Health

Can Scientists Create a One-Click Shop For Cancer Treatments?

What if there were a vast library of crowd-sourced samples of rare cancers, and scientists could order them simply using ‘one-click shopping’? At the end of the 1990s, none of the world’s pharmaceutical companies were working on therapies to treat brain tumours in children. It wasn’t a profitable market; brain tumours are rare in comparison…

Smog Causes More Than 3 Million Premature Deaths a Year Worldwide

Air pollution is rarely a major concern for most people in Western Europe. You seldom notice it except when sitting in heavy traffic or when it obscures the far horizon at a scenic spot. However until the middle of last century it was a different story, with heavy industry and domestic heating filling city air…

Simple Tech Has Stopped 660m Cases of Malaria in Africa Since 2000

A new report from Oxford University describes that the overall rate of malaria infections in Africa has fallen by 50 percent since 2000. The researchers claim that’s largely the result of a very simple technology indeed: bed nets. The new study, published in Nature, combines a database of 30,000 malaria field surveys in sub-Saharan Africa…

Here’s the Exact Way That the Ice Bucket Challenge Helped ALS Research

Last year’s hugely popular “ice bucket challenge” saw celebrities pouring buckets of ice water over their heads to help fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). Skeptics dismissed it as mere “slacktivism,” but researchers told us that the money led directly to a scientific breakthrough. Can slacktivism actually work? Earlier this month, Nicholas Kristof wrote a rather…

Is It Really Okay to Eat Food That’s Fallen on the Floor?

A popular adage states that it’s okay to eat food off the floor if it’s picked up within five seconds. But is it true? A food scientist investigates. This urban food myth contends that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt and germs won’t have much of a chance to contaminate…

Paralyzed Man Successfully Given Prosthetic Hand That Can ‘Feel’

A 28 year old man who has been paralysed has been given a new sense of touch following a new breakthrough that saw electrodes places directly into the man’s brain. The research and clinical trial has been carried out by DARPA, the US Military’s research agency. Essentially, the man (who has not been named) is…

Does a Weekend of Binge-Drinking Make Your Cold Worse?

People who binge drink on the weekend take more days off work, but the cost may be more than just economic. Recently published research suggested alcohol and drug-related absenteeism costs the Australian economy around AU$3 billion a year. One of the report’s authors was quoted in the media as saying that “alcohol puts a bit…

The intrepid animators at AsapScience dared to ask Is Masturbation Good For You?Their answer, in their characteristic whiteboard drawing style, covers the positive effects of self-love on brain function, pelvic muscles, and the immune system. Check it out! Contact the author at [email protected].

Scientists Urge Caution in Wake of “Transmittable” Alzheimer’s Claim

A provocative new paper published in Nature suggests that neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s may be transmissible through certain medical procedures. It’s an alarming claim—but one that will require more proof if it’s to be accepted by the scientific community. Protein Problems To understand how the researchers came to this conclusion it’s important…

HIV Could Be Killing Cells in a Way Scientists Had So Far Not Noticed

Scientists have been conscientiously studying HIV for decades, but now a new study suggests that the virus can infect and kill immune cells in a way that scientists have so far overlooked. New Scientist reports that new research shows the virus is able kill cells by being pumped from one currently infected cell directly into…

Everything About Social Determinants of Health, You Can Learn From IKEA

It’s that time of year again. Summer is ending, undergrads are flooding university campuses, and people are moving. When people move, a few things become mandatory, for example, pizza or some other reward for those who help you move. But one of the most important things anyone will do though is the annual trek to…

The World Is Running Out of an Essential Snakebite Anti-Venom

Doctors Without Borders is warning that global stocks of a critical snakebite treatment are poised to run out next year—a troubling development that could put tens of thousands of lives at risk. The last batch of one of the world’s most effective snakebite treatments, known as Fav-Afrique, is set to expire in June 2016. This…

We Should Be Planting More Trees, Purely For Selfish Human Reasons

Yesterday we learned that humans have killed half of the Earth’s trees, which today number in the trillions. At the same time, there’s been a boom in scientific studies showing that humans are healthier and happier when exposed to our leafy friends. At least three news studies this summer focus on the mental and physical…

“Tissue Velcro” Could Patch Damaged Organs

In the not-too-distant future, patients with damaged hearts or livers might receive tissue patches grown in a lab. This week, researchers announced an important development toward that goal: A biodegradable scaffold that allows strips of beating heart tissue to snap together like Velcro. We’ve gotten pretty good at growing human cells in vitro, but scaling…

This Messy Mass of Colorful Orbs Shows How Cancer Grows

Healthy tissues are like healthy ecosystems: Both composed of diverse populations. But in tumors, a single, malignant cell type often dominates. A new computer model is helping researchers understand why, and it could pave the way to more effective cancer treatments. Using mathematical algorithms, a team of researchers has developed a new, 3D simulation depicting…

Lettuce Is the Bottled Water of Produce

Another day, another story about what we should consume when confronted with a water-scarce future. On today’s chopping block: Lettuce, should you eat it? Let us begin with this provocative statement: A head of iceberg contains the same amount of water as a bottle of Evian, it’s wrapped in lots of plastic, and shipping it…

How Much Water is Enough? How Much is Too Much?

The health tip about drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day has been roundly dismissed by scientists, doctors, and upstanding bloggers for years, but this baseless myth refuses to die. Meanwhile, exercise-associated hyponatremia, a consequence of overhydration, is being reported across a broader range of athletes. Aaron E. Carroll, professor of pediatrics at Indiana…

The Flu Vaccine That Lasts a Lifetime is Coming

The flu vaccine: A tedious annual chore, but necessary unless you want to spend a week bed-ridden and barfy. Still, wouldn’t it be great if one jab could protect you for life? A lifetime flu vaccine isn’t impossible, and we’re making progress toward one, but we’ve still got a ways to go. As New Scientist…

Vomit Machine Helps Researchers Study Disease, Face Totally Unnecessary

Projectile vomiting: Disgusting, yes, but also your body’s natural way of dealing with being sick. Oh, and a great way to spread your vile germs to others, according to research conducted with the lovely vomit simulator depicted above. That’s right: If you’ve got a stomach virus and you blow chunks, you’re gonna blow virus particles…

Men Can Get HPV, Too

Some strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause cervical cancer, so you often hear about it as a ‘female’ sexually-transmitted infection. It’s not — it’s a human thing, and all humans can get infected. Here’s what happens when males get it. Most of the people who are exposed to HPV fight off the virus, so…