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!

Medicine

These are the medical breakthroughs that inspired us in 2020

2020 has put medicine to the forefront like never before. Freethink’s B. David Zarley looked back on the year and chose three medical developments that inspired him.

B. David Zarley

Psychology

Want better science? Learn how to lie (with magic).

Some experiment designs need to deceive. These former magicians have some advice.

B. David Zarley

Genetics

Environmental DNA may prove the discovery of a new kind of whale

Researchers have found what they believe to be a new species of beaked whale. Environmental DNA will be used to prove it.

B. David Zarley

Paleontology

This digital dinosaur brain has some “quite surprising” insights

The Bristol dinosaur is like a mini-Brontosaurus, a four-legged plant eater. Or so we thought; a new digital dinosaur brain may change what we know about the dino.

B. David Zarley

Deep learning vs. machine learning: Explained

Deep learning vs. machine learning AI: what’s the difference?

B. David Zarley

Biohacking

Gifts for the biohacker in your life

This year has put health front of mind for many of us. Biohackers are all about knowing themselves, and with this gift guide, you’ll look like you know them.

B. David Zarley

Virology

A universal flu vaccine has aced phase 1 trials

Influenza’s constant genetic shifting means flu vaccines aim at a moving target. But a universal flu vaccine just passed its phase 1 trials.

B. David Zarley

CRISPR

HIV can hide inside human cells for years. Can CRISPR cut it out?

Using CRISPR to stop the replication of SIV, a primate virus closely related to HIV, researchers may have taken a step to wiping the virus out in the body.

B. David Zarley

Drugs

MDMA couples therapy could help couples dealing with PTSD

A small study out of Canada investigated the potential of using MDMA-assisted couples therapy to treat PTSD.

B. David Zarley

Drugs

Microdosing mushrooms: Explained

Microdosing mushrooms — taking doses of psilocybin too small to cause a trip to enhance daily life — is gaining momentum. But does science support it?

B. David Zarley