Alcohol health risks, red dye ban, commercial space launches

Private spaceflight, new spider species and alcohol health risks controversial

Written by Rachel Feltman and Madison Goldberg & Fonda Mwangi

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Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday to all our listeners! for scientific american‘s science fastI’m Rachel Feltman. Start your week by catching up on science news you may have missed.

Last Tuesday, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services committee released a new draft report on alcohol. A review of existing data linked just one drink a day to an increased risk of liver cirrhosis, oral cancer, and esophageal cancer. The committee also found that alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of death from seven types of cancer. And this won’t be the first time alcohol’s health effects will be a hot topic in 2025. Earlier this month, Public Health Secretary Vivek Murthy insisted that alcoholic drinks should carry cancer warning labels.

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The report also found some counterintuitive associations. People who drink one drink a day have a lower risk of ischemic stroke than those who don’t, and women who drink one, two, or three drinks a day have a lower risk of diabetes. But these apparent advantages are fickle. For example, drinking just 4 to 5 drinks at a time every once in a while may reverse the reduced risk of ischemic stroke. And while women who consumed two alcoholic drinks a day may have a lower risk of diabetes overall, they also had a significantly higher risk of ischemic stroke and liver disease.

The details may seem confusing, but the gist is very simple. You shouldn’t start drinking as a way to improve your health or justify your drinking by justifying the benefits you read about. The World Health Organization’s position is that alcohol consumption at any level is unsafe for health. Of course, we all do a lot of things that, strictly speaking, are not good for us. But judging by this new report, we need to be mindful of how alcohol fits into the big picture of our lifestyles. In the future, we’re sure to see headlines saying, for example, that red wine is good for your health. ×, y or zBut these headlines don’t actually mean you should drink more alcohol than you’re currently drinking.

Meanwhile, last Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of red dye No. 3 in food, beverages and ingested drugs. The dye, made from petroleum, was rejected for use in cosmetics and topical medicines in 1990 after clinical tests on rodents showed it could be carcinogenic at high doses. Food manufacturers will have until January 2027 to reformulate their products without red dye No. 3, and companies that make orally ingested drugs will have until January 2028.

Advocacy groups have petitioned the FDA to ban Red Dye No. 3 in 2022, but the agency says the dye is subject to the so-called Delaney Clause (a part of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that prevents FDA approval). ) was concluded to be in violation. Additives that have been shown to cause cancer in humans or other animals. However, you should note the following: statistics newsthe mechanism by which this dye causes cancer in male rats doesn’t actually apply to humans.

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Feltman: In other public health news, a team of more than 50 experts Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Last week, the magazine argued that the current diagnosis of “obesity” is flawed. The use of body mass index (BMI) as a determinant of health has been controversial for some time, and these researchers have decided to focus on more accurate measurements of excess body fat. I am proposing it. They also put people who fit the definition of obesity but don’t have medical conditions that can be associated with weight gain, such as diabetes or heart disease, into a separate category from people who are already battling obesity. I am proposing that. Those health problems. Researchers say this will allow doctors to provide more nuanced care, but it’s not really clear how this will address the existing problem of weight bias in medicine. . If you want to learn more about how size bias affects healthcare, check out the November 8 episode on this topic.

And now it’s time to reserve some space. Last Wednesday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with two new lunar landers in tow. The two landers were built by two different private companies and released into slightly different orbits.

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Feltman: One of the SUV-sized landers is from Japanese startup ispace. The other is from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace. The craft, called the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander, carries payloads for 10 different experiments for NASA. Blue Ghost is expected to reach the moon’s surface within about 45 days.

That wasn’t the only win for the commercial space last week. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launched for the first time Thursday morning. The rocket’s upper stage entered orbit and the launch was a technical success. However, Blue Origin was unable to fully process the extra credit portion of the exam. They attempt unsuccessfully to land the rocket’s reusable booster on a waiting ship in the Atlantic Ocean. But given that New Glenn was originally scheduled to take off in 2020, this SpaceX competitor is probably happy to win.

Back to SpaceX, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for them last week. On Thursday afternoon, the company conducted the seventh test launch of its Starship rocket. The second stage of the mega-rocket, carrying a mock satellite test payload, exploded minutes after liftoff. A social media post from SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that some kind of leak was likely the culprit, and that the company plans to launch again next month.

I’ll end with something pretty wild. Have you ever thought about Australian spiders and thought, “Oh, that’s not that big for me, and it’s not poisonous”? Well, scientists have your back.

Last Monday, researchers announced the discovery of a new species of funnel spider. It is a close relative of the Sydney funnel-web spider, which is known for its painful bites that can lead to serious illness and death. This new species, which scientists have dubbed “Big Boy,” can grow nearly twice as long as, you guessed it, other funnel-web spiders, and it also has larger fangs and venom glands. Have fun, Australia!

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Feltman: That’s all for this week’s news summary. We’ll bring you another episode on Wednesday.

science fast It is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg, and Jeff DelVisio. Shayna Possess and Aaron Shattuck fact-check the show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe scientific american Check out more latest and in-depth science news.

for scientific americanRachel Feltman. Have a great week!