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Disease

Saiga at the watering hole in a federal nature reserve in Kalmykia, Russia

Trending Today

A Quarter of the World’s Saiga Antelope Are Dead

A virus is decimating an already fragile species

A view into Flint drinking water pipes, showing various types of iron corrosion and rust.

New Research

Scientists Now Know Exactly How Lead Got Into Flint’s Water

New report points blames corrosion and warns that fixing lead poisoning nationwide will require more work than we hoped

Chinese researchers have harnessed the power of deep learning to help doctors identify this rare disease.

New Research

Can Eagle-Eyed Artificial Intelligence Help Prevent Children From Going Blind?

Deep learning pinpoints cataracts more accurately than humans, and could help prevent this form of vision loss in children

New Research

Robo-Dermatologist Diagnoses Skin Cancer With Expert Accuracy

A neural network can recognize and categorize skin lesions as well as MDs and may lead to a cancer-screening mobile app

Doctors suggest that women get Pap smears to screen for cervical cancer. But should the guidelines be changed?

New Research

More Women Die of Cervical Cancer Than Previously Thought

Past studies significantly underestimated cervical cancer deaths—and racial disparities

For British food scientists, toast color is no longer a matter of personal preference—it's a matter of health.

Why Food Experts Are Warning Not to Burn Your Toast

Is it time to bid brown toast farewell?

Skeleton of the Trojan woman

New Research

Remains From 800-Year-Old “Trojan Woman” Record Early Maternal Infection

Bacterial nodes on the skeleton and DNA from her fetus show the woman likely died from an infection of her placenta

Smallmouth salamanders reproduce sexually, which may give them certain advantages.

New Research

When Is Sex Worth Going the Distance? When You’re a Salamander, Apparently

Asexual amphibians may be less equipped to handle modern threats than their sexual counterparts

Standing water in urban areas is ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes that can spread dengue and other tropical diseases.

The Next Pandemic

To Fight Deadly Dengue Fever in Humans, Create Dengue-Resistant Mosquitoes

How manipulating the immune systems of mosquitoes can halt the spread of dengue virus

Manu Prakesh spins his Paperfuge

New Research

How a Children’s Toy Could Help Fight Malaria

A 20-cent whirligig-like centrifuge could help doctors in remote regions diagnose disease

If only the three blind mice had enjoyed access to 21st century retinal transplant technology.

New Research

These Blind Mice Just Got a Vision Boost Thanks to a New Transplant Technique. Could Blind Humans Be Next?

Transplanting an entire piece of retinal tissue into the eyes of blind mice appears to work better than just transplanting cells

According to one group, animals consume eight times more antibiotics than human beings each year.

It Just Got Harder to Give Antibiotics to Farm Animals

New regulations take aim at antibiotic resistance

President Franklin D. Roosevelt exits a car during a campaign stop in California. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president with a visible disability, caused by polio.

People Mailed Dimes ‘By The Truck Load’ to FDR’s White House to Cure Polio

He was America’s first and only president with a visible—and known—disability

Hamblin's new book uses illustrations to help explain how the human body works—and sometimes doesn't work.

The Millennial’s Doctor Releases a Handbook on Bodies

Radiologist and Atlantic editor James Hamblin provides the answers we’d hear “If Our Bodies Could Talk”

Your breath might be bad, but it's also amazing.

New Research

Your Breath Does More Than Repulse—It Can Also Tell Doctors Whether You Have Cancer

An artificial “nose” could be the next tool for diagnosing illnesses from cancer to Crohn’s disease

Violence can spread like an epidemic among impressionable teenagers, according to new research.

New Research

Violence Among Teens Can Spread Like a Disease, Study Finds

Surveys of thousands of American teens add evidence to the theory that violence spreads in communities like a contagion

Flickering images can induce seizures in people with epilepsy.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Do Flashing Images Cause Seizures?

For people with epilepsy, a flashing screen can be more than a passing annoyance

A bonfire of elephant ivory burns in Kenya's Nairobi National Park in July 1989.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Wondering What a Bonfire Does to Your Lungs? We Answer Your Burning Questions

Setting large piles of stuff aflame can have significant environmental and human health impacts

Swabbing the toads to sample their microbiomes.

Meet the Colorful New Weapon Scientists Are Using to Save Toads From a Devastating Fungus

Researchers are supplementing the amphibians’ natural microbiomes with a fluorescent fungus-fighter they’ve dubbed “Purple Rain”

The better to infect you with, my dear...

New Research

For Viruses, the Best Way to Infect Baby Is Through Mama

Some viruses might take it easier on women—to get to their children

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