Health

For a measured take on the ongoing Ebola outbreak, follow Tara C. Smith. The infectious disease epidemiologist is the author of Ebola and Marburg Viruses, and has done a standup job of keeping misinformation about the disease in check. Her most recent post, in which she debunks five common Ebola myths, is a must-read.

A Student Film Suppressed By Anti-Vaxxers Has Finally Been Released

Two years ago, students at Carlsbad High School began filming a documentary, The Invisible Threat—a report on the “science of disease and the risks facing a society that is under-vaccinated.” But it is only now that the public is able to see the film, which became the target of a national anti-vaxxer campaign. The 40-minute…

What the Heck Is Toothpaste Anyway?

It’s been part of humanity’s hygiene regimen for more than 4,000 years, but have you ever stopped to think what’s actually in the stuff you’re smearing across your teeth? The ingredients of modern toothpaste may read like a mad scientist’s shopping list, but they’re far better than what our ancestors had to endure for healthy…

Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) warns that some of the 30,000 children who have crossed illegally into the U.S. from Central America might have Ebola. The U.S. Office of Refugee Settlement says none of the children are infected, which is unsurprising since no one in the Western Hemisphere has ever contracted the disease.

Airport Screenings Won’t Prevent Ebola From Spreading

Nigerian authorities have just confirmed a second case of Ebola, prompting the government to announce that it is increasing health screenings at airports to contain the disease. Unfortunately, the likelihood of detecting whether someone is infected is quite small. [Image: United Nations] When you hear about screenings being conducted, you might imagine a brief medical…

The shock waves of IED blasts can damage the eyes of troops, causing retinal displacement — even if soldiers are not injured by shrapnel or debris, according to a new study. Ocular injuries account for 13% of all battlefield injuries, and researchers hope that this data will eventually lead to better protective eyeware.

Should You Be Worried About Ebola? A Helpful Chart.

Here for spreading far and wide is a flow chart for stemming the tide of undue Ebola panic on social media. H/t Maggie Koerth-Baker

A Map of How Much Pollution Trees Have Scrubbed From Our Air

In 2010, trees removed more than 17 million metric tons of pollution from the air. In doing so, they saved more than $6.8 billion dollars in health care costs associated with pollution-related diseases, like bronchitis and asthma. In a recent paper in the journal Environmental Pollution, US Forest Service researcher David J. Nowak explains: Most…

Legal Marijuana Has Become A Food Safety Issue

The state of Colorado is experiencing a bad case of the munchies. Both supporters and opponents of legal marijuana are increasingly worried that consumers of cannabis-laced foods—such as brownies, candy and cookies — are binge eating their way toward overdoses. And this isn’t just another “reefer madness” scare story, it’s a real public health issue.…

Why Snot Is Green and Yellow

Snot is an essential part of a healthy body (no, really), and its color and consistency can give you a lot of information about what’s going on in yours at any given time. What is mucus? Produced in the lining of the sinuses, nose, throat, mouth, lungs and even digestive tract, mucus provides a protective…

A Better First Aid Kit That Makes Suggestions and Knows What’s Missing

Even a well-stocked first-aid kit is all but useless if you crack it open but have no idea what’s actually needed for a particular emergency. So these aptly-named Clever Medkits feature a series of buttons and LED lighting that only illuminates the medical supplies needed for a specific injury, and it will even remind you…

​Performance Food: Bison Liver Pate

Want a pre-workout snack that gives you a visceral energy boost and is packed full of protein, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats? It might sound fancy, but Bison Liver Pate is cheap and easy to make. And damn good. I guess the first thing you need to understand about this recipe is the whole high…

9 Well-Meaning Public Health Policies That Went Terribly Wrong

Public health policies can be near-miraculous things. They destroyed polio, and gave us all clean drinking water and strong teeth. But there are occasions when public health policies, when combined with human nature, go terribly wrong. Here are nine of the biggest disasters that resulted. Photo by Michael Theis 9. Warning That Anti-Depressants May Lead…

How the “10 Percent of Our Brains” Myth Started (And Why It’s Wrong)

Morgan Freeman can make anything sound legit no matter scientifically implausible. In Lucy for example, which premiered last Friday, his character cites the “fact” that humans only use about 10 percent of our brain’s resources. This is very, very wrong! But why does it keep getting tossed around? And how much of our brains are…

Running for as little as five minutes a day could add years to your life. And it doesn’t matter how fast you run. After studying 55,137 adults between the ages of 18 and 100, it was discovered that runners had a 30% lower risk of death from all causes and a 45% lower risk of…

Are Smart Drugs Really That Smart?

Are we asking the right questions about smart drugs? Marek Kohn looks at what they can do for us – and what they can’t. “You know how they say that we can only access 20 per cent of our brain?” says the man who offers stressed-out, blank-screened ‘writer’ Eddie Morra a fateful pill in the…

Senate Abortion Hearing Reveals Junk Science Behind Women’s Health Laws

This month, a Senate committee held a hearing on whether to halt the growing number of state laws reducing access to abortion services in the name of protecting women’s health. The “expert” testimony revealed just how much these laws rely on fringe science and discredited research. Image by Zdorov Kirill Vladimirovich via Shutterstock The Women’s…

Is Cannibalism Unhealthy or Just Awful?

If, say, a human ate another human in an apocalyptic scenario, would it be unhealthy? Or gross? Or just generally awful? It would, in fact, be all kinds of bad. Allows us to explain how. Unhealthy For the Devourer Depending on what parts are eaten (the most infected include the brain, spinal cord, bone marrow…

Google Wants to Create a Map of What a Healthy Human Body Looks Like

It’s the ultimate baseline study — an effort to collect the fullest picture of what a healthy human being should look like. The project, which is in its early stages, is being run by Andrew Conrad, a molecular biologist known for developing affordable, high-volume tests for HIV in blood-plasma donations. His team now consists of…

A woman who tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus has escaped quarantine and is wandering in Freetown, Sierra Leone, a city of 1 million people. Over the past several weeks, deadly outbreaks of Ebola have killed many people in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in western Africa.