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The usual way of understanding obesity is simple: If you consume more calories than you need to fuel yourself, the surplus is deposited into body fat, and you gain weight. Because, according to this approach, all calories are alike to the body, the only way to lose weight is to eat fewer of them or burn more off with exercise. (David S. Ludwig, 7/28)

New antibiotic-resistant strains are on the rise, fueling outbreaks across the world and making up a greater percentage of the yearly toll of 10 to 20 million cases and 100,000 deaths. And now science is fighting back by ramping up vaccine campaigns and figuring out more efficient ways to find cases of typhoid. (Max Barnhart, 7/28)

Knowledge is power — but only if you use it. We know about viruses and how they reproduce. We know about evolution through gene mutation and natural selection winnowing resulting variants. (Steve Rissing, 7/28)

Most people know of some of the tools that help us fight pandemics: safe and effective vaccines, antiviral and antibody treatments, and for respiratory infections such as COVID, public-health measures such as masks. But they have overlooked one tool that might help us prevent the next pandemic: zombie viral genomes. (John Yin, 7/29)

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned last month, there’s been a steady barrage of horror stories, including several of women refused abortions for life-threatening pregnancy complications. Rakhi Dimino, a doctor in Texas, where most abortions have been illegal since last year, told PBS that more patients are coming to her with sepsis or hemorrhaging “than I’ve ever seen before.” (Michelle Goldberg, 7/29)

Women and doctors have long faced excruciating decisions when pregnancy outcomes threatened the health of the mother. Up until recently however, these decisions had been, by and large, up to just those two people. Following the Supreme Court decision striking down the federal right to abortion, and triggering a wave of legislation criminalizing abortion in many states, doctors are having to parse legal text and weigh criminal penalties before offering potentially life-or-death care. (7/28)