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Medicine

New Research

Chickens Might Lay Your Future Prescriptions

Tests show cancer-fighting and immune-boosting proteins can be produced in the egg whites of genetically-modified cluckers

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Ingenious Minds

How Jean Bennett Found a Way to Treat Hereditary Blindness in Children

In conversation with chef Spike Gjerde, the molecular geneticist explains how she is paving the way for the future of gene therapy

Tom Hanks (center) won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a gay man suffering from AIDS.

Looking Back at ‘Philadelphia,’ 25 Years Later

What would the breakthrough movie about the AIDS crisis look like if it were made today?

Jeanne Calment in 1895

Trending Today

Was the World’s Oldest Person Ever Actually Her 99-Year-Old Daughter?

Jeanne Calment made history when she died at the age of 122 in 1997, but a new investigation claims her daughter actually assumed her identity in 1934

(Mårten Teigen, Museum of Cultural History; Associated Press; Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy; CDC / James Gathany; Philippe Charlier; Brian Palmer; David Iliff via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0; Alamy; Pasini et al. / World Neurosurgery / Elsevier; Donovan Wiley; Library of Congress)

Our Top 11 Stories of 2018

From a 50-year-old political scandal to swarms of genetically engineered mosquitos, here are Smithsonian.com’s most-read stories

This graspable haptic device, called Foldaway, is the size of a drink coaster when flat, making it conveniently portable. The user places a joystick where the three hinged arms meet, and the arms offer resistance, to give a sense of the objects being manipulated.

Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks (Or Rather, Feels) Like

Bringing the sense of touch to virtual reality experiences could impact everything from physical rehabilitation to online shopping

At the time of the study's writing, the then seven-month-old baby girl was developing normally and appeared to be the picture of health

Woman With Womb Transplanted From Deceased Donor Successfully Gives Birth

Recipient was born without a womb, but thanks to uterine transplant, she was able to deliver a healthy baby girl in December 2017

Each year, nearly 700,000 ear-infection-prone kids in the U.S. are treated with surgically-implanted ear tubes.

Ear Tubes May Finally Get an Upgrade

Harvard researchers have invented a new device that might mean fewer visits to the surgeon for kids with chronic ear infections

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool that has allowed scientists to alter the genomes of living organisms with unprecedented accuracy and ease.

What’s New, and What’s Not, in the Reported Birth of the CRISPR Babies

Editing human DNA, either in embryos or in cells that are reintroduced to the body, had come a long way before Lulu and Nana were born

Drug-Resistant Bacteria Found on International Space Station Toilet

The bacteria do not currently pose a risk to astronauts, but that could change as the microbes adapt to their environment

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Ingenious Minds

Jose Gomez-Marquez Wants to Turn Doctors and Nurses into Makers

Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter interviews the co-founder of MIT’s Little Devices Lab about democratizing health technology

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Ingenious Minds

The Future Is Bright If More Teens Could Think About High School the Way Kavya Kopparapu Does

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma talks with the founder of the Girls Computing League about the promise of her generation

Doug E. Fresh, beatboxing pioneer, lays it down.

New Research

This Is What Happens Inside a Beatboxer’s Mouth When They Perform

MRI scans of vocal percussionists show that beatboxing takes the vocal tract beyond human language

The new research is geared to helping clinicians, not replacing them.

Can Artificial Intelligence Detect Depression in a Person’s Voice?

MIT scientists have trained an AI model to spot the condition through how people speak rather than what they tell a doctor

New Research

Your Appendix May Be Starting Point for Parkinson’s Disease

Those who have the organ removed have a 20 percent less chance of developing the disease, which is related to protein found in the appendix and the brain

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin on a spacewalk in 2013, completing maintenance on International Space Station.

New Research

Hanging Out in Space Deforms Brain Tissue, New Cosmonaut Study Suggests

While gray matter shrinks, cerebrospinal fluid increases. What’s more: These changes do not completely resolve once back on Earth.

An 1887 illustration by British artist Hablot Knight Browne of “resurrectionists” stealing dead bodies from a graveyard.

In Need of Cadavers, 19th-Century Medical Students Raided Baltimore’s Graves

With a half-dozen medical schools and a shortage of bodies, grave robbing thrived—and with no consequences for the culprits

Montreal doctors will soon be able to prescribe free museum visits for patients and a limited number of loved ones or caregivers

Art Meets Science

Canadian Doctors Will Soon Be Able to Prescribe Museum Visits as Treatment

An afternoon of art may offer serotonin mood boost, welcome distraction from chronic pain

Jason Moore, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State, David Pepley, a doctoral student studying mechanical engineering, and Yichun (Leo) Tang, an undergraduate student studying mechanical engineering, work with the needle simulator training device.

This New Needle Simulator Could Train Medical Students To Have a Steady Hand

Penn State researchers have developed a device that could help future doctors perfect their needle insertion technique—before they start on people

The bendable patch consists of a thin elastomer sheet with small “islands” of electrodes and piezoelectric transducers that create ultrasound waves from electricity.

This Ultrasound Patch Monitors Blood Pressure in Deep Arteries

The flexible wearable could be an alternative to current invasive methods of measuring central blood pressure within the human body

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