All posts by Steven Novella

Founder and currently Executive Editor of Science-Based Medicine Steven Novella, MD is an academic clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the host and producer of the popular weekly science podcast, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, and the author of the NeuroLogicaBlog, a daily blog that covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science, scientific skepticism, philosophy of science, critical thinking, and the intersection of science with the media and society. Dr. Novella also has produced two courses with The Great Courses, and published a book on critical thinking - also called The Skeptics Guide to the Universe.

Panera Markets Food Fear

Panera Bread goes full Food Babe in their latest ad campaign, which fearmongers about a safe food preservative.

/ August 30, 2017

The Promise of CRISPR

CRISPR is the latest rock-star medical technology that promises to revolutionize medicine. Let's take a look at the hype and the reality.

/ August 23, 2017

The Supplement Con

A new article in Business Insider challenges the major narrative promoted by the supplement industry - that supplements are safe, effective, natural, and actually in the bottle. If we are lucky, this may mark a the start of a sea change in how Americans see supplements.

/ August 16, 2017

Video Games and the Brain

A new article looked at the effect of playing video games on the brain. Its results confirm what was previously suspected from prior research. First, it is another demonstration of use-dependent plasticity in the brain. Further, it supports a direct relationship between the types of activity in which people engage and increases or decreases in the respective parts of the brain. And...

/ August 9, 2017

0.05 or 0.005? P-value Wars Continue

The p-value is under fire yet again, but this time with some quick-and-dirty solutions (and some long-and-onerous ones too) to the problems created by relying on this quick-and-dirty test.

/ August 2, 2017

Increase In Supplement Poisonings

Current supplement regulations in the US (and many countries) are overtly anti-consumer and pro-industry, and are the direct result of aggressive industry lobbying and having powerful senators in their pocket. The rise in calls to poison control for supplements are just one manifestation of this situation.

/ July 26, 2017

New Review of Artificial Sweeteners

A new review of research finds a modest but inconsistent benefit from consuming artificial sweeteners over sugar. Their conclusion of a possible backfire effect, however, does not seem to be supported by the studies they review.

/ July 19, 2017

Brain Wave Pseudoscience

iSynchrony has put together a plausible-sounding bit of bafflegab to justify what it sells. The reality of neurology is against their claims.

/ July 12, 2017

Amish Farmer Jailed for Selling Snakeoil

An Amish farmer is convicted of selling a caustic poison as patent medicine (and of witness tampering) and yet is defended by "alternative medicine" proponents who apparently want the freedom to be defrauded and harmed.

/ July 5, 2017

The Skinny on Saturated Fat

The bottom line is that there are trade-offs and complexities when it comes to biology. A high carbohydrate diet is a risk factor for many diseases, and this is highly genetically variable. Types of sugar matter, weight matters, exercise matters, and genetics matter. The same is true of fat.

/ June 28, 2017