This morning, a crowd gathered near the Supreme Court to protest the weed-killer Roundup. Inside, justices heard arguments for Monsanto v. Durnell, weighing whether to exempt the company that created Roundup from lawsuits alleging that it failed to warn users that its herbicide causes cancer. Outside, the protesters rehearsed long-running grievances against Monsanto: One man was passing out flyers about 'the hidden truth' of genetically modified food, and one speaker railed against 'Mon-Satan.' Developed by Monsanto and now owned by the German conglomerate Bayer, Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, have long been concerns for left-leaning environmentalists; now the MAHA coalition has taken up the cause with enthusiasm. The headliners of 'The People vs. Poison' rally were a who's who of MAHA: The HighWire's Del Bigtree; the host of the Turning Point USA podcast, Culture Apothecary, Alex Clark; the founder of Moms Across America, Zen Honeycutt; and the 'Food Babe' and the rally's organizer, Vani Hari....

The beating of the heart stops cancers from growing in this organ in mice, reports a study published today in Science1. This could explain why tumours affecting the heart are so rare in all mammals, including in people. Almost all organs and tissues in the body can develop tumours, but those that affect the heart are seldom observed. In people, primary tumours have been identified in fewer than 1% of autopsies, while secondary cancers, in which the primary tumour occurs in a different part of the body, have been found in up to 18% of autopsies. Until now, there has not been a satisfactory explanation for why cardiac tumours are so uncommon, says James Chong, a cardiologist and researcher at the University of Sydney, Australia. This latest study puts forward a compelling case that mechanical strain on the heart could be an explanation, he says. Serena Zacchigna, a clinician scientist at the University of Trieste, Italy, and her team transplanted hearts onto the necks of genetically modified mice. These external hearts did not beat but did still receive a blood supply and were functional....

Three MIT rising seniors have been selected to receive a 2026 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, including Deeksha Kumaresh in the School of Engineering and Anna Liu and Charlotte Myersin the School of Science. An estimated 5,000 college sophomores and juniors from across the United States were nominated for the scholarships, of whom only 454 were selected. The Goldwater Scholarships have been conferred since 1989 by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. These scholarships have supported undergraduates who go on to become leading scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in their respective fields. Deeksha Kumaresh, a third-year biological engineering major, is an undergraduate researcher at the Hammond Lab. The Hammond Research Group at the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research focuses on the self-assembly of polymeric nanomaterials, with a major emphasis on the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate multifunctional materials with highly controlled architecture....

In the last months, weeks, and days of his life, 'I will not go to the emergency room' became my husband's mantra. Andrej had esophageal cancer that had spread throughout his body (but not to his ever-willful brain), and, having trained as a doctor, I had jury-rigged a hospital at home, aided by specialists who got me pills to boost blood pressure; to dampen the effects of liver failure; to stem his cough; to help him swallow, wake up, fall asleep. 'I will not go to the emergency room''emphasis on not'were his first words after passing out, having a seizure, or regurgitating the protein smoothies I made to pass his narrowed esophagus. He said it again and again, even as fluid built up in his lungs, rendering him short of breath and prone to agonizing coughing spells. He had been a big, athletic guy, but now, in the ugly process of dying, he was looking gaunt. Ours was a precarious existence, but I understood his adamant rejection of the emergency department. Most prior visits had morphed into extended trips into a terrifying medical underworld'to a purgatory known as emergency-department boarding....