Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 28, 2019

Does March Madness Really Mean 'Vasectomy Season'?

March Madness is in full swing, but along with the fervor over the annual college basketball tournament comes news of a different kind of spring event: vasectomy season. According to some news outlets, March Madness is tied to an increase in men getting vasectomies. March Madness vasectomy season is upon...

Jan 31, 2019

A Cactus Prick Likely Caused Former NHL Player's Life-Threatening Infection

A former NHL player developed a life-threatening infection after a spiky cactus pierced his leg, according to news reports. Fifty-year-old Lyle Odelein, who retired from the NHL in 2006 after a nearly two-decade career, was playing golf in Arizona in March 2018 when he walked into the rough to retrieve...

Jan 31, 2019

A Rover That Will Look for Life on Mars Named for DNA Pioneer Rosalind Franklin

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today (Feb. 7) that its next Mars rover will be named for Rosalind Franklin, the late British scientist, who was behind the discovery of DNA's double-helix structure. ESA's ExoMars rover, Rosalind the rover, is scheduled to launch to the Red Planet in 2020 and...

Jan 31, 2019

Measles Outbreak Spurs Vaccination Surge in Anti-Vaxxer Hotspot

Weeks after a hotspot for anti-vaxxers turned into a hotspot for measles infections, vaccination rates have surged in the area, according to news reports. Last month, following 50 confirmed cases and 11 suspected cases of the measles, Clark County, Washington, declared a public health emergency. Now, residents of the area...

Jan 31, 2019

Why Do Babies Cry on Airplanes?

Whether you're the long-suffering parent or an unlucky passenger sitting in a neighboring row, a crying baby on an airplane is never fun. We've all been there. As the plane ascends or descends, baby feels the scary sensation of her or his ears popping, and a whimper that turns into...

Dec 31, 2018

'Wound Botulism' Outbreak in San Diego Linked to Black Tar Heroin

Nine people in San Diego recently developed a rare but serious illness called wound botulism after using black tar heroin, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak has health officials warning doctors and the public to be aware of this condition,...

Dec 31, 2018

Doctors Thought a Woman Was Having a Panic Attack. She Actually Had Rabies.

When a Virginia woman went to the emergency room with shortness of breath, anxiety, sleeping troubles and difficulty swallowing water, doctors thought she was having a panic attack. But her symptoms were actually due to something much rarer: she had a rabies infection — one that would prove fatal —...

Dec 31, 2018

How Did 'Miracle' Man Come Back from Dangerous Brain Swelling?

A man in Nebraska who doctors believed had experienced a devastating stroke actually had a different condition — fortunately, one that allowed him to come back from the brink of death. After his children accepted that their father was likely to die and decided to have him removed from his...

Dec 31, 2018

What Caused This Man's Sudden, Monthly Sweating Episodes?

There's nothing strange about breaking out into a heavy sweat on a sweltering day, or, after some serious physical activity. But if you regularly started sweating heavily for no apparent reason — and on a monthly basis, for that matter — well, that might be a cause for concern. That's...

Dec 31, 2018

Here's How 'Flesh-Eating' Bacteria Feast on Your Flesh

Flesh-eating bacteria can cause serious infections that can result in loss of limbs and even death. Now, a new study reveals just how the bacteria thrive deep in muscle tissue and cause such severe disease. The study focused on bacteria called group A Streptococcus, the most common cause of flesh-eating...

Dec 31, 2018

A Young, Pro Athlete Nearly Died After Swallowing a Toothpick

He was a young and fit pro athlete, but he came dangerously close to death when he accidentally swallowed a rather commonplace item: a toothpick. The seemingly mundane toothpick wreaked havoc inside the 18-year-old man's body, where the object punctured the wall of his lower intestine and poked into an...

Nov 30, 2020

COVID-19 may have arrived in US by December 2019

COVID-19 may have already arrived in the United States by December 2019, before the disease was even identified in China, a new study suggests. The study researchers, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), analyzed more than 7,000 blood donations collected by the American Red Cross in nine...

Nov 30, 2020

Why did this man's urine turn green?

A hospitalized man's case took a strange turn when his urine became a murky shade of green, according to a new report. Although alarming, the unusual color turned out to be a harmless side effect of his medication. The 62-year-old man had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive lung...

Nov 30, 2020

Microwave pulses caused bizarre ‘Havana syndrome,’ report suggests

A string of mysterious neurological illnesses reported by U.S. diplomats in Cuba was likely caused by directed microwave energy, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences. In late 2016, people who worked at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, started to develop unexplained symptoms including hearing...

Nov 30, 2020

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine starts to work just 10 days after 1st dose

Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine starts to protect people from the novel coronavirus just 10 days after the first dose, according to new documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The documents were released on Tuesday (Dec. 8), two days before a meeting of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel,...