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Body

MicroCHIPS, a startup formed by MIT researchers, has developed a drug delivery chip that is implanted under the skin.

Turn Your Birth Control On and Off With a Remote

Bill Gates is backing MicroCHIPS, a Massachusetts-based startup developing an implantable chip that releases birth control hormones on demand

A scanning electron micrograph image of red and white blood cells.

Cool Finds

Scientists Have Basically No Idea How Many Cells Are in the Human Body

Is it 5 trillion or 500 trillion? Who knows.

Faye Wu, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, demonstrates the "supernumerary robotic fingers."

Tech Watch

Multitask Like Never Before With These Robotic Fingers

Many hands make light work, right? Well, MIT researchers have created a wrist-worn robot with a couple extra digits

Scientists are looking to restore memory by stimulating neurons deep in the brain.

Tech Watch

Could Implants in the Brain Revive Memory?

The Defense Department is funding research to see if “neuroprosthetics” implanted in the brain can heal damaged memory.

Cool Finds

This Mummy Had an Angel Tattooed on Her Leg

A 1,300 year old Egyptian mummy was found to have the tattoo of an angel on her inner thigh

A new process is giving human voices to people with speech disabilities.

Tech Watch

How to Build a Human Voice

Using sounds from “donors,” scientists are constructing personalized voices for those who can’t speak

New Research

The Human Nose Can Distinguish Between One Trillion Different Smells

New research says our olfactory system is far more sensitive than we thought

New Research

What Does Your Earwax Smell Like?

Your earwax’s odor is unique

Altering activity in the gut has been shown to affect mood and behavior. Can it also improve learning?

New Research

Checking the Claim: Can Probiotics Make You Smarter?

A researcher says a certain strain of gut bacteria can enhance brain power—but some critics aren’t sold

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Cool Finds

If You Like Gore, You’ll Like Watching This Eyeball Get Dissected

Mind the eye juice

Super Bowl

The Science of the First Cold Weather Super Bowl

Science shows that the cold weather will make it harder for players to grip the ball, avoid slipping and hear each other over the roar of the crowd

In Selfmade, microbiologist Christina Agapakis and scent artist Sissel Tolaas made cheese from bacteria collected from people's mouths and toes.

Art Meets Science

Cheese Made From Bacteria Between Your Toes and Other Bizarre Bio Art

With groundbreaking (and controversial) projects, artists are starting a conversation about the future of synthetic biology

Pregnancy feels several months too long? A 3D printed fetus can give you a glimpse of how it is to actually hold your child.

Tech Watch

Expecting? Cradle Your 3D Printed Fetus In The Meantime

A startup offers to create a life-like replica of your gestating child from ultrasound images

Codenamed "Triton," the mysterious concept comes in the form of a small mouthpiece designed to mechanically capture the oxygen gas present in water and store it in a compressed air tank.

Tech Watch

A Student Claims to Have Designed Working Artificial Gills

A mysterious site showcases a detailed blueprint of a wearable device that lets users breathe underwater like fish

Alise Ojay claims that a series of routine vocalizations, performed 20 minutes a day over the course of less than a month, can reduce snoring significantly.

The Cure For Snoring Is…Singing?

Choir director Alise Ojay’s vocal exercises have been shown to work throat muscles that help silence the snorer within

Hiroshi Nagashima and Hiromitsu Nakauchi aim to genetically engineer pigs that grow human organs.

Will Japanese Researchers Grow Human Organs Inside Pigs?

A controversial technique to develop body parts from stem cells may someday save countless lives, but will society allow it?

Electronics That Can Melt in Your Body Could Change the World of Medicine

John Rogers, a revolutionary materials scientist, is pushing the boundaries of the medical world

A mounting body of research shows that the circumstances and chronic stresses of poverty interrupt the development of the brain.

How Growing Up in Poverty May Affect a Child’s Developing Brain

A mounting body of research shows that the circumstances and chronic stresses of poverty interrupt the development of the brain

Compared to a control brain (top), neuroscientist James Fallon’s brain (bottom) shows significantly decreased activity in areas of the frontal lobe linked to empathy and morality—anatomical patterns that have been linked with psychopathic behavior.

The Neuroscientist Who Discovered He Was a Psychopath

While studying brain scans to search for patterns that correlated with psychopathic behavior, James Fallon found that his own brain fit the profile

Researchers have found neurological abnormalities that persist long after the symptoms of a concussion have faded away.

Four Months After a Concussion, Your Brain Still Looks Different Than Before

Researchers have found neurological abnormalities that persist long after the symptoms of a concussion have faded away

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