Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Disease

In a lab experiment, a blind 58-year-old male volunteer was able to identify the position of two cups after receiving a new type of gene therapy.

New Research

New Gene Therapy Partially Restores Sight to Blind Man

Researchers inserted genes that code for light-sensitive proteins in algae into the man’s retina, and now he reports limited but much improved vision

Cardioids begin to pulse with a heartbeat after seven days of development.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

This Lab-Grown Mini Heart Can Keep a Beat

The creation, called a cardioid, will help with the study of heart disease and the discovery of new medications

New research suggests the intrepid adventurer's persistent health problems stemmed from beriberi, a disease linked to vitamin B-1 deficiency.

What Mysterious Illness Plagued Polar Explorer Ernest Shackleton?

The Antarctic adventurer was initially diagnosed with scurvy, but new research suggests he actually suffered from beriberi

Oxitec placed six hexagonal boxes of mosquitoes on private properties in the Florida Keys.

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Take Flight to Fight Invasive Species in Florida

Invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can carry disease, so Oxitec’s modified strain is designed to reduce their numbers

At the end of April, the CDC released guidance that said fully vaccinated people could safely go outdoors without wearing masks; the new guidance expands on that to include most indoor activities.

New CDC Covid-19 Guidance Says Fully Vaccinated People Can Safely Go Maskless

In healthcare settings, mass transit, and where local laws require it, people should continue to wear masks

A 16-year-old gets her Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from a nurse in Anaheim, California, after use for people 16 and older was approved in April.

First Covid-19 Vaccine Authorized for Kids Ages 12 to 15

Officials and parents hope to vaccinate young teens against the coronavirus in time for summer recreation and school in the fall

Remains of individuals unearthed at the site of the former Hospital of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge

New Research

Medieval Britain’s Cancer Rates Were Ten Times Higher Than Previously Thought

A new analysis of 143 skeletons suggests the disease was more common than previously estimated, though still much rarer than today

The Milwaukee Bucks offered the Covid-19 vaccine to any fans over the age of 16 at the game on May 2.

How Common Are Your Covid-19 Vaccine Side Effects?

New data from the CDC shows the rates of side effects after each dose of Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines

The majority of documented Covid-19 transmission has taken place indoors, with less than ten percent occurring outdoors, per the Associated Press.

CDC Eases Outdoor Mask-Wearing Guidelines for Small Groups

More than 90 percent of documented Covid-19 cases are sparked by transmission indoors

The Anopheles stephensi mosquito is a carrier of the malaria parasite, and can infect people with the parasite when it bites them

New Research

New Malaria Vaccine Trial Reports 77 Percent Efficacy Rate

The promising results were announced following a second phase vaccine trial that included 450 children between five and 17 months old

Grasses and coastal scrub photographed at Salt Point State Park in Northern California. This park is one of several coastal areas researchers surveyed as part of a new study of disease-carrying ticks.

New Research

California Study Finds Lyme Disease-Carrying Ticks by the Beach

Researchers found as many ticks carrying the bacterium that causes Lyme disease in coastal areas as they did in woodlands

Countries all over the world have made wastewater analysis a standard public health measure, and the U.S. lags behind many of them.

Sewage Has Stories to Tell. Why Won’t the U.S. Listen?

Sewage epidemiology has been used in other countries for decades, but not here. Will Covid change that?

Surgeon Ala Stanford takes a pause from testing while standing near one of her group's signs in North Philadelphia.

Covid-19

Meet the Black Physicians Bringing Covid Vaccines to Hard-Hit Philadelphia Communities

The Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium is leveraging their medical expertise and connections to provide testing and vaccines where measures are most needed

Some designers promote fashion lines based on kente cloth from Ghana.

When Is Kente Cloth Worn and More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

An illustration of antibodies responding to an infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19

Covid-19

The Next Step in Covid-19 Vaccines May Be Through the Nose

Intranasal vaccines may help prevent transmission and hinder the evolution of new viral variants

Microscope image of an isolate from the first U.S. case of Covid-19. Viral particles are visible in blue.

WHO Releases Results of First Investigation Into the Origin of Covid-19

The virus was most likely first spread from a wild animal, possibly bats, to an unknown intermediate animal, possibly farm animals, and then to humans

Clothing and soft furnishings were cleaned with machines that used high-pressure steam and formaldehyde to kill germs and vermin.

Covid-19

This London Building Tells the Story of a Century’s Worth of Disease and Epidemics

In the borough of Hackney, a ‘disinfecting station’ ostensibly kept the public safe from the spread of infectious illness

The new study compared 1,131 children between 12 and 15 years old who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and 1,129 who received two doses of a placebo.

Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Is Highly Effective at Preventing Covid-19 Infections in Adolescents

In a study of 2,260 children age 12 to 15, no vaccinated kids contracted the virus

Nurse Sandra Lindsay of Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York City, received the first Covid-19 vaccine in the United States in December 2020. Here, she is pictured receiving her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in January.

New Research

CDC Study of Vaccinated Frontline Workers Shows Covid-19 Shots Effectively Prevent Infection, Not Just Symptoms

The vaccinated group of participants saw 90 percent fewer cases than if they had not been vaccinated

An undated view of the Seven Hills of Bonn by Josephine Butler, who campaigned for sex workers' rights and pushed Parliament to raise the age of consent

Pioneering Victorian Suffragist’s Unseen Watercolor Paintings Are Up for Sale

Seven landscape scenes by 19th-century British social reformer Josephine Butler are headed to the auction block

Page 15 of 40