Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. Let’s kick off the week by catching up on the latest science news.
First, we’ve got a brief update from Tanya Lewis, a senior editor covering health and medicine at Scientific American. She’s here to unpack the news that President-elect Donald Trump plans to put Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. What follows is a brief conversation Tanya and I recorded a couple days back.
Tanya, what is RFK, Jr.’s background in regard to health?
Tanya Lewis: RFK, Jr., is an environmental lawyer by training, but he has no medical background, and he has very strong anti-vaccine views. He’s argued that vaccines cause autism—which is, of course, debunked.
He’s also made lots of false and exaggerated claims about the dangers of water fluoridation. He’s argued for unproven and potentially dangerous therapies like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for COVID and chelation, which is a method of removing heavy metals from the body for autism and, of course, it doesn’t work for that.
He also wants to end what he calls the [Food and Drug Administration’s], quote, “war on public health,” which includes regulation of raw milk and some unproven stem cell treatments. He also wants to stop the, quote, “revolving door” between industry and government and regulate ultra-processed foods, although it’s not really clear how he would actually do those things.
Feltman: And so what does it actually mean that he’s been nominated into this role?
Lewis: I think his nomination suggests that the Trump administration has very little regard for established medical science. His views on vaccines and fluoride just really go against the consensus of most public health experts and decades of research on their safety and efficacy.
And it’s not yet clear that he will even be confirmed by the Senate, so he may not even have a chance to implement this agenda.
Feltman: Assuming that, you know, he does get to step into this role, what kinds of power would he actually have?
Lewis: So as head of HHS, the Department of Health and Human Services, he will be in charge of the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and pretty much all other health departments, so he would have enormous power to fire people, to hire people and totally restructure these agencies. He could also fill FDA and CDC advisory panels with vaccine skeptics, which would be, obviously, probably a bad thing because these agencies are supposed to be tasked with protecting people’s health and vaccines are a huge part of that.
One interesting thing about RFK, Jr., is that he actually has a very long-standing record of being pro-abortion. He has said in the past that he would support abortion through the ninth month, although I think he’s backtracked on that a little bit. But his pro-abortion stance could actually get in the way of him getting confirmed by a pretty conservative Congress.
Feltman: What kinds of decisions and restrictions and allowances can this group of agencies make?
Lewis: So as head of HHS, the Department of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. would oversee the FDA, the agency responsible for making sure that every medication that is on the market has been tested rigorously for safety and efficacy. And he’d be in charge of CDC, which has a huge role in protecting Americans’ public health, not just in pandemics but in, you know, everyday life, constantly alerting the public. So that’s a very important role. He’d also be in charge of NIH, the National Institutes of Health, which is our primary source of government funding for biomedical research. And he would also be in charge of other smaller government health agencies that also have very important roles.
Feltman: Tanya, thanks so much for coming on to unpack all this for us.
Lewis: Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
Feltman: In other national health news the U.S. surgeon general released a new report on tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure last Tuesday. The report states that although smoking has declined by more than 70 percent in the U.S. since 1965, that drop hasn’t benefited all Americans equally. American Indian and Alaska Native people have higher smoking rates than other ethnic and racial groups, and people who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are more likely to smoke than their straight counterparts. The report also noted that people living in poverty are almost twice as likely to smoke as those living above the poverty line. What’s worse is that some of those disparities have actually increased since 2000. The story is similar when it comes to secondhand smoke exposure. While the number of related deaths has dropped by more than half since 2006, secondhand tobacco exposure remains disproportionately high for Black people, adults with lower education levels, children, and people with lower incomes.
The report pins these disparities on several likely factors, including tobacco marketing campaigns that target specific groups and neighborhoods as well as stress and financial barriers to treatment. So, in addition to your standard smoking cessation policies, the report calls for policies that address disparities in access to health care and education overall. If you or someone you care about is ready to cut down on tobacco use, you can find resources to help by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visiting the website SmokeFree.gov.
Okay, now it’s time to zoom way out—and then back in again—to catch up on some space news. Last Thursday astronomers unveiled the first-ever close-up image of a star from outside the Milky Way galaxy. This distant celestial body is about 2,000 times bigger than our sun, and it sits inside a galaxy that orbits our own. Scientists have recently made an exciting discovery regarding a star that appears to be shedding material and nearing the end of its life. The star, which is surrounded by a glowing blob and oval, has dimmed over the past decade, indicating that it may be on the cusp of going supernova. Researchers are particularly interested in a ring around the star, which they believe could be linked to a burst of ejected material just before the star reaches its final stage.
In other news, two new studies have shed light on the behavior of chimpanzees, our closest animal relatives. The first study, published last Wednesday, delves into the phenomenon of social contagion among chimps. Researchers observed the primates engaging in affiliative behaviors such as grooming and play, noting that these activities were often initiated after being observed in other chimps. The study aims to better understand how contagious behaviors impact social cohesion within chimp groups.
Another study, released last Thursday, focused on adult social play in chimps. While play is commonly associated with juveniles in the human world, the study revealed that adult chimps also engage in regular play activities. These activities, such as wrestling and chasing, are accompanied by unique facial expressions known as “play faces.” The researchers found that adult chimps often play together before engaging in cooperative activities, suggesting that play plays a crucial role in maintaining social bonds within the chimp community.
The findings from these studies provide valuable insights into the behavior of chimpanzees and offer a glimpse into the complex social dynamics of our closest animal relatives. As researchers continue to study wild chimp populations, we can expect to learn more about the significance of play in maintaining group cohesion and cooperation.
Stay tuned for more updates on scientific discoveries and insights. Remember to subscribe to Scientific American for the latest in-depth science news. Have a great week!
