Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The Washington Post: Why Do Our Brains Believe Lies?
It’s been an election cycle packed with misinformation and conspiracy theories. So why do so many people believe the lies? Blame the brain. Misinformation is more likely to be believed, remembered and later recalled — even after we learn that it was false. (Sima, 11/3)
Stat: This Is Biology's Century. We're Not Ready For It
From CRISPR to gene therapy, the biggest looming problem is that we will simply become lost and confused as to what works and what doesn’t. (Herper, 11/3)
The New York Times: The Fading Art Of Preserving The Dead
Walk down two flights of stairs, accessed through the back entrance of the James Hunt Funeral Home in Asbury Park, N.J., and you reach a white-walled, linoleum-floored, fluorescently-lit room. On a recent Tuesday evening, Shawn’te Harvell walked down the steps and into the room, where two bodies, covered in white cloth, lay on gurneys. (Whang, 11/1)
The Wall Street Journal: How Morticians Are Putting The Fun In Funerals
“People start planning and they realize, ‘Holy cow, there are so many decisions to be made,’” said Mr. Fogarty, who organized a three-day “Before I Die” festival in the Dayton, Ohio, area last weekend. The festival included a Day of the Dead-themed dinner at a cemetery, screenings of death-themed movies including “Coco” from Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar and a death cafe, where people could converse about mortality. (Mosbergen, 11/3)
The Washington Post: Can Stress Spread Like A Virus? What Animals Tell Us
Is stress contagious? Yes, says neuroscientist Tony W. Buchanan, a professor at St. Louis University. In 2010, he measured the response of people who were simply observing stress in others. Now, more researchers are investigating whether this contagiousness is something seen across the animal kingdom. (Sand, 10/30)
The Washington Post: How To Change Your Nightmares Into Better Dreams
A treatment may help those with chronic nightmares. The experimental method, which combined an established treatment — imagery rehearsal therapy — with a sound, led to fewer nightmares among participants for as long as three months afterward, a study showed. (Cimons, 10/28)
The New York Times: How Do You Tell The Story Of Roe V. Wade?
“The Age of Roe,” a new exhibition at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library for the History of Women, aims to break down any simple understanding of how the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade has shaped America. The show, in the works since 2020, was originally going to be called “Roe at 50.” (Schuessler, 11/2)
The Boston Globe: Will Artificial Intelligence Help Build Better Protein Drugs? This Scientist Quit His Job To Prove It Can
Chris Bahl is a self-proclaimed protein geek. He’s spent the better part of 10 years studying the intricate structures of proteins — complex molecular machines responsible for nearly all facets of life, from metabolism to movement. His goal was to create completely synthetic proteins using computer programs, and to open up a new avenue for making medicines. (Cross, 11/3)
Scientific American: Diseases Explode After Extreme Flooding And Other Climate Disasters
More than four months after devastating monsoon floods began in Pakistan, at least 1,500 people have died, and the waters that inundated nearly the entire country have yet to recede. This ongoing emergency is causing illness and communicable disease to spread, and these effects are likely to be much more deadly than the initial catastrophe. (Biba, 10/24)
Undark: The Mysteries Of The Astronaut Microbiome
Space poses some massive dangers for humans, from black holes to the heat death of the universe. But as humanity considers long-haul space travel, there are other, smaller potential hazards that some researchers say may deserve more attention: microbes from Earth. (Johnson, 11/2)
