Comments from “Obesity in the United States and Effects on Military Recruiting” (Congressional Research Service), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and a study of 791 patients with Covid-19.

As a new year approaches, we present five books that helped shape our thinking during 2020. Enjoy the holiday season and get ready for 2021!

Last week, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Facebook, alleging that it illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through anticompetitive conduct. Expect more actions against “big tech”.

Last week, 42 major corporations, global healthcare professionals and the World Meteorological Organization (representing 193 member states and territories) commented on the need to address climate change.

Last week, Unilever, a global consumer goods company with over 400 brands (including Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Dove, Hellman's, Knorr, Lipton, Vaseline) discussed its plant-based food goals.

Comments from Jerome Powell (Chair US Federal Reserve), Christine Lagarde (President European Central Bank), Céline Grounder, MD (Biden COVID Task Force) - as COVID-19 cases increased and offerings from Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna and others improved vaccine hopes

This week, the European Parliament will vote to ban the use of words such as “burger”, “sausage”, “yoghurt style” and “cheese alternative” in the description of plant-based products. There is also a lawsuit against a Louisiana law restricts similar words to describe non-meat products, cell-based meats, etc.

Last week, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier (Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, Berlin) and Jennifer A. Doudna (University of California, Berkeley) “for the development of a method for genome editing … a tool for rewriting the code of life”

Last week, Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled that the "bread" in Subway sandwiches had a sugar level about 5 times too high. Also, a Scientific Advisory Report on US Dietary Guidelines 2020-2025 recommends lowering the level of sugar consumption.

Last week, as California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on electric vehicles (EV), the state joined over 18 countries focusing on EVs.

Last week, a Pew Research Center report said "climate change and infectious disease top list of global threats" as large fires burned over 4.7 million acres across the western United States

Comments by Elon Musk on Neuralink - and from the RAND Corp. report “Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Coming. Will We Be Ready?”

Last week, Apple and Google removed Fortnite (an online game with over 350 million users) from their respective online stores, and Epic Games (the game's developer) responded by filing lawsuits in U.S. District Court - San Francisco

Excerpts from Ed Yong’s article in The Atlantic “because we really need to understand how the immune system reacts to the coronavirus.”