Health & Medicine

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. Animals

    Scientists Say: Dung

    This word is used to refer to animal poop. You know, manure. Crap. Feces.

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  5. Animals

    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.

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  6. Computing

    Video games level up life skills

    A new study shows that playing video games can sharpen important life skills, including communication, adaptability and resourcefulness.

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  7. 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.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Tiny spongelike machines sop up blood sugar

    Diabetes disrupts the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels. So researchers invented a tiny plastic machine that could do the job.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    The five-second rule: Designing an experiment

    Is it true that food is still clean if it’s picked up off the floor before five seconds have passed? To find out, we designed an experiment to give us data.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    The five-second rule: Growing germs for science

    Is it true that food dropped on the floor and picked up after five seconds is clean? To find out, we’re building an incubator and allowing any hitchhiking germs to grow.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    The five-second rule: Myth busted?

    We’ve done an experiment to test the five-second rule. Now it’s time to analyze the data. Be forewarned: They’re not appetizing.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    The five-second rule: Microbes can’t count

    A good scientific study compares results to what other scientists have done. These scientists have all debunked the five-second rule.

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