Health & Medicine
- Environment
Pond scum can release a paralyzing pollutant into the air
New study finds blooms of blue-green algae can seed the air with a poisonous pollutant.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Nicotine
Nicotine is an addictive substance found in tobacco plants. It's what makes it so difficult to quit smoking or vaping.
- Health & Medicine
Warning: Wildfires might make you itch
Western wildfires are on the rise due to climate change and land use. Now a study adds eczema to the list of health risks that smoke might trigger.
- Brain
Let’s learn about touch
Most senses are concentrated around your head. But touch all over your body, and you need every inch.
- Computing
Will this smartphone app become your exercise coach?
When one teen couldn’t go to the gym, she invented an app to bring her gymnastics coach to her home. She succeeded and won a major award for it.
- Tech
New robots can clean virus-laden surfaces so people won’t have to
Smart and nimble cleaning robots will soon help disinfect spaces. They twist and bend to hit hard-to-reach spaces with UV light or cleansing sprays.
- Health & Medicine
Simpler, easier COVID-19 test developed with kids in mind
Designed by moms, it avoids any need to stick an uncomfortable swab up the nose. Instead, people just swish a dental roll around their mouths.
- Health & Medicine
Cool Jobs: Saliva offers a spitting image of our health
Scientists are using this secretion to study our body’s functions, to test for disease and even to diagnose injury.
- Health & Medicine
Let’s learn about exercise
Our bodies — from our muscles to our brains — love a good workout. Scientists are always learning new things about exercise.
- Psychology
Too much sitting could hurt your mental health
As inactivity increases, so does risk of depression and other mental health problems, new studies show. But breaks for even light activity can help.
- Health & Medicine
Six tips to build more movement into your day
Most people don’t move enough. The trick is to do what you can whenever you can, even if it’s just standing up more than once an hour and walking a bit.
- Materials Science
Bandages made from crab shells speed healing
The chitin in seafood wastes, insect “bones” and fungi is a chemist’s dream. Used in a new medical dressing, it beats regular gauze for wound healing.
