Wiping Out the Brain’s Retired Cells Prevents a Hallmark of Alzheimer's
A study in mice hints at a new approach for thwarting neurodegenerative diseases—but many questions remain.
-
![]()
Katie Martin / Emily Jan / The Atlantic The Problem Sunscreen Poses for Dark Skin
Certain ingredients are pushing people of color away from good skin care.
-
![]()
Senior Helpers Fake Public Squares Are Coming to the Suburbs
“Memory towns” promise to provide an aging population with dementia therapy and the accessible spaces of a bygone era.
-
-
![]()
Jorge Silva / Reuters The Unknowable Enigma of Babies’ Dreams
Infants spend twice as much time in REM sleep as adults—but experts still know little about what happens in their brains during those hours.
-
![]()
Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters A New World Marathon Record Almost Defies Description
A legendary Kenyan marathoner has once again redefined what humans are capable of.
-
![]()
Max Whittaker / Reuters The Future of Chicken, Without Antibiotics
Human drugs have been crucial to poultry farming. So what’s replacing them?
-
![]()
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Should Your Watch Monitor Your Heart?
Apple’s new watch can screen for heart problems. But doctors are increasingly worried about the dangers of testing healthy people for disease.
-
![]()
Stoyan Nenov / Reuters With CRISPR, Scientists Engineered Nearly 4,000 Mutations of a Breast-Cancer Gene
The “tour de force” technique is supercharging the search for dangerous genetic variants.
-
-
![]()
Morgana Wingard / Getty Cape Town Is an Omen
Climate change is going to revolutionize politics in cities across the world.
-
![]()
Corbis Historical / Getty Victorian-Era Orgasms and the Crisis of Peer Review
A favorite anecdote about the origins of the vibrator is probably a myth.
-
![]()
Chip East / Reuters A Plane Quarantine in New York Started Out Like a Sci-Fi Nightmare
One hundred supposedly sick passengers ended up being only 19. But the story tapped into potent fears about flying.
-
![]()
Aly Song / Reuters Why Hasn’t Science Solved Acne Yet?
Dermatologists are cautiously optimistic that a new vaccine could work better than so many other flawed treatments.
-
![]()
Chris Shinn / Getty A Simple Reason So Many Older Americans Are Overdosing on Opioids
A recent poll suggests many doctors aren’t warning elderly patients of the risks when prescribing painkillers.
-
-
![]()
Dominic Favre / AP A Sociologist Finds Vegans Are Too Open to ‘Free Riders’
A contentious study suggests that social movements shoot themselves in the foot when they embrace a wide range of adherents.
-
![]()
Thinkstock Images / Getty Why Are STDs on the Rise If Americans Are Having Less Sex?
The CDC found that reported cases of three STDs hit an all-time high in 2017, suggesting that while sexual activity is decreasing in the U.S., it’s getting riskier.
-
![]()
Lester V. Bergman / CORBIS / Getty The U.S. Hits Record STD Numbers—And Prevention Budgets Continue to Fall
Funding cuts are one hurdle to stopping the spread of gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia.
-
![]()
U.S. National Library of Medicine The 'Poison Squad' That Shook America’s Faith in Preservatives
In the U.S., chemicals like borax were common in foods from bacon to margarine, until a shocking series of experiments revealed their toxic effects.
-
![]()
Toru Hanai / Reuters The Jordan Peterson All-Meat Diet
The famous psychologist and his daughter swear by a regimen of eating only beef. Restriction can provide a sense of order in a world of chaos—but at what point does restriction become a disorder?
-
-
![]()
Stefano Rellandini / Reuters A Daily Drink Is Almost Certainly Not Going to Hurt You
Some reassuring context for a study that warns there is “no safe level of alcohol consumption.”
-
![]()
Mendowong Photography / Getty / The Atlantic Here’s What Happens When a Few Dozen People Take Small Doses of Psychedelics
There’s new—and possibly dubious—evidence that “microdosing” hallucinogenic drugs makes people more creative.
-
![]()
Meth-Addicted Mothers and Child Abuse
In Fresno, California, experts attribute a rising incidence of child abuse to the region’s alarming meth addiction rates.
