Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight new members to the 16-seat US Preventive Services Task Force, the federal panel that grades preventive care services like cancer screenings and statins on an A-to-D scale that determines insurance coverage. The appointments come after Kennedy spent over a year sidelining the panel, canceling meetings and firing two of its leaders earlier this year. Several new appointees share ideological alignment with Kennedy and the Trump administration, including critics of COVID-19 vaccines and gender-affirming care, plus a non-physician health economist.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-17
A Past Lives episode reconstructs the story of Asana, a young Scythian priestess whose mummified remains, known as the Siberian Ice Maiden, were found preserved in the Altai Mountains permafrost. The narrative imagines her final days, tracing how illness, a riding accident and her role as a spiritual diviner led her to the high plateau where she died roughly 2,500 years ago. The piece situates her individual story within the broader Scythian nomadic world of the Eurasian steppe.
patrickwyman.substack.com
· 2026-09-15
Insilico Medicine's AI-designed drug rentosertib, originally developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, produced unexpected reductions in biological age markers during a phase 2a trial. Researchers reanalyzed blood samples from 42 of 71 Chinese trial participants using six computational aging clocks, finding treated patients showed younger predicted ages after 12 weeks compared to placebo recipients.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-08
US safety regulators have opened an investigation into how Tesla self-certified its Cybercab, a robotaxi that notably lacks a steering wheel and pedals. The probe examines whether Tesla's internal approval process for this unconventional vehicle design met required safety standards before deployment.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-07
Researchers analyzed immune responses from over 150 non-human primates infected during a prolonged Shigella outbreak at a research facility, identifying specific bacterial molecules and antibody binding sites linked to protective immunity. The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, pinpoint precise structural targets that could inform vaccine design against multiple Shigella strains.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-03
Historical texts show medieval Europeans followed Galen's belief that food was central to medical treatment, classifying foods by their supposed qualities of hot/cold and wet/dry to determine their effect on the body. Physicians taught that eating properly balanced these qualities and prevented illness, tied to a theory of three-stage digestion occurring in the stomach, liver, and throughout the body. Diet quality also reflected social class, with the wealthy eating fine wheat bread while poorer people relied on coarser barley or rye.
lithub.com
· 2026-08-31
New research cited by The Wall Street Journal suggests vacations do more than offer temporary fun—they can measurably boost mental well-being. A Journal of Travel Medicine study found improvements in mood and sleep that persist after returning home, while a separate meta-analysis of over 4,400 participants tied nature time and active pursuits like hiking to real psychological benefits.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-08-28
A new JAMA article co-authored by oncologist Ezekiel Emanuel and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla argues that autonomous AI systems are approaching, or have already reached, the point where they outperform both human physicians and doctor-AI hybrid teams on core clinical tasks. Those tasks include taking patient histories, diagnosing illness, choosing tests, prescribing treatment, and managing chronic disease. The authors claim that human oversight can actually degrade AI's performance rather than improve it, based on their review of AI medical research published since January 2024.
wired.com
· 2026-08-28
Researchers analyzed nearly half a million brain cells from tissue of 30 deceased individuals, creating a detailed cellular map of the adult hippocampus. The study, published in Nature Medicine, found that people who had depression showed disrupted production of new neurons compared with those without the disorder.
nature.com
· 2026-08-25
The FDA has cleared PrecivityAD2, a blood test built on technology from Washington University School of Medicine, to help identify amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer's disease. Developed by WashU spinoff C2N Diagnostics, the test uses high-resolution mass spectrometry to quantify biomarkers with over 90% accuracy, offering a less invasive option than spinal taps or brain imaging.
medicine.washu.edu
· 2026-08-24
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