Human Quirks: Health & Medicine

October 14, 2024

Top Headlines

Genomic Study Identifies Human, Animal Hair in 'Man-Eater' Lions' Teeth

Oct. 11, 2024 — Scientists analyzed hairs extracted from the broken teeth of two 19th century 'man-eater' lions. Their analysis revealed DNA from giraffe, human, oryx, waterbuck, wildebeest and zebra as prey, along with hairs that originated from the ...

Toddlers Show Increased Physical Activity With a Robot Playmate Moving Around the Room

Oct. 9, 2024 — Parents seeking help in encouraging toddlers to be physically active may soon need to look no further than an inexpensive robotic buddy for their kids, a new study ...

Ultra-Sensitive Robotic 'Finger' Can Take Patient Pulses, Check for Lumps

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers have developed a soft robotic 'finger' with a sophisticated sense of touch that can perform routine doctor office examinations, including taking a patient's pulse and checking for abnormal ...

Viruses Are Teeming on Your Toothbrush, Showerhead

Oct. 9, 2024 — Microbiologists found that showerheads and toothbrushes are teeming with an extremely diverse collection of viruses -- most of which have never been seen ...

Latest Headlines

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Hoarding Disorder: 'Sensory CBT' Treatment Strategy Shows Promise

Oct. 3, 2024 — Rehearsing alternative outcomes of discarding through imagery rescripting shows promise as a treatment strategy for people who hoard, a study by psychology researchers has ...

Stronger Together: Miniature Robots in Convoy for Endoscopic Surgery

Oct. 1, 2024 — Miniature robots on the millimeter scale often lack the strength to transport instruments for endoscopic microsurgery through the body. Scientists are now combining several millimeter-sized TrainBots ...

Scientists Uncover a Critical Component That Helps Killifish Regenerate Their Fins

Sep. 26, 2024 — Spontaneous injuries like the loss of a limb or damage to the spinal cord are impossible for humans to repair. Yet, some animals have an ...

Managing Stress Could Be the Key to Helping Highly Impulsive People Act Rashly When Bored

Sep. 25, 2024 — Research has explored the relationship between high impulsivity and boredom, in an effort to find out what drives rash and sometimes unhealthy ...

New Testing System Using Janus Particles Rapidly and Accurately Detects COVID-19

Sep. 20, 2024 — A research group has developed a new COVID-19 testing system using Janus particles -- microparticles with two sides possessing distinctive molecular ...

First Academic Study on Slap Fighting Highlights Risks to Participants' Neurological Health

Sep. 18, 2024 — The first academic study to provide quantitative assessment of the possible dangers of competitive slap fighting offers a starting point for ...

Cow Slime Can Help Disc Herniation Patients After Surgery, Research Shows

Sep. 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed a gel inspired by cow slime for patients suffering from disc herniation. By adding the mucin gel immediately after surgery, it is possible to create a protective barrier ...

Homemade 'Play-Putty' Can Read the Body's Electric Signals

Sep. 18, 2024 — Researchers demonstrates the effectiveness of homemade play putty at reading brain, heart, muscle and eye activity. The research outlines the conductive properties of this material, so-named 'squishy ...

Research Reveals Reality of Ice Age Teen Puberty

Sep. 12, 2024 — Landmark new research shows Ice Age teens from 25,000 years ago went through similar puberty stages as modern-day ...

Self-Medicating Gorillas and Traditional Healers Provide Clues for New Drug Discovery

Sep. 11, 2024 — Four plants consumed by wild gorillas in Gabon and used by local communities in traditional medicine show antibacterial and antioxidant properties, ...

Increased Antioxidants and Phenolic Compounds Produced in Salted Red Perilla Leaves During Japanese Apricot Pickling

Sep. 26, 2024 — Antioxidant content and activity are increased during the processing and digestion of Japanese apricots pickled with salted red perilla leaves, new research ...

Scientists Expand the Genetic Alphabet to Create New Proteins

Sep. 11, 2024 — It's a dogma taught in every introductory biology class: Proteins are composed of combinations of 20 different amino acids, arranged into diverse sequences like words. But researchers trying to ...

New AI Can ID Brain Patterns Related to Specific Behavior

Sep. 9, 2024 — Scientists have developed a new AI algorithm that can separate brain patterns related to a particular behavior. This work promises to improve brain-computer interfaces and aid with the discovery of ...

How Fish Guts Might Play a Role in Future Skin Care Products

Sep. 5, 2024 — There are some pretty strange ingredients in cosmetics and skin care products. One example is snail mucin -- also known as snail slime -- which is used for its moisturizing and antioxidant ...

Researchers Map 50,000 of DNA's Mysterious 'Knots' in the Human Genome

Aug. 29, 2024 — Innovative study of DNA's hidden structures may open up new approaches for treatment and diagnosis of diseases, including ...

How Beetle Juice Led to the Discovery of a Virus and Solved the Mystery of a Superworm Die-Off

Aug. 28, 2024 — Scientists have discovered a virus that caused a nationwide die-off of superworms, a common food for birds, reptiles, other pets and, more and more so, even for humans as an alternative protein ...

Bats Are Surviving and Thriving on Nothing but Sugar

Aug. 28, 2024 — New research may enable potential solutions to metabolic disease by turning to evolution and to bats. 'Our study reports blood sugar levels that are the highest we have ever seen in nature -- ...

Mitochondria Are Flinging Their DNA Into Our Brain Cells

Aug. 22, 2024 — A new study finds that mitochondria in our brain cells frequently fling their DNA into the cells' nucleus, where the mitochondrial DNA integrates into chromosomes, possibly causing ...

How to Catch a Criminal Using Their 'Skin Shedder' Profile

Aug. 22, 2024 — A pioneering new DNA forensics technique is looking for a reliable method to measure a suspect's individual level of natural shedding of skin and other cells to add to, and compare with, ...

Alzheimer's Drug May Someday Help Save Lives by Inducing a State of 'Suspended Animation'

Aug. 22, 2024 — Researchers have found that an Alzheimer's drug, donepezil, can induce a safe and reversible torpor-like state in tadpoles of the Xenopus laevis species at room temperature. This ...

Deadly Sea Snail Toxin Could Be Key to Making Better Medicines

Aug. 20, 2024 — Scientists are finding clues for how to treat diabetes and hormone disorders in an unexpected place: a toxin from one of the most venomous animals on the ...

Evidence Stacks Up for Poisonous Books Containing Toxic Dyes

Aug. 19, 2024 — Some of the attractive hues of brightly colored, cloth-bound books from the Victorian era come from dyes that could pose a health risk to readers, collectors or librarians. The latest research on ...

Engineers Design Tiny Batteries for Powering Cell-Sized Robots

Aug. 16, 2024 — A zinc-air microbattery could enable the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug delivery within in the human body, as well as other applications such as locating leaks in gas ...

Cleaning Up the Aging Brain: Scientists Restore Brain's Trash Disposal System

Aug. 15, 2024 — Scientists have restored the brain's waste-clearing process in aging mice, offering potential new treatment for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's using existing ...

Surprise Finding in Study of Environmental Bacteria Could Advance Search for Better Antibiotics

Aug. 15, 2024 — Researchers studying bacteria from freshwater lakes and soil say they have determined a protein's essential role in maintaining the germ's shape. Because the integrity of a bacterial ...

Smart Fabric Converts Body Heat Into Electricity

Aug. 14, 2024 — Researchers have developed a smart fabric that can convert body heat and solar energy into electricity, potentially enabling continuous operation with no need for an external power source. Different ...

How Air-Powered Computers Can Prevent Blood Clots

Aug. 14, 2024 — A new, air-powered computer sets off alarms when certain medical devices fail. The invention is a more reliable and lower-cost way to help prevent blood clots and strokes -- all without electronic ...

Say 'Aah' and Get a Diagnosis on the Spot: Is This the Future of Health?

Aug. 13, 2024 — A computer algorithm has achieved a 98% accuracy in predicting different diseases by analyzing the color of the human tongue. The proposed imaging system can diagnose diabetes, stroke, anemia, ...

3D-Printed Blood Vessels Bring Artificial Organs Closer to Reality

Aug. 7, 2024 — Lab-grown organs are a long-time 'holy grail' of organ engineering that has yet to be achieved, but new research has brought that goal a big step closer to reality using a new 3D-printing ...

Soft Gold Enables Connections Between Nerves and Electronics

Aug. 6, 2024 — Gold does not readily lend itself to being turned into long, thin threads. But researchers have now managed to create gold nanowires and develop soft electrodes that can be connected to the nervous ...