Humans

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.

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.

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.

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.

Brain

Brains may need flexible networks to learn well

New data suggest that brain cells may learn best when they are able to easily make and break off communications with neighbors — or distant brain regions.

Ecosystems

As trees come down, some hidden homes are disappearing

Animals such as frogs, toucans and possums live in tree hollows. But as people have cut down trees, a wildlife housing shortage has developed in some places.

Genetics

Molecular scissors fix disease-causing flaw in human embryos

Researchers moved closer to being able to fix gene-edited embryos in people. They removed a flawed gene that causes heart failure

Brain

Brain’s immune system can play role in weight gain

Weight isn’t just calories in, calories out. When mice eat a fatty diet, immune cells in their brains become inflamed. That makes the animals gain more weight.

Health & Medicine

Racial discrimination may aggravate asthma, study finds

Kids who suffer racial discrimination are more likely to develop a hard-to-treat form of asthma. New data suggest the stress of bigotry can affect the immune system, potentially making the disease worse.

Health & Medicine

Mindfulness in eating pays the body big dividends

Schools are starting to use mindful eating in the classroom — and science shows that it can reduce overeating and improve overall health.

Brain

Mild brain injury can cause bead-like swellings in brain cells

Mild head bumps cause temporary swellings — like beads in a necklace — within brain cells. If cells get enough time to heal, those “beads” will disappear.

Health & Medicine

Vape tricks could increase health risks, experts warn

Many teen e-cigarette users try vape tricks, a new study shows. Researchers worry the tricks could boost the health risks of vaping.