Mental Health & Society

Ever since the coronavirus crept onto the world stage, we have been suffering from two simultaneous pandemics: One from the virus and another from mis- and disinformation.

When I was a graduate student working on my PhD at the University of Washington (UW), we would receive email notifications once a year letting us know that animal rights' activists were in the area.

The early bird gets the worm. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. There are plenty of platitudes that justify the widespread belief that getting up early is the best way to start the day.

I collect science textbooks. Some of the best ones I have on my shelf are Janeway's Immunobiology, Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, Casarett & Doull's Toxicology, and Sherris Medical Microbiology.

By James Smoliga, High Point University

By Tareq Yousef, Dalhousie University

Conspiracy theorists who oppose the fluoridation of drinking water claim that fluoride is added not to strengthen teeth but to allow for mind control.

Human overpopulation is one of the biggest myths we keep needing to debunk. The reason is because this belief has an insidious effect, in some cases leading to profound acts of evil.

While much remains unknown about SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, we do know this: Like others before it, the new virus evolved naturally, perhaps in bats, before "jumping" into humans.

Several years ago, I received an invitation to attend a conference hosted by the Breakthrough Institute, an organization that promotes technological solutions to problems like climate change.