Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
When fighting lice, focus on kids’ heads, not hats or toys
Learning a little about lice makes for a more efficient battle against the bugs.
- Animals
Bats are the main cause of rare rabies deaths in the U.S.
In the United States, bats are mostly to blame for rabies deaths, while rabies transmitted by overseas dogs comes in second.
- Health & Medicine
Extra fingers, often seen as useless, can offer major dexterity advantages
Two people born with six fingers on each hand can control the extra digit, using it to do tasks better than five-fingered hands, a study finds.
- Health & Medicine
A tiny crater on viruses behind the common cold may be their Achilles’ heel
Researchers have discovered a potential new drug target in a family of viruses responsible for the common cold and more serious infections.
- Health & Medicine
Medicaid-expanding states had fewer cardiovascular deaths than other states
Counties in states with expanded Medicaid eligibility had 4.3 fewer cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 residents, on average, than if they hadn’t expanded.
- Genetics
Almost all healthy people harbor patches of mutated cells
Even healthy tissues can build up mutations, some of which have been tied to cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C could prevent thousands of deaths in the U.S.
A study projecting heat-related mortality in 15 U.S. cities illustrates urban risk from global warming.
- Life
Gut bacteria may change the way many drugs work in the body
A new survey of interactions between microbes and medications suggests that gut bacteria play a crucial role in how the body processes drugs.
- Health & Medicine
A fungus weaponized with a spider toxin can kill malaria mosquitoes
In controlled field experiments in Burkina Faso, a genetically engineered fungus reduced numbers of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes that can carry malaria.
- Chemistry
Vaping the sweetener sucralose may produce toxic chemicals
Sucralose in e-liquids can break down, increasing toxic aldehydes in vapors and producing harmful organochlorines, including a potential carcinogen.
- Health & Medicine
Resurgence of measles is a tale as old as human history
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses the recent global measles outbreak and the history of the spread of pathogens.
- Health & Medicine
One number can help explain why measles is so contagious
The basic reproduction number, or "R naught," of measles shows how contagious the disease is compared with other pathogens.
