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Science / Mind & Body

Head lice crawl across a nit comb and into your nightmares.

New Research

Lice That Can Resist Drugs Have Infested Half the States in the U.S.

Mutated pests that can survive common drugstore treatments have been found in at least 25 states so far

Sweetgrass, a possible anti-mosquito agent.

New Research

This Sweet-Smelling Herb Can Ward Away Mosquitoes

Traditionally used by some Native American peoples, sweetgrass contains chemicals known to repel pesky bugs

Yeast, a multipurpose microbe.

Innovative Spirit Health Care

A Genetically Modified Yeast Turns Sugar Into Painkillers

Stanford scientists have engineered a strain of yeast that can produce opiates on its own

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Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: Why Do We Get Prune Fingers?

Some researchers say that, like tire treads, our fingers and toes could get better traction in wet conditions

Coming to grips with our moral code.

New Research

How Time, Space and Authority Figures Influence Your Moral Judgment

A study of how people respond to outrageous acts suggests that our sense of crime and punishment is surprisingly flexible

Curly or straight, hairstyles are "a personal expression of beauty."

New Research

Curly Hair Science Is Revealing How Different Locks React to Heat

A mechanical engineer tackles the understudied problem of how to style curls without frying hair

Broccoli is a common foe of finicky young eaters.

New Research

Young Picky Eaters May Be More Anxious and Depressed

Picky eating in kids is common but not always harmless—it may be a sign of longer-lasting psychological problems

How much do you know about your kidneys?

Top Five Myths About Human Kidneys

From limiting alcohol consumption to detoxing, many misconceptions circulate about how to keep your kidneys healthy

The small, bright yellow dots are lipid cells within subcutaneous fat tissue, which can be used as natural lasers.

New Research

Living Cells Armed With Tiny Lasers May Help Fight Disease

The biological light sources may one day help researchers see deeper into the body’s microscopic workings

Even if they make a list, neurotic people may need to check it twice.

New Research

Being Neurotic Makes It Harder for You to Remember Things

Brain scans suggest that certain personality types are wired to have better memories

A veteran visits the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1988.

New Research

Over a Quarter-Million Vietnam War Veterans Still Have PTSD

Forty years after the war’s end, twice as many vets with combat-related PTSD are getting worse as those who are improving

Scientists Connect Monkey Brains and Boost Their Thinking Power

Researchers at Duke University have enhanced the mind power of monkeys and rats by linking their brains together

Brain-to-brain interfaces may soon be a therapeutic technique.

New Research

Linking Multiple Minds Could Help Damaged Brains Heal

Monkeys and rats hooked up as “brainets” may lead to innovative treatments for Parkinson’s, paralysis and more

An illustration shows the process of cell division, which involves chromosome pairs swapping some of their genetic data.

New Research

Human Sex Chromosomes Are Sloppy DNA Swappers

The genetic bundles that code for males and females can get a little messy when they trade pieces during cell division

Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: What Makes Us a Righty or a Lefty?

Scientists are interested in studying why some of us are non-right-handers because it might offer insight into how the brain develops

An Anopholes mosquito, the vector for malaria, taking a blood meal from a tasty human.

New Research

Mosquitoes Can Carry, and Deliver, a Double Dose of Malaria

Insects that are already carrying one strain are more likely to pick up a second infection and harbor higher numbers of parasites

Roses mark a window filled with bullet holes after a shooting spree in Denmark.

New Research

Shootings and Mass Murders Seem to Be Contagious

Data spanning decades shows how high-profile events can cause outbreaks of similar killings that mirror the spread of disease

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to legalize marriage equality nationwide on June 26.

Can Science Help People Unlearn Their Unconscious Biases?

Social events, sleep training and even meditation may offer ways for people to erase biases they probably didn’t know they held

For the first time, Florian Engert and his team mapped every firing neuron in a living animal.

How a Transparent Fish May Help Decode the Brain

An outspoken Harvard neuroscientist is tackling the wondrous challenge of understanding the workings of the brain

Skin bacteria may have lured in this hungry Aedes aegypti mosquito.

New Research

To Stop Mosquito Bites, Silence Your Skin’s Bacteria

Texas scientists tricked mosquitoes into skipping a blood meal by modifying the way bacteria talk to each other

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