Bleak statistics accompany the world’s leading cause of death: 1 in 2 of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime. Earlier diagnosis drastically improves survival, but unfortunately unscreened cancers account for 80 to 90 percent of cancer deaths, says Harpal Kumar, president of the European wing of Grail, a health care company whose […]
Read MoreIn early October 2022, Rachel Clarke hurried into Kyiv’s bomb shelters with hundreds of Ukrainians. The UK-based National Health Service (NHS) doctor and author was visiting Ukraine to provide support and training to doctors caring for the dying at hospices around the country. However, the visit to the capital came just as Russia was bombarding […]
Read MoreWomen’s health care is still nowhere near equity: Biases, taboos, and sexism remain pervasive in medicine, with ripple effects across all aspects of a woman’s life. But there was a pervading note of optimism at WIRED Health last week during a panel about the future of women’s health care. Taboos are being shattered—particularly around topics like […]
Read MoreHundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, but these are still underdiagnosed or detected too late for optimal intervention. Startup Accexible is trying to change that, based on the premise that early signs of certain conditions might be seen—or heard—in a person’s voice. “Accexible works […]
Read MoreEventually, Xenofon Strakosas, an assistant professor working in Berggren’s lab, figured out the problem: In plants, hydrogen peroxide helps the injected material bond together, but there isn’t enough peroxide in animals for the reaction to work. So Strakosas added some additional elements to the mix: an enzyme that uses glucose or lactate, which are common […]
Read MoreThink of the worst invasive species you know. Kudzu: smothering trees and houses, growing a foot a day. Burmese pythons: stripping the Everglades of small animals. Asian carp: hoovering streams clean of plankton and swimming toward the Great Lakes. They all came from somewhere else, arrived with no natural predators, outcompeted local flora and fauna, and […]
Read MoreLast week in London, a small group of protestors braved it out in the rain in front of the Francis Crick Institute, where the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing was taking place. The sparse congregation, from the group Stop Designer Babies, brandished signs urging “Never Again to Eugenics” and “NO HGM”(no human genetic modification). The […]
Read MoreFollowing years of concern, the US Environmental Protection Agency moved this week to clean up drinking water, announcing the nation’s first standards for six “forever chemicals” found in tap water. It’s a foreboding and informal name for human-made chemicals that coat nonstick pans, food packaging, and waterproof clothes before ending up in the water you drink. […]
Read MoreFollowing years of concern, the US Environmental Protection Agency moved this week to clean up drinking water, announcing the nation’s first standards for six “forever chemicals” found in tap water. It’s a foreboding and informal name for human-made chemicals that coat nonstick pans, food packaging, and waterproof clothes before ending up in the water you drink. […]
Read MoreFrom ShutEye to SleepScore, several smartphone apps are available if you’re trying to better understand how snoring impacts your rest, allowing you to leave the microphone on overnight to record your raucous nasal grunts and rumbling throat reverberations. But while smartphone apps are helpful for tracking the presence of snores, their accuracy remains an issue when […]
Read MoreRoutines, even when not fully followed, provide a guiding structure to the chaos of human life. I shower in the morning right after my cup of coffee. I sit at the same office desk every day, even though we technically have unassigned seating. I go on long, meandering walks around lunchtime. I sleep every single […]
Read MoreI’ve never had a lucid dream, but I’d love to start. Every night my eyes grow weary and my passive consciousness arrives in that ethereal realm without a lick of agency. I saw Inception in a theater forever ago and remain fascinated by the concept of dream control, despite its personal elusivity. What, exactly, is lucid dreaming? […]
Read MoreIf that’s not an option, consider tweaking things. Dow recommends an app called F.lux, which tints your computer’s display red to reduce the amount of blue light your screens put out. Apple devices have a similar feature, called Night Shift, built into macOS. It’s not as good as avoiding screens, but it’s better than nothing. Hide the […]
Read MoreOn March 12, most of the US and Canada will wake up to an hour stolen. Europe will suffer the same loss two weeks later—a victim of the persistent and unpopular practice of switching to daylight saving time. Much of the world has avoided or abandoned the practice, but in the US and Europe, lawmakers have […]
Read MoreThe US Food and Drug Administration is pushing for you to get an annual Covid booster. The problem is, the data isn’t clear on whether you need one. Covid isn’t going anywhere. In the US and many European countries, SARS-CoV-2 is still circulating at significant levels, with Covid settling into being a major, ongoing cause […]
Read MoreThe wave of avian influenza H5N1—which so far has hit 76 countries, triggered national emergencies, and created the worst animal-disease outbreak in US history—keeps roaring through wild birds and commercial poultry. More than 140 million poultry worldwide have died from the virus or were slaughtered to keep it from spreading, according to the World Organization […]
Read MoreBut Michael quickly noticed that a couple of days after a session, his therapist would upload a video that contained content uncomfortably related to what they discussed. “You’re like, ‘God, is this person using me for inspiration?’” he says. “It makes you second-guess yourself when you’re going to the next session.” He never confronted his […]
Read MoreIn the late 2000s, Carlos Monteiro noticed something strange about the food that Brazilian people were eating. The nutritionist had been poring over three decades’ worth of data from surveys that asked grocery shoppers to note down every item they bought. In more recent surveys, Monteiro noticed, Brazilians were buying way less oil, sugar, and […]
Read MoreThat doesn’t mean that you should talk to your five-year-old about condoms and birth control, however. Basic sex education starts with, well, the very very basics. Over at the sex education site Amaze, there’s an entire section, Amaze Jr., that offers resources for talking about sex with kindergarteners and grade schoolers—including a whole collection of videos that […]
Read MoreThat’s what makes the disaster in Ohio so alarming. Five rail cars of vinyl chloride burned—some of it done intentionally to reduce building pressure—likely producing toxic compounds called dioxins. Because hot air from a fire rises, the flames from the train sent a black plume high into the air, potentially spreading toxicants far beyond the site […]
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