How the placebo effect became mainstream

Penicillin was hailed as a 'wonder drug' upon its release

When penicillin became widely available in the 1940s, newspapers and doctors alike celebrated it as a “wonder drug” that could cure infections once considered fatal.

Can microdosing improve mental health?

Animal studies involving microdoses of psilocybin, the psychoactive component in magic mushrooms and ketamine, found it helped to alleviate anxiety and inflammation, an immune response that can cause damage when chronically active. Human studies are ongoing. In at least one double-blind study, where researchers and patients don't know who got a placebo versus the real thing, about half of the participants incorrectly guessed they had been given placebos.

See how antidepressants were discovered

The decadeslong journey to the three major types of antidepressants began with medications designed to treat other maladies. Watch to learn more about how attempts to treat tuberculosis and blood pressure disorders led to new insights about neural chemistry and mood.

Psychedelic therapy's ethical guidelines (or lack thereof)

With a checkered history of misconduct, how will psychedelic-assisted therapists be held accountable in the emerging legal field? This article explores the nascent field's need for ethical guidelines and clear protection of patient rights when therapeutic breakthroughs teeter "on the edge of consent."

The term 'low T' was coined in 2002, recasting testosterone therapy and elevating demand

The marketing shift and accompanying awareness campaigns, both by the company behind the first testosterone product approved by the FDA, changed the landscape for testosterone product demand. Testosterone is often considered low when it's below 300 nanograms per deciliter of blood. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Opium's history traces from religious use to mass-market commercial products

Religious or medical use of opium was present across Europe and Asia as early as 5000 BCE. By the 16th century, humanity had come to see opium as more than medicine: It was a marketable product. This perspective also defines today's relationship with opioids, highly addictive painkillers at the heart of an ongoing drug crisis.

Doctors are prescribing social activities—and seeing good results

Physicians, especially in the UK, are asking patients what they enjoy and then prescribing a consistent regimen of doing that type of activity to improve fitness and overall health, including community exercise classes, volunteering, and spending time in nature. This approach may provide better incentives to stick with an activity.

Health food broke into the mainstream by the 1980s

A 1984 New York Times story noted that Americans were eating less red meat than a decade prior, and that, in general, the country was “talking, thinking and worrying about what they eat to a degree unique in the nation's history.” The feature then details foods that were then considered bizarre: whole-grain muffins, hummus, and a variety of vegetarian dishes. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The oldest medical report of a near-death experience dates to around 1740

In 2014, Dr. Philippe Charlier, a medical doctor and archeologist, found a French medical book from 1740 that described the near-death experience of a pharmacist. Using the Greyson Scale, Charlier found that the incident would have rated at least 12/32, more than high enough to scientifically classify as an NDE by today’s standards.

Coca-Cola was created during a patent medicine boom

A "patent medicine" is a proprietary medicine that is ostensibly created and marketed under a patent, and, crucially, is available without prescription.

The history of brainwashing in America

"Brainwashing" refers to a coerced shift in worldview, often associated with cults or oppressive totalitarian governments. Though such processes are not well understood on a neurological level, they hold an outsized role in public imagination, particularly in science fiction and dystopias. This article reviews the history of the term, first popularized by Edward Hunter in 1950, and the subsequent use of the approach in pop psychology, the CIA, and more.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157

The unapproved peptide—which has received glowing testimonials from bodybuilders, biohackers, popular podcasters, and some in the MAHA movement— is often sourced from China. It has been used for myriad conditions. But scientific questions about the substance abound, including whether it's truly a natural substance produced by the human body, since genetic material that codes for its unique amino acid sequence hasn't been found in the human genome or the gut microbiome. Other unknowns include how it works in the body, which receptors it targets, and its safety, since evidence beyond anecdotes remains scant in humans.

An overview of 200 years of diabetes treatment

Diabetes treatment became truly effective after the advent of insulin injections in the early 1900s. Diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Current trends estimate one in three Americans will have diabetes by 2050. This overview explores two centuries of diabetes treatment—starting in 1812—and outline potential challenges to treatment and prevention.

How upheavals in accepted scientific theories helped popularize the term 'paradigm'

When Thomas Kuhn published "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" in 1962, he described the history of science as comprising periods of "normal science" where these accepted frameworks—paradigms—gradually accumulate anomalies until they cannot describe nature. Revolutionary science, such as the development of a new theory, results in a paradigm shift, another term Kuhn helped popularize. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Some Nobel laureates have expressed beliefs in pseudoscience after winning

Examples of the phenomenon, known as Nobelitis or Nobel disease, include promoting psychic research, harmful practices like eugenics, and seeing talking raccoons. Increased external pressures after a win and a greater spotlight may contribute to developing or exposing these beliefs.

How the rise of surgical robots affects medical education

Today's medical students are training in tools their predecessors may have only dreamed of or found locked in the pages of science fiction novels. This article explores the rising popularity and use of surgical robots and how these robots are...

Drugs in space: the pharmacy orbiting the Earth

Researchers are developing pharmaceutical solutions for astronauts, whose bodies may not respond the same way in space as they would on Earth. Similar to how microgravity causes changes to astronaut physiology, the environmental shift enables new...

An essay exploring how living day-to-day with a brain implant helps restore a sense of identity

Companies like Neuralink are experimenting with volunteers who have lost control over their bodies. Many of the program's participants claim the most significant benefit from the tool is the ability to perform simple, mundane tasks, such as playing video games or shaking hands, rather than more obvious milestones like walking or eating. This essay explores what it's like, day to day, to use a brain implant.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Pill bottles have often been orange to help protect medication from UV light

Amber pill bottles were introduced in 1968 to keep medications potent while allowing patients to see how much medication they had left. The color has since become universally associated with prescription medication.

Magic Johnson's announcing he had HIV changed public perception of the disease

When Lakers superstar Magic Johnson announced he had HIV in 1991, the disease was highly misunderstood. Commissioner David Stern had behind-the-scenes conversations with Johnson about publicly handling his eventual announcement, leading to the start of the condition's destigmatization.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Is conventional wisdom about amyloid plaques wrong?

Neurobiologist Karl Herrup makes the case for reevaluating current research paradigms and embracing a more comprehensive understanding of Alzheimer's disease. He highlights years of failed clinical trials of drugs reducing amyloid plaques in treating Alzheimer's, the establishment of that theory based on a single patient, and more.

A pediatric journal ran 138 fictional case studies, and 61 were cited as real stories

The Canadian journal Paediatrics & Child Health issued corrections to 138 case studies published since 2000, acknowledging the cases were entirely fictional—a practice intended to protect patient privacy that was never disclosed to readers. At least 61 of the fabricated reports were cited as fact in other peer-reviewed journals a combined 218 times, including a 2006 Lancet article alleging an infant died from opioid-laced breast milk.

The history of germ theory, which explains that illnesses are caused by microorganisms

For centuries, the miasma theory, which held that illnesses were caused by clouds of "bad air" produced by decaying organic matter, was the accepted explanation for the spread of disease. The development of microscopes and the subsequent technology to isolate bacteria and test disease spread in mice greatly contributed to contagionists overturning miasmatists.

The first successful organ transplant was performed in 1954

The successful kidney transplant procedure, at what's now-called Brigham and and Women's Hospital, ushered in a new medical era and gave hope to patients with organ failure. The recipient, 23-year-old Richard Herrick, lived eight more years after receiving the donated organ from his living twin brother, Ronald.

The term 'burnout' in academia dates back to 1974

Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger introduced the term to describe the mental and emotional fatigue he witnessed among volunteers at a free clinic in New York. It was widely popularized in a 1976 article by Berkeley professor Christina Maslach.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.