A vaccine exists to prevent a virus that can lead to certain types of cancer, but many American parents aren’t getting it for their kids.
Globally, antibiotic use has been on the rise—which doesn’t bode well for the looming threat of superbugs.
Katsuko Saruhashi, a Japanese geochemist, became one of the leading voices in nuclear disarmament and female empowerment through her work in the late 20th century. She’s being memorialized today (March 22) with a Google Doodle on what would have been her 98th birthday.
Arguably, a male birth control pill has been the white whale of family planning research. Although there have been several hopeful leads, obstacles like funding or adverse side effects have halted significant progress.
Beer wouldn’t be possible without the fabulous fungus that is yeast, which converts sugars into alcohol through fermentation. Scientists from the University of California-Berkeley have figured out how to make the microbe do double duty and add hoppy flavors to a lab-made pale ale that didn’t include any actual hops in the recipe.
Each Physarum polycephalum is a single, gelatinous amoeba made up of thousands of nuclei, all floating together in cytoplasm. You can think of these slime molds, commonly found in temperate forests, as an amorphous, moving cellular jello. All of a given slime molds’ nuclei are both completely independent and function as a part of a whole. Which is why, even though the slime mold currently serving as Massachusetts’ Hampshire College’s visiting nonhuman scholar is one being, in interviews, they refer to themselves using the pronouns we/they/their.
They say some trips change you. No one can relate more deeply than NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.
Originally, Sir William Henry Perkin set out to cure malaria. Instead, on his would-be 180th birthday, he is memorialized in a Google doodle for his chemical contributions to modern fashion.
Earlier this month, NBC’s Megyn Kelly interviewed Russian president Vladmir Putin about the state of relations between his country and the US.
If you’ve dreamed about working at a high-end car company and have a knack for life-sized Tetris, Tesla has the job for you.
Seventy-two years after Viola Desmond went to jail for sitting in the wrong section of a movie theater, her efforts fighting for civil rights are being recognized. Desmond will soon be the first Canadian woman to appear on her country’s currency.
Marijuana cultivation has its highs… and its lows. This month, the US Centers for Disease Control published a small occupational health assessment of the potential risks associated with marijuana farming. Those who frequently trim marijuana buds, they concluded, may be at a slightly higher risk of developing muscular-skeletal problems from all the repetitive motion—namely, carpal tunnel syndrome.
The best part about astronomy is that it can unravel the mysteries of what makes our universe so beautiful.
Nigerian health authorities are calling the current outbreak of Lassa fever “unprecedented.”
Today (March 6), the US Food and Drug Administration approved 23 andMe’s at-home genetic test as a diagnostic tool for increased risk of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.
Alzheimer’s disease is a massive global burden. Between 30 and 40 million individuals currently have the progressive disease, and by 2050, there are expected to be anywhere from 80 to 105 million cases. But while it is the most prevalent form of dementia, there haven’t been any new drugs to treat the disease for nearly two decades.
As much as we love our doggos and feline friends, the thing that seems to actually make us happiest is the company of other people.
Tardigrade—also known as water bears or moss piglets—are among the toughest life forms on Earth. They’re also incredibly abundant.
Another day, another close encounter with a flying space rock.
Cosmic records of the earliest days of the universe, 13.8 billion years ago, are starting to accumulate. Soon, we may have all the clues we need to piece together the events that transformed hydrogen and cosmic energy to the blooming universe astronomers study today.
The Atacama desert running along the coast of Chile is the driest place on our planet. Rain happens once every decade or so. It’s so dry that the upper layers of the ground are whitewashed with salt that has had every last drop of moisture sucked out of it.
Since the 1960s, women have been using hormonal birth control to control their fertility, despite the fact that scientists still are not sure about its long-term effects.
In the midst of this awful flu season, it doesn’t feel too early to start prepping for the next one.
For obvious reasons, it pays for prey to blend in with the environment around them. For individual animals, it means hunters won’t spot them as easily. Entire species benefit, though, when the survivors make it to mating season to pass on their successful genes.
