Human Quirks: Health & Medicine

April 7, 2025

Top Headlines

Revealing Capillaries and Cells in Living Organs With Ultrasound

Apr. 3, 2025 — While medical centers use ultrasound daily, so far this technology has not been capable of observing body tissues at the scale of cells. Physicists have now developed a microscopy technique based on ultrasound to reveal capillaries and cells across ...

Western Diet Causes Inflammation, Traditional African Food Protects

Apr. 3, 2025 — A switch of just two weeks from a traditional African diet to a Western diet causes inflammation, reduces the immune response to pathogens, and activates processes associated with lifestyle diseases. Conversely, an African diet rich in vegetables, ...

Miso Made in Space Tastes Nuttier

Apr. 2, 2025 — Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans and salt. Researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS). They found that the miso smelled and tasted similar to miso fermented on Earth -- just ...

Cold Plunges Actually Change Your Cells

Mar. 28, 2025 — Cold water immersion for seven days significantly improves cellular resilience and autophagic function, helping cells manage stress better. This adaptation could enhance health and longevity, potentially preventing diseases and slowing aging at a ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:28pm EDT

Human Urine, a Valuable Resource as Fertilizer for Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Study Concludes

Mar. 27, 2025 — The reuse of human urine would allow for the production of sustainable fertilizers for urban agriculture, with significant environmental benefits, a ...

Rare Disease Drug Nitisinone Makes Human Blood Deadly to Mosquitoes

Mar. 26, 2025 — A study found when patients take the drug nitisinone, their blood becomes deadly to ...

Mini Rolling Robot Takes Virtual Biopsies

Mar. 26, 2025 — A tiny magnetic robot which can take 3D scans from deep within the body, that could revolutionize early cancer detection, has been developed by researchers. The team say this is the first time it has ...

Postpartum Female Preference for Cooler Temperatures Linked to Brain Changes

Mar. 25, 2025 — Mothers experience major metabolic adaptations during pregnancy and lactation to support the development and growth of the new life. Although many ...

VR Crime Scene Tech

Mar. 25, 2025 — Researchers presented advances shaping the world of forensics, from research that could improve how forensic scientists estimate a person's age at death, to technology demos of CSIxR -- a virtual ...

Scientists Engineer Starfish Cells to Shape-Shift in Response to Light

Mar. 24, 2025 — Scientists used light to control how a starfish egg cell jiggles and moves during its earliest stage of development. Their optical system could guide the design of synthetic, light-activated cells ...

Engineer Develops New Security Protocol to Protect Miniaturized Wireless Medical Implants from Cyberthreats

Mar. 20, 2025 — Scientists recently unveiled a first-of-its-kind authentication protocol for wireless, battery-free, ultraminiaturized implants that ensures these ...

Feline Therapy: Study Suggests Cats Could Fill an Assistive Niche

Mar. 18, 2025 — For years, therapy dogs have ruled the world of animal-assisted services (AAS), offering stress relief to college students, hospital patients, and those in need of emotional support. But research ...

Innovative Infant Wearable Uses Artificial Intelligence for at-Home Assessments of Early Motor Development

Mar. 18, 2025 — The smart MAIJU jumpsuit offers a novel approach to at-home monitoring of infants' early motor development. The wearable device combines expertise in ...

RNA Origami: Artificial Cytoskeletons to Build Synthetic Cells

Mar. 17, 2025 — With the long-term goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses the multifunctionality of the natural ...

Intranasal Herpes Infection May Produce Neurobehavioral Symptoms

Mar. 10, 2025 — A study finds that herpes infection through the nose can lead to anxiety, motor impairment and cognitive issues. The research shows that by exploiting a cellular enzyme, the virus can produce ...

Paralyzed Man Moves Robotic Arm With His Thoughts

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have enabled a man who is paralyzed to control a robotic arm through a device that relays signals from his brain to a computer. He was able to grasp, move and drop objects just by ...

Feeling Is Believing: Bionic Hand 'Knows' What It's Touching, Grasps Like a Human

Mar. 5, 2025 — Engineers have developed a pioneering prosthetic hand that can grip plush toys, water bottles, and other everyday objects like a human, carefully conforming and adjusting its grasp to avoid damaging ...

The International Space Station Is Overly Sterile; Making It 'Dirtier' Could Improve Astronaut Health

Feb. 27, 2025 — Astronauts often experience immune dysfunction, skin rashes, and other inflammatory conditions while traveling in space. A new study suggests that these issues could be due to the excessively sterile ...

Humans Inherited Their Flexible Joints from the Earliest Jawed Fish

Feb. 25, 2025 — The efficient architecture of our joints, which allows our skeletons to be flexible and sturdy, originated among our most ancient jawed fish ancestors, according to a new ...

DNA Origami Suggests Route to Reusable, Multifunctional Biosensors

Feb. 24, 2025 — A team has used a process known as DNA origami to make electrochemical sensors that can quickly detect and measure ...

Viking Skulls Reveal Severe Morbidity

Feb. 21, 2025 — Sweden's Viking Age population appears to have suffered from severe oral and maxillofacial disease, sinus and ear infections, osteoarthritis, and much more. This is shown in a study in which ...

Scientists Decode Diet from Stool DNA -- No Questions Asked

Feb. 18, 2025 — Scientists have developed a breakthrough method to track diet using stool metagenomic data. This non-invasive, data-driven approach offers an objective alternative to traditional food diaries and ...

This Research Is Absolutely Nuts -- For Better Health Care

Feb. 17, 2025 — A nut used in herbal tea has become a hydrogel perfect for a variety of biomedical uses in new research. Scientists created a malva nut hydrogel for medical uses ranging from wound care to ECG ...

Sweet Taste Receptors in the Heart: A New Pathway for Cardiac Regulation

Feb. 17, 2025 — In a surprising discovery, scientists have found that the heart possesses 'sweet taste' receptors, similar to those on our tongues, and that stimulating these receptors with sweet ...

Biohybrid Hand Gestures With Human Muscles

Feb. 12, 2025 — A biohybrid hand which can move objects and do a scissor gesture has been created. The researchers used thin strings of lab-grown muscle tissue bundled into sushilike rolls to give the fingers enough ...

Scientists Develop Novel Self-Healing Electronic Skin for Health Monitoring

Feb. 12, 2025 — Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in wearable health technology by developing a novel self-healing electronic skin (E-Skin) that repairs itself in seconds after damage. This could potentially ...

International Shark Attack File Report: Unprovoked Shark Bites Plummeted in 2024

Feb. 11, 2025 — 2024 was an exceptionally calm year for shark bites. Worldwide, there were only 47 unprovoked attacks, down 22 from the previous year and well below the 10-year average of ...

Influenza A Viruses Adapt Shape in Response to Environmental Pressures

Feb. 10, 2025 — Influenza A virus particles strategically adapt their shape -- to become either spheres or larger filaments -- to favor their ability to infect cells depending on environmental conditions, according ...

Novel 'Living' Biomaterial Aims to Advance Regenerative Medicine

Feb. 6, 2025 — A biomaterial that can mimic certain behaviors within biological tissues could advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, soft robotics and more, according to ...

This Delicate Nanoflower Is Downright Deadly to Bacteria

Jan. 31, 2025 — A carnation-like nanostructure could someday be used in bandages to promote wound healing. Researchers report that laboratory tests of their nanoflower-coated dressings demonstrate antibiotic, ...

The Big Chill: Is Cold-Water Immersion Good for Our Health?

Jan. 31, 2025 — In a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers have taken a deep dive into the effects of cold-water immersion on health and wellbeing. Analyzing data from 11 studies with 3177 ...

New Light-Tuned Chemical Tools Control Processes in Living Cells

Jan. 30, 2025 — A research group has developed new advanced light-controlled tools that enable precise control of proteins in real time in living cells. This groundbreaking research opens doors to new methods for ...

3D-Printed Brain-Like Environment Promotes Neuron Growth

Jan. 30, 2025 — Key cells in the brain, neurons, form networks by exchanging signals, enabling the brain to learn and adapt at incredible speed. Researchers have now developed a 3D-printed 'brain-like ...

Freshwater Alga Could Be the Next Superfood That Feeds the World

Jan. 30, 2025 — A green alga that grows in lakes and rivers could be the next 'superfood' -- helping scientists to tackle global food security challenges while promoting environmental ...