Ed Cara

ScienceHealth

The Era of Super Gonorrhea Is Here

A dreaded superbug nightmare has become reality. A UK man is believed to have the first confirmed case of gonorrhea highly resistant to the only two front-line drugs available against it. On Thursday, Public Health England announced that its lab had detected the case. The anonymous patient is a heterosexual man who visited a doctor … Continued

ScienceHealth

Thousands of UK Teens Will Help Settle a Vaccine Debate Over Meningitis 

Scientists in the UK are looking to recruit thousands of teens (presumably with attitude) to help them settle a debate over whether vaccines for a certain type of meningitis should be in wider use. The nationally funded study, coined the Teenagers against Meningitis, or TEAM, trial, will corral 24,000 teenagers from ages 16 to 18 … Continued

ScienceHealth

Many Restaurant Meals Come With a Side of Hormone-Disrupting Phthalates

The more you dine out, the more you’re getting exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals known as phthalates, suggests a new study published Wednesday in the journal Environment International. Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to help make plastics more flexible and durable. They can be found in everything from cosmetics to children’s toys to … Continued

ScienceHealth

Scientists Just Discovered a New Human Organ, and It’s Filled With Secrets

Anatomy books are in need of a major upgrade, argue a team of scientists in a paper published Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports. They say the body contains a previously undiscovered network of fluid-filled pockets and collagen underneath the skin that covers most of the body and internal organs. More than that, the structure … Continued

ScienceHealth

An Experimental Superbug Killer Is a Tiny Step Closer to Saving Us From the Antibiotic Apocalypse

A class of antibiotics heralded as an essential future weapon against drug-resistant superbugs passed an important test. There’s now evidence that they can be used to treat serious infections in live animals (in vivo) without being toxic. Researchers created simplified, synthetic versions of teixobactin, a protein produced by certain dirt-loving bacteria that was first discovered … Continued

ScienceHealth

Please Don’t Drink Turpentine

Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, 38, is fast becoming a fan favorite, thanks to widely-praised performances in tv sitcoms like The Carmichael Show and movies like Keanu and Girls Trip, along with her boisterous, earnest persona off-screen and on the stand-up stage. But for the love of god, do not take her health advice. In … Continued

ScienceHealth

Many Children With Autism and Their Siblings Aren’t Getting Vaccinated

Decades of research has shown that vaccines do not cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD). But the fear of that connection continues to linger. And a new study published today in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that it’s scaring families affected by autism into not getting their children vaccinated. Scientists from the research arm of Kaiser Permanente, America’s … Continued

ScienceHealth

Traveling to Brazil? Get Vaccinated ASAP, Says CDC

It wasn’t too long ago that the emergence of the little-understood Zika virus in South and Central America led the US to recommend pregnant women avoid traveling to areas where it was spreading (a warning that remains in place). But it’s actually a familiar mosquito-borne disease that’s now prompting a much wider advisory from the … Continued

ScienceHealth

Your Half-Assed Attempts at Exercise Are Still Really Good for You

When it comes to exercise, every bit really does count. A new study published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that the life-extending benefits of physical activity can show up whether you’re dedicating a whole block of the day to the gym or just carving out small moments by taking the … Continued

Tech News

The CDC’s New Chief Was Accused of Fudging HIV Vaccine Research in the Early 1990s

The track record of Trump appointees tasked with safeguarding the country’s public health has been, in the kindest sense, spotty. So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the latest person tapped to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, is alleged to have engaged in research misconduct involving an experimental … Continued

ScienceHealth

A Faulty Thyroid Might Help Explain Some Cases of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Dutch researchers believe they’ve unearthed a concrete clue that could help us understand an utterly perplexing illness commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Their new study, published Tuesday in Frontiers in Endocrinology, suggests that some people’s symptoms might be caused by a thyroid that’s dysfunctional in an unexpected way. More than 30 years after … Continued

Tech News

The CDC May Finally Get Free Rein to Study Gun Violence

The government, after decades of resistance, is set to finally encourage the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence. And all it took was near constant mass shootings and the pressure of a federal shutdown. On Wednesday night, as reported by BuzzFeed News, two new provisions were added to a proposed bipartisan … Continued

ScienceHealth

The NIH Is Looking Into Whether Its Officials Begged Big Alcohol to Fund Major Drinking Study

Serious ethical questions have loomed over a large, ongoing study overseen by the National Institutes of Health. The research, largely funded by the alcohol industry, intends to find out whether moderate drinking can be good for us. Following revelations that scientists and officials involved with the project reached out to alcohol companies in hopes of … Continued

ScienceHealth

Study Measures the Benefits of Surgery to Transgender Women

While many transgender people opt for gender-affirming surgeries, little research has been done to examine how such operations may affect their wellbeing afterward. A new study, presented at the annual European Association of Urology conference earlier this month, offers a perhaps more accurate picture of how surgery affects the lives of transgender people. Urologists at … Continued

ScienceHealth

A State-by-State Look at America’s Shameful Infant Death Rate

It’s no secret that the US—when compared to similarly well-off countries—is not that great at keeping its infants (and new moms) alive. But a new study published Tuesday in PLOS-Medicine offers a detailed state-by-state look of how short of the mark we’re falling: Infants born in the US can be over twice as likely to … Continued

ScienceHealth

New LSD Research May Help Explain the Brain Chemistry of Depression and Schizophrenia

Anyone who’s taken the psychedelic drug LSD (formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide), or had the joy of listening to their favorite relative talk about it during Thanksgiving, knows it can be a utterly bonkers experience. A small new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience seems to offer some insight into what’s happening in … Continued

ScienceBiology

Newly Sequenced Cockroach Genome Explains Why They Are So Goddamn Hard to Kill

Cockroaches have been one of humanity’s most unwanted, yet admirably persistent, roommates for thousands of years. But despite our reluctant intimacy, there’s still a lot we don’t understand about these insects. A new study, published today in Nature Communication, unpacks the genes that make roaches tick—and helps explain why they’re so damn hard to get … Continued

ScienceHealth

A Once-a-Day Male Birth Control Pill Shows Promise in Human Trial

One of the latest experimental candidates for a male birth control drug is a compound that would be taken much like the daily birth control pill available for women. A pilot study presented Sunday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting suggests that the compound—called dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU)—can be safe and effective in human test subjects. … Continued

ScienceBiology

Rare Gene Mutations Might Be Causing More Diseases Than We Think

The destructive shadow sometimes cast by our genes extends even longer than we assumed, a new study published recently in Science suggests. Rare, undetected gene mutations may help explain some people’s common conditions like kidney damage, heart failure, and infertility. We typically think our genes can harm us in one of two broad ways. Certain … Continued

Tech News

Graphene Scientists Invent World’s Most Hardcore Hair Dye

Researchers at Northwestern University think they’ve stumbled upon an unexpected new use for the so-called supermaterial graphene: an easy-to-apply, safer, and sturdier black hair dye that could give other permanent dyes a run for their money. The new dye even made hair immune to frizz and static electricity. A few years ago, Jiaxing Huang, a … Continued