People are losing the brain benefits of writing by hand as the practice becomes less common — Not so long ago, putting pen to paper was a fundamental feature of daily life. Journaling and diary-keeping were commonplace, and people exchanged handwritten letters with friends, loved ones, and business associates. While longhand communication is more time-consuming and onerous, there’s evidence that people may in some cases lose out…

The next frontier of medicine is based in mRNA — I can depend on my body. My muscles contract when I want them to — to carry me up mountains and down ski slopes, to pull my kayak paddle through the water, and move my hands across piano keys. When I drink my favorite red wine, my liver metabolizes the…

Everyday chemicals are threatening the future of human fertility — Many men today have just half the number of sperm their grandfathers had. The shocking discovery was published in 2017 by Shanna Swan, PhD, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. After analyzing 185 studies involving nearly 45,000 healthy men…

A scientist discusses Toxoplasma — a possible cause for the bizarre behaviors — The following article contains minor spoilers for the Netflix docuseries Tiger King. “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is a docuseries on Netflix that is taking the (currently house-bound) world by storm. The story lifts the veil on the surprisingly nefarious world of collecting and exhibiting big cats, such as…

In the absence of light, how do your body and mind behave? — This story is a part of Elemental Light Week, a five-day series on what light does for your body, brain, and well-being. In 1962, French geologist Michel Siffre started going underground. He conducted a series of experiments that involved sending human subjects — including himself — into dark caves alone…

How a scientist’s daring experiments pushed the limits of medicine — On a cold night in Cleveland in 1971, Dr. Robert White waited for signs of life. He stood, exhausted and still enrobed in a stiff surgical coat, over an operating table. Fluorescent lights bled color from the room, leaving it sterile, silent. …

Metal really does sometimes stick to some people’s skin. Here’s the science of why. — Every once in a while, a claim comes along that wildly challenges the mainstream scientific narrative. These challenges can occasionally serve as the seed for a revolution in our understanding of some aspect of the world, but much more frequently, the novel claims simply fail to pan out. Oftentimes, the…