Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Disease

Anthrax Outbreak May Have Caused Mass Die-off of Hippos in Namibia

More than 100 hippos have been found dead over the past week

Rock Hudson in 1954.

The Hollywood Star Who Confronted the AIDS ‘Silent Epidemic’

Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related complications in 1985

Celiac Sufferers May Soon Have Better Bread Options Thanks to Genetically Modified Wheat

Researchers successfully removed 90 percent of the genes that code for the gluten proteins that trigger adverse symptoms

Since the Hepatitis A outbreak was identified in March, over 19,000 people have been immunized against the disease.

San Diego Is Dousing Its Streets With Bleach to Contain Hepatitis A Outbreak

The outbreak is primarily affecting the city’s homeless population

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

You won't be hearing these disease names from your doctor

This Algorithm Generates Crazy and Terrifying Disease Names

A new neural network makes lists of diseases we thankfully don’t have

Tuna isn't always what it claims to be.

What’s Really in That Tuna Roll? DNA Testing Can Help You Find Out

This rapidly evolving tech aims to empower consumers and shine a light on the food industry

Yes, oysters can get herpes.

Oysters Can Get Herpes, And It’s Killing Them

A deadly virus threatens to decimate oyster populations around the world

Tapeworms, like this one imaged using a scanning electron micrograph, weaken their victims but don't typically kill them.

New Research

The World’s Parasites Are Going Extinct. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Thing

Up to one-third of parasite species could vanish over the next few decades, disrupting ecosystems and even human health

Mercury wrote or cowrote a number of Queen's biggest hits.

Freddie Mercury, Musical Genius and Stamp Collector

The singer-songwriter’s childhood stamp album offers an insight to his character

Scientists can study stress in these petite primates with simply a few strands of their hair.

New Research

Stress Is Killing These Teeny Lemurs, and The Story Is In Their Hair

Sampling the fur of Madagascar’s gray mouse lemurs reveal a bevy of environmental pressures

People were just starting to gain an obsession with apocalypse fiction when Mary Shelley wrote "The Last Man."

The Author of ‘Frankenstein’ Also Wrote a Post-Apocalyptic Plague Novel

‘The Last Man’ was derided in its time for being too grim, but today it would fit in with a growing genre of dystopian fiction

Anandibai Joshee (left), Kei Okami and Tabat M. Islambooly, students from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Women Who Shaped History

This 19th Century “Lady Doctor” Helped Usher Indian Women Into Medicine

Ananabai Joshee dedicated her career to treating women and helped blaze a path for international doctors training in the U.S.

A painting of Franklin’s return to Philadelphia from Europe in 1785 shows him flanked by his son-in-law (in red), his daughter and Benjamin Bache (in blue), the grandson he’d taken to France as a sort of surrogate son.

Secrets of American History

What Led Benjamin Franklin to Live Estranged From His Wife for Nearly Two Decades?

A stunning new theory suggests that a debate over the failed treatment of their son’s smallpox was the culprit

One of the best-known paintings of the doomed Franklin expedition. Full title: "They forged the last link with their lives: HMS ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror’, 1849–1850."

A Dentist Weighs in On What Really Doomed the Franklin Expedition

Addison’s disease may have blackened the explorers’ gums and hastened their demise, proposes a history-obsessed dentistry professor

No ornamental fish antibiotics are regulated by the FDA.

This Is Why Taking Fish Medicine Is Truly a Bad Idea

Those who misuse aquatic antibiotics are playing a dangerous game with their health, doctors and veterinarians say

A TEMS device mounted on eyeglasses, with the electrical signal recorded.

Blink Once For Yes: You Can ‘Talk’ to This New Computer Interface With Your Eyes

A tiny sensor mounted to eyeglasses can track eye blinks, allowing communication from locked-in patients

Ruth Pfau in 2004

Trending Today

Ruth Pfau, “Mother of Leprosy Patients,” Has Died

Over five decades, the German-born physician and nun treated thousand of patients and got the leprosy epidemic under control in Pakistan

Luckily stress doesn’t do this to you!

How Your Body Reacts to Stress

A little tension can keep you on your toes. Too much can break down the system

The microneedle patch being applied.

The Next Pandemic

Needle-Free Patch Makes Vaccination as Easy as Putting on a Band-Aid

The new product could be available in about five years, scientists say

Page 28 of 40