Humans
- Brain
Brain’s immune system can play role in weight gain
Weight isn’t just calories in, calories out. When mice eat a fatty diet, immune cells in their brains become inflamed. That makes the animals gain more weight.
- Health & Medicine
Racial discrimination may aggravate asthma, study finds
Kids who suffer racial discrimination are more likely to develop a hard-to-treat form of asthma. New data suggest the stress of bigotry can affect the immune system, potentially making the disease worse.
- Health & Medicine
Mindfulness in eating pays the body big dividends
Schools are starting to use mindful eating in the classroom — and science shows that it can reduce overeating and improve overall health.
- Brain
Mild brain injury can cause bead-like swellings in brain cells
Mild head bumps cause temporary swellings — like beads in a necklace — within brain cells. If cells get enough time to heal, those “beads” will disappear.
- Health & Medicine
Vape tricks could increase health risks, experts warn
Many teen e-cigarette users try vape tricks, a new study shows. Researchers worry the tricks could boost the health risks of vaping.
- Animals
Could a dragonfly’s wings be alive — and breathing?
Highly magnified image showing what looks like breathing tubes suggests the morpho dragonfly’s wings may be unexpectedly alive.
- Environment
Night lights have a dark side
Artificial light at night not only affects our view of the night sky, but also has the ability to impair animal behaviors — and probably our health.
- Health & Medicine
Analyze This! Mosquito repellents that work
Spray-on repellents are generally the best at keeping those blood suckers from making you their next meal, new data show.
- Health & Medicine
Getting a flu ‘shot’ could become as easy as sticking on a bandage
A new skin patch delivers a flu vaccine painlessly through dissolving microneedles. Such an easy-to-store and easy-to-use technology may help boost vaccination rates.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is a vaccine?
Vaccines give the body’s natural defense system a boost against infectious disease.
- Health & Medicine
Hunting the mysterious source of a global illness
Doctors and scientists around the world are scouring the environment for the elusive cause of Kawasaki disease, a harmful childhood illness.
- Brain
Adolescents are brain-dense — and that’s good
Gray matter is densely packed in adolescents, brain researchers now find. This may explain how developing adults cope with decreasing gray matter volume.
