Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images I remember when I first got my dog Milo. I was convinced that this would be a different dynamic from the one I had experienced living with my parents and their dogs for many years prior. Back then, I was a young child and a teenager. Now, I was an adult earning a living on my own. I thought, Hey, I’m going to get a dog to keep me company and keep things interesting. But at the end of the day, it’ll still just be a dog. I’d be in charge. Milo would belong to me,...
Study Finds Differences In Kids Brains May Lead To Drug Use, Not The Other Way Around
Tomas Rodriguez/Corbis/Getty Images If you were a certain kind of kid going through the D.A.R.E. program in the ’90s, you very likely lived a good chunk of your childhood believing you were one peer-pressured joint away from a crack addiction and living on the streets. But even after those sensational fears ultimately ebbed (and for most of us they did), the idea of “gateway drugs” changing our brains and increasing the odds of addiction remained. But a December 2024 study, recently covered in Scientific American, suggests that it’s differences in the brain that cause drug use and not the other...
RFK Wants To Ban Fluoride From Drinking Water, Even If It Means “A Few More Cavities"
NoSystem images/E+/Getty Images Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert Kennedy has been vocal in his desire to ban fluoride from public drinking water. As recently as last month, in an interview on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus, Harris Faulkner asked Kennedy about concerns held by dentists and public health experts that taking added fluoride out of water would cause a rise in dental concerns, particularly among low-income children who don’t regularly see a dentist. “It is an issue,” the secretary conceded, “it’s a balance. You’re gonna see probably slightly more cavities, although in Europe, where they banned fluoride, they...
I’ve Decided To Have A "Truth Summer" — & Honestly, It's So Liberating
AleksandarNakic/E+/Getty Images I had this friend who would rarely answer my invitations to get together. Or she’d reach out to say how much she missed me and that she wanted to have lunch. But when I’d respond, asking what days worked for her, that’s where the conversation ended. After the fourth time this happened, I debated whether I should say something. I knew I couldn’t complain about it if I was going to let it continue and expect a different result each time, but confrontation is hard for us all. I didn’t really want to deal with it, and it...