Health & Medicine
- Tech
New robots can clean virus-laden surfaces so people won’t have to
Smart and nimble cleaning robots will soon help disinfect spaces. They twist and bend to hit hard-to-reach spaces with UV light or cleansing sprays.
- Health & Medicine
Simpler, easier COVID-19 test developed with kids in mind
Designed by moms, it avoids any need to stick an uncomfortable swab up the nose. Instead, people just swish a dental roll around their mouths.
- Health & Medicine
Cool Jobs: Saliva offers a spitting image of our health
Scientists are using this secretion to study our body’s functions, to test for disease and even to diagnose injury.
- Health & Medicine
Let’s learn about exercise
Our bodies — from our muscles to our brains — love a good workout. Scientists are always learning new things about exercise.
- Psychology
Too much sitting could hurt your mental health
As inactivity increases, so does risk of depression and other mental health problems, new studies show. But breaks for even light activity can help.
- Health & Medicine
Six tips to build more movement into your day
Most people don’t move enough. The trick is to do what you can whenever you can, even if it’s just standing up more than once an hour and walking a bit.
- Materials Science
Bandages made from crab shells speed healing
The chitin in seafood wastes, insect “bones” and fungi is a chemist’s dream. Used in a new medical dressing, it beats regular gauze for wound healing.
- Health & Medicine
Could a toothpaste help treat peanut allergy?
By rolling an immune therapy into a toothbrushing routine, one company hopes to show its product can build and maintain tolerance to peanut allergens.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Placebo
In clinical trials, scientists often test a drug or procedure against a placebo — a treatment that has no effect — to find out how well their new treatment works.
- Health & Medicine
Urban pollution can pose unseen risks to kids’ immunity and more
A trio of new studies links immune changes and high blood pressure to inhaling bad air.
- Health & Medicine
Brown bandages would help make medicine more inclusive
Peach-colored bandages label dark-skinned patients as unusual, says med student Linda Oyesiku. Brown bandages expand who’s seen as normal.
- Psychology
Boredom may pose a public health threat in the social distancing era
Boredom contributes to pandemic fatigue, and it may account for why some people don’t follow social distancing rules.
