Contributor

B. David Zarley

Senior Staff Writer

Contact

b.david@freethink.com

B. David Zarley is a senior staff writer for Freethink, where he covers health and medicine, including infectious disease, psychedelic research, mental health, and the brain. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Verge, Jezebel, Frieze, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Paste Magazine, and numerous other publications. He lives in Chicago and can be reached via Signal by request. Send him story ideas!

Business

From CDs to NFTs: Starbucks’ surprising history of embracing new tech

Starbucks’ newly-announced blockchain platform is just the latest example of the chain’s early embracement of tech.

B. David Zarley

Ecosystems

This floating fence can catch plastic waste before it hits the sea

The majority of oceanic plastic waste comes from rivers and coasts. Floating fences may help stop it at the source.

B. David Zarley

Activism

Starlink turns on coverage over Iran to bypass censorship

Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet is active over Iran, but the terminals to access it must make it inside the country.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

For the first time, scientists can switch cancer-fighting cells on and off

While it can be effective, CAR-T cancer therapy can also cause dangerous side effects. But a new on/off switch could change that.

B. David Zarley

Aerospace

Air Canada orders 30 electric-hybrid aircraft for takeoff in 2028

Flag carrier Air Canada has announced plans to have electric-hybrid planes on regional and commuter routes by 2028.

B. David Zarley

Clean Energy

Brick batteries may be a key to decarbonizing heavy industry

By storing renewable energy as heat in brick “batteries,” Rondo Energy believes they can decarbonize heavy industry.

B. David Zarley

Drugs

Meth addiction treatments are finally on the horizon

New antibody and drug therapies may soon help treat meth patients, who currently have no pharmacological interventions.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

An old anti-psychotic offers a new way to treat chronic pain

Researchers have found that an old anti-psychotic drug may have implications for chronic pain and cancer.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Blood test can find dozens of types of cancer, with few false positives

Grail’s Galleri multi-cancer blood test found multiple cancers in a study of over 6,000 patients.

B. David Zarley

Clean Energy

This startup wants to build a radically powerful new kind of wind turbine

Norwegian startup World Wide Wind wants to build offshore wind turbines based on a completely different design from traditional models.

B. David Zarley