Science Literacy Project Daily Digest Science Controversies in the Media ++++ ++++

Science Literacy Project Daily Digest Science Controversies in the Media How climate change could impact food safety Popular Mechanics https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/03/how-climate-change-could-impact-food-safety/ Climate change isn’t just fueling stronger storms and longer droughts — it’s also making the food on your plate riskier, as Popular Mechanics’ Darren Orf reports. A new review from researchers at Ethiopia’s Public Health Institute and Dambi Dollo University, published in the study in One Health Outlook, found that rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and extreme weather are accelerating the spread of foodborne pathogens worldwide. Do-it-yourself, anti-aging wonder drug deception: No evidence yet metformin works Nautilus https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/03/do-it-yourself-anti-aging-wonder-drug-deception-no-evidence-yet-metformin-works/ Biohackers have long touted metformin, a cheap diabetes drug, as a secret weapon against aging. But a new review finds the evidence doesn’t yet back the hype, as Nautilus’s Jake Currie reports. Viewpoint: If Trump has his way, nitrogen oxide-polluting AI data centers will be exempt from air pollution rules The Guardian https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/03/viewpoint-if-trump-has-his-way-nitrogen-oxide-polluting-ai-data-centers-will-be-exempt-from-air-pollution-rules/ The Trump administration is moving to end public notification of air pollution from AI data centers, as Guardian reporter Tom Perkins reports. A proposed EPA rule would make it optional, rather than required, for developers to disclose how much nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants their generators and turbines will release under so-called “minor source” Clean Air Act permits. Death of a Chinese girl in a gene-editing trial raises concerns about China’s rush to become a biomedical superpower Science https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/03/death-of-a-chinese-girl-in-a-gene-editing-trial-raises-concerns-about-chinas-rush-to-become-a-biomedical-superpower/ Six-year-old “Mei” had Snijders Blok-Campeau syndrome, a disorder diagnosed in just 237 people worldwide, marked by developmental delays and simple speech. In March 2025, doctors at Shanghai’s Xinhua Hospital infused trillions of viruses carrying an experimental base-editing therapy into her spinal fluid to correct the mutation. Seven days later she died of a severe immune reaction — a death never made public, as Science and Retraction Watch reveal in a joint investigation by Brendan Borrell. Deadly ‘faith healing’ exemption: Idaho remains the only state shielding parents from prosecution for replacing medical care with prayer or spirits—even if their child dies Audrey Dutton | ProPublica https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/02/deadly-faith-healing-exemption-idaho-remains-the-only-state-shielding-parents-from-prosecution-for-replacing-medical-care-with-prayer-or-spirits-even-if-their-child-dies/ In Idaho, parents who say their faith prohibits lifesaving medical care for their children can’t be charged with child neglect or manslaughter. Supporters of this protection over the years have included lawmakers who voiced support for “traditional” Idaho values. Viewpoint: With Trump’s declining mental health and an incapacitated Mitch McConnell unlikely to return to the Senate, America’s gerontocracy needs a Public Physician The Atlantic https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/02/viewpoint-with-trumps-declining-mental-health-and-an-incapacitated-mitch-mcconnell-unlikely-to-return-to-the-senate-americas-gerontocracy-needs-a-public-physician/ Senator Mitch McConnell, 84, hasn’t spoken publicly since an ambulance took him from his Washington home on June 14th, 2026. In The Atlantic, geriatrician Rachael Bedard argues his opaque absence exposes a real gap in American government: no independent body checks whether aging officials are still fit to serve. Viewpoint: RFK Jr. and other vaccine denialists blame vaccines for a surge in severe autism. The surge is a myth—and here’s why Quillette https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/02/viewpoint-rfk-jr-and-other-vaccine-denialists-blame-vaccines-for-a-surge-in-severe-autism-the-surge-is-a-myth-and-heres-why/ Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. keep pointing to what they call an explosion of severe autism cases as proof that vaccines are poisoning American children, but the epidemiology doesn’t support the claim, as epidemiologist Geoffrey C. Kabat argues in Quillette. Trump has claimed that “large amounts of vaccine, large amounts of like vats of vaccine are currently pumped into your child’s body,” insisting rates were far lower when children received fewer shots. Kabat’s rebuttal: what has actually ballooned is the diagnosis, not the disorder. Can cloud seeding ease the deepening drought across the American West? New York Times https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/02/can-cloud-seeding-ease-the-deepening-drought-across-the-american-west/ A 26-foot tower resembling a football goalpost in Moab, Utah, pulses electrical charges into clouds — and its maker says that boosted snowfall in the La Sal Mountains 15 percent last winter, as Scott Dance reports for The New York Times. The claim, from Rain Enhancement Technologies, reflects a bigger Western bet: drought-stricken states, utilities and ski resorts are pouring millions into cloud seeding for more rain and snow.