Across r/science today, two threads stood out: the politics of knowledge and the pragmatics of health. Researchers and commenters wrestled with how education and power shape public discourse, while clinical studies pushed forward on vaccines, mental health therapies, and organ innovation—balanced by urgent evidence from humanitarian health.
Education, identity, and the contest for knowledge
New social science is reframing how ideas move through society: the Cornell-led analysis of ideology-driven literary censorship argues that both left and right now police books that clash with their values, while a Cambridge study on populist attacks on academic freedom shows universities becoming targets precisely because they embody pluralism and expertise. Zooming earlier in the pipeline, Manchester’s long-term tracking of students found that subject choice in high school correlates with adult ideological lean—humanities tilt liberal, business and technical tracks lean conservative—suggesting curricula quietly scaffold political identities.
"There is nothing in science that cannot be questioned. If experimental data shows some previous held belief to be false, that belief is false." - u/liquid_at (105 points)
Identity also persists when institutions underperform: research in Karachi indicates voters stick with ethnic parties for dignity and representation, valuing symbolic goods like seeing their community in power even amid weak material gains. Together, these findings suggest a knowledge ecosystem where political alignment is seeded early, contested in libraries and lecture halls, and reinforced by identity-based loyalties—raising the stakes for how societies protect open inquiry and bridge across difference.
Clinical gains, access gaps, and frontier medicine
On the health front, robust real-world data shows last season’s boosters worked: the NEJM-linked study reported that 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines cut ED visits by 29%, hospitalizations by 39%, and deaths by 64%. Mental health innovations echoed that momentum, with generic ketamine emerging as a lower-cost, longer-term option for treatment-resistant depression, and a systematic review suggesting psilocybin therapy may modestly reduce suicidal ideation when paired with psychological support.
"Good news, but bittersweet since so many cannot get the vaccine this year." - u/mandyama (173 points)
Frontiers are expanding in organ care, too: clinicians in China demonstrated a “bridge” role for xenotransplantation by maintaining function with a genetically modified pig liver before removing it due to complications. Meanwhile, metabolic research probed mechanisms over hype, as mouse work suggested green tea can train muscles to handle sugar better—with the caveat that translation to humans remains uncertain. Against these advances, public health evidence from The Lancet underscored the cost of policy and logistics, linking aid restrictions to a surge in acute malnutrition among Gaza preschoolers, a reminder that scientific progress must meet equitable access to change outcomes at scale.