Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 28, 2019

Why Does Time Fly When You're Having Fun?

The world's most precise clocks run at a steady pace, messing up by only about 1 second every 300 million years. But the brain takes those rhythmic seconds and makes its own sense of time — stretching the ticks and scrunching the tocks. But why can't the brain keep time...

Feb 28, 2019

Unvaccinated Oregon Boy Is Diagnosed with Tetanus, the State's 1st Child Case in 30 Years

While playing outside on a farm in Oregon, a 6-year-old boy fell down and cut his forehead. His parents cleaned and sutured his wound at home, and for a few days, everything seemed all right, according to a new report of his case. But six days after his fall, the...

Feb 28, 2019

Claire's Recalls 3 Makeup Products for Possible Asbestos Contamination

Shopping mall standby Claire's is voluntarily recalling three makeup products that may contain asbestos fibers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today (March. 12). The recalls were initiated after FDA tests indicated that asbestos fibers may be present in certain makeup products, according to a statement posted on...

Feb 28, 2019

Inactive Ingredients in Drugs May Be Less Inactive Than You Think

The medicines you take contain a soup of active and inactive ingredients. Active ingredients are the ones that provide a therapeutic benefit, while inactive ingredients are just that — inactive — meaning they don't react in the body and are instead there to enhance the properties of the medication itself,...

Feb 28, 2019

How Does the New Postpartum Depression Drug Work?

On Tuesday (March 19), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the first-ever approval of a drug specifically meant to treat postpartum depression. But how exactly does the drug work, and what makes it different from other medications for depression? The drug, called brexanolone (brand name Zulresso), needs to...

Feb 28, 2019

What Caused All These Spots on This Man's Brain?

When a young man in India started having seizures, doctors scanned his brain and found a grim image: His brain was dotted with parasitic cysts — the result of a severe and ultimately fatal tapeworm infection. The 18-year-old man was taken to the emergency room after having so-called tonic-clonic seizures,...

Feb 28, 2019

CDC Reports Unusual Spike in Rare Tick-Borne Disease in Oregon

Four people in Oregon were infected with a rare tick-borne virus, known as Colorado tick fever, in a single month, according to a new report. That's an unusually high number of cases for the state, which typically sees one or fewer cases of Colorado tick fever per year, according to...

Feb 28, 2019

Does March Madness Really Mean 'Vasectomy Season'?

March Madness is in full swing, but along with the fervor over the annual college basketball tournament comes news of a different kind of spring event: vasectomy season. According to some news outlets, March Madness is tied to an increase in men getting vasectomies. March Madness vasectomy season is upon...

Jan 31, 2019

A Cactus Prick Likely Caused Former NHL Player's Life-Threatening Infection

A former NHL player developed a life-threatening infection after a spiky cactus pierced his leg, according to news reports. Fifty-year-old Lyle Odelein, who retired from the NHL in 2006 after a nearly two-decade career, was playing golf in Arizona in March 2018 when he walked into the rough to retrieve...

Jan 31, 2019

A Rover That Will Look for Life on Mars Named for DNA Pioneer Rosalind Franklin

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today (Feb. 7) that its next Mars rover will be named for Rosalind Franklin, the late British scientist, who was behind the discovery of DNA's double-helix structure. ESA's ExoMars rover, Rosalind the rover, is scheduled to launch to the Red Planet in 2020 and...

Jan 31, 2019

Measles Outbreak Spurs Vaccination Surge in Anti-Vaxxer Hotspot

Weeks after a hotspot for anti-vaxxers turned into a hotspot for measles infections, vaccination rates have surged in the area, according to news reports. Last month, following 50 confirmed cases and 11 suspected cases of the measles, Clark County, Washington, declared a public health emergency. Now, residents of the area...

Jan 31, 2019

Why Do Babies Cry on Airplanes?

Whether you're the long-suffering parent or an unlucky passenger sitting in a neighboring row, a crying baby on an airplane is never fun. We've all been there. As the plane ascends or descends, baby feels the scary sensation of her or his ears popping, and a whimper that turns into...

Dec 31, 2018

'Wound Botulism' Outbreak in San Diego Linked to Black Tar Heroin

Nine people in San Diego recently developed a rare but serious illness called wound botulism after using black tar heroin, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak has health officials warning doctors and the public to be aware of this condition,...

Dec 31, 2018

Doctors Thought a Woman Was Having a Panic Attack. She Actually Had Rabies.

When a Virginia woman went to the emergency room with shortness of breath, anxiety, sleeping troubles and difficulty swallowing water, doctors thought she was having a panic attack. But her symptoms were actually due to something much rarer: she had a rabies infection — one that would prove fatal —...

Dec 31, 2018

How Did 'Miracle' Man Come Back from Dangerous Brain Swelling?

A man in Nebraska who doctors believed had experienced a devastating stroke actually had a different condition — fortunately, one that allowed him to come back from the brink of death. After his children accepted that their father was likely to die and decided to have him removed from his...