Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2020

Why can't humans digest corn?

Corn has a way of staying intact from plate to poop. The bright yellow kernels found in our favorite summer dishes can show up — seemingly undigested — in the bathroom hours later. How does corn survive the digestive system? And maybe more importantly, should you even eat a food...

Aug 31, 2020

Flu season may be very mild this year, thanks to COVID-19 precautions

Flu season may be pretty mild this year thanks to measures taken to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the report, published Thursday (Sept. 17) in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the researchers...

Aug 31, 2020

CDC reverses controversial coronavirus testing guidelines

In its latest about-face, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reversed controversial COVID-19 testing guidelines that were posted to the agency's website last month, reportedly over the objections of its own scientists. On Aug. 24, the CDC updated its testing guidelines to say that being exposed to...

Aug 31, 2020

Trump administration plans to distribute 100 million rapid COVID-19 tests to states

The Trump administration has announced a plan to distribute millions of rapid COVID-19 tests to states, with a focus on using the tests to reopen schools. On Monday (Sept. 28), President Donald Trump said in a news conference that the federal government would soon begin deploying 150 million rapid COVID-19...

Jul 31, 2020

Why do some people never gain weight?

It's one of life's great injustices: Some people must carefully pay attention to everything they put in their mouths in order to maintain their weight, while others can eat doughnuts to their heart's content and achieve the same result. So what's the secret? How do some people manage to never...

Jul 31, 2020

Fall could bring rare, paralyzing illness in children, CDC warns

As if the COVID-19 pandemic weren't bad enough, health officials say we're due for an outbreak of a rare, polio-like illness in children this fall. Cases of this disease, known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), spiked late in the summer and fall of 2014, 2016 and 2018, and officials expect...

Jul 31, 2020

Common colds train the immune system to recognize COVID-19

Previous infections with common cold viruses can train the immune system to recognize SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study. The study, published Aug. 4 in the journal Science, found that immune cells known as T cells that recognize common cold coronaviruses also recognize specific sites...

Jul 31, 2020

4 die from drinking tainted hand sanitizer, CDC reports

At least four people in the U.S. have died after drinking tainted hand sanitizer, and about a dozen more have experienced serious health effects including vision loss, according to a new report. The report follows warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about dozens of hand sanitizer products found...

Jul 31, 2020

Why do we develop lifelong immunity to some diseases, but not others?

Some diseases, like the measles, infect us once and usually grant us immunity for life. For others, like the flu, we have to get vaccinated year after year. So why do we develop lifelong immunity to some diseases but not others? And where does the novel coronavirus fit into all...

Jul 31, 2020

Russia approves 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccine with little human testing

Editor's note: According to a report by Science Magazine, the Sputnik V vaccine has actually only been approved for use in a small group of people, including health care workers. Live Science posted a new article on Aug. 13 reflecting this information. Russia just approved a coronavirus vaccine for use...

Jul 31, 2020

Should you ditch your gaiter as a face mask? Not so fast, scientists say.

Face masks play a critical role in helping to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, and could save tens of thousands of lives in the U.S. if everyone wore them in public, experts have said. Yes, some face masks are more protective than others. But that doesn’t mean wearing...

Jul 31, 2020

FDA approves new saliva test for COVID-19 that's simple, cheap and available now

A new saliva test for COVID-19 that can be completed in just a few hours has been authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The test has several advantages over traditional nasal swab tests: It's cheap, less invasive and can be performed without the need for...

Jul 31, 2020

Coronavirus news of the week (VIDEO)

Since the discovery of the virus that causes COVID-19, the daily news cycle has become swamped with updates about how the pathogen spreads, what the bug does to the body and what solutions might finally bring an end to the pandemic. But staying up-to-date on all the latest coronavirus news...

Jul 31, 2020

Health experts frustrated with new CDC coronavirus testing guidelines

In an abrupt switch, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its COVID-19 testing guidance to say that being exposed to a person with the disease doesn't necessarily warrant a test if you're not in a high-risk group or showing any symptoms. But public health officials are criticizing...

Jul 31, 2020

Lab confirms first case of coronavirus reinfection in the US

A young adult in Nevada was confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus twice, marking the first confirmed case of reinfection in the U.S., and the fourth in the world. This past week, researchers reported cases of reinfection in a patient in Hong Kong and two patients in Europe;...