Human Quirks: Health & Medicine

June 15, 2024

Top Headlines

Swimming Microrobots Deliver Cancer-Fighting Drugs to Metastatic Lung Tumors in Mice

June 12, 2024 — Engineers have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown ...

To Heal Skin, Scientists Invent Living Bioelectronics

June 12, 2024 — Engineers have created a patch that combines sensors and bacteria to interact with the ...

Towards a New Era in Flexible Piezoelectric Sensors for Both Humans and Robots

June 12, 2024 — Flexible piezoelectric sensors are essential to monitor the motions of both humans and humanoid robots. However, existing designs are either are costly or have limited sensitivity. In a recent study, ...

AI-Powered Simulation Training Improves Human Performance in Robotic Exoskeletons

June 12, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to autonomously help users save energy while walking, ...

Latest Headlines

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Would Astronauts' Kidneys Survive a Roundtrip to Mars?

June 11, 2024 — The structure and function of the kidneys is altered by space flight, with galactic radiation causing permanent damage that would jeopardise any mission to Mars, according to a new study led by ...

People Feel More Connected to 'Tweezer-Like' Bionic Tools That Don't Resemble Human Hands

June 6, 2024 — Some say the next step in human evolution will be the integration of technology with flesh. Now, researchers have used virtual reality to test ...

Babies Use 'Helpless' Infant Period to Learn Powerful Foundation Models, Just Like ChatGPT

June 5, 2024 — Babies' brains are not as immature as previously thought, rather they are using the period of postnatal 'helplessness' to learn powerful foundation ...

Could the World Famous Roman Baths Help Scientists Counter the Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance?

May 31, 2024 — A new study has uncovered a diverse array of microorganisms within the hot waters of the Roman Baths, regularly listed among the UK's most popular ...

Picture This: Snapping Photos of Our Food Could Be Good for Us

May 30, 2024 — Research reveals taking pictures of food isn't just content for our social media feeds, but could be the key to improving people's ...

Scientists Invent 'Living Bioelectronics' That Can Sense and Heal Skin

May 30, 2024 — Reaserchers have created a prototype for what they call 'living bioelectronics': a combination of living cells, gel, and electronics that can integrate with living tissue. Tests in mice found that ...

Chicken Feathers to Deliver Chemotherapy Drugs and Repair Enzymes

May 29, 2024 — A new method of drug delivery using proline, an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue, could be used to limit the side effects of chemotherapy and repair important enzymes, new ...

Public Have No Difficulty Getting to Grips With an Extra Thumb, Study Finds

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have shown that members of the public have little trouble in learning very quickly how to use a third thumb -- a controllable, prosthetic extra thumb -- to pick up and manipulate objects. ...

Imperceptible Sensors Made from 'Electronic Spider Silk' Can Be Printed Directly on Human Skin

May 24, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of ...

Psychedelic Drug-Induced Hyperconnectivity in the Brain Helps Clarify Altered Subjective Experiences

May 23, 2024 — A new study shows that the use of psilocybin, a compound found in the widely known 'magic mushrooms,' initiates a pattern of hyperconnectivity in the ...

Robots' and Prosthetic Hands' Sense of Touch Could Be as Fast as Humans

May 15, 2024 — Research could pave the way for a prosthetic hand and robot to be able to feel touch like a human hand. The technology could also be used to help restore lost functionality to patients after a ...

Seeking Medical Insights in the Physics of Mucus

May 7, 2024 — Understanding how mucus changes, and what it changes in response to, can help diagnose illnesses and develop treatments. Researchers develop a system to grow mucus-producing intestinal cells and ...

Time Zones and Tiredness Strongly Influence NBA Results, Study of 25,000 Matches Shows

May 1, 2024 — The body clock has a significant impact on the performance of NBA players. Data shows vastly better win ratio for home teams from the Western Time Zone Area (PDT) when playing an EDT team, compared ...

One in Eight Grown-Ups Love Extreme Tartness

Apr. 29, 2024 — For most people, biting into a lemon would leave them puckered up and desperate to lose that sour flavor, but a new study revealed that roughly one in eight adults like intensely sour sensations. The ...

Cells May Possess Hidden Communication System

Apr. 24, 2024 — Cells constantly navigate a dynamic environment, facing ever-changing conditions and challenges. But how do cells swiftly adapt to these environmental fluctuations? A new study is answering that ...

Wake Up and Die: Human Brain Neurons Re-Entering the Cell Cycle Age Quickly Shift to Senescence

Apr. 23, 2024 — Post-mitotic neurons in the brain that re-enter the cell cycle quickly succumb to senescence, and this re-entry is more common in Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study. The phenomenon ...

Revolutionary Molecular Device Unleashes Potential for Targeted Drug Delivery and Self-Healing Materials

Apr. 10, 2024 — In a new breakthrough that could revolutionise medical and material engineering, scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind molecular device that controls the release of multiple small molecules ...

Universal Brain-Computer Interface Lets People Play Games With Just Their Thoughts

Apr. 1, 2024 — Engineers have created a brain-computer interface that doesn't require calibration for each user, paving the way for widespread clinical ...

Genomic Research May Help Explain Cancer Resistance in Tasmanian Devils

Mar. 28, 2024 — Through DNA sequencing of Tasmanian devils and their tumors, researchers have tracked the genomic interactions between the animals and the ...

Scientists Extract Genetic Secrets from 4,000-Year-Old Teeth to Illuminate the Impact of Changing Human Diets Over the Centuries

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers have recovered remarkably preserved microbiomes from two teeth dating back 4,000 years, found in an Irish limestone cave. Genetic analyses of these microbiomes reveal major changes in the ...

Did You Know That Physical Activity Can Protect You from Chronic Pain?

Mar. 27, 2024 — Reserachers found that people who were more active in their free time had a lower chance of having various types of chronic pain 7-8 years later. For example, being just a little more active, such as ...

Secrets of the Naked Mole-Rat: New Study Reveals How Their Unique Metabolism Protects Them from Heart Attacks

Mar. 27, 2024 — This unusual, subterranean mammal with extreme longevity shows genetic adaptations to low oxygen environments which could offer opportunities for advancing other areas of physiological and medical ...

Researchers Show That Introduced Tardigrade Proteins Can Slow Metabolism in Human Cells

Mar. 26, 2024 — Tardigrade proteins are potential candidates in technologies centered on slowing the aging process and in long-term storage of human ...

If Faces Look Like Demons, You Could Have This Extraordinary Condition

Mar. 22, 2024 — Imagine if every time you saw a face, it appeared distorted. Well, for those who have a very rare condition known as prosopometamorphopsia (PMO), which causes facial features to appear distorted, ...

DNA Origami-Based Vaccines Toward Safe and Highly-Effective Precision Cancer Immunotherapy

Mar. 15, 2024 — Researchers have created a DNA origami platform called DoriVac, whose core component is a self-assembling square block-shaped nanostructure. DoriVac vaccines enabled tumor-bearing mice to better ...

Milk to the Rescue for Diabetics? Cow Produces Human Insulin in Milk

Mar. 13, 2024 — An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. The advancement could herald a new era in insulin ...

Researchers Develop Artificial Building Blocks of Life

Mar. 8, 2024 — For the first time, scientists have developed artificial nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, with several additional properties in the ...

CSI in Space: Analyzing Bloodstain Patterns in Microgravity

Mar. 8, 2024 — As more people seek to go where no man has gone before, researchers are exploring how forensic science can be adapted to extraterrestrial environments. A new study highlights the behavior of blood in ...

Space Tourism? Cosmic Radiation Exposure

Mar. 5, 2024 — Space weather experts are urging regulators and space tourism innovators to work together to protect their passengers and crews from the risks of space weather radiation ...

Sprinting 'Like a Jet' Will Produce Premier League Strikers of Tomorrow, Study Shows

Mar. 5, 2024 — Sprinting 'like a jet plane taking off' will help produce Premier League star strikers of tomorrow, new research has revealed. A new study of Tottenham Hotspur's academy has shown that ...