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A middle-aged man puts his life on the line to diagnose a mysterious bleeding condition. By the time he landed in our emergency department, Albert was having, by his own account, his 11th episode of gastrointestinal bleeding. He’d developed crampy abdominal pain and passed a large volume of bright-red blood. He felt weak and lightheaded, and on more than one occasion he fainted. Albert, who was in his late 50s, had been to several hospitals and clinics in the area. A slew of internist ...read more

Experts continue to quarrel over the stances' supposed benefits. In 2010, researchers Amy Cuddy, Dana Carney and Andy Yap reported that people who adopted expansive postures — so-called “power poses,” like putting your hands on your hips — had higher levels of the “macho” hormone testosterone and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and were more likely to take risks than those who struck more timid poses, such as crossing your arms. People soon st ...read more

Marie Curie. Rosalind Franklin. Ada Lovelace. Before these wonder women of modern science could make their marks, another group of females would leave their own scientific legacies in great, ancient civilizations. 2700 B.C.: Merit Ptah The Egyptian physician was the first woman in medicine, and perhaps all of science, mentioned by name in texts. Her son, a high priest, called her “the chief physician,” and her portrait appears in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. 2300 B.C.: Enh ...read more

The science and politics of saving America’s bees gets messy. And the bees continue to die. Despite all the years, and all the troubles, Darren Cox still likes to put on his bee suit. A big, block-shaped man in his 50s, Cox sports a bowlish blond haircut and serious demeanor. But when he slips into his protective gear, his netted hat in hand, he offers a rare smile. “Time to get out there,” he says. It’s a summer day in Cache Valley, an agricultural center set among ...read more

Retraction Watch reports on three scientific papers (1,2,3) that have been retracted or deleted after I reported that they were plagiarized. Neuroskeptic became suspicious about the three unrelated papers – about food chemistry, heart disease, and the immune system and cancer – after scanning them with plagiarism software. After alerting the journals, two issued formal retractions for the papers – but neither specifies plagiarism as the reason. These three retractions represe ...read more

(Credit: Shutterstock) Brandies, such as cognac, are renowned for colors, flavors and aromas that require years to achieve. But scientists in Spain have used ultrasound could to cut the time needed for such spirits to mature down to days. Brandies, stemming from the Dutch brandewijn, or “burned wine,” are powerful alcoholic spirits distilled from wines or other fermented fruit juices. One brandy connoisseur of note, the poet Samuel Johnson, noted that “claret is the ...read more

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