People who can’t stop scratching itches may finally have a culprit to blame. In mice (and probably people), a protein called TRPV4 is involved both in starting an itch and…
Category: Life
Your DNA Might Be the Reason Music and Art Gives You Chills
Summary: Have you ever felt a sudden shiver or goosebumps while listening to a powerful piece of music or reading a moving poem? Scientists call this the “telltale tingle” or…
Teen Cannabis Use Doubles Psychosis and Bipolar Risk
Summary: A massive study of over 460,000 adolescents has confirmed that even occasional cannabis use during teenage years is a major risk factor for severe mental illness. The research followed…
9 top RFK, Jr. science controversies
From sweeping changes to vaccination protocols to scientifically dubious assertions about a host of childhood maladies, here are some of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s most…
A mouth built for efficiency may have helped the earliest bird fly
About 150 million years ago, in a coastal lagoon in what is now southern Germany, the oldest known bird gobbled up food with a beak built for efficient eating. It’s…
Less Experience Leads to Faster Neural Adaptation
Summary: For over a century, the cornerstone of psychology has been the Pavlovian idea that we learn through repetition—the more a bell rings before food, the stronger the association. However,…
Some dog breeds carry a higher risk of breathing problems
Many people find their flattened faces cute, but among dogs bred with a squished visage, 11 percent or less of some breeds can breathe easily. The findings, published February 18…
Regeneration of fins and limbs relies on a shared cellular playbook
In the 2012 movie The Amazing Spider-Man, a key character regrows his missing arm by imbibing reptilian DNA — but then turns into a monster lizard that Spider-Man must foil. While…
How tracking golden eagles in Nevada revealed a desert ‘death vortex’
Golden eagles in Nevada are dying at an alarming rate, and no one can pinpoint the cause. Their carcasses litter the landscape in Dry Lake Valley, a bone-white stretch of…
