Mind & Body

Scary pumpkins are the least of what frightens us at Halloween, a day devoted to being frightened.

What Happens in the Brain When We Feel Fear

And why some of us just can't get enough of it

The molds responsible for aflatoxins grow on a number of staple crops, including corn, peanuts, millet, wheat, cottonseed and tree nuts.

Could Video Gamers Make Our Food Supply Safer?

An effort to combat poisonous molds that contaminate crops is looking to tap the puzzle-solving skills of amateur gamers

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The Next Pandemic

The Next Pandemic

With Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Museum of Natural History, we look at the past, present and future of the flu

A CDC scientist harvests H7N9 virus that has been grown for sharing with partner laboratories for research purposes.

The Next Pandemic

What's In Your Flu Shot?

An influenza expert at Johns Hopkins University explains how the cocktail for this year's flu vaccine was developed

Flu pandemics begin when novel animal viruses start spreading between people.

The Next Pandemic

How to Stop a Lethal Virus

With tens of millions of lives at stake, medical researchers are racing to create a revolutionary flu vaccine before the next devastating epidemic

A woman sells live poultry at the market in Gaosheng Township, where Long purchased chickens and later died from bird flu.

The Next Pandemic

Is China Ground Zero for a Future Pandemic?

Hundreds there have already died of a new bird flu, putting world health authorities on high alert

These Are the Three Main Categories of Bloodstain Patterns

Bloodstain pattern analysis is used in murder investigations - analysts draw on chemistry, mathematics and physics to determine the area of origin

Daniel Kish is an expert in human echolocation and president of World Access for the Blind.

How Does Human Echolocation Work?

Blind since he was very young, Daniel Kish is the world's foremost proponent of using vocal clicks to navigate

A cognitive scientist suggests that your baby learns from watching you struggle.

How Your Frustration Helps Your Baby Learn

Watching adults struggle with a difficult task can teach young children the value of hard work

Everyone sees them all, but we don’t all give them the same distinct names.

The World Has Millions of Colors. Why Do We Only Name a Few?

Cognitive scientists suggest that we name the colors of things we want to talk about

Luckily stress doesn’t do this to you!

How Your Body Reacts to Stress

A little tension can keep you on your toes. Too much can break down the system

So much potentially misleading information, so little time.

New Research

How Fake News Breaks Your Brain

Short attention spans and a deluge of rapid-fire articles on social media form a recipe for fake news epidemics

The "abortion pill" (actually two separate medications) can be taken up to 10 weeks after pregnancy, according to the FDA.

The Science Behind the “Abortion Pill”

Legal or not, more American women are opting for abortion by medication. We asked doctors: How safe is it?

A jawbone from one of the fossils of the earliest Homo sapiens ever found.

New Research

Humans Evolved 100,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought—But Mysteries Remain

Moroccan fossil discovery alters the accepted narrative of when humans evolved and how they spread through Africa

Leeuwenhoek's early microscopic observations of rabbit sperm (figs. 1-4) and dog sperm (figs. 5-8).

The Long, Winding Tale of Sperm Science

...and why it's finally headed in the right direction

Until recently, neuroscientists have considered the method the brain uses to quickly and easily analyzes faces to be a "black box."

New Research

How Your Brain Recognizes All Those Faces

Neurons home in on one section at a time, researchers report

The tentacles of the Portuguese man o' war, (which is technically a siphonophore, a group related to jellyfish), contain harpoon-like cells called nematocysts that deliver painful doses of venom.

Forget What You've Heard About the Pee Cure, Here's How to Really Fix a Jellyfish Sting

Scientists studied what to do and what not to do when stung by a jellyfish. The result? Folk remedies are bad.

Don’t skimp on the SPF

How Sunscreen Protects Your Skin’s DNA

The chemistry behind this protective lotion reflects a modern understanding of the danger of ultraviolet rays

Aubrey de Grey says, “There’s no such thing as aging gracefully.”

Can Human Mortality Really Be Hacked?

Backed by the digital fortunes of Silicon Valley, biotech companies are brazenly setting out to “cure” aging

The soil microbe Bacillus subtilis is ubiquitous, but one rare strain yielded scientific pay dirt.

One Girl's Mishap Led to the Creation of the Antibiotic Bacitracin

Margaret Treacy was the namesake for a breakthrough medication

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