Health

A Fascinating Potential Link Between Gut Bacteria and Health

These days, you can’t throw a rock without hitting some start-up trying to boost our microbiomes. For the health-obsessed, microbiome has become the buzzword of the day. That’s because it’s becoming ever-clearer that all the trillions of microorganisms that inhabit our bodies, and particularly our gut, play an important role in our overall health. But…

Health Kristen V. Brown

Harvey’s Floodwaters Could Pose Serious Health Hazards

Extreme rainfall and flooding from Hurricane Harvey has left thousands in Houston and surrounding communities stranded. Some parts of the city have experienced over 40 inches of rain, and forecasters say that number is expected to rise over the coming days. Currently, the storm has repositioned itself in the Gulf of Mexico, where it will…

Tech News Rae Paoletta

Another Government Agency Has Purged References to Climate Change From Its Site

Data-tracking watchdog group, Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI), has reported dozens of instances where the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has deleted references to climate change from its site. As the name suggests, the NIEHS’ site links to research summaries detailing how the environment affects personal health. Since it began tracking changes to…

Climate Change Sidney Fussell

What Present-Day Hunter-Gatherers Can Tell Us About the Bacteria in Our Gut

The Hazda is a small group of hunter-gatherers living in the central Rift Valley of Tanzania, one of the few remaining groups of people left in the world who still collect the majority of their diet through foraged foods. Modernity has still managed to touch their lives, of course, but far less than it has…

Health Kristen V. Brown

Report: Donald Trump Will Order Military to Begin Discriminating Against Trans Troops Within Six Months

President Donald J. Trump has decided to advance his bogus ban on trans individuals openly serving in the US military beyond tweeting vague dictates on the matter. Per the Wall Street Journal, Trump is expected to “issue guidance” to the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis which will be somewhat clearer than his original…

Health Tom McKay

Why the FDA Can’t Fix the Opioid Crisis

Opana was a painkiller twice as strong as Oxycontin. Like most opioids sold in the US it was easy to snort, until one day it wasn’t: Its manufacturers, Endo Pharmaceuticals, rigged it with crush-resistant technology in 2012. Within months the largest HIV outbreak in Indiana’s history was underway—addicts had taken to injecting it. The non-snortable…

Health Daniel Kolitz

Energy Drinks Won’t Make You a Coke Addict: Cocaine Will Make You A Coke Addict

Science doesn’t give answers. Instead, it’s a tool that humans have created to make meaningful conclusions from data. So, if someone tells you that science says energy drinks will turn you into a cocaine user, well, science won’t ever do that. A new study practically everyone has been reporting on claims that energy drinks can…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

New Clues Emerge About Doomed Expedition Through the Northwest Passage

In 1845, Sir John Franklin led two British Royal Navy ships on an ill-fated expedition through the Northwest Passage—a famous and hazardous corridor connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. None of the crew members returned, spawning a mystery that has endured for more than 150 years. A new analysis explores the various ways in which…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Alternative Medicine Doesn’t Work for Cancer Treatments

You have, as of today, a one hundred percent chance of dying. But a lot of people would like a little more time to do things, like eat interestingly-shaped pastas, or play catch with their grandchildren. That makes sense. I’d also like to do those things. But sometimes, our pursuit to eat lots of pasta…

Health Ryan F. Mandelbaum

That New Pro-Vegan Documentary on Netflix Made Me Want to Die

If there’s one thing you should always remember about science, it’s that fact and truth are established after multiple studies converge on an answer. Even after that, further research might turn over what you thought was true of the other studies, because you were looking at it through too narrow of a lens. Single papers…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Wi-Fi Signals May One Day Be Used to Tell If You’re Dreaming

Researchers from MIT have developed a wireless, artificially intelligent sensor that can detect the various stages of sleep, including rapid eye movement—the sleep stage associated with dreaming. The non-invasive system could change the way clinicians diagnose sleep disorders and other health complications. Wi-Fi radio signals are extremely sensitive, and they’ve already been used to see…

Artificial Intelligence George Dvorsky

Hey, Let’s Actually Read That Study About Vitamin B Preventing Birth Defects

It would be really nice if something you could just go to CVS and buy off a shelf unequivocally had some massive health benefit. But the world does not work that way, and neither does science. There are an array of caveats, and layers of complexity, attached to nearly every health study you see sensationalized…

Health Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Man Develops Rare Neurological Disorder From Denture Paste

In a bizarre case from the UK, a 62-year-old man developed a severe neurological disorder, and doctors learned it probably had something to with his dentures. Or at least, with the stuff keeping them in place. Published on Monday in the online journal BMJ Case Reports, the man had described pain and numbness in his…

Health Bryson Masse

FDA Considering Forcing Companies to Reduce Nicotine in Cigarettes to Non-Addictive Levels

In an effort to reduce tobacco-related disease and death, the US Food and Drug Administration says it’s considering a plan to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes—a major regulatory shift that’s already causing turmoil for conventional cigarettes companies at the stock market. Announced earlier today, the FDA’s new regulatory plan places nicotine and the issue of…

Health George Dvorsky

How New Technology Could Threaten a Woman’s Right to Abortion

In April, scientists achieved a major breakthrough that could one day drastically improve the fate of babies born extremely prematurely. Eight premature baby lambs spent their last month of development in an external womb that resembled a high-tech ziplock bag. At the time, the oldest lamb was nearly a year old, and still seemed to…

Health Kristen V. Brown

Doctors Slam New Recommendation That We Should Stop Antibiotic Treatments Early

Scientists from the UK caused quite a stir this week, when they announced that we don’t necessarily need to complete a full course of antibiotics in order to treat infections properly. It’s a provocative message, but skeptics say their advice is grossly premature—and even reckless. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not caused by putting an early…

Health George Dvorsky

Punch Your Zip Code Into This Website To Learn If Your Tap Water Could Be Unsafe

On Wednesday, the public health nonprofit and advocacy group Environmental Working Group released a searchable database detailing chemical and heavy metal contaminants in drinking water for all 50 states. In contrast, to the EPA’s extremely clunky site, this is highly simplified. In all, EWG compiled data from more than 50,000 water companies. By entering their…

Health Sidney Fussell

A Third of Dementia Cases Could Be Preventable, Says New Report

Dementia could seem inevitable as relatives age and begin to suffer from heartbreaking memory loss. Almost 50 million people lived with it in 2015, and the disease could cost the world a trillion dollars by 2018. But there’s hope. A new report from a commissioned team of doctors found that lifestyle changes could prevent or…

Health Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Horrified Surgeons Discover 27 Contact Lenses in Woman’s Eye

While prepping a 67-year-old female patient for routine cataract surgery at England’s Solihull Hospital, physicians noticed a strange bluish blob in one of her eyes. On closer look, the blob turned out to be 17 contact lenses stuck together. Another 10 lenses were subsequently discovered in the same eye. The surgeons have never seen anything…

Health George Dvorsky

Why Is Greenland’s Ice Sheet Covered in Industrial Waste-Chowing Bacteria?

The Greenland ice sheet is vast, majestic, pristine….and peppered with bacteria that seem equipped to survive in industrial waste, according to a new study. Which really makes you question the whole the pristine bit, now, doesn’t it? In fact, scientists know that industrial contaminants, including heavy metals, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been accumulating…

Health Maddie Stone

A Fascinating Potential Link Between Gut Bacteria and Health

Harvey’s Floodwaters Could Pose Serious Health Hazards

Another Government Agency Has Purged References to Climate Change From Its Site

What Present-Day Hunter-Gatherers Can Tell Us About the Bacteria in Our Gut

Report: Donald Trump Will Order Military to Begin Discriminating Against Trans Troops Within Six Months

Why the FDA Can’t Fix the Opioid Crisis

Energy Drinks Won’t Make You a Coke Addict: Cocaine Will Make You A Coke Addict

New Clues Emerge About Doomed Expedition Through the Northwest Passage

Alternative Medicine Doesn’t Work for Cancer Treatments

That New Pro-Vegan Documentary on Netflix Made Me Want to Die

Wi-Fi Signals May One Day Be Used to Tell If You’re Dreaming

Hey, Let’s Actually Read That Study About Vitamin B Preventing Birth Defects

Man Develops Rare Neurological Disorder From Denture Paste

FDA Considering Forcing Companies to Reduce Nicotine in Cigarettes to Non-Addictive Levels

How New Technology Could Threaten a Woman’s Right to Abortion

Doctors Slam New Recommendation That We Should Stop Antibiotic Treatments Early

Punch Your Zip Code Into This Website To Learn If Your Tap Water Could Be Unsafe

A Third of Dementia Cases Could Be Preventable, Says New Report

Horrified Surgeons Discover 27 Contact Lenses in Woman’s Eye

Why Is Greenland’s Ice Sheet Covered in Industrial Waste-Chowing Bacteria?

Whatever Just Happened with ‘Fruit Love Island,’ Nobody Won

AMC Puts a Stake in ‘Talamasca’ After One Season

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

2027 Is Shaping Up to Be a Great Year for Big Sci-Fi RPGs

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Ahead of the SpaceX IPO, xAI Has Now Shed All 11 of Its Non-Elon Musk Founders

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

How to Watch the F1 Japanese GP 2026 on a Free Channel

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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