Learning About Your Family's Elevated Alzheimer's Risk—As Early As Age Eight
A Colombian university is providing regular workshops on brain basics and genetics to grade schoolers from families who face a high risk of developing Alzheimer's in the prime of life from a rare genetic mutation.
U.S. Falling Behind on Competitiveness and Innovation
I’ve been mentioning R&D in talks and articles a lot lately. Most audiences outside the beltway don’t immediately know I mean Research and Development – until I explain it’s the part of our federal budget accounting for a good deal of “science stuff.” R&D supports basic research and leads to new innovation while helping boost [...]
'Nil By Mouth' Surgical Tradition Slowly Gives Way
Nil by mouth, they say. But your tongue is so dry it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Your throat is sore from having a breathing tube down it for a couple of hours.
Brain Stimulation May Alleviate Severe Depression, but Full Recovery Takes Time
This blog is the last in a series of guest posts on technology and the brain to celebrate Scientific American Mind’s 10-year anniversary.
The Risks and Rewards of Trancranial Direct Current Stimulation
This blog is the fourth in a series of guest posts on technology and the brain to celebrate Scientific American Mind’s 10-year anniversary.
Aren't Cancer Cells the Worst?
I try to find humor in some unfunny places, but I was never sure how to approach cancer. I first did a comic about cancer genes for my book What’s in Your Genes?, which seems to find the happy place between facts and silliness.
Expert Cancer Care May Soon Be Everywhere, Thanks to Watson
This blog is the first in a series of guest posts on technology and the brain to celebrate Scientific American Mind’s 10-year anniversary.
Garlic Cloves Can’t Stop Vaginal Yeast Infections—And Other Home Remedies Debunked
An obstetrician-gynecologist reviews the scientific evidence behind common alternative therapies for vaginal yeast infections—from yogurt to garlic
Ig Nobel Prizes Make You Laugh, Then Think
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—What happens in the brains of people who see Jesus in a piece of toast? What are the physics of slipping on a banana peel?
Giant African Rats Detect Land Mines and TB for a Living
So yesterday, I adopted an unborn land-mine-detecting African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus) from Tanzania. Did I spend 20 minutes figuring out what I was going to call it, as one of my many privileges as an adoptive parent?
Drug Saves Monkeys from Ebola-Like Virus
The animals were spared from Marburg virus even when treated three days after infection
More Parents Nixing Anti-Bleeding Shots for Their Newborns
Vitamin K injections, given after birth, can prevent potentially fatal hemorrhaging in infants, but anti-vax parents are extending their fears into a general rejection of all shots