Are Clear Spirits Really Healthier Than Dark Spirits?

For several years, "order clear" has seemed to be shorthand for a "healthier" choice at the bar. Vodka sodas, tequila with lime, gin and tonics, they’ve all been positioned as cleaner, lighter, and somehow better for you than whiskey, rum, or other darker pours. But when you look at the science, that argument starts to fall apart.

The color of your drink isn’t doing nearly as much work as you may think.

"From a nutrition and metabolism standpoint, the color of alcohol is not the key variable," says registered dietitian Anya Argosh, MS, RD, IFNCP. "The dosage of alcohol, the drinking patterns, and what the drink is mixed with matter far more than whether the spirit is clear or dark."

What and how you drink matters more than the color of the alcohol.

"Paying attention to total alcohol intake and gradually reducing consumption has a much greater impact on health than worrying about whether a spirit is dark or light," says registered dietitian Roxana Ehsani, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN.

That being said, some people report feeling worse after drinking darker drinks. So, what’s the deal?

One of the main reasons that some hold darker spirits in question are compounds called congeners.

Registered dietitian Ashley Berthoumieux, MS, RD, CDN, LDN, says that "congeners, which are byproducts of alcohol fermentation, have been identified as potential contributors to hangovers and can be measured in the blood."

So, there’s some truth that darker spirits might make you feel worse the next day. Research has shown that drinks higher in congeners, like bourbon, can result in more severe hangovers than options with very few congeners, like vodka.

But congeners aren’t the main problem.

"Ethanol, the intoxicating component of all alcoholic beverages, has a significantly greater impact on hangover severity than the congener content," says Berthoumieux.

Darker liquors may contribute to worse hangovers for some people, but that doesn’t mean they’re more harmful overall.

"It’s largely about quantity and drinking patterns," says Argosh. "Factors such as how much you drink, how quickly you drink, sleep quality, hydration, and added sugar in mixers all play a much larger role in how alcohol affects the body."

Berthoumieux says that "the severity of these effects is highly individual, so pay attention to how drinking affects you personally." If whiskey consistently leaves you feeling awful while vodka doesn’t, that’s useful data for you. But it’s not necessarily universal.

Another persistent myth is that clear spirits are lower in calories. Most standard pours are nearly identical.

"All spirits contain calories, specifically 7 calories per gram of alcohol, regardless of whether they're dark or clear," says Berthoumieux.

Ehsani puts it simply: "Whether you're picking a clear liquid such as vodka, or [a] darker one like rum, both will be about the same amount of calories. For example, a 1.5-ounce shot will be around 100 calories."

Where the difference is in what’s added to the drink. Flavored spirits, liqueurs, and sugary mixers can change the nutritional profile.

"Those with added flavors or spices, such as liqueurs, flavored whiskies or vodkas, spiced rums, etc., tend to have the most sugar and, as a result, the most calories," says Berthoumieux.

Argosh says that "the proof of the alcohol and what it’s mixed with determine calorie and sugar content much more than whether the spirit is clear or dark."

So, a vodka soda and a whiskey ginger aren’t vastly different from a nutritional standpoint because one is clear and the other is dark. They’re different because of what else is in the glass.

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IVF Clinic Sued For Mixup Is Closing Down

A Florida-based IVF clinic announced its closure not long after it was sued by a couple who claimed the baby they welcomed last year is not genetically related to them.

"After thoughtful consideration, Fertility Center of Orlando will be closing its operations," the company said on its website.

"Patients are welcomed and encouraged to transition their care to CNY Fertility," the center continued, recommending another clinic. "CNY Fertility is committed to supporting your continuity of care. You will continue to see many of the same trusted and familiar faces who have been part of your care team, along with additional team members committed to supporting you on your journey."

Florida Today reported that the IVF clinic IVF Life Inc., which was doing business as the Fertility Center of Orlando, will change ownership on 1 May, as revealed by the clinic’s attorney during a 30 March court hearing.

The attorney did not disclose the new owner but said all IVF Life clients would be notified of the ownership change by letters sent out by the business.

According to a 9 January lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE, Tiffany Score and husband Steven Mills turned to Dr. Milton McNichol and the center in Longwood, Fla., — both named in their complaint, for help starting a family.

Together, the couple were able to produce and store three viable embryos.

In April 2025, Score was allegedly implanted with what she thought was one of those embryos, a process the couple never questioned throughout her pregnancy.

She and her husband registered for diapers and nursing pads like millions of other excited first-time expectant parents — and on Dec. 11, the couple welcomed their baby, naming her Shea Score Mills.

Immediately, however, the couple, who are both White, saw the baby didn’t look like either of them.

"It is obvious," Jack Scarola, an attorney for the couple, told PEOPLE at the time.

Genetic testing undertaken by the couple allegedly proved that Shea is not biologically related to either Score or Mills, according to Scarola, as well as the lawsuit.

Although the couple said it's a joy to parent "a beautiful, healthy baby girl whom we love more than words can express," they also feel like they have "a moral obligation to find her genetic parents."

"Our joy over her birth is further complicated by the devastating reality that her genetic parents—whom we do not yet know—or possibly another family entirely, may have received the child we conceived," Score and Mills claimed in a statement earlier obtained by PEOPLE. "We are heartbroken, devastated, and confused."

Simultaneously, Score and Mills said they were concerned that their daughter could be taken from them at any time and given to her biological parents — a worry they say "is almost unbearable."

By taking legal action, the couple said they hope that they can "begin living more freely and to finally celebrate the one beautiful thing that has come from all of this: our daughter. Shea is completely innocent and so undeserving of any of this."

The court directed the clinic to first offer free genetic testing to patients who underwent implantation in April 2025 when Score did, according to Scarola.

One couple was currently awaiting results, and a lawyer for the clinic told the judge that results should be in by the first week of March, Scarola told PEOPLE.

The center was served with another lawsuit in March by a woman who became a surrogate, NBC News reported. She alleged that she didn’t understand what she was agreeing to, due to her history of mental illness. The suit said the woman gave birth to a baby with a genetic disorder, and the baby died shortly after birth.

According to the litigation, the woman alleged that the center should have known about the increased risks for a surrogate carrying a fetus with birth defects, WKMG reported.

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President Donald Trump Seeks To Regulate College Sports

Before the tip-off to the Final Four, the president of the United States is making his position clear. President Donald Trump issued his latest executive order that seeks to regulate college sports.

The 10-page order comes a day before the NCAA’s crown jewel — the men’s basketball tournament — reaches its pinnacle event here in central Indiana.

The order grants the NCAA the ability and suggests the organization limit athlete transfer movement, cap player eligibility, implement funding requirements for women and Olympic sports, and prohibit NIL collectives. As an enforcement lever, the order relies on the reduction of a university’s federal funding — an incentive for schools and conferences to abide by the concepts.

The order directs the NCAA to update its rules by 1 August — to the maximum extent permitted by law — to "bring order and stability to the landscape in certain key areas," a source who has reviewed the document told Yahoo Sports. Most notably, one of those areas is transferring.

Compliance with these rules will be relevant in determining if schools will continue to receive federal funding.

Many — including the president himself — expect the order to be challenged legally.

Perhaps the most significant concepts in the document are efforts to regulate athlete movement and compensation.

The order not only grants but commands the association to create strict guardrails around booster-backed NIL collectives — what it describes as "fraudulent NIL schemes" — and limit the movement of transfers by reinstating the NCAA’s "one-time" transfer rule. The courts deemed that rule unlawful through antitrust rulings. The rule would permit athletes to transfer once before requiring them to miss one season as a penalty for any subsequent moves.

The order does not unilaterally and immediately change the transfer rule, a critical concept. The language is key as thousands of players — some of whom have already transferred once — are preparing to enter the basketball portal, which opens Tuesday.

The order prohibits professional athletes from returning to play in college and encourages the NCAA to define an athlete’s eligibility window at five years. The NCAA eligibility standard is currently four competitive seasons over five years. This is a critical topic that even the most ardent NCAA detractors believe should be regulated.

In the last year, more than 70 athletes have filed suit against the governing body, as players use state and local judges to grant them an extension of their eligibility. The NCAA has spent US$ 16 million alone litigating eligibility cases.

Trump writes in the order that the NCAA should implement revenue-share that "preserves or expands scholarships" in women's and Olympic sports; prohibit federal funds to be used for NIL or rev-share; and prohibit "improper financial activities ... including collectives."

Women’s and Olympic sports are said to be a focus for Trump, who believes that non-revenue programs are being eliminated or at least defunded, as schools shift more resources to football and men’s basketball in an intense and competitive recruiting environment where athlete compensation has been legalized.

Lastly, the order invalidates certain state laws that conflict with the order, which are likely to include several state statutes governing NIL.

But the order’s true impact remains unclear and is in doubt considering that Trump’s previous executive order, released in July, has created no real results within the industry. This one, however, is more comprehensive and direct as opposed to the last one, which only directed his cabinet members to create rules — which never materialized.

Executive orders are subject to legal scrutiny, especially those that disregard court orders. In fact, courts have struck down several of the president’s orders over the last several months, rendering them moot and unenforceable. In a White House roundtable event last month, the president himself predicted that any order would be legally challenged. He said that he "hoped" for a favorable judge.

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Viral Highland Cows Were Removed From Wildlife Reserve

A herd of highland cows has been removed from a nature reserve after several warnings to visitors, drawn in by a social media, were ignored, a wildlife trust has said.

Earlier this month, Kent Wildlife Trust urged visitors to Hothfield Heathlands nature reserve, in Ashford, Kent, to keep their distance from the cows after a viral TikTok video led to people "actively approaching the animals".

But interest in the animals "has exploded" and people have been continuing to get too close to them, with a spokesperson for the trust saying the pressure on the cows "has become too much".

In a social media post, the trust said it had "made the decision to remove the cows" to an undisclosed location "at least for the time being".

Ian Rickards, Kent Wildlife Trust area manager, said: "The constant pressure will be affecting the animals' ability to behave naturally.

"Also, the effect of hundreds of people walking off paths across sensitive habitats will be damaging the wildlife the site is designated for."

Highland cows have reportedly become one of the internet's favourite farm animals, known for their oversized horns and fringe of fur.

More than 300,000 videos on TikTok have been tagged with a hashtag related to the animals.

At Hothfield Heathlands, the highland cows had been used as working livestock animals to graze on the grass and help to manage the reserve.

Visitors to the reserve had been advised to keep at least 10m (33ft) away from the cows, but the trust said these warnings had been repeatedly ignored.

Videos on TikTok appear to show visitors standing and filming within touching distance of the animals.

When under pressure from visitors, the cows can become distressed or react out of fear, a trust spokesperson said.

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Study Shows Vision Can Predict Dementia 12 Years Before Diagnosis

The eyes are a window to the sould annd also the brain – and this outward extension of the central nervous system may reveal early signs of cognitive decline, research suggests.

Two recent and large population studies, one in the United Kingdom and another in Australia, suggest that those who perform worse on simple vision tests have a higher risk of developing dementia more than a decade down the road.

The UK study, which was published in 2024, found that participants with slower visual processing speeds were more likely to develop dementia over the following 12 years.

The study from Australia, meanwhile, found that deteriorating visual acuity was a significant predictor of cognitive decline over a similar 12-year period.

"A decline in vision can be caused by a range of factors, some of which are treatable. For example, cataracts, or vision decline that can be supported with the correct glasses," said the lead author of the Australian study, neuroscientist Nikki-Anne Wilson at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA).

"What the research is now showing is that identifying these changes early and addressing them may help reduce the risk of developing dementia."

In light of compelling new evidence, The Lancet's latest Commission on dementia in 2024 identified vision loss in late life as a new risk factor for cognitive decline, contributing to up to 2.2 percent of cases.

By comparison, untreated hearing loss in mid-life contributes to an estimated seven percent of cases.

Just because an older individual is suffering from hearing or vision loss doesn't mean they are doomed to develop dementia. These issues can be indicative of numerous underlying health problems – so as a diagnostic tool for dementia, sensory tests like these are less than perfect.

At a population level, however, emerging research suggests that wearing hearing aids may reduce the risk of developing dementia, and the same could be true of treating vision issues.

Assessing these sensory issues in older adults could, therefore, be crucial.

In the 2024 study from Australia, scientists analyzed visual acuity and cognitive decline among 2,281 participants. Their models showed that deteriorating vision significantly predicted poorer problem-solving, memory, and attention scores.

Interestingly, however, social engagement somewhat mediated that association.

"We show for the first time that the relationship between a decline in vision and global cognitive performance may be partly explained by reduced social contact," explained Wilson.

"People experiencing poorer vision may be more likely to avoid social events due to anxiety and this too may impact their cognitive performance. Our findings indicate the importance of maintaining social contact, not only because social isolation is a risk factor for dementia itself but also because it might also help to reduce the impact of other risk factors, such as poorer vision. However, further work is needed."

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Why Does Psoriasis Occurs On The Same Spot?

The skin remembers. The skin don't forget. That scar above your eye from when you fell at age 6. That freckle from the summer you turned 13. Our skin is a repository of moments from our lives, and now scientists have found it really does remember.

For people with inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis, the skin’s memory manifests in flare-ups in the same spots over and over. And now scientists think they know precisely why this happens.

In a new study in mice published on 26 March in Science, researchers showed how skin cells inherit patterns of gene expression every time they regenerate. The team found not only that successive generations of skin cells maintain the memory of their DNA’s structure but also that the cells inherit chemical modifications to the DNA called epigenetic marks, which can turn on or off, or turn certain genes up and down in a process called gene expression.

"People knew that stem cells had the ability to change their behavior and remember, but they didn’t know if it was through this epigenetic mechanism," says Shruti Naik, a molecular biologist at the University of Maryland, College Park, who has previously worked with the study’s senior author, Elaine Fuchs, but was not involved in the new research. "And I think what this paper does is definitively demonstrate that it's through marking of DNA ... that it allows that stem cell to now behave differently moving forward."

Skin stem cell memory can be beneficial: if you get a cut, for example, your skin will heal faster in that place if it is injured again because the cells remember the experience. But that becomes problematic in conditions like psoriasis, for which the memory of a flare-up can make the tissue overly sensitive to environmental triggers such as stress, leading to chronic inflammation.

"Your DNA can remember, far longer than we appreciated, a past injury," says Dana Pe’er, a co-author of the study and chair of the Computational and Systems Biology Program at the Sloan Kettering Institute. "It’s a double-edged sword."

For the study, the researchers used an artificial intelligence model to help identify specific genetic sequences in mice that drive skin stem cell memory over the long term. They did this by asking the model to look at how regions of the cells’ DNA behaved at different time points before and after an injury—in this case, a punch biopsy, which involved making a very small incision on the mice’s back. The AI findings were like “opening a black box” that the researchers then further verified, Pe’er says.

And while mice are not humans, the biology the team has identified is highly conserved across animals, Naik explains, and this suggests the finding may have some applicability to humans.

The new research opens the door to testing it in humans, Pe’er adds. But these studies will be more difficult because, whereas mouse skin cells regenerate on timescales of days and chronic disease is measured in months or perhaps one to two years, human skin cells do so on the order of several weeks or months, and chronic disease can be lifelong.

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SCOTUS Decided Against Totally Banning 'Conversion Therapy'

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) endorsed a religious counselor’s challenge to Colorado’s ban on "conversion therapy" for gay and transgender minors, saying it likely violates the First Amendment, handing the LGBTQ community another setback in a decision that will reverberate in nearly half the country.

The 8-1 decision last 31 March, which had conservative and liberal justices in the majority, does not technically strike down the law, but means lower courts will now review it again and apply the highest form of judicial scrutiny. That means Colorado’s law, and others like it, will almost certainly be struck down by lower courts.

Colorado enacted its law in 2019 to protect gay and transgender youth subjected to the scientifically discredited practice of attempting to "convert" their sexual orientation or gender identity. Advocacy groups say roughly half of US states have banned the therapy for minors.

The case largely broke down along a question of whether therapy is more like a medical practice, which the government can and does regulate, or whether what goes on in a session is speech protected by the First Amendment.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for an eight-justice majority, came down hard on the side of speech.

"Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety," Gorsuch wrote. "Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same."

The conservative justice added, "the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth."

Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor in Colorado, challenged the law on First Amendment grounds. She said she would engage in her "faith-informed counseling" only when clients sought it out. And she disavowed especially controversial practices, such as the use of electric shock therapy or drug-induced nausea. Chiles described her work as helping clients who "have a goal to become comfortable and at peace" with their body.

Chiles and other therapists who engaged in the practice could have faced serious repercussions, including up to US$ 5,000 fines for each violation and ultimately be stripped of their licenses.

The court’s decision wound up attracting two members of the court’s liberal wing, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

Kagan wrote in her concurring opinion that the problem with Colorado’s law is that it is based on a viewpoint because it is focused on one side of the debate over trans youth. Therefore, another state could enact a law barring counselors from offering therapy that affirms a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

"Because the state has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward," Kagan wrote in a short opinion joined by Sotomayor.

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Schools To Remove Alleged Molester Cesar Chavez From Curriculum

The Texas Education Agency has recently directed all public schools in the state to revise lesson plans to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez after sexual abuse allegations surfaced against the labor leader.

In written guidance, the agency also ordered school districts to cancel "or otherwise redirect" events and activities planned for Cesar Chavez Day on 31 March, an extension of Gov. Greg Abbott’s state directive to not observe the optional state holiday.

Teachers and labor groups have been reckoning with the late civil rights leader’s legacy after a New York Times investigation revealed allegations that Chavez had sexually assaulted and abused women and girls. The activist had strong ties to Texas, where he supported striking farmworkers and led a rally at the state Capitol following a march from Rio Grande City to Austin in 1966.

The current state social studies curriculum requires students to learn about Chavez in multiple grades, including fifth grade and U.S. history. But the TEA said any teaching of Chavez would also conflict with a portion of the Texas Education Code that says a teacher cannot be compelled to discuss "a widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs."

"This letter serves as formal notice that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will not consider failure to teach any student expectation focused on Chavez as out of compliance with statutory requirements," the guidance said.

The Texas State Board of Education is in the process of rewriting its K-12 social studies curriculum standards to emphasize a focus on Texas and U.S. history. The board is set to vote in June on the new standards, which TEA expects will remove explicit requirements to teach about Chavez.

The Austin school district last week announced it would celebrate labor leader Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Chavez, on the 31 March holiday. Huerta told the Times she had been sexually assaulted by Chavez but kept it a secret for 60 years out of fear of hurting the farmworker movement.

And in Houston, the school district renamed the holiday from Cesar Chavez to Farmworkers Day. It is also facing questions about whether to rename its César E. Chávez High School.

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IOC Finally Bans All Trans From Women Sports

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has finally made a smart decision to ban transgender women and DSD athletes from the female category of events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games.

Kirsty Coventry, the president of the IOC, said the landmark decision had been taken because "it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category".

The IOC has also confirmed that all athletes wanting to compete in the female category at future Olympics will have to undergo a one-off SRY (sex determining region Y gene) screening to detect their biological sex. Usually that is done via an unintrusive cheek-swab or saliva test.

Coventry said the decision, which applies to elite individual and team sports, was based on science and would protect the fairness and safety of women’s sport. "As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition," she said.

"The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts. At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.

"Every athlete must be treated with dignity and respect, and athletes will need to be screened only once in their lifetime."

Sports have been wrestling with the issue of transgender and DSD (differences in sex development) participation in the female category for more than a decade. In 2021, the New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender woman to compete at an Olympics after transitioning.

There have also been several high-profile cases of DSD athletes, who were reported female at birth but have male chromosomes and male testosterone levels, winning Olympic medals. They include the South African Caster Semenya, winner of London 2012 and Rio 2016 women’s 800m Olympic gold, as well as the boxer Imane Khelif in Paris in 2024.

In a 10-page document outlining its new policy, the IOC makes it clear transgender women, who have transitioned from male to female, and athletes with a DSD retain the advantages of going through male puberty.

"There is a 10-12% male performance advantage in most running and swimming events," it says. "There is a 20+ per cent male performance advantage in most throwing and jumping events. And the male performance advantage can be greater than 100 per cent in events that involve explosive power, eg in collision, lifting and punching sports."

"XY transgender athletes and athletes with XY-DSD typically have testes/testicles and testosterone levels in the male range," it adds. "The clear majority are androgen-sensitive, meaning that their bodies are receptive to and make use of that testosterone during growth and development and throughout their athletic career.

"The Olympic movement has a compelling interest in having a sex-based female category, because this is necessary to ensure fairness, safety and integrity in elite competition."

The document maintains that the SRY screen test is the best way to check someone’s biological sex – and is not intrusive. "Based on scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the presence of the SRY gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced male sex development," it said.

"Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods."

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