Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, oxygen was touted as a potential memory loss treatment

    In 1972, researchers were studying whether hyperbaric chambers could help reverse senility. Today, science is still piecing together clues.

    By
  2. Animals

    Genetically modified mosquitoes could be tested in California soon

    The EPA also OK’d more trials in Key West, Fla. Both states now get their say in whether to release free-flying Aedes aegypti to sabotage their own kind.

    By
  3. Life

    Some E. coli set off viral grenades inside nearby bacteria

    A bacterial toxin called colibactin awakens dormant viruses embedded in bacterial DNA, but its ecological role is still unknown.

    By
  4. Neuroscience

    A hit of dopamine sends mice into dreamland

    New results are some of the first to show a trigger for the mysterious shifts between REM and non-REM sleep in mice.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    How to interpret the CDC’s new mask guidelines

    Based on the CDC’s new metrics, most people no longer need to wear masks in most situations, but that could change.

    By and
  6. Health & Medicine

    Fecal transplant pills helped some peanut allergy sufferers in a small trial

    In a small study, a one-day fecal microbiota transplant allowed some peanut-allergic adults to safely eat one to two peanuts several months later.

    By
  7. Health & Medicine

    How omicron’s mutations make it the most infectious coronavirus variant yet

    With its mishmash of mutations, omicron has a unique anatomy that has helped fuel its dominance.

    By
  8. Humans

    50 years ago, freezing sperm faced scientific skepticism

    In 1972, scientists debated the long-term viability of frozen sperm. Fifty years later, children have been conceived with sperm frozen for decades.

    By
  9. Microbes

    A chain mail–like armor may shield C. difficile from some antibiotics

    Examining the structures that protect Clostridioides difficile from medicines could help researchers find new ways to target and kill the bacteria.

    By
  10. Health & Medicine

    More than 5 million children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19

    The number of children who experienced the death of a parent or caregiver due to COVID-19 nearly doubled from May through October in 2021.

    By
  11. Health & Medicine

    The COVID-19 pandemic is not an on-off switch

    The pandemic is more of a dimmer switch, and it will be a slow slide to the endemic phase, says epidemiologist Aubree Gordon.

    By
  12. Health & Medicine

    An anime convention in November was not an omicron superspreader event

    Vaccines, ventilation and other safety measures probably prevented the variant’s spread at Anime NYC, reports suggest.

    By