Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    E. coli evade detection by going dormant

    When stressed, bacteria can temporarily turn comatose and dodge germ-screening tests.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Immune booster also works in reverse

    Injections of the protein interleukin-2 can calm runaway defenses that damage tissues in the body, two studies show.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Weaker brain links found in psychopaths

    Decreased communication between emotional and executive centers may contribute to the mental disorder.

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  4. Humans

    Germs’ persistence: Nothing to sneeze at

    Years ago, I read (probably in Science News) that viruses can’t survive long outside their hosts. That implied any surface onto which a sneezed-out germ found itself — such as the arm of a chair, kitchen counter or car-door handle — would effectively decontaminate itself within hours to a day. A pair of new flu papers now indicates that although many germs will die within hours, none of us should count on it. Given the right environment, viruses can remain infectious — potentially for many weeks, one of the studies finds.

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  5. Chemistry

    Radiation sickness treatment shows promise

    The regimen could be used to protect large numbers of people in the aftermath of major accidents such as Chernobyl or Fukushima.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Getting the picture of how someone died

    CT scans can often reveal a clear cause of death, possibly making some autopsies unnecessary, British researchers find.

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  7. Life

    Unraveling synesthesia

    Tangled senses may have genetic or chemical roots, or both.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Coffee delivers jolt deep in the brain

    Caffeine strengthens electrical signals in a portion of the hippocampus, a study in rats finds.

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  9. Humans

    Two feet or four, software is the same

    All walking animals use the same basic nerve patterns to put one leg in front of the other(s).

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Highlights from the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting

    Stress and motherhood, tandem MRIs, the memory benefits of resveratrol and more from the organization's meeting November 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Busting blood clots with a nanoparticle

    An experimental technology that delivers medication directly to a dangerous blockage might augment heart attack treatment, a new study finds.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Highlights from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

    Vitamin D and heart disease, the effectiveness of external defibrillators, a shot to lower cholesterol, and more from the Orlando, Fla., meeting.

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