Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Health

Identical Twins Aren’t So Identical – Which Makes Twin Studies Harder

As twins grow and develop, each will acquire his or her own set of mutations - which could throw a wrench into twin studies

Blind Humans Can Learn To Sense Like a Rat With Whiskers

Finger-censor “whiskers” could someday help blind people sense surrounding objects like a rodent

Blind Mole Rats’ Cells Self-Destruct Before They Can Turn Cancerous

Researchers tease out the secret behind blind mole rats’ resistance to cancer

The dengue virus

A Conservative Estimate For Dengue Fever Infections in India: 37 Million Each Year

Dengue fever is become more common worldwide, and India has been particularly hard hit

None

What Can We Learn From the Porn Industry About HIV?

Before getting naked and having sex in front of a camera, porn stars have to go through three checks - all for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases

After Ebola is confirmed, doctors and scientists converge within days.

The Hunt for Ebola

A CDC team races to Uganda just days after an outbreak of the killer virus to try to pinpoint exactly how it is transmitted to humans

None

If You Eat Too Much Silver, Your Skin Acts Like a Black-and-White Photo

A complex chemical reaction is responsible for argyria, the condition in which a person turns a deep shade of blue

Flooding in Manhattan

In Sandy’s Wake, Watch Out for Pollution

Potentially contaminated water pooled in the streets could be a health risk

None

Women Can’t Do Pull Ups? Not So Fast

With enough training and determination, women can do pull-ups

None

Don’t Let the Ear Mites Bite

The New England Journal of Medicine recently posted this horror-inducing video of ear mites crawling around in some poor 70-year-old man’s ear

Five Kid Concussions in One Game Have Parents Questioning Pop Warner Football

Those concussions have hurtled this game to the forefront of the ongoing debate surrounding kids and football

PHOTOS: The Distressing Worldwide Boom in Cosmetic Surgery

Photographer Zed Nelson traveled the world documenting how body improvement has practically become a new religion

None

People Leave Hospitals Unhappy Because Doctors Are Mean

Many patients leave the emergency room unhappy because they feel belittled or ignored

Scavenging crow

Brain-Eating Crows May Help Spread Prion Diseases

Prions - the infectious proteins that cause illnesses in humans and other animals such as mad cow disease - can pass through the digestive systems of crows

Ominous, right?

Germophobes Take Note: Your Pillowcase Is As Dirty As Your Toilet

Bacterial swabs from toilet seats and pillowcases are pretty much indistinguishable

None

What Makes Temple Grandin’s Brain Special?

Temple Grandin, perhaps the world’s most famous person with autism, allowed scientists to peak into her exceptional brain for the first time in order to better understand the minds of savants

Downer News Bums Out Women But Not Men

Bad news delivered through the media increases women’s sensitivity to stressful situations, new research finds, but men are immune to such effects

None

Report Suggests Armstrong Not Just a Doper But a Pusher

Sources close to Armstrong have come forward admitting that not only did he dope, but he was at the center of the doping world

You don’t want this little guy in your brain.

Brain-Invading Amoebas Kill Ten in Pakistan

None

The FBI Would Like Everyone To Stop Shooting Lasers at Airplanes

Shooting a laser at an airplane could get you 20 years in prison

Page 111 of 119