Death, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 23, 2021

California family found dead on trail had 'no obvious cause of death.' Could toxic algae be responsible?

A family was recently found dead on a hiking trail along the Merced River in a remote area of the Sierra National Forest in California. There were no signs of damage to their bodies. Investigators are looking into the possibility that toxic algal blooms may be to blame. But is...

Sep 17, 2021

Horse tranquilizer crops up in overdose deaths around US

A horse tranquilizer drug often found mixed with opioids is increasingly involved in overdose deaths in some U.S. states. The drug, called xylazine, is a sedative used in veterinary medicine, and it is not approved for use in humans. Recently, the tranquilizer began popping up in the U.S. illegal drug...

Feb 15, 2023

World's deadliest mushroom conquered California with a clone army, study reveals

The world's deadliest mushroom has been invading California by cloning itself, new research finds. The poisonous death cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides) is an invasive fungus whose fatal amatoxin accounts for more than 90% of deaths from mushrooms worldwide, but how it spread from its European origins to colonize every continent...

Apr 5, 2023

Fatal drug overdoses have quadrupled in US seniors

Fatal drug overdoses aren't just a problem for the young — increasingly, overdoses deaths are involving America's senior population, according to a new study. The study found that the annual rate of drug overdose deaths among adults ages 65 and older in the U.S. has quadrupled over the last two...

Jun 15, 2023

Night owls may die earlier because they tend to drink and smoke more, study suggests

Night owls' tendency to smoke more cigarettes and drink more alcohol than early birds could explain why evening people have a higher risk of early death than early risers do, a large analysis suggests. This can reassure people concerned about what being a morning or evening person means for their...

Sep 19, 2023

Some people whose brains flatline but survive can recall lucid 'experiences of death'

What happens when we actually die — when our heart stops and all electrical activity flatlines in our brain? Humans have been asking this question since time immemorial. It's a tough one because the dead do not normally ping back to us about the nature of their experiences. Religious texts...

Jan 23, 2024

Seizures may be a cause of sudden unexplained child deaths

Some unexplained deaths of young children may be linked to seizures, according to a new study that analyzed video footage of these children's last moments. The research is an attempt to understand sudden unexplained death in children, or SUDC, when a seemingly healthy young child dies suddenly and neither an...

Jan 30, 2024

Undetected brain infections may explain some SIDS cases

Brain infections and inflammation may explain some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a small study hints. The research pointed to a specific virus, called human parechovirus 3 (HPeV3),as potentially tied to the death of one child in the study; HPeV3 is known to cause both mild respiratory infections...

Feb 15, 2024

'Microbiome of death' uncovered on decomposing corpses could aid forensics

Microbes that lurk in decomposing human corpses could help forensic detectives establish a person's time of death, a new study finds. The research, published Monday (Feb. 12) in the journal Nature Microbiology, involved placing 36 human cadavers in three locations during spring, summer, fall and winter. The scientists chose locations...