Health & Medicine
- Tech
Biometrics: New IDs that are uniquely you
Fingerprints are so last century. Computers soon may start identifying people by their eyebrows, heartbeats or even networks of blood vessels under the skin.
- Brain
Lacrosse: Different genders, same injuries
Scientists find that boys’ and girls’ versions of lacrosse lead to similar injuries. Because girls frequently get concussions, the study argues that like the boys, girls too should wear helmets.
- Health & Medicine
Clay: A new way to fight germs?
Geologists have discovered a type of volcanic clay that shows promise in fighting infections — maybe even ones resistant to antibiotic medicines.
- Environment
Explainer: What are endocrine disruptors?
Some chemicals can act like hormones, turning on or off important processes in cells. That can harm development or even trigger disease.
- Health & Medicine
Screen time: Most U.S. teens overindulge
Too many 12- to 15-year olds spend hours each day doing little more than pushing buttons on the TV remote or a computer’s keyboard, a government survey finds.
- Genetics
High-altitude help from extinct ancestors
The Tibetan plateau is high in altitude but low in oxygen. An unusual version of one gene in Tibetans' DNA helps them survive this environment. And that gene appears to have been passed along from Denisovans, a Neandertal-like ancestor.
- Health & Medicine
Young blood: The elixir of youth?
Old mice show improved memory when blood from young mice circulated through their brains, a new study finds. Other studies suggest one ingredient in that young blood might be all it takes to deliver benefits.
- Microbes
The war on superbugs
Doctors and scientists are exploring ways to stem the growing global crisis of antibacterial resistance.
- Microbes
Explainer: What you can do to fight antibiotic resistance
Doctors and scientists are not the only people who can help preserve the effectiveness of life-saving antibiotics. Even patients have a role to play, as these tips show.
- Microbes
The HIV cure — that wasn’t
Immediate and aggressive drug treatment of a baby born with HIV appeared to have cured the girl. In fact, a follow-up shows, she still has the disease.
- Microbes
Superbugs: A silent health emergency
Have antibiotics become too popular? Overusing these medicines fuels resistant germs that pose a global health threat.
- Microbes
Explainer: Where antibiotics came from
A mold proved the source of the first known antibiotic: penicillin. But chemical dyes would lead to the first antibiotics used in treating people.
