Health & Medicine
- Environment
Analyze This: Not all races saw equal improvements in this air pollutant
Levels of one U.S. air pollutant, NO2, have dropped over time. But neighborhoods with predominantly non-white residents saw smaller improvements than did those that were mostly white.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: How the ears work
Most people probably think of their ears as the flaps on the sides of their heads. But there’s a lot of machinery inside that lets us hear our favorite tunes.
- Chemistry
When bitter + bitter = sweet
Two artificial sweeteners lose their bitter aftertastes when combined together. Scientists have just figured out why.
- Microbes
Sweat-slurping ‘aliens’ live on your skin
Archaea are famous for living in extreme environments. Now scientists find they also inhabit skin, where they seem to enjoy sweat.
- Health & Medicine
The power of ‘like’
A single “like” on a social-media post can make it much more popular, which can influence how teens behave.
- Health & Medicine
How bugs in your gut might hijack your emotions
Tiny molecules in the brain may help bugs in the gut hijack people’s emotions. That’s the conclusion of some new research.
- Health & Medicine
Social media: What’s not to like?
Social media can help teens connect with friends and family. Sometimes, however, it may leave them feeling depressed or isolated.
- Chemistry
Specially coated fabric could turn a shirt into a shield
Specially treated fabrics offer a new kind of defense against chemical attacks. It could protect troops — and people living in war-torn nations where chemical weapons may be used.
- Health & Medicine
Good germs lurk in gross places
What do poop, dog drool and snot have in common? Though disgusting, they all carry microbes that can help keep people healthy.
- 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.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Dung
This word is used to refer to animal poop. You know, manure. Crap. Feces.
- Life
Cool Jobs: Puzzling over proteins to study life and death
Scientists are using proteins to understand dinosaur family trees, to fight malnutrition with a peanut-butter mix in Africa and to make “Google maps” of human cells.
