Health

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms (pictured here), has been designated by the FDA as a breakthrough therapy for treatment resistant depression.

Why Psychedelic Drugs May Become a Key Treatment for PTSD and Depression

Ecstasy and the active ingredient in magic mushrooms have shown promise in clinical trials, but more testing is needed

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Innovation for Good

A look at the researchers, inventors and community leaders who are bringing creativity and ingenuity to today's biggest challenges

Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903.

Kane Tanaka, World's Oldest Person, Dies at 119

According to her family, the Japanese supercentenarian had been hospitalized and discharged repeatedly in recent weeks

A man receives a Covid-19 vaccine in Zimbabwe.

Should Traditional Vaccines Be Used in the Global Fight Against Covid?

Researcher Maria Elena Bottazzi says such vaccines may be key to protecting individuals in middle- and low-income countries

At least 36 bald eagles have died since February because of the H5N1 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The virus is also causing the death of millions of commercial chickens and turkeys.

Bald Eagles Are Dying From Bird Flu

The highly contagious H5N1 strain is also infecting commercial chickens and turkeys

A 19th-century illustration of two yellow fever victims in New Orleans

How Yellow Fever Intensified Racial Inequality in 19th-Century New Orleans

A new book explores how immunity to the disease created opportunities for white, but not Black, people

Visible in the entrance to their den are a mother black bear, who has been sedated, and her female cub. Scientists are watching to see how bears will tweak their hibernation habits as the climate warms.

Why Amazing Discoveries About Bear Hibernation May Help Improve Human Health

The creatures' annual protracted snoozes have much to tell us about the biology of mammals, ourselves included

To many people, Henrietta Lacks, painted by Kadir Nelson in 2017, symbolizes inequity in medicine. Lacks died from cervical cancer in 1951, but her tumor cells— used in research without her permission—would enable medical advances, including the polio vaccine.

The Historical Roots of Racial Disparities in American Health Care

A new documentary from the Smithsonian Channel, 'The Color of Care,' produced by Oprah Winfrey, shines a light on medicine’s biases

A worker prepares a hot air balloon during a festival in Ba Vi National Park, west of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Good News

Uplifting stories to brighten your day

It’s shocking how many everyday inventions we use without acknowledging the inventors that helped bring them to us.

Five Women Inventors You Didn't Learn About in History Class

These innovators pioneered word processing, launched Americans into space and more

A museum patron enjoys Yayoi Kusama's latest work, Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe (2018), where paper lanterns and dots endlessly multiply inside the chamber.

Art Sensation Yayoi Kusama Wraps Visitors in Polka Dots, Pumpkins and a World Without End

A new Infinity Mirror Room with its forever-repeating lights and imagery opens at the Hirshhorn with other works by the iconic artist

Alice Ball was just 23 years old when she developed a method of making chaulmoogra oil—an early treatment for leprosy—more easily injectable.

The Trailblazing Black Woman Chemist Who Discovered a Treatment for Leprosy

After Alice Ball's death in 1916 at age 24, a white man took credit for her research

Most people who had only mild Covid-19 infections are not at higher risk for persistent mental health challenges.

Lasting Depression and Anxiety Can Follow Severe Covid-19 Cases

Some patients with serious reactions to the virus reported mental health symptoms almost a year and a half after infection

A first grade student receives a Covid-19 vaccine in Chicago, Illinois

Six Important Things to Know About Covid Vaccination in Children

Experts share the latest research and advice about protecting kids

Sleeping one night with light that emits just 100 lux—similar to the glow of television—was enough to change an individual's glucose regulation and heart rate.

Sleeping With Even a Dim Light Can Raise Blood Sugar and Heart Rate

In a study of 20 participants, those that slept with a light had worse blood sugar control the next morning compared to those who snoozed in total darkness

On March 15, the Senate unanimously passed legislation calling for year-round daylight saving time.

What Happened the Last Time the U.S. Tried to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

A 1974 switch to year-round DST proved unpopular, with Americans expressing "distaste" for the long, dark winter mornings

Dorchester County artist Michael Rosato painted a mural of Harriet Tubman in Cambridge, Maryland.

Harriet Tubman Is Famous for Being an Abolitionist and Political Activist, but She Was Also a Naturalist

The Underground Railroad conductor's understanding of botany, wildlife biology, geography and astronomy allowed her to guide herself and others to safety

Researchers examined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of 785 British participants before and after Covid-19 infection.

Even Mild Covid-19 Infections May Change the Brain, New Study Finds

Scans taken before and after a case of coronavirus reveal tissue damage and accelerated loss of gray matter

Building a Corsi-Rosenthal box portable air filter comes down to duct-taping together a set of furnace filters and a box fan.

The Homemade Air Purifier That's Been Saving Lives During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Made from everyday items found in hardware stores, the Corsi-Rosenthal box is a testament to the power of grassroots innovation

Bones communicate in varying ways with other parts of the body.

How Bones Communicate With the Rest of the Body

A new vision of the skeleton as a dynamic organ that sends and receives messages suggests potential therapies for osteoporosis and other problems

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