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Health

Cool Finds

Labyrinths in Prisons and Hospitals Might Actually Help People Relax

Labyrinths are experiencing a revival

A blood-sucker creeping around on a potential victim's pristine white sheets.

Cool Finds

How Our Modern Lives Became Infested With Bed Bugs

After being bitten by the tiny pests, author Brooke Borel set out to learn all she could about her blood-sucking foes

Humans traveling to Mars may need extra shielding for their brains.

New Research

A Trip to Mars Could Give You Brain Damage

Exposure to cosmic rays may cause defects that would make astronauts lose their curiosity during a mission

The Eurasian tree sparrow is one of 30 bird species in decline around Fukushima.

Birds Are in a Tailspin Four Years After Fukushima

Like the proverbial canary in a coalmine, avian abundances may paint a grim picture of the effects of nuclear disasters on wildlife

Successes were matched by failures like the McLean Deluxe, made with seaweed to save calories.

Taking Stock of 75 Years of McDonald’s

Has the original fast-food restaurant finally reached the end of its success?

Steven Devor, front, developed the automated treadmill using off-the-shelf parts, including an inexpensive sonar range finder and an existing treadmill. (Photo by Jo McCulty, Courtesy of Ohio State University)

This New Treadmill Automatically Adjusts to Your Speed

A prototype developed at Ohio State makes indoor workouts more like outdoor runs by using sonar to detect where you are on the belt and keep pace

Cool Finds

Scientists Take a Crack at Explaining That Knuckle-Popping Noise

A new study takes a closer look to explain the mechanism behind the sound when we crack our joints

Cool Finds

These Magic Toothbrushes Work Without Toothpaste

A new brush—and an old one, too—that don’t rely on possibly harmful pastes to make your smile shine

New Research

Pulling Your Hair Out? It Might Just Help Reverse Baldness

Plucking hair could be a counterintuitive way to fight balding, according to a study of quorum sensing in rat follicles

New Research

Teen Pregnancies Have Hit an All-Time Low

But teens still aren’t opting for the most effective forms of birth control

Building a Bionic Pancreas

A device that tracks blood sugar and automatically administers insulin and glucagon could take some pressure off Type 1 diabetes patients and their parents

New Research

Scientists Predict Obesity Rates by Examining Sewage Microbes

The microbial makeup of a city’s sewage can indicate its population’s physique

This structure serves as everything from a climbing wall to a bench to a meditation space.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Bus Stop Climbing Wall and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Unbreakable shoelaces? They come in stylish colors and patterns

A digital scan of a human kidney and pelvis.

Medical Holograms Are Now Part of the Surgeon’s Toolkit

Technology hitting the market will help doctors examine heart conditions or check for colon cancer without breaking the skin

Trending Today

Here’s More About the Drug Behind Indiana’s HIV Epidemic

Illegal use of Opana, or oxymorphone, is fueling a public health crisis in Scott County, Ind.

The patient, in a rare moment of calm.

Cats Get Breast Cancer Too, and There’s a Lot We Can Learn From It

Understanding aggressive tumors in pets may lead to better treatments for the nastiest forms of the disease in people

The Brief History of “Americanitis”

More than a century ago, the experts thought that Americans worked too hard, putting their collective health at risk

Marijuana buds are often two to three times as potent as they were 30 years ago.

New Research

Modern Marijuana Is Often Laced With Heavy Metals and Fungus

Medical and recreational marijuana use is increasingly legal—but do consumers know what they’re smoking?

The iTBra by Cyrcadia Health aims to screen for breast cancer in a new way, but still requires much testing.

Could a Bra Actually Detect Breast Cancer?

Using thermodynamic sensors, the iTBra could one day screen for breast cancer, but experts are wary

Bust some ghosts in this board game based on the 1984 classic.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Ghostbusters Board Game, Lights That Respond to Music and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Also, a sensor that uses thermal technology to track the amount of gas left in a tank

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