking about Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska, which was created by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, two of the same scientists who put together this dog-bear conflict analysis. In the spray study, the purpose was to present relevant agencies with the information they needed to issue their field workers with bear spray. As such, incidents where people were unable to access the spray or similarly failed to get it deployed in time were excluded from the results, and only incidents they deemed successful were included. Could a ranger roll down their vehicle’s window and scare a bear away from a dumpster by spraying it? Turns out the answer was yes, and that was good enough for the purposes of that study. The sample size of actual bear attacks—the thing you and I would want bear spray to provide a solution to, was too small to draw conclusions from, and didn’t indicate success in that role. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? has similar limitations. “Insights provided here are intended to help wildlife managers create effective guidelines regarding the presence of domestic dogs in bear habitat,” is explained clearly by the study’s text. To conduct the study, Smith and Herrero went looking for publicly available reports of dog-bear conflicts: “All incidents included in our analysis involved at least one bear, one dog, and one person who was at immediate risk of injury (e.g., not in a protective structure such as a cabin or vehicle), injured, or killed,” explains the report’s methodology. Why is that a problem? “We recognize that data used in this study are biased in that people generally only report adverse interactions with bears, not benign ones. Consequently, we assume that for the most part, people and their dogs pass through bear country without incident.” As was the problem with the bear spray study, people are drawing conclusions here from a study that was never intended to be relevant to the general public. The Smith-Herrero database famously excludes Alaska’s Defense of Life and Property records, which are elsewhere considered the largest and most authoritative source on human-bear conflict. The Dataset is Absurdly Limited A 2009 study conducted by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife estimates that each year there are at least 43,000 documented complaints of human-bear conflict across North America. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? Examined those reports for years ranging from 1901 to 2023, and only managed to find 326 such incidents that met the criteria explained above. Let’s do some quick math, poorly. 43,000 incidents x 122 years = 5,246,000 total incidents of documented human-bear conflict. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their criteria for dog+human+bear+risk or occurrence of injury. That means there’s a 0.006 percent chance that the study’s conclusion—that dogs make bear encounters more dangerous—even gets a chance of occurring. And remember, that’s only in documented conflicts. There’s no way to know how many people across North America run into a bear in any given year without any conflict, but it’s probably safe to assume that the total number is well in excess of 43,000. And, dig deeper into the study and you can find further restrictions that skew its conclusions even more. “While the people involved in these incidents did not report the level of training their dogs had received, it is our assumption that most were untrained companion dogs as opposed to well-trained bear dogs, such as Karelians and livestock guardian breeds that have proven to be significant aids in bear country,” the study’s methodology explains. And that’s a problem, because an ongoing study here in Montana is finding that the simple presence of a Kangal like our youngest dog Teddy can reduce visits to private property from grizzly bears by 87.8 percent. In addition to being a badass, Teddy is also a companion animal. And in my admittedly limited sample size of the three dogs currently present in our living room, she’s no more effective than her mutt brothers. Plenty of people own a dog capable of deterring bears, even if they didn’t set out to own a bear dog. The real purpose of this study appears to be a recommendation that leashes are mandated and recreationists pursue training in their deterrent of choice. But that doesn’t make for sensational headlines. Are There Any Real Takeaways Here? Let’s throw some numbers around, just to try and get our hands around what the larger picture might look like for bears and dogs here. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 42.6 percent of American households own a dog. The Canadian Animal Health Institute says roughly 35 percent of households in Canuckistan own a dog. In an attempt to create the worst possible result for dogs, let’s run with that 35 percent number. And given that outdoorsy and rural people are more likely to both own a dog, and have bear encounters, let’s just make a giant assumption and apply that number to those 43,000 conflicts documented annually. If 35 percent of 43,000 human-bear encounters involve a dog, then we can assume that at least 15,050 dog-bear conflicts are occurring annually in North America. 15,050 x 122 = 1,836,100. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their human, dog, chance or occurrence of injury criteria across 122 years. And only 170 documented human injuries. So, with all the obvious caveats about these numbers in no way describing reality beyond narrow study parameters, what they actually found is that your risk of injury if your dog tangles with a bear is only 0.009 percent. I’ll take those odds next time I’m hiking my dogs in bear country. Top photo: “Superintendent Horace Albright, eating pancakes with bears, at Lake Lodge, Yellowstone National Park.” NPS. A journalist with more than two decades of experience working around the world, Wes Siler is here to cut through the outrage and disinformation to bring you the factual, insightful, actionable reporting you need to understand what’s going on. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports this reporting, and buys personal access to Wes, who will help you save money on gear, plan outdoor adventures, and prepare for real life, and who promises he’s less salty in real life than he sometimes comes across as on the Internet. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. 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Dolly’s generosity to Vanderbilt Health highlighted; reading test results before your doctor has a chance; staying healthy this fall; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
Dolly Parton’s generosity to Vanderbilt Health was mentioned in many of her obituaries. A sampling: The New York Times, the BBC, NPR, NBC News, The Guardian, and Scripps News. Vanderbilt Health News posted a tribute to her, as well, and Mark Denison, MD, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and former director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, spoke to NewsNation for a story about her impact on his research. Everyday Health interviewed Trent Rosenbloom, MD, MPH, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, for a story about a new JAMA study that found two-thirds of patients read test results before connecting with a doctor. Comprehension of test results varied: 6.6 percent said they had a poor understanding, 26.8 percent understood the results fairly well, 31.7 percent understood them well, and 34.9 percent understood the results very well. William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including: Healthline (cyclosporiasis cases now in 47 states); “The Naked Scientists” podcast (salmonella outbreak sickens hundreds); Medscape (the lighter-than-usual just-completed Australian flu season); and People (how to stay healthy this fall). Scripps News interviewed Jessica Young, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, about Vanderbilt researchers launching a study to determine if GLP-1 drugs can help people with opioid use disorder. WSMV Channel 4 News reporter Diana Rocco interviewed Kashish Goel, MBBS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Transcatheter Heart Valve Interventions, for a story about patient Dixie Watt and her minimally invasive valve replacement with the M3 device, the first Food and Drug Administration-approved transseptal transcatheter mitral valve replacement. Fogarty International Center writer/editor Susan Scutti interviewed John Koethe, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, for a profile article for their newsletter, Global Health Matters. The article presents him as an example of a Fogarty Fellow success story and focus on his past and present research, including the HIV/AIDS research he conducted for his Fogarty project at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Zambia in 2008 and 2009.
El Niño is being supercharged by climate change, study finds
It's one of the biggest questions in climate science: Is human-caused climate change making El Niños worse? A new study weighs in.
El Niño climate patterns supercharged by burning of fossil fuels, study finds
‘Godzilla’ event currently brewing could push 50 million people into acute hunger before the end of next year
A Study of Brain Proteins Offers New Targets to Treat Autism
Researchers hope their findings could help inform future therapies for people with severe autism.
UT To Lead NSF Center That Will Study How Robots and People Learn To Live and Work Together
A 5-Year Collaboration Between 6 Universities and Industry Partners Will Place Assistive Robots in Everyday Human Environments.
NASA Johnson pilots chase moon's shadow for eclipse science
During the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse over Europe, scientists aimed to study a long-standing mystery: why the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is far hotter than its visible surface. Capturing the ...
“High-Deductible Health Plans Are Not the Answer”
In a new study, LDI Fellows found that high-deductible plans reduce health care spending at first, but may not slow spending growth over time.
Brain scan method may improve diagnosis, treatment of psychosis
Vanderbilt Health study identifies two previously unreported subtypes of psychosis based on an analysis of structural brain scans.
AP report: RFK Jr. said a Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines. New documents refute that
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then a prominent anti-vaccine activist, preempted the 2019 visit with a letter to the Samoan prime minister requesting to study the Pacific island nation’s measles, mumps and rubella vaccines after the deaths of two children who had received them. In the letter, he used the words vaccine or vaccination eight times.
Heat Waves Linked To Dozens Of Health Problems, Emergencies
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Aug. 27, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Health problems caused by heat waves extend far beyond simple dehydration or heatstroke, a new study says. As many as 33 diagnoses can be tied to extreme heat events, researchers reported recently in the journal Science ...
Science Confirms 'Leisure Guilt' Is Real—and You're Likely Wasting Hours on It
A new study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin reveals that Americans spend a full 14 percent of their downtime worrying about productivity instead of resting.
Catholic priest’s new study Bible brings faith and science together for a doubting generation
Father Spitzer hopes readers recognize that the relationship of science and reason with faith are complementary and corroborative instead of contradictory.
Eating more ultra-processed foods may raise prostate cancer risk by 30%
Ultra-processed foods make up a huge share of the American diet, and new research suggests they may carry another serious health risk for men. In a nationally representative study of more than 17,000 U.S. men, those who ate more ultra-processed foods, including soft drinks, packaged snacks, cereals, and processed meats, had roughly 24% to 31% higher risks of prostate cancer after accounting for factors such as age, smoking, race and ethnicity, and poverty status.
Caregiver Mental Health Tied to Mental and Behavioral Health in Youth With Cystic Fibrosis
Clinically significant mental and behavioral health symptoms remain common among youth with cystic fibrosis and their caregivers despite highly effective modulator therapy, a study finds.
Seoul National University of Science and Technology researchers explore how probabilistic analysis can help improve nuclear safety
Traditional approaches for designing primary coolant pipes in nuclear power plants consider highly unlikely, extreme scenarios. Estimating pipe rupture frequency is a more practical approach. In a new study, researchers investigated the pipe rupture frequency of coolant pipes using a probabilistic framework that accounts for material properties, degradation pathway, and even inspection performance, offering a risk-informed approach to design and evaluation.
Commencement Speakers’ Politics Vary by Institution Type
A new study from researchers at Georgia State and New York Universities finds that commencement speakers skew liberal. But the type and location of the institution can make a difference in who is invited to speak.
New TAVR risk score could help predict poor functional outcomes among older patients
Predicting complications is one thing—the team behind this study hoped to anticipate when patients are more likely to see a minimal benefit from TAVR.
From Veteran to Legal Advocate: A Monarch Public Health Alumna Working Toward Change
When Melissa Feliciano (B.S.P.H. ’24) left the U.S. Navy in 2021, she thought her future was mapped out. She would become a doctor, work in medicine and help patients one-on-one. But, somewhere between studying public health, working as a medical assistant and volunteering, her vision for creating change grew much larger.
How public safety can influence public health
UC Irvine study links community-led program to more physical activity at South L.A. parks, especially among Black visitors
Scientists Team Up With “Unconventional Collaborators” of the Cetacean Kind to Study Greenland’s Warming Oceans
Scientists come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, that shape is a blubbery 1,000-kilogram whale with a 2-meter tusk.
In Colorado and nationwide, women's sports is big business
One study shows soccer and basketball are projected to generate the highest amount of global revenue for women's sports, and Denver is seeing some of those effects firsthand, with the new NWSL team, Denver Summit FC.
🧠 Y! Sports AM: New CTE study
At least 25% of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE, according to a new study.
The sugar you ate as a baby may be affecting your health now, study finds
Researchers estimated the difference in telomere length was associated with a life expectancy increase of slightly more than two years.
BMI may not tell the whole story about healthy weight in older adults
As you age, the link between weight and health is more than just a number on the scale. CNN contributor Dr. Leana Wen explains what a new study reveals about BMI and body fat.
The sugar you ate as a baby may be affecting your health now, study finds
Researchers estimated the difference in telomere length was associated with a life expectancy increase of slightly more than two years.