Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineExplainer: What is a vaccine?
Vaccines give the body’s natural defense system a boost against infectious disease.
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ClimateHunting the mysterious source of a global illness
Doctors and scientists around the world are scouring the environment for the elusive cause of Kawasaki disease, a harmful childhood illness.
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BrainAdolescents are brain-dense — and that’s good
Gray matter is densely packed in adolescents, brain researchers now find. This may explain how developing adults cope with decreasing gray matter volume.
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Health & MedicineTherapeutic robots may soon swim within the body
Scientists are designing tiny robots that may one day do work inside the human body.
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BrainTongues ‘taste’ water by sensing sour
Water doesn’t taste like much, but our tongues need to detect it somehow. They may do it by sensing acid, a new study shows.
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Health & MedicineThink you’re not biased? Think again
Everyone holds some unconscious bias about certain social groups, even when they don’t mean to. Scientists are learning how people can fight such implicit biases.
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Health & MedicineYour gut’s germs may decide whether white bread or whole wheat is best — for you
Surprise! Gut microbes may determine how your body responds to starches in the diet.
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AnimalsOrangs nurse young for more than eight years!
Orangutan moms and babies have been tricky to study in the wild, so researchers used dental tests to reveal a record setting nursing period.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineScientists Say: Acoustic
Acoustic is an adjective used to describe something involving sound. It’s also a noun that refers to the branch of physics that studies sound.
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AnimalsPopular pesticide may harm bee flight
In a lab experiment, honeybees flew sluggishly after eating pesticide-tainted food.
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AnimalsHow a flamingo balances on one leg
Flamingos are so good at balancing on just one leg that they can snooze that way with little effort.
By Susan Milius -
ChemistryTo test pill coatings, try a stomach in a flask
Which pain reliever should you buy? The tablet, gel tab or compressed caplet? A teen did an experiment to find out.