Disease and Illnesses

Commuters wearing face masks walk to work in Tokyo on April 7.

How a Japanese Museum Is Documenting Life During Covid-19

New exhibition features everyday objects that would have been unfamiliar before the pandemic

A young boy in Benin, in West Africa, receives a bed net designed to help prevent malaria.

How Covid-19’s Spread Could Drive an Increase in Malaria Deaths

Health professionals worry the pandemic could stress resources and lead to misdiagnosis in Africa

Riker Laboratories advertised its new device for treating asthma in 1957—two years after a teenager’s truly inspiring suggestion.

The History of the Asthma Inhaler

How a brilliant quip led to a treatment that helps millions every minute

Concert attendees cheer at an event in Porto, Portugal, on August 15, 2020.

What Super-Spreading Events Teach Us About Protecting Ourselves From COVID-19

Scientists are increasingly finding that a small number of people may be the source of many cases

Viruses, notably influenza A and Morbillivirus, cause mass die-offs with striking head counts.

Mass Die-Offs of Marine Mammals Are on the Rise

Viral and bacteria outbreaks are increasingly causing fatalities in a variety of species, including seals and dolphins

Hopefully the new repellents will smell better too!

The Secret Behind New Insect Repellent's Potent Punch Is Found in Grapefruit

The EPA just approved nootkatone, a chemical found in grapefruit and cedars that kills and repels ticks, mosquitoes and other insects

A customer talks to a waiter in a mask while eating his meal at a table divided with transparent panels in Bangalore, India.

What Scientists Know About Airborne Transmission of the New Coronavirus

Aerosol experts, from engineers to doctors, weigh in on the ability of tiny droplets to transmit the virus that causes COVID-19

A "wine window" in Florence

Centuries-Old 'Wine Windows' Open for Business in Florence

A low-risk alternative to curbside pickup, the portals may have helped fight an outbreak of bubonic plague in the 1630s

A two-page spread in a 1903 Brooklyn Daily Eagle supplement shows an aerial depiction of the "Brooklyn of the Future," complete with ferry lines and projected bridges, subways, tunnels and elevated roads.

Explore Centuries of Brooklyn's History With These Newly Digitized Maps

The Brooklyn Historical Society recently launched a portal featuring almost 1,500 documents dating back to the 17th century

Jewish doctors give medical examinations in the Warsaw Ghetto

How a Public Health Campaign in the Warsaw Ghetto Stemmed the Spread of Typhus

A new study shows how life-saving efforts by Jewish doctors helped curb an epidemic during World War II

A boy has his temperature checked as he receives a free COVID-19 test in Los Angeles.

What Scientists Know About How Children Spread COVID-19

As communities struggle with the decision over whether to open up schools, the research so far offers unsatisfying answers

The Renaissance artist died in 1520 at age 37.

New Research Suggests Bloodletting, Pneumonia Killed Raphael

The artist failed to disclose his late-night outings to physicians, leading them to misdiagnose his illness

Users can zoom in on different sections of the quilt or search for specific panels by inputting names and keywords.

You Can Now Explore All 48,000 Panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Online

The commemorative quilt weighs 54 tons and spans 1.2 million square feet

Together, COVID-19 cases in California, Florida and Texas accounted for one-fifth of new cases in the world and one-third of new cases in the United States on Monday, July 13.

California, Texas and Florida Emerge as COVID-19 Hotspots

Combined, the three states accounted for nearly 20 percent of the world's new cases on earlier this week

A woman wearing a mask walks the Brooklyn Bridge in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on March 20, 2020 in New York City.

A Virus Study You’ve Never Heard of Helped Us Understand COVID-19

What Columbia University researchers learned when they tried to get a complete picture of how respiratory viruses spread across Manhattan

A portrait of scientist Isaac Newton, who developed a toad vomit–based cure for the bubonic plague

Sir Isaac Newton's Prescription for Plague? Toad Vomit Lozenges

Handwritten notes detailing the British polymath's unsavory treatment are now up for auction

Cases of MIS-C are very rare and are mostly popping up in COVID-19 hotspots

What Experts Know About a Rare Inflammatory Syndrome Linked to COVID-19

The syndrome resembles a childhood illness called Kawasaki disease, but research is ongoing about both conditions

Australia and New Zealand are determining when to implement a travel bubble that would allow residents to fly back and forth between the countries, sans quarantine..

Five Things to Know About Travel Bubbles

Neighboring countries are striking agreements that permit trips across their borders. Is this the future of travel?

A scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Why Immunity to the Novel Coronavirus Is So Complicated

Some immune responses may be enough to make a person impervious to reinfection, but scientists don't yet know how the human body reacts to this new virus

Could 2020 be America's Year of the Bidet?

The Bottom Line About Bidets

Amid toilet paper shortages, many Americans are making the switch—but does all the fuss about bidets really hold water?

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