
The anti-sunscreen movement and what to know about its claims
In an Instagram reel, a man insists that building sun exposure without sunscreen can help boost a person's immunity.
And on YouTube, some are promoting do-it-yourself sunscreen alternatives using oil, butters or other natural remedies.
For years dermatologists and health experts have extolled the value of sunscreen to prevent skin cancer and protect people from the ultraviolet radiation of the sun. But a growing anti-sunscreen movement has taken hold on social media, causing confusion about its benefits and alarming public health experts who say avoiding sunscreen increases long-term health risks.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
How to Find Out If Microplastics Are Actually Destroying Our Health
Researchers have found plastic in almost every corner of the human body, from our brains and poop to blood and testicles (at least it's not making our stomachs crunch yet). Is this plastic contamination bad for us? While the answer to that question might seem like a no-brainer—and certainly no one is crazy enough to theorize that microplastics in breast milk are a good thing—there haven't been any human trials to confirm that microplastics are detrimental to human health. Some research has simply linked microplastics to health complications, which isn't nearly definitive enough. So what are we waiting for? To be clear, it's not simply a matter of getting it done. To understand how or if micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are toxic for human health, we first need to quantify and analyze their concentration and composition in samples from living organisms. Spoiler alert—there is no guidebook on how to do this. After surveying the existing scientific literature on the matter, however, a team of researchers has outlined some best practices that could finally get us started in the right direction. 'Most detection techniques are better suited for microplastic and nanoplastic (MNP) identification in ideal media (such as water) and face limitations when analysing biological samples,' the researchers wrote in a study published last month in the journal Nature Reviews Bioengineering. Part of the problem is that different biological samples have different compositions. Apples, for example, are fibrous, while our bodies also have fats and proteins, and trees and plants have lignin, Baoshan Xing, an environmental and soil chemistry professor at UMass Amherst and lead author of the study, said in a university statement. 'Strategies for digestion [preparation], separation, enrichment and detection of MNPs need to be optimized depending on the category of organism under investigation,' the researchers explained in the study. Currently, there is no standard approach for this, an unfortunate fact that Xing described as a 'headache' in the statement. You Don't Want to Know Where Scientists Just Found 27 Million Tons of Plastic Another complication is that most studies in this context presume MNPs to be spherical-shaped. That might not be the case, which carries important implications, given that particle shape can impact how MNPs travel through a system. Plus, toxic substances might collect in tiny niches or cavities. As such, the team argues that researchers need protocols for analyzing the polymer types and shapes, as well as MNPs' surface characteristics. If that sounds like a whole lot of features to analyze, you're not wrong. Luckily, 'machine learning algorithms can greatly reduce the labour time and cost of MNP identification and characterization,' the researchers pointed out in the study. 'The day is not far off when we'll be able to accurately detect, characterize and quantify MNPs in biological samples,' Xing concluded in the statement. In the meantime, though, stop chewing gum. Just in case.


Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Could Poor AI Literacy Cause Bad Personal Decisions?
A recent article in Ars Technica revealed that a man switched from household salt (sodium chloride) to sodium bromide after using an AI tool. He ended up in an emergency room. Nate Anderson wrote, "His distress, coupled with the odd behavior, led the doctors to run a broad set of lab tests, revealing multiple micronutrient deficiencies…. But the bigger problem was that the man appeared to be suffering from a serious case of "bromism." This is an ailment related to excessive bromine. After seeing this, it made me wonder if poor critical thinking skills and low AI literacy could actually cause people to make bad or even harmful decisions. As a weather and climate scientist, I am particularly aware of widespread misinformation and disinformation propagating around. People think the Earth is flat or that scientists can steer hurricanes. National Weather Service offices are fielding calls from people with wacky theories about geoengineering, groundhogs, and so forth. My fear is that a lack of understanding of Generative AI might make things worse and even cause harm as we saw in the case of bromism. Even in my own circle of intelligent friends and family members, it is clear to me that some people have very limited understanding of AI. They are familiar with Large Language Model tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, CoPilot, and others. They assume that's AI. It certainly is AI, but there is more to AI too. I experience a version of these types of assumptions, ironically, in my professional field. People see meteorologists on television. Because that is the most accessible type of meteorologist to them, they assume all meteorologists are on television. The majority of meteorologists do not work in the broadcast industry at all, but I digress. Let's define AI. According to the 'Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology where machines are programmed to learn, reason, and perform in ways that simulate human intelligence. Although AI technology took a dramatic leap forward, the ability of machines to automate manual tasks has been around for a long time.' The popular AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini are examples of Generative artificial intelligence or GenAI. A Congressional website noted, 'Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) refers to AI models, in particular those that use machine learning (ML) and are trained on large volumes of data, that are able to generate new content.' Other types of AI models may do things like classify data, synthesize information, or even make decisions. AI, for example, is used in automated vehicles and is even integrated into emerging generations of weather forecast models. The website went on to say, 'GenAI, when prompted (often by a user inputting text), can create various outputs, including text, images, videos, computer code, or music.' Many people are using GenAI Large Language Models or LLMs daily without context, which brings me back to the salt case article in Ars Technica. Nate Anderson continued, '…. It's not clear that the man was actually told by the chatbot to do what he did. Bromide salts can be substituted for table salt—just not in the human body. They are used in various cleaning products and pool treatments, however.' Doctors replicated his search and found that bromide is mentioned but with proper context noting that it is not suitable for all uses. AI hallucination can happen when LLMs produce factually incorrect, outlandish, unsubstantiated or bad information. However, it seems that this case was more about context and critical thinking (or lack thereof). As a weather expert, I have learned over the years that assumptions about how the public consumes information can be flawed. You would be surprised at how many ways '30% chance of rain' or 'tornado watch' is consumed. Context matters. In my discipline, we have a problem with 'social mediarology.' People post single run hurricane models and snowstorm forecasts two weeks out for clicks, likes, and shared Most credible meteorologists understand the context of that information, but someone receiving it on TikTok or YouTube may not. Without context, the use of critical thinking skills, or an understanding of LLMs, bad information is likely to be consumed or spread. Kimberly Van Orman is lecturer in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence. She told me, 'I think considering them 'synthetic text generators' is really helpful. That's at the core of what they do. They have no means of distinguishing truth or falsity. They have no 'ground truth. University of Washington linguist Emily Bender studies this topic and has consistently warned that tools ChatGPT and all other language models are simply unverified text synthesis machines. In fact, she recently argued that the first 'L" in LLM should stand for 'limited' not "large". To be clear, I am actually an advocate of proper, ethical use of AI. The climate scientist side of me keeps an eye on the energy and water consumption aspects as well, but I believe we will find a solution to that problem. Microsoft, for example, has explored underwater data centers. AI is here. That ship has sailed. However, it is important that people understand its strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. People fear what they don't understand.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How much protein do I need a day?
Research has shown protein to have numerous benefits, including reducing risk of some diseases, providing a wide variety of nutrients that help your body function properly and serving as the basis for your bones, muscles, blood, cartilage, hormones and skin, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Protein can also help to increase satiety – feeling fuller for a longer period after eating compared to carbohydrates or fats – which can help those looking to maintain or lose weight. How much should a person actually be eating? It depends on a handful of factors. Here's how much protein experts say you should be eating daily, and some of the best foods to help you reach those goals. What does protein do for your body? Plant vs animal sources, and other FAQs answered How much protein should I eat a day? The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is currently 0.36 grams of protein per pound, or about 54 grams for a person who weighs 150 pounds. But nutrition experts are increasingly pushing for consuming higher amounts of protein: upwards of 60 to 90 grams daily. Registered dietitian Jamie Nadeau previously told USA TODAY that she recommends getting "at least 20 grams of protein per meal for satiety," though she notes everyone has different needs. If you're trying to build muscle, that amount could be even higher. But it is possible to overdo it on the protein – so don't go inhaling enormous amounts of protein just because it's trendy right now. At minimum, people should be eating 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, Nadeau says. That translates roughly to a minimum of 54.4 grams of protein a day for a person who weighs 150 pounds. But if you're trying to build muscle, adding more protein will aid in your body's "growth, development and tissue repair," per Harvard Health. "Everyone is different, but for most healthy individuals looking to build muscle, aiming for 1.2 to 1.4g per kg protein is helpful," Nadeau says. In other words, a target of 81.6 to 95.2 grams for someone who weighs 150 pounds. What is meal sequencing? Health experts explain whether the rising diet trend works. Which food has the highest protein? Boosting protein intake doesn't have to be a complicated ordeal of tracking down a protein powder that you don't find gross, or cooking enormous quantities of meat all the time. While many meats do offer much higher protein counts, other foods like lentils, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, black beans and peanut butter do, as well. "To keep things simple, I recommend prioritizing a good protein source at every meal, and trying to include a snack at least once per day that has at least 5 to 10 grams of protein," Nadeau says. Some of the foods highest in protein include the following, according to the USDA: Lentils: 23.6 grams per 1/2 cup of dry lentils Chicken breast: 22.5 g per 3.5 oz Salmon: 20.3 g per 3.5 ounce portion Ground beef: 18.2 g per 1/2 cup Ground pork: 17.8 g per 1/2 cup Ground turkey: 17.3 g per 1/2 cup Plain Greek yogurt: 16.1 g per single-serving container Cottage cheese: 11.6 g per 1/2 cup Black beans: 9.9 g per 1/2 cup 1% milk: 8.3 g per cup Peanut butter: 7 g per 2 tablespoons This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How much protein should I eat a day? Health experts discuss.