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Innovation / Health & Medicine

Harriot Hunt was accepted into Harvard Medical school and treated hundreds of patients over her 25-year-career, blazing a trail for future generations of female physicians.

Women Who Shaped History

The Medical Practitioner Who Paved the Way for Women Doctors in America

Harriot Hunt refused to let her gender limit her ambitions—or those of the next generation of physicians

The Next Pandemic

Watch: Experts Discuss “The Next Pandemic: Are We Prepared?”

Thought leaders gathered at the National Museum of Natural History on November 13 to discuss the past, present and future of the flu

The molds responsible for aflatoxins grow on a number of staple crops, including corn, peanuts, millet, wheat, cottonseed and tree nuts.

Could Video Gamers Make Our Food Supply Safer?

An effort to combat poisonous molds that contaminate crops is looking to tap the puzzle-solving skills of amateur gamers

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The Next Pandemic

The Next Pandemic

With Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Museum of Natural History, we look at the past, present and future of the flu

Flu pandemics begin when novel animal viruses start spreading between people.

The Next Pandemic

How to Stop a Lethal Virus

With tens of millions of lives at stake, medical researchers are racing to create a revolutionary flu vaccine before the next devastating epidemic

A woman sells live poultry at the market in Gaosheng Township, where Long purchased chickens and later died from bird flu.

The Next Pandemic

Is China Ground Zero for a Future Pandemic?

Hundreds there have already died of a new bird flu, putting world health authorities on high alert

Could This Bionic Vision System Help Restore Sight?

The technology gives hope that blind patients, who lost sight from disease, might one day emerge from the dark

Aimee Stapleton and other researchers at the University of Limerick have found that lysozyme—in tears, saliva, mucus, milk and chicken eggs—accumulates an electric charge when squeezed.

Future of Energy

Your Tears Can Generate Electricity

A protein found in human tears can create electricity when placed under pressure, potentially paving the way for better biomedical devices

Testing football gear

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Could This Strange Fluid Prevent Concussions and Twisted Ankles?

Army researchers, academics and industry have been using shear thickening fluids for body armor, better football helmets, rehabilitation tools and more

This chatbot is designed to make it easier for people to deal with preparing for death.

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Can a Chatbot Help You Prepare For Death?

They’re being designed to tee up end-of-life conversations, prep documents and provide spiritual counseling

Irregular heart rhythms

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Turning Irregular Heartbeats Into Music

A set of piano pieces could help doctors better understand heart rhythm disorders

The device is a pen-sized mass spectrometry device its developers are calling MasSpec Pen.

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Scientists Invent a Pen That Can Detect Cancer in Seconds

This handheld mass spectrometer could make surgeries to remove cancerous tissue quicker and more accurate

Fertility apps promise to help women both get pregnant and avoid pregnancy. But how reliable are they?

New Research

What’s Actually New About Today’s Newfangled Birth Control Apps?

These futuristic-sounding apps are on the rise, but it’s key to separate the data from the hype

Some parents cut a cake, while others release pink or blue balloons from a box.

What Does the Gender Reveal Fad Say About Modern Pregnancy?

A new ritual speaks to anxieties surrounding the medicalization of childbearing

An extensive longitudinal study looks at the connection between childhood environment and diseases in adulthood.

Your Childhood Experiences Can Permanently Change Your DNA

An investigation into more than 500 children shows that upbringing can have dramatic effects on human health

Researchers have devised a new way to monitor sleep stages without sensors attached to the body.

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This Device Uses Radio Waves To Track How You’re Sleeping

Scientists think it could help them better understand progression of chronic diseases like Parkinson’s

Rebecca Richards-Kortum was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow of 2016.

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The Professor With a Genius For Global Health

Rebecca Richards-Kortum and her students at Rice University are designing low-cost devices that can help mothers and babies in a big way

Could this brace alleviate "crouch gait?"

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This Robotic Exoskeleton Helps Kids With Cerebral Palsy Walk Upright

Children with cerebral palsy often walk in a crouched position, which is difficult to maintain over long distances. A robot suit can help.

Pharmacists once used chocolate syrup to mask the bitter flavor of their remedies—and make a little money on the side.

The Unlikely Medical History of Chocolate Syrup

How the sundae staple went from treatment to just treat

Robots can also lend a hand of sorts.

How Robots Could Help the Elderly Age in Their Homes

But these helpful machines won’t be the humanoid butlers of science fiction

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