Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Medicine

This month, several news outlets misleadingly reported that women's birth control was causing "transgender" fish.

How One Bad Science Headline Can Echo Across the Internet

Recent articles claiming birth control causes “transgender” fish show how science communication can mislead—even when it relies on facts

The slug-inspired glue is a tough adhesive that can be used for a range of applications, like closing wounds, or making adorable slug models.

Slugs Inspire Super-Strong Glue to Seal Wounds

One day this mollusc-inspired invention might just save your life

Jung's interest in the subconscious was a driving force in his work.

Five Fascinating Facts About Carl Jung

He thought he was two people (sort of) and more things you didn’t know about the pioneering psychologist

Anna Morandi Manzolini (1714-1774), Italian anatomist and sculptor, from a drawing by Cesare Bettini.

The Lady Anatomist Who Brought Dead Bodies to Light

Anna Morandi was the brains and the skilled hand of an unusual husband-wife partnership

Why Hospitals Started Displaying Newborn Babies Through Windows

How peering at babies through glass became a feel-good staple of American maternity wards

Bile bears on a farm in Vietnam

Trending Today

Vietnam Commits to Shut Down Bear Bile Farms

Though the new agreement is promising, the practice remains prevalent throughout China and southeast Asia

The microneedle patch being applied.

The Next Pandemic

Needle-Free Patch Makes Vaccination as Easy as Putting on a Band-Aid

The new product could be available in about five years, scientists say

The e-mosquito prototype

A Blood-Monitoring Device Inspired by Mosquitoes

The e-mosquito is a continuous glucose-monitoring device that could help people with diabetes better manage their blood sugar

The current elastic headband used in almost a million surgeries annually is on the right. The granular jamming cap, filled with coffee grounds and packed firm with a vacuum, is on the left.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Coffee on the Brain—Literally—Could Help Surgeons

A cap made of coffee grounds helps nose and throat surgery patients get the best care

The Neanderthal teeth, including the impacted molar

New Research

Neanderthals May Have Used Toothpicks to Treat Aching Teeth

A Neanderthal living in what is now Croatia and wore grooves in his or her teeth trying to soothe the pain

A cocktail of steroids and vitamin C, often found in citrus and leafy green produce, might hold the key to treating sepsis. Or, clinical trials might prove it overhyped.

New Research

Could Vitamin C Be the Cure for Deadly Infections?

A new protocol that includes this common nutrient could save millions of lives—and has already sparked a raging debate among doctors

The "abortion pill" (actually two separate medications) can be taken up to 10 weeks after pregnancy, according to the FDA.

The Science Behind the “Abortion Pill”

Legal or not, more American women are opting for abortion by medication. We asked doctors: How safe is it?

The Cairo Toe

Cool Finds

This 3,000-Year-Old Wooden Toe Shows Early Artistry of Prosthetics

Crafted from leather and wood, the ancient Egyptian prosthesis was was adjusted to precisely fit its wearer’s foot

New Research

Dogs Will Sniff Out Stomach Cancer in New Japanese Trial

The nose knows

Although scientific discoveries about blood started happening in the seventeeth century, blood transfusions are (mostly) a twentieth-century thing.

350 Years Ago, A Doctor Performed the First Human Blood Transfusion. A Sheep Was Involved

Early scientists thought that the perceived qualities of an animal—a lamb’s purity, for instance—could be transmitted to humans in blood form

In the past half-century, this tiny object has gone from feminist icon to dangerous villain to, incredibly, feminist icon once again. And no, we're not sure why the background is pink.

From Medical Pariah to Feminist Icon: The Story of the IUD

After decades of being shunned by women and doctors alike, this T-shaped device is enjoying a new surge of popularity

When Fresh Air Went Out of Fashion at Hospitals

How the hospital went from luxury resort to windowless box

When it comes to a crowdsourcing campaign, food might be an easier sell than feces. “Food is this amazing platform because we all have a connection to it, we all can relate,” says microbiologist Rachel Dutton. Not that poop isn't relatable, but, you know.

New Research

You Are What You Eat, And What You Eat Is Millions of Microbes

Now that they’ve tallied up American feces, researchers are turning to the other half of the microbial equation: food

Don't stop slathering on the sunblock, but a technology being developed in the lab could add an additional layer of protection, by tanning skin cells without UV rays.

Researchers Give Skin Cells a Tan—Without the Sun

Without damaging UV rays, the artificial tan could give that golden glow while protecting against skin cancer.

A baby in the neonatal intensive care unit are often covered in patches and wires for monitoring their vital signs, but new advances mean that soon those wires could be replaced with sensors as thin as a temporary tattoo.

Will These Flexible Skin Patches Replace Wires in Hospitals?

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed “epidermal electronics,” thin flexible patches capable of monitoring vital signs and more.

Page 44 of 65