Gender Nonconformity in Play Linked to ASD and Behavioral Problems

Summary: A new study reveals that gender nonconforming play behavior in 7-year-olds is associated with increased behavioral difficulties, including autistic traits in girls and peer relationship issues in boys. Researchers…

UK doctors urge government to act over ‘vaping epidemic’

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Leading UK doctors urged the government Wednesday to pass legislation to tackle “a vaping epidemic,” in particular among young people, by banning disposable e-cigarettes and all…

Avian flu has infected dairy cows in more than a dozen states – a microbiologist explains how the virus is spreading

The current strain of avian flu, H5N1, is responsible for the culling of millions of domestic birds and has sickened more than a dozen farmworkers in 2024, most recently in…

Creative arts therapy programs can help health care workers dance, write and draw their way through burnout and on-the-job stress

Doctors and nurses seldom learn in school how to tell a family that their loved one is not going to survive. Yet health care professionals face the immense burden of…

Drinking alcohol before conceiving a child could accelerate their aging – new research in mice

The conditions within a person’s home, family and community affect their ability to stay healthy. Scientists studying these social determinants of health are trying to understand whether nature or nurture…

Building trust in vaccination programs

Credit: Karolina Kaboompics from Pexels A new paper in the Journal of Public Health finds that highlighting the harms of not getting vaccinated is a more effective message than emphasizing…

Hidden Dopamine Neurons Balance Brain Functions and Behavior

Summary: Researchers identified a small group of dopamine neurons in the striatum that play a crucial role in balancing essential brain functions such as reward, cognition, and movement. This discovery…

What Your Movie Preferences Reveal About Your Brain’s Emotions

Summary: A new study reveals that your favorite film genre may indicate how your brain processes emotions. Action and comedy lovers show strong brain reactions to negative stimuli, while those…

The next pandemic? How a familiar virus exploits new hosts

Influenza A boasts a wide range of natural hosts, with different strains established in different species. This wide network gives it an extra evolutionary advantage, turning it into a perennial…

Xianbei tombs discovered in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists from the Margulan Institute of Archaeology, a department of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, have discovered 13 pit tombs in the East…