Category: 4. Health

A couple of years ago, Binghamton University Associate Professor Guy German published research about why human skin wrinkles when you stay in the water too long. Received wisdom held that the water swelled your skin and made your fingers wrinkly, but little to no research had been done to prove…

The team at WEHI in Melbourne, Australia, have identified a small molecule that can selectively block cell death.

Published in Science Advances, the findings lay the groundwork for next-generation neuroprotective drugs for degenerative conditions, which currently have no cure or treatments to stop their progression.

At a…

The immune system can work in two ways: the innate immune system reacts to any foreign invaders that are identified by immune cells that look for such pathogens; but the acquired or adaptive immune system responds to an infection that it has encountered before, and now ‘remembers.’ Vaccines can help train the acquired immune system, so it has such a memory of an infection, without the body needing to actually be infected.

The Bacille Calmette-Guérin…

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system erroneously attacks cells in the pancreas that generate the hormone insulin. Since insulin regulates blood sugar levels, it is essential for it to be maintained at the proper levels, or serious problems can arise. Researchers have now developed a blood test that can identify the earliest stage of type 1 diabetes with small blood samples. This could be especially beneficial for very young…

Knowing the calorie content of foods does not help people understand which foods are healthier, according to a study I recently co-authored in the Journal of Retailing. When study participants considered calorie information, they rated unhealthy food as less unhealthy and healthy food as less healthy. They were also less sure in their judgments.

In other words, calorie labeling didn’t help participants judge foods more accurately. It made them second-guess themselves.

Across nine…

News that Rite Aid is going to once again file for bankruptcy and sell off its assets doesn’t mean shuttered brick-and-mortar stores will re-open…

Imagine if every physician and nurse had a clinical partner as capable, knowledgeable and reliable as they are. Not a junior resident to supervise or a chatbot that summarizes notes, but an associate capable of solving novel problems, reasoning across specialties and making sound medical decisions 24/7 without burnout or bias.

That…

According to a 2024 report by Inside Higer Ed, a sense of belonging is a key factor in student retention. A 2025 report on Forbes.com also suggested that a sense of community is a potent source of health and well-being for many students. Because of such findings, many colleges and universities invest in ways to enhance a sense of community and belonging on campus.

There are perceived barriers to establishing a sense of belonging and community on campus. As…

Diane Farr isn’t a firefighter. But she does play one on TV, specifically division chief Sharon Leone in the CBS series Fire Country. That’s entailed her working closely with wildland firefighting experts on the set. Farr’s living in the Los Angeles area has also brought her close-up views of the havoc…

Mother’s Day takes on new meaning when you’ve lost your Mom. Instead of day to get your mom a card, flowers, meal or a book entitled There Are Moms Way Worse Than You, Mother’s Day becomes a stark reminder of what you are missing. The person who did so much for you and your life, as I have detailed in Forbes previously, is gone.

Today, Mother’s Day 2025 is the first one for me without my…