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Medicine

The clitoris is larger than most people think, and much of the organ is internal.

Scientists Just Made the Most Complete Map of the Clitoris’s Sensory Nerve Network. Here’s What They Found

Cultural taboos around female sexuality have hindered research on the organ. But a new study provides pivotal insights that can inform important surgeries and health care

An artificially colored human B cell, the type of immune cell that caused all three autoimmune diseases in the patient

In a First, This Personalized Cell Therapy Treated Three Life-Threatening Autoimmune Diseases in One Patient

The patient was bedridden and needed daily blood transfusions, and she had tried nine different therapies that didn’t bring lasting effects. So, researchers modified some of her immune cells so they would attack her faulty cells

Tobacco plants make a lot of the amino acid tryptophan, the basis of many psychoactive compounds.

Scientists Engineered Tobacco Plants to Produce Five Mind-Altering Psychedelic Compounds

The substances have been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, but they’ve recently become popular as possible therapeutics for mental health conditions

Becoming an expert birder might support brain health, according to a new study.

Becoming an Expert Birder Can Reshape Your Brain and Might Help Protect It From Aging, New Research Suggests

Compared with novices, seasoned birders had denser, more structurally complex brain regions involved with tasks like object identification, visual processing, attention and working memory

Researchers stimulated digital replicas of the patients' hearts with electrical signals to locate the sources of their irregular heartbeats.

Doctors Used ‘Digital Twins’ of Patients’ Hearts to Fix Their Irregular Heartbeats

A small clinical trial suggests the technology can help physicians perform life-saving surgeries more efficiently and safely

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke on January 15, when SpaceX Crew-11 splashed down, roughly one month ahead of schedule.

An Astronaut’s Sudden Inability to Speak Prompted the ISS’s First Medical Evacuation. Doctors Still Don’t Know What Caused the Issue

The individual who fell ill, NASA’s Mike Fincke, says the medical team is almost certain that the issue was related to being in space

Male reproductive cells, sperm, might struggle to reach and fertilize female reproductive cells, eggs, in microgravity, according to a new study.

Humans Might Struggle to Make Babies in Space. Sperm Gets Disoriented in Microgravity, a New Study Suggests

Simulated near-weightless conditions reduced human sperm’s navigational abilities

Ball pythons (shown), along with Burmese pythons, were studied in the new research.

Could Python Blood Lead to the Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs?

Researchers discovered an appetite-suppressing molecule in python blood. If one day turned into a medication, it might lack some of the common negative side effects of GLP-1s

The new variant has been detected in 25 states so far.

The ‘Cicada’ Variant of Covid-19 Is Spreading in the United States. Here’s What You Need to Know

Infection levels are still low in the country, but the highly mutated variant might be able to evade your body’s immune defenses acquired via vaccine or past infection

Researchers gathered bark from two species of trees—downy birch and silver birch—on public land in Germany. Then, they used it to produce birch tar via three extraction techniques.

New Research

Did Neanderthals Use Birch Bark Tar as an Antibiotic to Treat Wounds and Infections?

Scientists created samples of the black resin using three methods and tested their effectiveness against two common bacteria

While the cells can play the game, they’re not very good at it.

A Clump of Human Brain Cells on a Computer Chip Learned to Play the Nostalgic Video Game ‘Doom’

The technology could one day help researchers develop drugs and tailor treatments to individual patients

The perception of sleep is just as important as the quality of sleep.

Vivid Dreams Might Be Key to Feeling Well Rested When You Wake Up, According to a New Study

The findings could help explain the purpose of dreams and help physicians better treat people with sleep disorders

Two participants tried the device, which translates thoughts of specific finger movements into strokes on a virtual keyboard. 

An Experimental Brain Implant Allows People With Paralysis to Type Their Thoughts With Their Minds

One of the two participants wrote words up to a speed similar to an able-bodied person texting on a smartphone

Courses of the antibiotic clindamycin taken within a year before stool sampling were associated with the largest changes in gut microbiomes.

Some Antibiotic Drugs Can Alter Your Gut Microbiome for Up to Eight Years, New Research Suggests

Just a single course of treatment can leave a lasting impression, according to a study of nearly 15,000 people in Sweden

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There's More to That

Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

Researchers around the world are attempting to create a safer and more effective treatment in hopes of saving hundreds of thousands of lives

Around one-third of Americans take multivitamins, but researchers don't quite understand how they affect people's health.

Taking a Daily Multivitamin Might Slow Some Signs of Biological Aging, a New Study Suggests

Researchers don’t know how these modest changes at the cellular level relate to overall health

Manuel Díaz Cárdenas harvests the tender tips of his Salicornia plants.

As the Planet Warms, a Humble Sea Bean Is Proving to Be a Promising Superfood

Known as samphire, sea beans, glasswort or pickleweed, Salicornia thrives in high-saline environments, like coastal marshes, and has a lot of nutritional and medicinal properties

Tiger Kingdom facilities are popular tourist attractions in Thailand.

Seventy-Two Captive Tigers in Thailand Die From Dangerous Infections, Sparking Concerns Over Animal Welfare

An animal foundation asks why the big cats weren’t vaccinated against a well-known virus

Researchers asked participants, at an average of about 80 years old, to report their exposure to intellectual enrichment throughout their lives, and then tracked them for around eight years.

Lifelong Learning Might Lower Your Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s Disease, a New Study Suggests

While the research does not point to a direct, causal link, it hints that activities like reading, writing and playing games might help extend cognitive function

Japanese chin dogs had some of the highest rates of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome in the study. 

These 12 Popular Dog Breeds Are at Risk of Breathing Problems Related to Their Short Snouts, a New Study Suggests

Past research on brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome—a chronic, hereditary disease associated with flat faces—has focused mainly on just three breeds

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