Health & Safety

Healthy dogs romp in Brooklyn's Prospect Park in early October, after a storm caused severe flooding. Around the country a mysterious respiratory illness is making some dogs sick.

Health & Safety

Could a 'funky' pathogen be sickening dogs? Scientists search for clues

8:00am November 23, 2023

by Will Stone

Dogs around the country are becoming sick with an unknown respiratory illness. Some veterinarians are warning dog owners to take precautions. A strange bacterium could be involved.

Health & Safety

Sweet potato memories: love 'em, rely on 'em ... hate 'em

7:31am November 23, 2023

Three Africans ponder the tuber. "There is simply no bad way to prepare sweet potatoes," writes a Zimbabwean. They fueled a Ugandan for his 8-mile run to school. But for one Kenyan they're a big yuck.

Two brain circuits help determine whether there's too little salt, or too much.

Salty much? These brain cells decide when tasty becomes blech

5:00am November 23, 2023

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists say two separate brain circuits control how much salt we consume.

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Loss of appetite can mean eating only small amounts, like a forkful of green beans, Thanksgiving dinner.

Health & Safety

Another Ozempic side effect? Facing the holidays with no appetite

1:46pm November 22, 2023

by Yuki Noguchi

Weight-loss medications tamp down hunger — often dramatically — causing some people to lose the pleasure of communing over food at a festive family meal.

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New research finds that a common microbe may be directly causing itchiness on the skin it colonizes.

What can trigger an itch? Scientists have found a new culprit

11:09am November 22, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

This itchy microbe really touches a nerve. A common skin bacterium can directly interact with a nerve cell to trigger an itch, new study shows, suggesting possible new therapies for itchy conditions.

Members of the Bengaluru Solidarity Group in Support of the Bhopal Struggle take part in a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster in Bangalore on December 2, 2014.

The world's worst industrial disaster harmed people even before they were born

9:28am November 22, 2023

by Rhitu Chatterjee

The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India, killed thousands. New research finds babies born to mothers who were pregnant at the time have suffered long-term impacts worse than those directly exposed.

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Obesity medications will have some people spending the holidays without an appetite

6:27pm November 21, 2023

by Yuki Noguchi

Obesity medications like Wegovy that tamp down hunger mean some people are navigating life and the holidays without an appetite. This changes social interactions and a traditional source of comfort.

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Left: Jax Le, aka 'Jax The Poet', attended Philly FatCon in October. Jax is also the author of the book Love Handles & Muffin Tops: Poems For Body Positivity & Plus Size Bodies. Right: Maggie Clerkin also attended Philly FatCon and called the event felt "refreshing."

Fat, happy and healed: A movement toward fat liberation

5:08pm November 21, 2023

by Jackie Molloy

Organizers of Philly FatCon, Philadelphia's first ever fat-focused convention, set out to bring fat people together in a safe space last month.

Taylor Swift fans wait for the doors of Nilton Santos Olympic stadium to open for her Eras Tour concert amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. A 23-year-old Taylor Swift fan died Friday night after suffering from cardiac arrest due to heat at the concert, according to a statement from the show's organizers in Brazil.

A fan died of heat at a Taylor Swift concert. It's a rising risk with climate change

4:10pm November 21, 2023

by Alejandra Borunda

The concert in Rio de Janeiro took place during one of the worst heat waves ever in Brazil. The country is in the middle of a record-breaking six months of extreme weather.

Even though she still qualified, Beverly Likens of Martin, Kentucky, lost her Medicaid just days before a needed surgery. It took a lawyer helping her to straighten out the red tape.

Health & Safety

Kentucky cut off her Medicaid over a clerical error — just days before her surgery

12:00pm November 21, 2023

by Rachana Pradhan

The Medicaid 'unwinding' is in full swing, and thousands of people are being kicked off the rolls due to administrative errors. Kentucky canceled Beverly Likens' coverage even though she is disabled.