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Medicine

Smoke from nearby wildfires turned the sky above San Francisco a dark orange color last September.

Wildfire Smoke Linked to Covid-19 Cases and Deaths in the West

Thousands of coronavirus cases and hundreds of deaths may be attributable to the particulate matter in wildfire smoke

Individuals wear masks while shopping at a grocery store in Los Angeles. Masks help prevent breakthrough infections.

Covid-19

Six Important Things to Know About Breakthrough Infections

As the Delta variant likely drives more cases of Covid-19 in vaccinated individuals, experts weigh in with helpful information

Were it not for tuberculosis, artist and furniture maker Daniel Mack writes, “It’s unlikely that there would have been an Adirondack chair.”

How the Adirondack Chair Became the Feel-Good Recliner That Cures What Ails You

The furniture piece has gone through countless permutations, but it all started at a time when resting outdoors was thought to be a matter of life or death

A new article suggests that cats have been underutilized in studies of genetic disease and that studying their genomes, which are structured similarly to humans', could yield new treatments.

New Research

Human Genomes Are Surprisingly Cat-Like

Cat genomes are more similar to ours than those of mice and dogs, yet researchers say felines are underutilized in genetic studies of disease

This wearable sensor harvests sweat from the fingertips to generate the electricity it needs to measure things such as heart rate and blood-sugar.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

New Wearable Medical Sensors Run on Fingertip Sweat

The slim, flexible device could measure blood glucose or heart rate without the need for batteries

Researchers say that wild plants that gave rise to today’s three lineages of cannabis grew in present-day China.

New Study Suggests Cannabis’ Wild Ancestors Likely Came from China

The analysis identifies East Asia as a potential source of genetic diversity for the growing market for medical and recreational marijuana

The vestiges of two limestone tuberculosis huts can still be seen in Mammoth Cave.

When Tuberculosis Patients Quarantined Inside Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave

In the early 1840s, believing the air was therapeutic, Kentucky doctor John Croghan ran a consumption sanatorium deep underground

Nine out of 10 malaria victims live in Africa, most of them children under the age of five.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

West African Scientists Are Leading the Science Behind a Malaria Vaccine

Researchers in Mali have been working for decades on the treatment that’s now in the final phase of clinical trials

#FreeBritney activists protest at Los Angeles Grand Park during a conservatorship hearing for Britney Spears on June 23, 2021 in Los Angeles.

Britney Spears and the Age-Old History of Men Policing Women’s Trauma

The singer’s conservatorship, on trial this month, recalls the history of hysterectomies, insane asylums, forced contraception, among others

When a person uses the HiccAway to drink water, they have to suck about four times harder than if they were using a regular straw.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

This Straw Is Designed to Instantly Cure Hiccups

The ‘HiccAway’ stopped cases of hiccups 92 percent of the time during an early trial

DARPA's initial, modest goal is to alleviate jet lag.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

This Implant Could One Day Control Your Sleep and Wake Cycles

The so-called ‘living pharmacy’ will be able to manufacture pharmaceuticals from inside the body

In one clinical trial, Biogen's drug aducanumab showed that it could reduce beta-amyloid plaques and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

FDA Approval of a New Alzheimer’s Drug Comes With Controversy

Aducanumab is the first approved drug that targets a possible underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease

A rotifer seen under a microscope.

New Research

Scientists Revive Tiny Animals That Spent 24,000 Years on Ice

These bdelloid rotifers survived for thousands of years in the Siberian permafrost and scientists want to find out how

Historically, doctors have often treated women's pain as a sign of mental illness.

Myth and Misdiagnosis Have Plagued Women’s Health for Centuries

A new book by scholar Elinor Cleghorn details the medical mistreatment of women throughout Western history

Sister Andre, Lucile Randon celebrated her 117th birthday this year after surviving Covid-19.

New Research

Study Suggests 150 Years May Be the Human Lifespan’s Upper Limit

Researchers say beyond that age the body simply can no longer repair itself after normal stresses such as disease

Minute Molecular, the company developing the device, has high hopes for it as an efficient and accurate means of testing people at schools, workplaces and sports stadiums.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

This Compact PCR Test for Covid-19 Could Give Accurate Results in 15 Minutes

The speed and ease of the DASH testing platform would be a boon for screening efforts

In a lab experiment, a blind 58-year-old male volunteer was able to identify the position of two cups after receiving a new type of gene therapy.

New Research

New Gene Therapy Partially Restores Sight to Blind Man

Researchers inserted genes that code for light-sensitive proteins in algae into the man’s retina, and now he reports limited but much improved vision

President Barack Obama fist bumps a robotic arm being controlled by electrodes implanted in Nathan Copeland's brain at the University of Pittsburgh on October 13, 2016.

New Research

Researchers Create Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm With Sense of Touch

Touch feedback allowed a man with electrodes implanted into his brain to command a robotic arm and complete tasks quickly

L to R: Zelia Nutall, Mary Mahoney and Bertha Parker

Women Who Shaped History

Looking Beyond the Female Firsts of Science History

Two authors ask readers to change their understanding of what science is and who gets to participate

Cheez-It’s 11-month shelf life is impressive, but so is the company’s history.

A Brief History of the Cheez-It

America’s iconic orange cracker turns 100 this year

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