Sometimes a big medical problem requires a massive research effort. Scientists have done just that for osteoarthritis, a condition that could affect a billion people globally by 2050. Their enormous effort could help identify existing drugs suitable to treat arthritis, develop new ones specifically targeted to the disease, and, eventually create tailored approaches based on an individual arthritis sufferer’s genetic makeup. These three approaches are essentially at different heights on the dru ...read more

The use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, has only continued to increase in popularity over the years. In the U.S., e-cigarettes are the second-most common form of tobacco use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over one million middle and high school students identify as e-cigarette users, with the percentage of adult users increasing from 4.5 percent in 2019 to 6.5 percent in 2023. When it comes to traditional “combustible” cigarettes, the health risks ...read more

Just because Homo sapiens hadn’t yet developed the SPF rating system 41,000 years ago didn’t mean that they were unaware that solar radiation could prove hazardous.H. sapiens applied some form of sunscreen, shielded themselves from UV rays with clothes, and avoided the ravages of the sun by hiding in caves, according to an article in the journal Science Advances. In fact, those strategies may have helped their populations expand throughout Europe and Asia during a time when Neanderthals, who ...read more

Crocodiles are persistent — not just in their deadly pursuit of prey, but in terms of their existence. The contemporary species hails from a 230-million-year lineage that has survived two mass extinction events.A study in the journal Palaeontology identifies flexibility as a key to their longevity. Crocodylians that survived over millions of years can eat a variety of foods and live in multiple habitats. Understanding this level of adaptability could help threatened species survive. “Extinct ...read more

The Dolní Vestonice Portrait Head is just 2 inches tall and 1 inch wide. It’s a tiny face carved into an ivory mammoth tusk, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in significance. Uncovered in the 1920s in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic, the figure, which dates back 26,000 years, is thought to be the oldest known personal portrait.During the late Paleolithic Period, a group of mammoth-hunting ancient humans set up camp in the Dolní Věstonice region of what is now the C ...read more

Did the chemical components necessary to create water on Earth come from space or already exist here? One prevailing notion holds that asteroids containing either water of its building blocks bombarded the planet. But now, a team of researchers have produced evidence that those building blocks were here since early in the planet’s history, according to a study published in the journal Icarus.Pinpointing when and where Earth’s hydrogen is an essential key to understanding how life arose on th ...read more

Sauerkraut packs a punch, and not just for your taste buds. Famous for its tangy, sour, and slightly salty taste, sauerkraut has long been noted for being both nutritious and healthy, having been tied to a host of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-carcinogenic activities. Now, a new study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology adds additional support to sauerkraut’s healthiness, showing that the topping may help out your gut, possibly thanks to its wealth of metabolic products, or me ...read more

A child’s bedroom should be a safe haven where they can get enough sleep to develop properly, but many bedrooms contain a hidden danger that is sure to make parents weary. A recent pair of studies has revealed the prevalence of harmful chemicals that are slipping into bedrooms through the mattresses children sleep on. The studies show that babies and young children are at risk of breathing in and absorbing chemicals as they sleep. These chemicals — including plasticizers called phthalates a ...read more

For people with food allergies, even a simple dinner out can become stressful. Figuring out whether every ingredient is listed on the menu and asking the server a dozen questions are necessary steps just to avoid dishes that might seem harmless to most, but can be dangerous — even fatal — to someone with allergies.A bite of something containing peanuts, shellfish, soy, or wheat can lead to anything from mild itching to vomiting or even difficulty breathing. At the moment, managing food aller ...read more

The amount of matter present in the universe simply hasn’t added up. Astronomers accounting for all the normal matter in the universe that makes up stars, galaxies, and gasses have fallen far short of the amount they should find produced by the Big Bang 13.6 billion years ago.About 85 percent of the universe is made up of dark matter. The remaining 15 percent is the more conventional kind — much of which builds the things we can see in space, like stars and planets. Of that, about half has b ...read more