Health & Medicine
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MicrobesExplainer: 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.
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MicrobesThe 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.
By Janet Raloff -
MicrobesSuperbugs: A silent health emergency
Have antibiotics become too popular? Overusing these medicines fuels resistant germs that pose a global health threat.
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MicrobesExplainer: 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.
By Esther Landhuis and Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineSunlight makes pleasure chemical in the body
A day on the beach might deliver more than a tan (or sunburn). It may also release potent brain chemicals that leave people with a pleasurable feeling.
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AnimalsCool Jobs: A whale of a time
Studying blue whales, spinner dolphins and other cetaceans demands clever ways to unveil the out-of-sight behaviors of these marine denizens.
By Eric Wagner -
GeneticsOwww! The science of pain
No one likes pain, but it keeps us alive. That’s why scientists want to learn how best to coexist with this complicated and still somewhat mysterious sensation.
By Kirsten Weir -
EarthNifty science
Inspired research put select high school seniors on the path to the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search finals.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & MedicineBeautiful nails may harbor germs
Two students wondered why they weren’t allowed to wear fake nails as nursing assistants. They decided to use science to probe why. What they found sent them to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
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Health & MedicineFor better weight control, fiber up!
Certain types of fiber suppress appetite, at least in mice. Found in fruits, vegetables, oats and barley, this fiber breaks down in the gut to release acetate. That travels to the brain, where the chemical prompts the release of hunger-fighting hormones.
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Health & MedicineInfected cutting boards
Germs can hitchhike into the kitchen on meat and many types of produce. A new study finds that some of those germs are particularly nasty. They are immune to the one or more of the drugs doctors would prescribe to wipe out the infection.
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BrainGhosts in your head
Many people see, feel and hear things that aren’t really there — despite how much their brain tries to convince them otherwise.
By Kirsten Weir