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Disease and Illnesses

Researchers fear that these normal monk seal encounters could soon grow deadly.

Why Rare Hawaiian Monk Seals Are Lining Up to Get Their Shots

Fearing devastating disease, researchers are vaccinating a wild marine mammal for the first time

How badly do you want those fries?

New Research

What Does Science Say About the Five-Second Rule? It’s Complicated

The real world is a lot more nuanced than this simple rule reflects

Diesel fumes, like the ones emitted by trains, vehicles and industrial operations, are thought to be to blame for magnetite in the human brain.

New Research

Your Brain Is Full of Magnetic Minerals, and You Might Not Like the Reason Why

Blame air pollution for the microscopic minerals that go up your nose and into your noggin

The pace of drug development can be key in minimizing the scale of an outbreak.

The Story of a Resurrected Antiviral Could Hold Lessons for Combating Zika

How Stanford scientists used two genetic screening techniques in tandem to unravel the mystery of a discarded antiviral

New Research

Playing the Bagpipes Can Literally Kill You

Known as “Bagpipe Lung,” the reaction can wreak havoc on your respiratory system

The device can scan the brain while a person walks.

This Helmet Shows What’s Going On Inside a Person’s Brain

Researchers say it could help detect Alzheimer’s and even explain why some people have exceptional talents

New Research

When It Comes to West Nile Virus, Atlanta’s Cardinals May Be Our Feathered Saviors

New research suggests the bright red birds are viral “super-suppressors”

A illustration of a herd of hadrosaurs like the arthritic one discovered in New Jersey.

New Research

This Duck-Billed Dinosaur Had a Rare Case of Arthritis

Nothing like a bum leg

Your sub could cause that office cold to spread even more quickly.

New Research

Going Home Sick? Your Substitute Could Spread Disease More Widely

Though it may seem counterintuitive, bringing in a sub isn’t necessarily the best solution

Haiqiang Chen tests his UV oven at the University of Delaware

New Research

Summer Produce Could Last Longer With These Five New Technologies

Scientists seek solutions to slow the inevitable process of decomposition

A new type of antibiotic is effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria like Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

New Research

Scientists Find New Type of Antibiotics Hiding in the Human Nose

This whiff of success could be just the beginning of many new antibiotics

Hygiene sticks excavated at Xuanquanzhi station along the Silk Road

New Research

Ancient “Poop Sticks” Offer Clues to the Spread of Disease Along the Silk Road

The parasites found within the 2,000-year-old-feces smeared on bamboo suggest more than commodities made the trip

Athletes with Down Syndrome compete in the first-ever Olympic-style competition for people with the condition.

Cool Finds

Italy Just Hosted the First Olympics-Like Competition for People With Down Syndrome

The unique competition drew 1,000 athletes

There is an outbreak of norovirus among a group of staffers for the California delegation of the Republican National Convention in Ohio.

Trending Today

Likely Norovirus Outbreak Strikes the GOP Convention

It’s a short-lived bug with explosive—and contagious—results

Think twice before digging in.

Trending Today

The FDA Just Declared War on Cookie Dough

Goodbye sweet spoons, hello food safety

Scientists will attempt to edit T cells in cancer patients in the first-ever human trial of CRISPR in the United States.

Trending Today

Editing of Human Genes May Begin by Year’s End in the U.S.

The first-ever trial of CRISPR in the U.S. will test if it’s safe to edit T cells in cancer patients

Hospital staff in West Darfur receive the yellow fever vaccine.

Why We’re Giving People 20 Percent Doses of the Yellow Fever Vaccine

Vaccine stores in Africa have repeatedly been depleted. The WHO’s decision to allow mini-doses reflects a precarious—and cyclical—shortage

This pesky pest has a tendency to alter world history.

How the Lowly Mosquito Helped America Win Independence

The blood-sucking insect has played a leading role in the rise and fall of empires throughout history

A Kiwcha couple walk into the forest to cut timber in Coca, Ecuador.

Age of Humans

Did Deforestation Contribute to Zika’s Spread?

Evidence is growing that deforestation causes disease outbreaks by changing animal carriers’ behavior.

A skin affliction on display at the Moulage Museum.

See Over 2,000 Wax Models of Skin Diseases at This Swiss Medical Moulage Museum

It’s hard to look, and hard to look away, at this unique, and medically valuable, collection of wax blisters, hives and sores

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