If someone said you could change the world, would you believe it? If you had an idea that could save countless lives, would anyone listen? Watch this talk by Jack Andraka, a teen who discovered a revolutionary way to detect certain cancers. Discover what he did, how he did it, and what it took to get people to listen.
Johnny Lubin, one of the first in the world to try a new kind of medicine that uses a gene-editing tool called CRISPR to offer a potential cure for sickle cell disease.
It’s an eerie feeling: You walk into a place you know you’ve never been before but are overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity—a memory you can’t quite reach. Has this all happened before?
The sensation is known as déjà vu, and though it is hard to study, scientists are slowly figuring out why it happens.
It’s too early to know what the greatest scientific discoveries and achievements of 2024 will be, but now that we’ve had some time to reflect on last year, here is one site’s opinion on what the Top 10 most intriguing advancements of 2023 were. Which ones do you agree with? Are there any you think should have made the list?
Is it better for our health to take care of our own needs or to lend a helping hand to others? Studies suggest that taking part in activities that involve caring for other people can have a positive impact on our own well-being.
Quick! How many organs are there in the human body?
Don’t worry, I can’t remember, either. But whatever that number is, some scientists are proposing that we add one more to the list—a newly discovered system of fluid-filled tissue that goes throughout the body called the interstitium. And understanding it may open up brand-new options for treating everything from cancer to immune disorders to gum disease!
A “phobia” is an extreme, uncontrollable fear of a specific item, activity, or setting. The word “phobia” comes from the Latin word phobos, meaning fear or flight (as in running away from something). There are hundreds of phobias people may have, ranging from a fear of spiders to a fear of flying to a fear of meeting new people. Here are some phobias closely related to Halloween. Do any of them scare you?
By traveling to exciting new places, confronting phobias might turn into a thrilling adventure. Explore five sites people can visit to overcome fears such as heights or the dark.
Nurses played a crucial role during the Civil War, though many of them faced unsanitary conditions, long hours, and a lack of medical supplies. Learn more about the women who became nurses despite these obstacles.
Have you ever looked at an electrical outlet and thought it looked like a face? Or looked at a cloud and seen a bunny rabbit? If so, you’ve experienced the phenomenon of pareidolia. But why does our mind create faces out of random shapes? Read this article to learn more.
Did you know that most Americans sleep with some sort of electronic device in their rooms at night? Do you? Find out how this habit might be affecting your sleep.
Trypophobia describes the fear of clusters of holes. While it’s not officially recognized, many are convinced they have it.
A surgical robot originally intended for space has the potential to revolutionize surgery here on Earth.
Researchers in Italy and Switzerland have developed a new device that makes it possible for a person with an amputation to sense temperature through their prosthetic hand. The technology is a major step toward prosthetic limbs that could restore a full range of senses, improving both the prosthesis’s usefulness and its acceptance by those who wear them.
Your fear response starts in your brain but quickly spreads through your body—affecting your thinking, heart rate, breathing, muscles, digestion, and more. Fear is normal and helpful, but it can become anxiety if your fear response kicks in when no threat is present. Read this article to learn more about how fear works, how it differs from anxiety, and when fear may be negatively affecting your life.
Several Shakespearean plots points, including the climax of Romeo and Juliet, focus on powerful potions. Did the bard dream them up, or might they have really existed?
Fear may be able to spread from person to person—just like a virus. Recent studies have indicated that humans can smell fear and disgust in the body odor of those nearby, causing the part of their own brain that processes those emotions to become active.
There is a famous optical illusion with two gray lines inside a number of black and white bars. The gray bars are the same color, but they appear lighter or darker depending on which bars are around them. Science was never sure why, but it seems the answer lies in you brain’s neurons and how fast they can fire.
A middle-aged woman—known as SM—blithely reaches for poisonous snakes, giggles in haunted houses, and once, upon escaping the clutches of a knife-wielding man, didn’t run but calmly walked away. All because a rare kind of brain damage precludes her from experiencing fear of any sort.
How do you make something old and familiar feel fresh and new? Science suggests the trick is to interact with it in new ways. Something as simple as eating popcorn–but doing so with chopsticks–can result in people rating the popcorn as tastier and more enjoyable than eating the same popcorn with their hands. Read the article and think of ways you may make things you already own feel new again.
