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ScienceHealthDiet Drugs Might Make Mosquitoes Stop Thirsting for Our Blood
Losing weight is definitely tough. So tough, in fact, that scientists have tried to whip up drugs that trick us into feeling full and suppress our appetite. But these concoctions might not just work in people, suggest the authors of a new study out Thursday in Cell. They found that some of these same drugs … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Scientists Come Closer to Finding Out What Consciousness Looks Like in the Brain
Most of the time, it’s easy to tell when someone is consciously aware. But there are many tragic cases when it’s unclear whether a person who is unresponsive after a serious brain injury is truly no longer conscious. That ambiguity can raise ethical questions about how to manage or ultimately end such a person’s life-sustaining … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Maybe Pot Isn’t Bad for Sperm Count After All
A new study out of Harvard might complicate the narrative around pot’s potential health risks, at least when it comes to men’s fertility. It found that men who reported ever using cannabis actually had higher sperm counts on average than men who claimed to have never touched the stuff. Male cannabis users were also less … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Here Are the Reasons Americans Are Using Medical Pot
Patients use medical cannabis to treat the symptoms of a wide variety of ailments—but only some of those uses are actually backed up by science. A new study out Monday, however, suggests the vast majority of patients are prescribed medical pot for conditions like chronic pain and multiple sclerosis, for which there is good research … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
New Online Tool Can Predict If You’ll Have Another Kidney Stone
Dealing with kidney stones can be one of life’s most painful and stressful experiences, to hear any sufferer describe it. That distress is even greater when it’s a recurrent problem. But researchers at the Mayo Clinic may have found a way to take some of the edge off. They have developed a publicly available calculator … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Here Are the Cold Remedies That Don’t Work—and a Few That Might
For many of us living in North America, the worst of flu and cold season is already here. Personally, I’ve had two colds nearly back to back since New Year’s. So it’s an opportune time to run down the long list of remedies that won’t actually prevent or help you recover from these pesky infections—as … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
E-Cigarettes Really Can Help You Quit Smoking, Large New Study Finds
The debate over the potential harms and benefits of vaping has raged on for years. But the results of a large trial in the UK have provided the pro-vaping side its biggest win yet. It found that people trying to quit smoking were almost twice as likely to succeed over a year’s time if they … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Eating Breakfast May Not Be That Helpful for Weight Loss After All
Breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day, but according to a new review out Wednesday in the BMJ, it won’t help you lose weight. The study found no good evidence that regularly eating breakfast helps us cut down on calories or avoid weight gain. More damning, it even found … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Major New Study Finds Lowering Blood Pressure Can Prevent Cognitive Decline, but Questions Remain
Some five million Americans live with dementia, most often Alzheimer’s disease. And it’s almost certain that as the general population gets older, dementia will become more common. But a new study published this week offers some encouraging, if mixed, news. It might be possible to prevent cognitive decline by aggressively treating a person’s high blood … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Bug Bombs Suck at Killing Roaches, and They Can Make You Sick
One of the most dramatic ways to eradicate cockroaches—the bug bomb—may be more harmful to humans than to pests, according to a new study. In a real-world test, the study found that several bug bomb brands did nothing to eliminate cockroach infestations, especially when compared to simple gel bait traps. At the same time, these … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech News
Opioid Expert Accuses FDA of ‘Willful Blindness’ After It Approves Powerful New Painkiller
An expert tasked with helping the Food and Drug Administration weigh potential new opioid drug approvals is openly calling out the agency for what he alleges are its continued missteps in handling the opioid crisis. In an interview with the Guardian Thursday, Raeford Brown claimed that the FDA has failed to learn from its past … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
The E-Scooter Craze Is Sending Lots of People to the ER, Often With Head Injuries
Electric scooters have become wildly popular, thanks to single-named companies like Bird, Scoot, and Lime creating easy-to-ride, if legally iffy, scooter rental services in cities across the U.S. But a new study out Friday is seemingly the first to quantify a drawback to these convenient devices: lots of riders are getting hurt and ending up … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Even Adults Sleep Better After Being Rocked to Sleep
A pair of new studies just might make you pine for the old days of being cradled by your parents. For both mice and healthy young people, the studies found, a gentle rocking motion before and during sleep resulted in a deeper slumber. And in humans, the rocking even seemed to improve their memory skills … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthScientists Turned a Regular Fidget Spinner Into a Centrifuge That Separates Blood
Kids are already over fidget spinners after adults rapidly made them uncool, but a team of scientists in Taiwan has found a nifty way to repurpose these small toys. They turned them into inexpensive centrifuges that could allow health workers in impoverished areas to carry out certain blood tests with ease. Centrifuges are used to … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
People in Red and Blue States May Use Weed Very Differently—and Not Just Due to Legalization
A U.S. state’s politics could be influencing how people use cannabis, suggests a new study out Wednesday from Columbia University. It found that liberal states had higher rates of pot use than conservative states, but conservative states had higher rates of harmful, addictive use. These differences could be seen among certain age groups whether a … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Certain People—Maybe Even You—Have Special Poop That Can Save Lives
There are plenty of people who are exceptional in one way or another. But a new review published this week suggests that even the poop we make can be extraordinary. It argues that some of us are super fecal transplant donors, with poop that is uniquely suited to treating digestive and gut problems. Our excrement … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Opioid Makers Are Looking Especially Evil This Week
Two pieces of news this week reveal even more about how pharmaceutical companies have contributed to the opioid epidemic that’s killing tens of thousands of Americans a year. On Monday, a more than 200 page-long memorandum released by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey Monday appeared to show that executives of Purdue Pharma, including members of … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Thousands of Recalled Frozen Chicken Nuggets May Contain Wood, No Gluten Though
Some people’s precious chicken nugs could have more ingredients than they bargained for. On Thursday, Perdue Foods announced a voluntary recall of nearly 70,000 pounds of its frozen, gluten-free nuggets, over concerns they might have been contaminated with wood. The recall will affect nuggets sold across the country. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Ebola, HIV, Antivaxxers: The World Health Organization Names 2019’s Global Health Threats
The World Health Organization has firmly set its sights on the anti-vaccination movement. In a post this week, WHO listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the world’s top health threats to combat in 2019, right alongside other major problems like HIV, Ebola, and climate change. The new inclusion (it wasn’t on WHO’s 2018 list) is … Continued
By Ed Cara
Ed Cara
Ed Cara is a Brooklyn-based writer and pug enthusiast. He spent his early twenties performing theater at various stages across the tri-state area, including off-Broadway. But he eventually caught the reporting bug and transitioned into science journalism, publishing his first feature article at the magazine Pacific Standard (RIP) in 2014. Ed has since written for the Atlantic, Newsweek, Undark Magazine, and Vice, before landing at Gizmodo in 2017. Ed enjoys digging into the latest health advances, the weirdest medical cases, and the occasional animal news. He also still performs regularly in the city as a sketch and improv comedian.
Ed Cara's posts
