When just floating peacefully in the water with their brood mates, the Culex mosquito larvae in the image above does not look very frightening. But in their adult form, they are the prime vector for spreading West Nile virus — a sometimes mild, sometimes fatal disease.
An advance in the race to stop birth defects caused by Zika-infected mothers has been made by a team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. They have identified the process Zika uses to gain entry into the placenta, and published their findings in the journal Biochemistry.
Growing populations and higher temperatures put pressure on world food supplies. Naturally occurring soil bacteria may save crops in drought-stressed areas, put more land into crop production, and produce more food.
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but one annoying invasive weed may hold the answer to treating the superbug MRSA. Researchers from Emory University have found that the red berries of the Brazilian peppertree contain a compound that turns off a gene vital to the drug-resistance process.
New research suggests the bacteria that causes listeriosis may be a bigger threat in early pregnancy than previously thought. Usually considered a danger to late pregnancy, scientists suggest early undiagnosed miscarriages could be caused, in some cases, by infection with Listeria.
Have the sniffles? Yes. Does your head hurt? Yes. Coughing? Yes. Could you have influenza? Yes. How do you know the difference? With these symptoms, you could also have a cold.
Scientists are constantly on the search for new organisms, species, and other types of life. A special group of these researchers, calling themselves "bioprospectors," dive deep into mines to find unique lifeforms with special properties not found anywhere else.
Creamer, milk (whole or skim), sugar, or even butter—you've probably added at least one of these to your coffee to improve its taste at some point. If you're looking for something different, though, try a new twist with a dash of cinnamon. This sweet, sharp spice can do so much more than improve coffee's taste, and I've got 10 examples for you to consider.
A deck of cards may be a magician's best way to demonstrate his or her's sleight of hand, but for the prankster, it's the perfect way to deliver a shocking 300 volts of electricity! And that's exactly what I'm going to show you how to do today. Stuart Edge used it in his "Electric Shock Kissing Prank" to show the ladies how a man can really put the sparks in a kiss.
On the airplane, in the middle of cold and flu season, your seatmate is spewing, despite the clutch of tissues in their lap. Your proximity to an infectious person probably leaves you daydreaming (or is it a nightmare?) of pandemics and estimating how likely it is that this seatmate's viral or bacterial effusions will circulate throughout the plane and infect everyone on board.
As the fish farming industry struggles to become more environmentally friendly, it just gained another problem. Fish food loaded with antibiotic-resistant genes.
On June 11, 2016, an Arizona woman died from what appeared to be several infections, including pneumonia. She likely caught at least one of these from her dog.
Whether or not a microbe is successful at establishing an infection depends both on the microbe and the host. Scientists from Duke found that a single DNA change can allow Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, to invade cells. That single genetic variation increased the amount of cholesterol on cell membranes that Salmonella and other bacteria use as a docking station to attach to a cell to invade it. They also found that common cholesterol-lowering drugs protected zebrafi...
So cute, so furry, and so chock full of parasites. While raccoons are fun to watch, they are neither friendly nor clean — and they can make you sick in more ways than one.
Regarding foodborne pathogens, eating fish is not as hazardous as it was a few years ago — but if fins are on the menu, it's good to have a heads-up about what's good and what's bad these days.
What's in a sneeze? Quite a lot—dirt, mucus, and infectious germs—it seems. And sneezing the right way can reduce the germs you share with neighbors.
You may not have heard of visceral leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, or lymphatic filariasis, and there is a reason for that. These diseases, part of a group of infections called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), impact more than a billion people on the planet in countries other than ours. Despite the consolation that these often grotesque illnesses are "out of sight, out of mind," some of these infections are quietly taking their toll in some southern communities of the US.
There are all kinds of theories—many supported by science—about what causes Alzheimer's disease. Tangles of protein called ß-amyloid (pronounced beta amyloid) plaques are prominently on the list of possible causes or, at least, contributors. An emerging theory of the disease suggests that those plaques aren't the problem, but are actually our brains' defenders. They show up to help fight an infection, and decades later, they become the problem.
The year was 1947. Scientists had isolated a virus from a pyrexial rhesus monkey in Uganda and named it after the forest where the monkey lived — Zika.
Massage therapy is the application of pressure to the muscles and soft tissues of the body for relaxation and health.
The worst part of having a cold is the runny nose. You keep using tissue after tissue, to no avail. Well, help is here. Check out this video to learn how to deal with your runny nose and keep the tissues to a minimum. Stock up on decongestants and antihistamines.
This video shows you how to get ahead of a cold. The winter season creates a perfect environment for getting the latest cold that's going around. With this tutorial, you'll know to stock up on decongestants, antihistamines, and lots and lots of tissues. Get through your cold with chicken soup, and rest, to awaken refreshed the next day.
Recently, buyout talks between Google and Groupon ended with Groupon turning down Google's $6 million offer. But with Amazon backing LivingSocial, should they have? Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing's for sure— Groupon has a great voice, and they're sharing it with the world via their Public Groupon Editorial Manual.
Think you have what it takes to amputate your own arm? What about somebody else's foot? Now, thanks to the wide array of mobile apps available from the iTunes App Store, you might not need to attend medical school to perform a tracheostomy.
The immune system is not as simple as you might think. Simply, it's formed of two main groups of cells:
This is a tool I wouldn't want to do without in my kitchen. It's full name is the Jaccard Super Tendermatic Meat Tenderizer but if you refer to the "Jaccard", most food folks will know what you are talking about. Jaccard makes lots of food prep products but this is probably their most well known. There are other tenderizers on the market, but this one is better made and uses higher quality materials than most. High quality stainless steel blades in a sturdy plastic case that is machine washab...
In each day of our life, we see inflammation. We see it during sore throats and abscess formations in our bodies, and even slight tooth pain is a form of inflammation. Sometimes it's good when it fights to protect us from invading organisms, but sometimes it becomes bad when it occurs in inappropriate ways, like acne.
Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University have teamed up to to create an armband that projects a touchscreen interface directly on to your skin. The best part? Skinput knows which part of the body you've tapped, based on the sound that's matched against skin, muscle or skeleton.
Space is tight (not to mention expensive) in Hong Kong. What's the solution? Architect Gary Chang has come up with an ingenious design: a small, 344 sq. ft. "accordion" apartment that can transform into 24 different rooms, simply by employing the use of sliding panels and walls. Via the New York Times,
Inflammation in your body is not a bad thing if it is localized and temporary, as it is your body's natural healing response to an injury or illness. When the inflammatory response does not turn off and becomes chronic, that is when your body's healthy cells and tissues are in danger of long-term damage.
In each day of our life, we see inflammation. We see it during sore throats and abscess formations in our bodies, and even slight tooth pain is a form of inflammation. Sometimes it's good when it fights to protect us from invading organisms, but sometimes it becomes bad when it occurs in inappropriate ways, like acne.
Yes, I still put that hyphen in “e-mail.” Remember when e-mail meant “electronic mail,” and wasn’t all one word? I do, and I honor that time with a little hyphen. Also, it means that I can make up all kinds of names for things that have “e-” at the beginning. I’ve been playing this game since 1992.
What is a burn? It's a form of injury to body tissues which is caused by heat, corrosive substances or friction. There is another form of burn, which is known as scald; it results from exposure to hot water or steam.
The immune system is not as simple as you might think. Simply, it's formed of two main groups of cells:
I love my laptop. It goes wherever I go. Unfortunately, that means that it also gets pretty grubby after a while. The screen gets dusty. The frame gets smudgy. The spaces between the keys fill up with crumbs of questionable origins. And my desktop? That thing is a dust bunny magnet.
If you found the world renown Body Worlds exhibition gnarly and perverse, perhaps you'll find this latest parade of plastination a little less so—considering we don't share the same DNA as these specimens of jerky-in-the-name-of-science. The Koerperwelten der Tiere—or Animal Body Worlds–doesn't showcase preserved corporal matter, but rather 20 odd plastinated mammals, currently on display at the Cologne Zoo in Cologne, Germany.
40 million Americans suffer from sciatica pains,but the condition is often not diagnosed correctly. A new imaging technique uses a specially tuned MRI scan to image nerves and highlight them deep inside tissues. Called Magnetic Resonance Neurography,the new technique promises to diagnose conditions such as sciatica-in which a compressed nerve in the buttock causes persistent lower-back and leg pai Diagnose sciatica.
Johnny or whoever plans on bringing home a girl. Unknown to the girl, one of the fat crew members of JackAss is hiding in the closet of the room where the couple are getting to know eachother just a little bit better ;). The Fat guy is wielding a box of tissues and a giant bottle of Lube for his comfort ;). He is also wearing a ski mask, boxers, and wife beater (white undershirt). When things in the room begin to heat up, the fat guy explodes out of the closet (dick hangin out) surpising the ...
Have some of the Jackass crew poop in a purse. Or use elephant poop....and fill the bottom of the purse. Cover the poop with makeup, tissues, personal items, etc. that you'd normally find in a purse. Then set in on a semi-busy sidewalk.(Making it a Coach purse would attract more attention I think.) When "curious" people walk by they'll probably check the purse for money, but instead they get a disgusting surprise!! After a few people have "gotten their hands dirty" you could have Spike Jones ...
