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Sleeping in space

By Stephen Ornes / January 27, 2013

Long space flights may harm astronauts’ sleep patterns, a 520-day experiment found. Replacing fluorescent bulbs with blue lights like the ones in this photo may help avoid those problems. Credit: ESA

Volunteers face problems on a make-believe mission to Mars

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged attention, experiment, getinvolved, human space exploration, Jeffrey Sutton, Mars, Mathias Basner, Moscow, sleep, space, topstories, University of Pennsylvania

Getting a grip

By Stephen Ornes / January 18, 2013

Immerse your hands in water for a while, and wrinkles will form. Those wrinkles improve a person’s grip on wet, slippery objects, says a new study. Credit: Mitchio/Flickr

Wrinkled fingers seem to be an advantage in wet environments

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged 2AI Labs, Adaptation, England, evolution, getinvolved, Mark Changizi, nervous system, neurobiology, neurology, Newcastle University, skin, topstories

Ebola in the air

By Stephen Ornes / December 11, 2012

Scientists have found that a type of Ebola virus that infects humans can pass from piglets to macaques, like the one shown here, through the air. Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A deadly virus can spread through the air from pigs to monkeys

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged Africa, contagion, Ebola, Gary Kobinger, getinvolved, infection, macaque, outbreak, piglet, topstories, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, virus

Baby’s stress can last decades

By Stephen Ornes / December 4, 2012

Scientists have found a connection between stress early in life and anxiety later on. Credit: iStockphoto

Early stress may impair adult behavior, especially in girls

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged adrenal gland, amygdala, anxiety, behavior, brain, brain scans, cortisol, Cory Burghy, getinvolved, hormone, infants, prefontal cortex, pregnancy, stress, teenage brain, teens, University of Wisconsin–Madison, worry

Healthier mice, through X-rays

By Stephen Ornes / November 29, 2012

Scientists found that sickly agouti mice, which carry a gene that colors their coat yellow, benefit from a small dose of radiation. These benefits were blocked by vitamins, though, turning conventional ideas about radiation and vitamins upside down. Credit: The Transgenic Core Facility

In sickly mice, small doses of radiation helped while vitamins harmed

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged biology, cells, DNA, epigenetics, genetics, getinvolved, methylation, radiation, topstories, toxicology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Wisconsin–Madison, X-rays

Magnets that kill cancer cells

By Stephen Ornes / November 1, 2012

Magnets can be used to move types of metal from a distance. Scientists recently developed a technology that uses magnets to trigger a cell’s demise. Credit: istockphoto

Researchers devise a way to use magnets to make cells self-destruct

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged Andrew MacKay, biology, cancer, Cell, getinvolved, iron, magnet, magnetic field, magnetism, medicine, nanoparticle, protein, receptor, therapeutic, therapy, topstories, University of Southern California, Yonsei University

Of fish and brain health

By Stephen Ornes / October 26, 2012

People who eat sharks, like the mako shown here, face the risk of ingesting high levels of mercury, a toxic metal linked to health problems. Credit: NOAA

Moms-to-be who eat a diet rich in the right fish may pass along benefits to their children

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, brain, brain development, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, cognition, diet, dietary pollutants, fish, getinvolved, hair, health, human development, lead, mercury, methyl mercury, New Bedford, nutrition, Pollution, pregnancy, Susan Korrick, topstories

The 2012 Nobel Prizes

By Stephen Ornes / October 19, 2012

David Wineland, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., adjusts a laser that’s going to be used to study charged atoms, or ions. Wineland was named a winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics. Credit: Geoffrey Wheeler

Annual awards go to research on cells, atoms and light

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged Brian Kobilka, cell receptors, cloning, David Wineland, Dolly, Duke University, Ecole Normale Superieure, getinvolved, Jack Dixon, John Gurdon, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Nobel prize, pluripotent cells, Robert Lefkowitz, Serge Haroche, Shinya Yamanaka, Stem cells

The rest of your DNA

By Stephen Ornes / September 25, 2012

An international team of scientists has determined that a good chunk of our DNA may act as switches that turn genes “on” and “off.” Credit: National Human Genome Research Institute

Surprise: Scientists find most of human DNA molecule carries out important functions

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged cells, DNA, ENCODE, Eric Green, gene, genetic material, genetics, genome, getinvolved, human genome, National Human Genome Research Institute, proteins, topstories

Surprising rabies resistance

By Stephen Ornes / August 16, 2012

Vampire bats can carry the deadly rabies virus and transmit it to humans through bites. Credit: Daniel Streicker

Amazon villagers survive deadly disease carried by vampire bats

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged Amazon, Amy Gilbert, Carol Glaser, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disease, epidemic, getinvolved, Peru, rabies, tropical disease, vampire bat, virus

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