Lifeboat Foundation

As the decade closes, we look at the science stories that made the biggest splash over the past 10 years.

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It’s true that dogs demand a lot from their owners—but they also offer a lot in return.

Are you on the fence about getting a dog? Worried that he’ll pee on the carpet or chew the furniture? Well, he might—at least at first. But he’ll also add so much joy and love to your life. And the benefits of having a dog don’t stop at him being adorable and snuggly; according to a growing body of science, dogs can be good for your physical and mental health, too. Here’s what the research has to say:

A year marked by climate protests, political uncertainty and debate over the ethics of gene editing in human embryos proved challenging for science. But researchers also celebrated some exciting firsts — a quantum computer that can outperform its classical counterparts, a photo of a black hole and samples gathered from an asteroid.

Climate strikes, marsquakes and gaming AIs are among the year’s top stories.

Pain meds and surgeries are often no better at alleviating chronic pain than placebo pills and pretend surgeries, frustrating physicians and patients alike. Researchers are starting to get some answers.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that in 2018, over 10 million teens and adults misused opioids. The prescription of opioids to treat patient pain is one of many factors contributing to this epidemic; to solve it, a multipronged approach is needed.

Two new Mayo Clinic studies — one in clinical practice and one in the laboratory — could offer new solutions to help patients manage pain without the use of opioids. These projects have been singled out for federal funding under the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Initiative, a multimillion dollar, multiorganizational approach to providing pain-treatment alternatives and turning the tide on the opioid crisis.

“Opioids remain one part of the continuum of pain treatment,” says Andrea Cheville, M.D., a rehabilitation physician at Mayo and member of the National Academy of Medicine. “There are other options that work as well, or better in some cases, with fewer risks. Our new research mirrors a broad Mayo priority — finding the safest, most effective way to help our patients manage acute or chronic pain.”

Millions of scientific papers are published each year, detailing new discoveries, reviewing the state of research, and opining on important matters. But most people don’t delve into daunting databases to learn the latest science news – who has time for that? Rather, they stay up to date with the help of various news outlets, which dig up and report on the stories that matter. At RealClearScience, we strive to steer you towards the best of these sources and castigate the worst. Near the end of the calendar year, we recognize what we perceive to be the leading websites for science content. Here are our picks for 2019:

Honorable Mentions:

For fantastic coverage of health and medicine, check out STAT.