Health & Medicine

  1. Life

    Sperm’s pore propulsion

    Scientists identify a key proton channel that helps explain the dash to fertilization.

    By Laura Sanders
  2. Health & Medicine

    Protein clumps like a prion, but proves crucial for long-term memory

    Study in slugs hints that some molecular 'misbehavior' in neurons may help solidify learning.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  3. Agriculture

    EPA reviews hints of weed killer’s fetal risks

    The Environmental Protection Agency will be convening meetings of its Scientific Advisory Panel on pesticides throughout 2010 to probe concerns about the safety of atrazine, a weed killer on which most American corn growers rely. The first meeting of these outside experts started Tuesday. And although a large number of studies have indicated that atrazine can perturb hormones in animals and human cells — and might even pose a possible risk of cancer amongst heavily exposed people, these outcomes were not the focus of EPA’s review Tuesday. Risks to babies were.

    By Janet Raloff
  4. Health & Medicine

    Journal retracts flawed study linking MMR vaccine and autism

    Deleted Scenes Blog: Biomedical reporter Nathan Seppa describes latest chapter in controversy created by now debunked research.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Small study hints SSRIs delay breast milk in new moms

    Women taking the antidepressant drugs began lactating later.

    By Nathan Seppa
  6. Health & Medicine

    Body fat linked to late puberty in boys

    Boys can take a lot of ribbing from their peers for not being macho enough. A new study now indicates that it can take longer to begin transforming into a man if a boy starts out fat.

    By Janet Raloff
  7. Health & Medicine

    Neurons may function more solo than thought

    Neurons coordinate activity less often than previously thought.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  8. Health & Medicine

    Running barefoot blunts foot’s force

    A new study finds that going shoeless tempers impact but can’t say whether this difference reduces injuries.

    By Laura Sanders
  9. Humans

    Cigarettes might be infectious

    Science & Society blog: The tobacco in cigarettes hosts a bacterial bonanza — literally hundreds of different germs, including those responsible for many human illnesses, a new study finds.

    By Janet Raloff
  10. Health & Medicine

    Searing the heart for the better

    Electrode-tipped catheter destroys heart tissue to stifle atrial fibrillation, sometimes performing better than meds, study shows.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Millions of women at risk of malaria during pregnancy

    Potential problems include undetected illness and anemia in mothers, stillbirth and low birth weight in newborns,

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Life

    MRSA bacterial strain mutates quickly as it spreads

    Antibiotic-resistant microbe's detailed family tree reveals roots of the global infection.

    By Tina Hesman Saey