Methadone is a possible cause of sudden cardiac death even when it isn’t overdosed but is taken at therapeutic levels primarily for relief of chronic pain or drug addiction withdrawal, a new study by…

As Americans increasingly seek a “quick fix” to physical and mental ailments, psychoanalysts can be caught in the crossfire of a debate about the potential benefits and drawbacks of including…

Even a few days into New Year’s resolutions to exercise more, people are finding reasons to skip workouts even though the benefits of a healthy lifestyle are well-known: In addition to weight loss,…

Muscles usually contract when a neurotransmitter molecule is released from nerve cells onto muscle cells. But University of Utah scientists discovered that bare subatomic protons can act like larger,…

You've read plenty of articles recently about visual invisibility but acoustic invisibility was considered beyond the reach of science. Now Duke University engineers say a three-dimensional sound…

NASA will debut a new book for blind readers at a media event and reception Jan. 15. The agency will unveil "Touch the Invisible Sky," which gives blind readers the ability to experience cosmic…

It's political primary season and you know what that means, right? Right, it's time to rent movies and think about something else. But you wouldn't be here if you could watch just any movies, you'd…

Continued from Part 2: I interviewed Gary Taubes by phone a few weeks ago, shortly after he gave a talk about the main ideas of his new book — Good Calories, Bad Calories — at UC Berkeley. The…

Stress, to put it bluntly, is bad for you. It can kill you, in fact. A study reveals that stress causes deterioration in everything from your gums to your heart and can make you more susceptible to…

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are uncovering how brain cells are affected in Fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental retardation and the most common genetic…

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have developed a new “nanobiotechnology” that enables magnetic control of events at the cellular level. They describe the technology, which could lead to…

The molecular machinery behind gene transcription -- the intricate transfer of information from a segment of DNA to a corresponding strand of messenger RNA -- isn't stationed in special…

If you can get journal access, check out this editorial by creation/evolution veteran Francisco Ayala in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Using the powerful one-two combo of NASA’s Swift satellite and the Gemini Observatory, astronomers have detected a mysterious type of cosmic explosion farther back in time than ever before. The…

Donated, freeze-dried tendon grafts loaded with gene therapy may soon offer effective repair of injured tendons, a goal that has eluded surgeons to date. According to study data published today in…

Scientists at University College London have discovered how two proteins called BERT and ERNI interact in embryos to control when different organ systems in the body start to form, deepening our…

It seems like common sense but a new study adds empirical weight to commonly held beliefs about health: 1) Don't smoke 2) Exercise 3) Moderate alcohol intake 4) Eating 5 servings of fruits and…

The Commonwealth Fund has issued another indictment of US health care, this one stating that the United States showed the least improvement among 19 countries when it comes to preventable deaths. The…

Mauve Majesty is one cool lily look-alike. This new pinkish-purple ornamental flower, just patented by Cornell, can last for two weeks in a vase, but when left in the garden, it blooms all summer…

A favorite book of mine is Evolution: A Scientific American Reader, a collection of articles on astronomy, cell biology, paleontology and anthropology from the print magazine. One of my favorite…