Health & Medicine

  1. Life

    Racing for answers on Zika

    In the latest issue of Science News, Editor in Chief Eva Emerson talks Zika virus, microbes, nutrition and mental health.

    By Eva Emerson
  2. Health & Medicine

    Microbes can play games with the mind

    Our bodies are having a conversation with our microbiome that may be affecting our mental health — for better or worse.

    By Laura Sanders
  3. Neuroscience

    Brain holds more than one road to fear

    A study on rare patients suggests that fear can take many paths through the brain.

    By Laura Sanders
  4. Health & Medicine

    Three big reasons why U.S. men have a shorter life expectancy

    U.S. men’s lives are two years shorter than men in other rich countries for three reasons: guns, drugs and cars.

    By Meghan Rosen
  5. Health & Medicine

    Special Report: Here’s what we know about Zika

    Tracing Zika’s path and its potential links to microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barré syndrome has scientists planning a new war on mosquitoes.

    By Macon Morehouse
  6. Health & Medicine

    How Zika became the prime suspect in microcephaly mystery

    New evidence in human cells strengthens the case against Zika in Brazil's microcephaly surge, but more definitive proof could come this summer from Colombia.

    By Meghan Rosen
  7. Health & Medicine

    Efforts to control mosquitoes take on new urgency

    The major mosquito that is spreading Zika virus has quirks that make it one of the toughest to fight.

    By Susan Milius
  8. Neuroscience

    Lost memories retrieved for mice with signs of Alzheimer’s

    Using light, scientists coaxed a forgotten memory from the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.

    By Laura Sanders
  9. Ecosystems

    FDA predicts no significant environmental impact from GM mosquitoes

    The FDA has taken a step in the process of deciding whether to allow the first test release in the United States of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight diseases such as Zika.

    By Susan Milius
  10. Health & Medicine

    Here’s how dust mites give dermatitis sufferers the itch

    Dust mites can make people with eczema truly miserable. Now, scientists have figured out why they make some people scratch, and resolved a dermatological debate.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  11. Quantum Physics

    Finding wonders in fat

    In the latest issue of Science News, Editor in Chief Eva Emerson talks fat cells, thermodynamics, and lead poisoning.

    By Eva Emerson
  12. Health & Medicine

    Cells from fat mend bone, cartilage, muscle and even the heart

    Stem cells and other components of fat can be coerced to grow into bone, cartilage, muscle or to repair the heart.

    By Susan Gaidos