Hair Sample That Put a Man in Prison Turned Out to Be Dog Hair
From bite marks to shaken babies, the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences is debunking bad science.
Junk science
'I Relied on Others,' 'Documents Were Filed in the Wrong Place,' and Other Memorable Excuses
The year's highlights in blame shifting.
The Best of Reason: Take Nutrition Studies With a Grain of Salt
The epidemiology of food and drink is a mess.
Take Nutrition Studies With a Grain of Salt
The epidemiology of food and drink is a mess.
Maryland Supreme Court Limits Testimony on Bullet-Matching Evidence
The ruling is likely the first by a state supreme court to undercut the popular forensic technique.
Do Studies Show Vaping Causes Cancer? No.
Even the best studies haven't surmounted a key statistical issue, and they tend to distort the evidence to make e-cigarettes look dangerous.
Shoddy Research Reinforces Anti-Vaping Narrative
Thanks to tendentiously sloppy research, most Americans think vaping is just as dangerous as smoking. That’s not true.
Lie Detectors Are Junk Science, but We Keep Using Them
Amit Katwala’s Tremors in the Blood explores how unreliable technologies have been used in our criminal justice system.
The Luddites' Veto
Beware of activists touting "responsible research and innovation." The sensible-sounding slogan masks a reactionary agenda.
A Medical Journal Retracts a 2022 Study That Linked Vaping to Cancer
The obvious problems with the article reflect a broader pattern that suggests a peer review bias against e-cigarettes.
Diseases That Studies Linked to E-Cigarettes Generally Were Diagnosed Before Subjects Began Vaping
The failure to consider the timing of diagnoses makes it impossible to draw causal inferences.
Federal Report Adds to the Evidence That Bitemark Analysis Is Nonsense
Forensic techniques are nowhere near as reliable as cops shows pretend.
The Fight To Stop Research Into a Cheap, Effective Backup Plan for Climate Change
Why are activists trying to stop research into a promising backup plan to handle climate change?
Do Studies Show Gun Control Works? No.
Out of 27,900 research publications on gun laws, only 123 tested their effects rigorously.
Best-Selling Author Alice Sebold Apologizes to Innocent Man Who Served 16 Years for Her Rape
Her publisher will stop distributing her memoir Lucky, which detailed the attack and aftermath.
Lingering COVID Requirements for NYC Bars and Restaurants Amount to Pointless Hygiene Theater
Theatrical safety checks don't keep people safe—vaccines do.
The Government Isn't About To Tell You To Stop Drinking Now
Plus: Operation Warp Speed is off to a slow start, Trump's school choice order, and more...
American Heart Association Journal Finally Retracts Study Implying That E-Cigarettes Cause Heart Attacks Before People Use Them
The journal's editors recognized the problem before publication, but the authors failed to address it.
8 Months Later, This Journal Still Hasn't Corrected Its Study Implying That E-Cigarettes Magically Cause Heart Attacks Before People Use Them
The Journal of the American Heart Association has responded to critics with nothing but boilerplate promises of scientific integrity.
Study Finds Almost 40 Percent of People in Eight European Nations Would Like to Live "in a World Where Chemical Substances Don't Exist"
Such scientific ignorance is common in th US as well, and can have a harmful influence on government policy.
A Famous Study Found That Blind Auditions Reduced Sexism in the Orchestra. Or Did It?
More implicit bias research comes under scrutiny
Anti-Vaping Researchers Claim E-Cigarettes Cause Heart Attacks Before Smokers Try Them
A study suggesting that e-cigarettes double the risk of a heart attack ignored crucial information on timing.
Another Study Finds Trigger Warnings Are Useless, or Even Harmful
A scientific consensus has emerged that trigger warnings just don't work—and student activists should stop demanding them.
That Story About Kids Growing Horns Because of Smartphones Is Fake News
Researchers made no effort to link the two.
Bayer to Waste $5.6 Billion Trying to Appease Anti-Pesticide Activists
This will fail and more pressing problems will be neglected
No, 13 Reasons Why Is Not Making Tons of Teens Commit Suicide
Surprise: A viral study is junk science.
Just Stop With the Climate-Change Disease Scaremongering, OK?
No, global warming will not spark a black death pandemic that kills millions
Most Nutrition Research Is Bunk
Implausible estimates of benefits or risks associated with diet reflect almost exclusively the magnitude of nutrition researchers' cumulative biases.
Don't Worry About That Diet Soda Habit: Artificial Sweeteners Are Harmless, Say Scientists
After years of being blamed for weight gain and metabolic issues, zero-calorie sweeteners and the drinks they flavor are being absolved.
New York Times Columnist Is Worried About What's in His Urine
The FDA debunks his fears.
Jacobson Dismisses Defamation Lawsuit Against Other Scientists
After an initial hearing, Stanford's Mark Jacobson thinks better of pursuing a scientific disagreement in court.
How Open-Access Journals Are Transforming Science
Academic publishers are "still acting as if the internet doesn't exist," says Michael Eisen, co-founder of the Public Library of Science.
Eating Less Salt Does Not Lower Blood Pressure for Most Americans, Says Yet Another Study
The failure of consensus nutrition "science" and the ongoing collapse of dietary puritanism.
Trump Selects Anti-Vaccination Kook Robert Kennedy Jr. to Head Vaccination Safety Commission—Update: Not So Fast?
Kennedy once compared vaccination to the Holocaust*
An Epidemic of Bad Epidemiology
Getting Risk Right is a potent antidote to the toxic misinformation peddled by activist scaremongers
An Epidemic of Bad Epidemiology: New at Reason
Getting Risk Right reviewed by Ronald Bailey
Time Magazine Promotes Superstitious Chemophobia
Toxicologists liken the endocrine disruption hypothesis to homeopathy.
Most Scientific Findings Are Wrong or Useless
"Science isn't self-correcting, it's self-destructing."
Federal Judge Orders Withdrawal of Fraudulent Chobani Yogurt Ads
The company implied that sucralose and potassium sorbate made competing products unsafe for human consumption.
Eat Food and Die
What happens when warnings about processed meat's cancer risk collides with California's absurd Prop 65 (over)warning law?
The New York Times Says Working in Nail Salons Causes Cancer and Miscarriages. The Evidence Says Otherwise. (Part 3)
The final in a three-part series on how Sarah Maslin Nir's investigative series violated the standards of responsible journalism.
U.S. Government Nutrition Advice Is Stuck in 1980s
The Uncle Sam Diet mantra: Don't eat anything your ancestors wouldn't have while watching Cheers on network television.
New Article Blasts Feds' 'Pseudoscientific Methods' For Establishing Dietary Guidelines
A stinging critique of the shabby science that supports federal recommendations
Most Preclinical Life Science Research Is Irreproducible Bunk
$28 billion in research funding wasted every year.