On supporting science journalism
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Two articles in June proved to be not only provocative but complementary. "Doubt Is Their Product, " by David Michaels, discussed efforts by corporations and interest groups to employ their own research to undermine the science supporting product regulation. Many readers suspected they had found an example of such intentionally generated uncertainty in ¿Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic,¿ W. Wayt Gibbs¿s report on assertions by researchers that the government, medical establishment and media are misleading the public on the health consequences of rising body weight.
For all the heat, there was a really cool article, "Buying Time in Suspended Animation," by Mark B. Roth and Todd Nystul, that prompted Elbert Pence of Kenmore, Wash., to wonder about the chilling implications of a hiatus from an active lifestyle: "Will the government cut off my Social Security payments if I decide to go into suspended animation? If so, will they be restored when I am warmed back up to 98.6?"