Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners View national and state-level school vaccination coverage and exemption estimates.

From Critica: Vaccination rates among US kindergarten children have fallen to their lowest levels in years, as exemptions rise sharply. It is imperative that public health officials unite to reassure people that these vaccinations are essential and safe.
www.cdc.gov/schoolvaxvie...

Contrarian climate assessment from U.S. government draws swift pushback Researchers say DOE report cherry-picks data to downplay threat of greenhouse gases

From Critica: The US Department of Energy issued a report disputing that climate change is significant or a function of human activity, but experts contend that report is misguided and wrong.
www.science.org/content/arti...

From Critica: Here's another important reason to support mRNA technology.

Masks Don’t Muffle Word Learning: Toddlers Learn Without Seeing Mouths - Neuroscience News Toddlers as young as two can successfully learn new words even when a speaker’s mouth or eyes are covered, a study shows.

From Critica: During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic there were many attempts to stoke doubt and fear about face masks. Here is a study showing that one of these fears, that toddlers who wear face masks can't learn, is baseless.
neurosciencenews.com/mask-languag...

How wind and solar power helps keep America’s farms alive Rural counties also benefit in jobs, manufacturing and tax revenue that will be hard to replace as the US government slashes support for the industries.

From Critica: In states like Texas, wind and solar energy are key to helping farmers and small communities remain economically viable.
theconversation.com/how-wind-and...

In Game-Changing Climate Rollback, E.P.A. Aims to Kill a Bedrock Scientific Finding

From Critica: Eliminating the EPA endangerment finding will be devastating to the world's efforts to contain climate change. It is imperative that this not happen.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/c...

RFK Jr. Reportedly Planning to Fire All USPSTF Members Move would come on the heels of abrupt cancellation of task force meeting

From Critica: We have found guidelines from USPSTF to be generally balanced and important. It is unclear why there is now a proposal to fire all of its members.
www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/...

Building a resistance to US assaults on public health The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched a full-fledged assault on science and public health;1 its “flood the zone” strategy created chaos and initially overwhelmed potential oppos...

From Critica: In an important comment piece in The Lancet, five scholars detail efforts to preserve threatened US public health institutions and call for more concerted effort to advocate for science-based public health policies.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Gain-of-function research is more than just tweaking risky viruses – it’s a routine and essential tool in all biology research From cancer immunotherapy and antibiotics to GMO crops and pandemic surveillance, gain of function is a cornerstone of basic research.

From Critica: It is important that we understand the facts about gain-of-function research, a necessary method to understand the biology of viruses and get ahead of potential spread to humans.
theconversation.com/gain-of-func...

RFK Jr. Wants to Overhaul a Vital System That Supports Childhood Immunization The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccin...

From Critica: We are deeply concerned by US HHS Secretary Kennedy Jr.'s announcement that he plans to make significant changes in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a move that could jeopardize the supply of childhood vaccines.
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...

Marty Makary's Many Blind Spots about Menopause Hormone Therapy His book is a master class in cherry picking

From Critica: Dr. Jen Gunter reviews the scientific literature to dispute the FDA's director's statements about menopause hormone therapy. She demonstrates that the issues are complex and require medical expertise to unravel.
vajenda.substack.com/p/marty-maka... @Dr. Jen Gunter

Opinion | FDA Didn't Really Give 'Full Approval' to Moderna's Pediatric COVID Vaccine Decision was limited to children who are at increased risk of severe disease

From Critica: Jeremy Faust explains that contrary to media reports the FDA did not in fact give full approval to Moderna's pediatric Covid-19 vaccine and why this could jeopardize the safety of children at risk.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/faus...

Opinion | Can a Novel Motivational Interviewing Technique Help in the Measles Outbreak? The approach focuses on community-level change in a public forum

From Critica: We published this today on MedPage Today: Can a Novel Motivational Interviewing Technique Help in the Measles Outbreak? www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... @medpagetoday.bsky.social @gfriedman.bsky.social and visit Critica at www.criticascience.org

Opinion | The woman who could impede RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda Susan Monarez deserves to be confirmed as CDC director.

From Critica: A Washington Post editorial suggests that likely new CDC director Susan Monarez could be an important voice to preserve vaccine access and "push back against false information about vaccines." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
And follow Critica at www.criticascience.org

He seeded clouds over Texas. Then came the conspiracy theories. Cloud seeding couldn’t have caused the floods that killed more than 100 people, experts say. But rumormongers suggested a link to one company’s work.

From Critica: Here's an example of misinformation. But no, the horrible Texas floods were not caused by cloud seeding. Climate change made the floods much worse.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Toward a Better Understanding of Electroconvulsive Therapy When we don't understand how something works, we often fear it. That has been the case with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but new research may be shedding needed light.

Here is our July Psychology Today blog post. Comments welcome. Visit Critica at www.criticascience.org
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deny...

Hot air: the most extreme heatwaves are accelerating the fastest Tropical regions where heatwaves are already common will be hardest hit by this trend.

The frequency of the longest and most dangerous heatwaves is increasing as the planet warms

https://go.nature.com/4ktlzVZ

Medical Societies Sue Kennedy and H.H.S. Over Vaccine Advice

From Critica: Several major medical societies are taking legal action to challenge the CDC decision to stop recommending Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant women and "healthy children." Scientific evidence clearly supports this legal challenge.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/h...

Offshore wind is alive and well. Maybe we should just keep quiet about that.  - CommonWealth Beacon Is it possible that the predictions of the death of offshore wind power – one of our single best tools in the fight against climate change – were greatly exaggerated?

From Critica: Despite attempts to stifle its development, our friend Jeff Levy-Lyons pointed out this article demonstrating that offshore wind energy projects are flourishing in the US.
commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/offs...

Why climate change fades into the background – and how to change that The public is tuning out the seemingly slow warming of the world, but it doesn't have to be that way, argue Grace Liu and Rachit Dubey

From Critica: Scientists say that the gradual nature of climate change makes people ignore it because "the human brain tends to overlook small, creeping change." They suggest strategies to overcome the so-called "boiling frog effect."
www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

"The anti‑vax movement, once seen as confined to the U.S., is now spreading globally." An excellent, if sobering, piece from Rivka Galchen.

England has just given the thumbs up to gene-edited plants. Hooray! A UK parliamentary committee has greenlit gene-edited plants. This is great news, as it will boost food production and reduce waste, says Michael Le Page

From Critica: Using CRISPR gene editing, scientists can make plants that will boost food production and decrease food waste.
www.newscientist.com/article/2479...

Trump Seeks to Cancel NASA’s Mars Sample Return—And Scientists Are Outraged After billions of dollars in spending and decades of planning, NASA may be forced to abandon precious samples of air, rock and soil on the Martian surface. Experts are furious

From Critica: In another blow to science, the US administration proposes to cancel a mission to return rocks from Mars.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum....

Trump's budget: Nearly 12 million estimated to lose health coverage, says CBO The spending plan could also add nearly $3.3tn (£2.4tn) in debt, according to non-partisan analysis.

From Critica: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that millions of people will lose health care insurance if the "Big, Beautiful Bill" passes. That would be a disaster that must be avoided.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

RFK Jr. wins his fight against a rare, safe flu-shot ingredient A CDC panel’s vote to stop recommending thimerosal-containing flu shots would have limited impact, but it illustrates how the anti-vaccine movement is achieving its goals.

From Critica: Yesterday's AHIP decision to remove the preservative thimerosal from flu vaccines is a colossal waste of time: almost no vaccines actually contain it, there is no evidence it is harmful, and it doesn't involve the toxic form of mercury.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

RFK Jr. says U.S. will stop funding global vaccine alliance Gavi Gavi works to expand access to vaccines for children in some of the world’s poorest countries. Health experts say the move could have deadly consequences.

From Critica: The US makes a disastrous decision to stop contributing to the international vaccine organization Gavi.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

In the face of anti-science politics, silence is not without cost More scientific leaders need to speak out about anti-science agendas and threats to academic freedom across the world.

Having the freedom to defend science is a privilege. Those who have it owe it to everyone the world over to make their voices heard

https://go.nature.com/44guILv

Vaccine support isn’t as controversial as it seems A new poll shows support is shared across political party lines — and comes as Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. could reshape the future of vaccines.

From Critica: A new poll shows that an impressive majority of US Americans support mandatory vaccines for children and believe childhood vaccines are safe and effective. 19thnews.org/2025/06/vacc...

Learning From Uruguay’s Energy Transition Energy policy research from the University of Pennsylvania

From Critica: By shifting to wind power, Uruguay now has "the lowest per capita emissions in the world" and falling electricity prices.
kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/b...

News on climate change is more persuasive than expected | Penn Today In a new paper, Computational Social Science Lab postdoctoral researcher Amir Tohidi and colleagues find that exposure to articles about climate change significantly increases climate change concerns ...

From Critica: Contrary to expectations, a new randomized, controlled study finds that exposure to information about climate change shifts attitudes and increases belief in the urgency of climate change.
penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-as...