Ed Cara

Tech News

Belgian ‘Deacon of Death’ May Have Killed at Least 50 People via Air Injection

A trial that began this week in Belgium is putting a spotlight on a shocking series of alleged murders by a Catholic deacon. Per BBC News: A Catholic deacon accused of killing at least 10 people—including his own mother—has gone on trial in Belgium. Former nurse Ivo Poppe is suspected of killing his victims by … Continued

ScienceHealth

Tainted Jimmy John’s Raw Sprouts Are Making People Sick—Again

Raw sprouts are a much beloved salad and sandwich fixture for many. But a new outbreak of Salmonella—traced to raw sprouts that were served at several restaurants belonging to the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s—highlights their unique risk. On Friday, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration jointly announced … Continued

ScienceBiology

Relax, Dog Flu Isn’t Coming to Take Our Precious Doggos Away

It’s not bad enough that the flu virus is tearing the human species a new one this winter. No, it has to go after the only good thing left in our snot-ridden lives: The Dogs. But while the idea of deadly dog flu spreading like wildfire through our nation’s kennels and shelters, as recent headlines … Continued

ScienceHealth

Study: Being a Teen Sucks Now

Today’s kids are better behaved than ever. They’re having less sex (and more safely when they do), committing less crime, and doing fewer drugs. But research has also started to show they might be unhappier than previous generations of youths. A new study published today in Emotion adds more support to a leading theory on … Continued

ScienceHealth

The Government Shutdown Won’t Stop the CDC From Tracking the Flu

In the face of the Purge prequel we’re living out right now, it should come as a tiny bit reassuring that not every federal agency has closed—at least not completely—during this government shutdown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will keep fighting and tracking the flu virus, which is important, because this year’s flu … Continued

ScienceHealth

Fed-Up Hospitals Are Starting Their Own Drug Company so They Can Lower Generic Drug Prices

A coalition of U.S. hospitals has decided to take matters into its own hands in the face of ever-rising drug prices: The group is going to start its own drug company to compete with big pharma. On Friday, several of the largest hospital systems in the country announced their plan to pool together their resources … Continued

ScienceHealth

It’s Much Easier to Catch the Flu Than We Realized, New Research Finds

Aside from getting vaccinated (which everyone should), an important strategy to evading the flu is regularly washing your hands and avoiding contact with the sneezes, coughs, and snot of sick people. The logic behind this simple advice is that the influenza virus requires reasonably close contact with the fluids of a plainly sick person in … Continued

ScienceHealth

Experts Are Pushing Hard to Redefine What It Means to Be Legally Drunk

A panel of the nation’s top public health experts is pushing for a sweeping set of policy changes and laws aimed at accomplishing an audacious goal—an end to deaths caused by drunk driving. But the recommendation touted as having the largest potential impact on deaths might also be the hardest to sell: lowering the amount … Continued

ScienceHealth

A Toxic Plant Might Help Us Find a Legit Male Birth Control Drug

The quest to find an effective male birth control pill is like Charlie Brown from “Peanuts” trying to kick the football: Always seemingly within grasp, only to be stopped by Lucy (or disappointing study results) at the last second. Most recently, in 2016, a large clinical trial of a contraceptive injection was stopped early, after … Continued

Tech News

The Internet Has Made Americans More Casual About Religion

Contrary to what you might assume after hate-browsing Facebook, it seems the internet may have actually made people less dogmatic about religion. A recent study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion has found evidence that the more we use the internet, the less likely we are to have a specific religious … Continued

ScienceHealth

Just Get The Damn Flu Shot

The flu tends to be the leaky basement pipe of disease: It’s easy enough to avoid doing something about it, right up until the point it completely bursts and ruins your month. But the flu is much more deadly than a flooded basement. Even at its weakest in recent years, the virus killed at least … Continued

ScienceHealth

This Is Why You Should Never Hold in a Sneeze

A recently released case report, courtesy of the BMJ, reaffirms one of life’s important lessons: Don’t try to hold back a sneeze. Especially, don’t do it by plugging up your nose and mouth—you just might end up in the emergency room with a gaping hole in your throat. The report details an otherwise healthy 34-year-old … Continued

ScienceHealth

A Creepy, Crawling Robot Baby Reminds Us That Carpets Are Disgusting

To the untrained eye, babies are nothing more than drooling, crying blobs who do basically nothing all day. But a recent study published in Environmental Science & Technology has found that babies are actually drooling, crying blobs who stir up impressive clouds of bacteria, dirt, fungi, and bug bits wherever they crawl. And all it … Continued

Tech News

People Are Really Great at Forgetting If Their Jeans Are Made Through Child Labor

We humans are plenty talented at seeing, hearing, and speaking no evil. But when push comes to shove, as a recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Research demonstrates, we’re also great at forgetting any evil existed at all—especially if that memory loss will make our buying choices a little less guilt-ridden. Researchers at … Continued

Tech News

Wall Street Analysts Are Embarrassingly Bad At Predicting The Future, Study Finds

Understanding and making money in the stock market is no easy task (especially given how nonsensical the ebbs and flows of a stock can be). But a recently released working paper suggests—not for the first time—that you could do pretty well for yourself by ignoring everything so-called experts say. It found that over the last … Continued

ScienceHealth

Standard Depression Survey May Not Work As Well For Black Teens

Depression is an equal opportunity malady. It affects people from all walks of life, be they rich or poor, young or old, or black or white. But it’s apparent there are some groups who are more vulnerable to depression than others, such as those living in poverty or who regularly face discrimination. A recent study, … Continued

ScienceHealth

Experimental Weekly Pill Could Make HIV Treatment a Lot Easier to Swallow

The current slate of treatments for HIV have been nothing short of life-saving. These antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs, as they’re known, keep people with HIV healthy and virtually virus-free, with relatively minor side effects—so long as they take the pills daily. The biggest reason why some people can’t keep up with daily treatment is access: … Continued

ScienceHealth

The Kids Are Boning Less 

Kids these days just aren’t that into each other, according to a new report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report, based on nationally representative survey data of children living in 29 states, found that the “proportion of high school students nationwide who had ever had sexual intercourse decreased … Continued

ScienceHealth

Cancer Is Killing Fewer Americans, But a Racial Gap Endures

Here’s some good news, courtesy of the American Cancer Society’s annual Facts & Figures report: Fewer Americans are getting and dying from cancer, at least as of 2015, continuing a long decline seen since the early 1990s. But the report also highlights continuing racial and wealth disparities in who gets properly screened for cancer and … Continued

Tech News

Scientists Discover 16th-Century Child Mummy Had Seemingly Modern Strain of Hepatitis B

It’s a microscopic case of mistaken identity. A new study published in PLOS Pathogens has found that a 16th-century mummified child may have actually been infected by an ancient strain of hepatitis B, not smallpox as scientists believed for decades. But the finding, if correct, adds even more mystery as to how this still widespread, … Continued