All Stories by Aimee Cunningham
- Animals
These caterpillars are scaring the city of London
The fluffy-haired larvae of the oak processionary moth have a curious behavior, moving in neat, little lines. But the caterpillars pose threats to trees and human health.
- Climate
Hurricane Maria’s Puerto Rican death toll skyrockets 72-fold
The death toll had been just 64 — and then scientists launched household surveys. Those showed the “official” toll was off by more than 4,500.
- Plants
Ouch! Lemons and other plants can cause a special sunburn
These are among a host of plants (many found in the refrigerator vegetable drawer) that produce chemicals that will kill skin cells when activated by sunlight. The result can be a serious, localized sunburn — sometimes with blistering.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists discover how norovirus hijacks the gut
Noroviruses make people vomit, but scientists didn’t actually know why. It now turns out that those viruses cause their misery by attacking special “tuft” cells in the gut.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity makes taste buds disappear — in mice, anyway
Mice that gained excessive weight on a high-fat diet also lost one in four taste buds.
- Health & Medicine
Woman’s eye hosts more than a dozen cattle eyeworms
Oregon woman is the first human known to become infected with a cattle eyeworm known as Thelazia gulosa.
- Health & Medicine
High-nicotine e-cigs up chance teen will become a smoker
New study links vaping high levels of nicotine to greater likelihood teens will vape — and smoke — six months later.
- Brain
Understanding body clocks brings three a Nobel Prize
Three American men will share this year’s Nobel prize for physiology or medicine. The award recognizes their contributions to understanding the workings of the body’s biological clock.
- Genetics
Genes may predict how well the flu vaccine will work in young people
The activity of nine genes predicted how well people 35 and under would respond to the flu vaccine.
- Brain
Many U.S. football players had brain disease, data show
The brains of more than 200 former football players were donated to science upon their deaths. Signs of severe brain trauma showed up in the vast majority.
- Health & Medicine
Getting a flu ‘shot’ could become as easy as sticking on a bandage
A new skin patch delivers a flu vaccine painlessly through dissolving microneedles. Such an easy-to-store and easy-to-use technology may help boost vaccination rates.
- Chemistry
New rules point scientists toward next-gen germ-killers
Shape and other features help germ-killing drugs make it through barriers to enter bacteria. Knowing how they do this could lead to more and better better antibiotics.
