Bob Park’s What’s New: October 24, 2025
No, Bob Park — the physicist who wrote the What’s New newsletter for years — did not write this. Instead, I am imagining what Park would have said were he alive today. The opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Bob Park (but they should be).
What’s New, by Bob Park
Friday, October 24, 2025
1. THE SEARCH FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CDC
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sinks into irrelevancy, public health experts are searching for its replacement. This week, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy announced that they will start publishing “Public Health Alerts” to replace the CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.” I expect such changes will accelerate, as states (the new Governors Public Health Alliance), medical professional organizations (including the American Association of Pediatrics), scientific institutions (the National Academies, leading science journals like the NEJM), and science communicators (Katelyn Jetelina, Andrea Love, Angela Rasmussen…) oppose the forces of antiscience that now control the federal government. It may take a while to defederalize health care, and perhaps several competing alternatives to the CDC may arise. But any alternative will be better than the current Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.-led CDC. Three cheers for the NEJM and CIDRAP!
2. PROJECT DRAWDOWN INTRODUCES DRAWDOWN EXPLORER
When I’m searching for science-based information about fighting climate change, I often look at Project Drawdown. Recently, Project Drawdown launched “Drawdown Explorer.” According to its website, “Drawdown Explorer identifies and characterizes the most effective climate solutions that can address climate change on a meaningful scale today. It also provides valuable insights into proposed solutions that are not viable, not impactful enough, or not yet ready for prime time.” So, what are the most promising climate solutions? As you might expect, the answer is “it depends.” But if we rate the alternatives by avoided carbon dioxide emissions, the top five (in order of importance) are 1) deploy offshore wind turbines, 2) improve diets, 3) reduce food loss and waste, 4) protect forests, and 5) mobilize electric cars. Why am I not surprised that President Trump mocks and disparages wind turbines, Drawdown Explorer’s number one solution to the climate crisis? After all, he claims climate change is a “con job.” It’s all part of the Republican War on Science.
3. THE RISE OF RFK JR
On Tuesday, the Public Broadcasting System aired a two-hour Frontline episode titled “The Rise of RFK Jr.” It covered the trauma caused by the death of RFK Jr.’s father (Senator Robert F. Kennedy), his work as an environmental lawyer, his addictions to heroin and sex, the suicide of his wife Mary, his campaign against vaccines, and the hard-hitting letter written by his cousin Caroline Kennedy (President John F. Kennedy’s daughter). What makes a person like RFK Jr. tick? Frontline suggests that he believes “the world is against me” and he “cherishes the adulation” that comes from seeing himself as a “heroic figure” fighting against a “corrupt” medical system. The only problem is, the medical system is not corrupt and the evidence shows that his conspiracy theories are wrong. Before RFK Jr. joined the cabinet, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were not suffering from “corporate capture” by the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, they were three of the finest scientific and public health institutions in history. I don’t know for sure why RFK Jr. does what he does and says what he says, but I can tell you that his actions are weakening — not strengthening — our public health system. Watch “The Rise of RFK Jr.”, but watch it with a skeptical eye. You might get the impression from Frontline that this is a debate between two equal sides, when in fact it is the vast majority of scientists and doctors supported by an enormous amount of evidence versus a small, loud group of conspiracy theory advocates. One thing I know for sure: regardless of what RFK Jr. claims, American scientists and medical doctors are a force for good, not evil.