The FDA has approved bemotrizinol (BEMT), a new chemical sunscreen filter, for the first time since 1999. This marks a significant advancement for US sunscreens, which have lagged behind international formulations in terms of texture, stability, and effectiveness, potentially combating the rise of anti-sunscreen sentiment.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis's claim to 'solve all disease' with AI needs context. While AI aids drug discovery, it's a tool, not a magic cure, and breakthroughs take decades. Misinformation risks are high.
The renaming of PCOS to PMOS highlights the complexity of the condition, affecting 170 million women worldwide with varied symptoms. While health tech companies promise personalized health solutions, the author's experience with PMOS and its diverse manifestations among sufferers underscores the challenges in providing effective, individualized health tech for complex conditions.
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here. A fitness band is for bettering yourself, but casually. It's lightweight, easy to wear, and not something you […]
The Verge's new Optimizer newsletter by Victoria Song highlights issues with Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra smart bed, where AI wrongly attributes reduced snoring to alcohol and introduces competitive leaderboards. Song argues this exemplifies problematic AI personalization in health tech that prioritizes engagement over useful insights.
This Optimizer newsletter examines the exploding peptide trend in wellness culture, focusing on how Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop brand markets peptide skincare products that may not contain what they promise. The $105 Youth Boost NAD+ Peptide Rich Cream contains NMN (a NAD+ precursor) rather than NAD+, and only one peptide ingredient that appears last in the list — suggesting minimal concentration. The piece critiques the conflation of peptides, vitamins, and other injectables by influential figures, warning that such confusion could normalize experimental gray-market treatments.
