Nature could be an effective self-help tool for improving mental health

Sports coaches have always made decisions based on experience, observation and intuition. But they are increasingly relying on hard evidence. Behind the scenes, a quiet revolution is transforming sport—driven not by human skills but by data.

Imagine you purchase a bag of gummies labeled nootropic—a term used to describe substances that claim to enhance mental ability and function, or "smart drugs." However, within hours of consuming them, your heart starts racing, you're nauseated and vomiting. Then you begin convulsing and have a seizure, resulting in a trip to the hospital.

Gazing at smartphone screens for even one hour a day can cause digital eye strain, especially when scrolling through social media. According to a new study published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research, it is not just the time spent on digital devices but also the type of content being used that can cause the condition.

For almost 40 years, people who suspect they've been harmed by a vaccine have been able to turn to a little-known system called the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program—often simply called the vaccine court.

A new study reports evidence of a link between prenatal exposure to the widely used insecticide chlorpyrifos (CPF) and structural abnormalities in the brain and poorer motor function in New York City children and adolescents.

Two years ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of an over-the-counter birth control pill for the first time in the United States without a prescription.

When Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently fired an entire federal vaccine advisory panel, he described the unprecedented move as necessary to rid the committee of industry influence.

Modern vaccines have saved over 150 million lives. Yet misinformation about them can still have deadly consequences. A gunman recently opened fire at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, wrongly believing that the coronavirus vaccine had caused his depression.

The first mRNA vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was recently created in less than 18 months—but how do mRNA animal vaccines work, and how would this one be deployed in an emergency?

After a routine C-section at an Auckland hospital, a mother developed severe pain and what seemed like postnatal fatigue. It turned out to be an infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a "superbug" spreading across New Zealand and beyond.

Videos promoting #testosteronemaxxing are racking up millions of views. Like "looksmaxxing" or "fibermaxxing" this trend takes something related to body image (improving your looks) or health (eating a lot of fiber) and pushes it to extreme levels.

Research into the multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescent well-being has been published in a key journal. The international study was led by the UNESCO Chair Global Health and Education, which is hosted jointly by the University of Huddersfield and the University of Clermont Auvergne in France.

Ticks are hitching a free ride to the US from different parts of the world, raising concerns among scientists. In a recent study, researchers reported the introduction of seven exotic tick species to Connecticut, U.S., by travelers between 2019 and 2023. The identified ticks were natives of Germany, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Poland, Scotland, Tanzania, and Belize.

For the newest generation of U.S. veterans, transitioning to civilian life can pose profound challenges. Post-9/11 veterans are younger and more diverse, and they face rising rates of trauma, mental health conditions, underemployment and service-connected disabilities, according to a research team at Penn State. To help veterans tackle these hurdles, the researchers created an online assessment tool that assists veteran-serving organizations identify individualized risks and provide targeted, evidence-informed support.

Recently, I've repeatedly come across tragic news reports of children killed in electric scooter, or e-scooter, crashes.

A research group led by the University of Osaka has discovered that the DNA repair enzyme Polβ plays a crucial role in protecting the developing brain from harmful mutations. The study found that a lack of Polβ leads to a significant increase in small insertions and deletions of DNA, known as indels near CpG sites, which are important regulatory regions in genes. This accumulation of mutations could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University and Boston University Chobanian, Avedisian School of Medicine-led researchers report that e-cigarettes labeled "clear" produced greater acute increases in blood pressure and heart rate than non "clear" flavored products or nonuse, and that "clear" e-liquids contained synthetic cooling agents alongside menthol and other flavorants.

Most folks probably think of gene mutations as something people are born with, but genes can also change later in life, sometimes making people sick.