Human Quirks: Health & Medicine

January 26, 2025

Top Headlines

Imagining the Physics of George R.R. Martin's Fictional Universe

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers have derived a formula for viral behavior in the Wild Cards, a science fiction series written by a collection of authors about an alien virus called the Wild Card that mutates human DNA. The formula he derived is a Lagrangian ...

Fighting Experience Plays Key Role in Brain Chemical's Control of Male Aggression

Jan. 22, 2025 — Like humans, mice will compete over territory and mates, and show increased confidence in their fighting skills the more they win. At first, a brain chemical called dopamine is essential for young ...

Fine-Tuned Brain-Computer Interface Makes Prosthetic Limbs Feel More Real

Jan. 16, 2025 — Two new articles document progress in neuroprosthetic technology that lets people feel the shape and movement of objects moving over the 'skin' of a bionic ...

DNA Nanorobots Can Alter Artificial Cells

Jan. 13, 2025 — Scientists have succeeded in controlling the structure and function of biological membranes with the help of 'DNA origami'. The system they developed may facilitate the transportation of large therapeutic loads into cells. This opens up a new way ...

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'Unprecedented' Level of Control Allows Person Without Use of Limbs to Operate Virtual Quadcopter

Jan. 21, 2025 — A brain-computer interface, surgically placed in a research participant with tetraplegia, paralysis in all four limbs, provided an unprecedented ...

Using Robots in Nursing Homes Linked to Higher Employee Retention, Better Patient Care

Jan. 8, 2025 — Facing high employee turnover and an aging population, nursing homes have increasingly turned to robots to complete a variety of care tasks, but few ...

Advancements in Neural Implant Research Enhance Durability

Jan. 7, 2025 — Neural implants contain integrated circuits (ICs) -- commonly called chips -- built on silicon. These implants need to be small and flexible to mimic circumstances inside the human body. However, the ...

Breakthrough for 'Smart Cell' Design

Jan. 3, 2025 — Bioengineers have developed a new construction kit for building custom sense-and-respond circuits in human cells. The research could revolutionize therapies for complex conditions like autoimmune ...

Ancient DNA Unlocks New Understanding of Migrations in the First Millennium AD

Jan. 1, 2025 — Waves of human migration across Europe during the first millennium AD have been revealed using a more precise method of analysing ancestry with ...

Virus That Threatened Humanity Opens the Future

Dec. 25, 2024 — Scientists have developed an innovative therapeutic platform by mimicking the intricate structures of viruses using artificial intelligence ...

Generate Electricity by Attaching Device to Your Clothes

Dec. 16, 2024 — A research team has developed a highly efficient wearable energy harvester that can power electronic devices using only body ...

Swarms of 'Ant-Like' Robots Lift Heavy Objects and Hurl Themselves Over Obstacles

Dec. 18, 2024 — Scientists have developed swarms of tiny magnetic robots that work together like ants to achieve Herculean feats, including traversing and picking up ...

World Cup Soccer Is Getting Faster for Men and Women Alike

Dec. 17, 2024 — If the experience of watching a FIFA World Cup soccer final is intense, spare a thought for the players, who are competing at an ever increasing intensity, according to a new ...

Brain Cells Remain Healthy After a Month on the International Space Station, but Mature Faster Than Brain Cells on Earth

Dec. 17, 2024 — Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cogni tion, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To ...

Tiny Robots, Big Impact: Revolutionizing Infertility Treatment With Magnetic Microrobots

Dec. 17, 2024 — Infertility affects an estimated 186 million people worldwide, with fallopian tube obstruction contributing to 11%-67% of female infertility cases. Researchers have developed an innovative solution ...

Breakthrough Brings Body-Heat Powered Wearable Devices Closer to Reality

Dec. 12, 2024 — A research team has developed an ultra-thin, flexible film that could power next-generation wearable devices using body heat, eliminating the need for ...

Genes That Determine Tooth Shape Identified

Dec. 12, 2024 — Genetic variants that determine the shape of your teeth -- including a gene inherited from Neanderthals -- have been identified by a team of ...

AI Thought Knee X-Rays Show If You Drink Beer -- They Don't

Dec. 11, 2024 — A new study highlights a hidden challenge of using AI in medical imaging research -- the phenomenon of highly accurate yet potentially misleading results known as 'shortcut learning.' The ...

Minuscule Robots for Targeted Drug Delivery

Dec. 11, 2024 — An interdisciplinary team has created tiny bubble-like microrobots that can deliver therapeutics right where they are needed and then be absorbed by the ...

Scientists Transform Ubiquitous Skin Bacterium Into a Topical Vaccine

Dec. 11, 2024 — Scientists' findings in mice could translate into a radical, needle-free vaccination approach that would also eliminate reactions including fever, swelling and ...

Delivering Medicines With Microscopic 'Flowers'

Dec. 10, 2024 — Using microparticles consisting of extremely thin petals, medicines can be delivered via the bloodstream in a precisely targeted manner, for example to a tumour or blood clot. Ultrasound and other ...

Sculpting the Brain (Without Chisel or Scalpel)

Dec. 10, 2024 — Researchers report that they have successfully tested a novel approach for teaching the human brain to learn through external manipulation and neural feedback -- what they call the ...

Getting to the Bottom of Things: Latrine Findings Help Researcher Trace the Movement of People and Disease

Dec. 6, 2024 — A researcher has uncovered evidence of intestinal parasites in a 500-year-old latrine from Bruges, Belgium, and while the finding may induce queasiness in some, it is expected to provide important ...

The Heart Has Its Own 'Brain'

Dec. 4, 2024 — New research shows that the heart has a mini-brain -- its own nervous system that controls the heartbeat. A better understanding of this system, which is much more diverse and complex than previously ...

Uncovered a Mystery of 'Electron Carrier' Existing in All Living Organisms: Discovery of a 'Nano-Switch Mechanism' Controlled by a Single Hydrogen Atom

Dec. 3, 2024 — The hydrogen atoms of [4Fe-4S] type ferredoxin, one of the electron carriers, have been visualized and both experiments and calculations have revealed the mechanisms that control the redox potential. ...

Scientists Identify Brain Cell Type as Master Controller of Urination

Dec. 3, 2024 — Researchers have identified a subset of brain cells in mice that act as the master regulators of ...

Controlling Matter at the Atomic Level

Dec. 3, 2024 — Physicists are getting closer to controlling single-molecule chemical reactions -- could this shape the future of pharmaceutical ...

Peat-Bog Fungi Produce Substances That Kill Tuberculosis-Causing Bacteria

Dec. 3, 2024 — An analysis of fungi collected from peat bogs has identified several species that produce substances toxic to the bacterium that causes the human disease tuberculosis. The findings suggest that one ...

Temporary Tattoo Printed Directly on the Scalp Offers Easy, Hair-Friendly Solution for Measuring Brainwaves

Dec. 2, 2024 — Scientists have invented a liquid ink that doctors can print onto a patient's scalp to measure brain activity. The technology offers a promising alternative to the cumbersome process currently ...

Smallest Walking Robot Makes Microscale Measurements

Dec. 2, 2024 — Researchers have created the smallest walking robot yet. Its mission: to be tiny enough to interact with waves of visible light and still move independently, so that it can maneuver to specific ...

Researchers Develop Clinically Validated, Wearable Ultrasound Patch for Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring

Nov. 20, 2024 — A re-engineered wearable ultrasound patch for continuous and noninvasive blood pressure monitoring has undergone comprehensive clinical validation on over 100 patients, marking a major milestone in ...

Scientists Recreate Mouse from Gene Older Than Animal Life

Nov. 18, 2024 — An international team of researchers has achieved an unprecedented milestone: the creation of mouse stem cells capable of generating a fully developed mouse using genetic tools from a unicellular ...

Robotic Shorts Support People When Walking

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers have developed robotic trousers that enable people to walk more easily while expending measurably less energy. The aim is to keep frail individuals and in particular the elderly mobile ...

Synthetic Cells Emulate Natural Cellular Communication

Nov. 12, 2024 — A research team has succeeded in synthesizing simple, environmentally sensitive cells complete with artificial organelles. For the first time, the researchers have also been able to emulate natural ...