Health

Genetically Altered Pig-Heart Survives More Than A Year Inside Baboon

A pig heart modified to express human genes has survived more than a year grafted to the inside of a baboon’s abdomen, according to researchers at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the NIH. At left: Study authors Muhammad Mohiuddin (right) and Philip Corcoran graft a genetically altered pig heart into a…

Virtually no one starts smoking after age 26

There’s a reason the government has had to severely restrict cigarette advertising (and smoking in general) to minors: they’re the only ones still gullible enough to think smoking is a good idea. According to the Surgeon General’s office, anyone over the age of 26 has a better chance of being mugged by a great white…

Alzheimer’s Patients Will Be Injected With the Blood of Young People

It’s not often that science confirms ideas straight out of vampire lore, but here you have one: a spate of studies in mice have found that infusions of young blood seem to reverse aging. So now we’re moving to the next logical step: giving the blood of young humans to Alzheimer’s patients. The first very…

How Antiperspirant Works (And Who It Might Hurt)

You only need to walk down your supermarket’s personal care aisle to understand how big of a business the selling of deodorant and antiperspirant has become in the US, totaling over $2 billion in U.S. sales last year alone. But do you know what’s actually in the stuff you roll on (hopefully) every morning? The…

DIY Diagnosis: How One Woman Uncovered Her Own Genetic Flaw

When Kim Goodsell discovered that she had two extremely rare genetic diseases, she taught herself genetics to help find out why. Kim Goodsell was running along a mountain trail when her left ankle began turning inward, unbidden. A few weeks later she started having trouble lifting her feet properly near the end of her runs,…

​Chinese Government Fans the Flames of the Ebola Zombie Rumors

In recent weeks, rumors have been spreading on Chinese social media sites that Ebola is transforming its human victims into zombies. The stories became so prolific that China’s official new agency, Xinhua, felt compelled to publish a special report that only ended up spreading more disinformation. [Image: CDC] The rumors have spread, in part, because…

New Ad Campaign Targets Medical Marijuana As A Date Rape Drug

Florida voters will soon decide whether they want to legalize medical marijuana in their state. As November election day draws closer, polls indicate the ballot initiative, known as “Amendment 2,” has strong popular support — and its opponents are descending ever further into reefer madness. The anti-legalization group “No On Amendment 2” says the ballot…

How to Donate Your Body to Science

What are you going to do when you die, just rot in the ground like a selfish jerk? If instead you’d rather set those organs you aren’t using anymore to better use saving lives and training surgeons, here’s what you need to know about making something of your afterlife. Before you blanche, the practice is…

‘Text Neck’ Is The Latest Health Craze That’s Going to Injure You

At this point, it seems like our electronics are out to kill us because a doctor is warning rabid texters of a new condition called “text neck.” Dr. Dean Fishman, who not only is a chiropractic physician, but a crafty wordsmith since he trademarked that phrase, claims that the craning of our neck is damaging…

A Common Bacteria Can Be Injected Directly Into Tumors to Fight Cancer

In its natural form, Clostridium novyi is at best benign (it lives in the soil) and at worst harmful (it can cause infections). But a slightly modified version of the bacterium could be a completely new treatment for cancer. Injecting thousands of spores of a modified C. novyi into rats, dogs, and one human patient…

Why E-Cigarettes Might Not Be as Safe as You Think

It’s little wonder why e-cigarettes’ popularity has exploded into a $2 billion industry over the last few years; the promise of safe, harmless nicotine delivery without all the carcinogenic byproducts of looseleaf combustion is a hard offer to pass up. But are these devices and the nicotinated fluids they atomize really that safe? Stephen Dorf…

Report: Apple in Talks With Major Hospitals to Work With HealthKit

Apple’s new HealthKit API is designed to help keep all the important information about your body in one place. Now though, according to Reuters, the company is in discussion with major healthcare providers ahead of its launch to make it a tool used by physicians, too. According to the news agency, Apple is in talks…

In case you were ever curious about the proper way to pack and ship suspected Ebola specimens, the CDC has posted a primer for medical professionals. The guidelines reiterate OSHA standards for handling bloodborne pathogens. Here’s one especially good CDC safety tip: for Ebola, use plastic not glass containers.

The Ebola Outbreak Is Now an ‘International Public Health Emergency’

The World Health Organisation has declared the Ebola outbreak an international public health emergency—though it is currently not recommending bans on travel or trade. The international organization points out that the outbreak—the longest and largest in recorded history—is affecting countries whose health systems are “fragile with significant deficits in human, financial and material resources.” That,…

The Truth About Cholesterol

For years conventional medicine has told us that high cholesterol levels contribute to heart disease, and as a result, doctors have instructed patients to keep cholesterol levels low – at nearly any cost. Recent scholarship, however, has demonstrated that this all-or-nothing approach to cholesterol and heart disease is short-sighted, and could result in some unintended…

Everything You Need to Know About Ebola in Four Minutes

Ebola has been hitting the headlines hard recently, so now is the best moment to learn more about it. This video tells you everything you need to know about the deadly virus in just four minutes. Once you’ve digested that, why not go read about the experimental new serum to treat ebola, that’s being grown…

See Inside a Living Mouse Brain Thanks to Lasers and Carbon Nanotubes

The living brain has always been a tricky thing to study. How do you figure out what’s going on without poking, prodding, and jostling the brain so much that it’s not working right? A relatively non-invasive new technique developed by neuroscientists at Stanford and Massachusetts General Hospital uses a laser and fluorescent carbon nanotubes to…

The Chemistry Of Fake Tan Lotion Could Ruin Your Appetite For Bacon

Have you ever wondered how fake tan lotion manages to turn people’s skin brown without subjecting them to UV radiation exposure? Actually, it’s a chemical reaction that you observe all the time…whenever someone is cooking meat. Writing over at his blog, Compound Interest [rimshot], British chemistry teacher Andy Brunning has put together this nifty infographic…

You Can Compress This Water Bottle Into a Tiny Puck When It’s Empty

Most of your travel accessories can be compacted for easy storage when they’re empty: your duffel bag, your toiletries case, even your sleeping bag. So why does your water bottle waste so much space after you’ve drained it? It shouldn’t, and with Hydrapak’s new collapsible Stash bottle, it never will again. The 750 ML bottles…

Why You Always Wake Up Early After A Night Of Drinking

Lots of people have a little booze before bed to help them get to sleep — but while a night cap may help in the dozing-off department, too much alcohol can actually do a number on the overall quality of your shuteye. Let’s take a look at some of the important differences between drunk sleep…