A mosquito-borne virus discovered over a half century ago has been found in humans for the first time ever, likely having caused a case of severe rash and fever in a Florida teenager in 2016. But despite the recent reveal, it’s likely the germ has been making people sick for quite some time.

An excavation of a million people’s genes has provided some interesting clues to how several common psychiatric disorders might arise, including major depression and schizophrenia. And it’s also highlighted connections between some mental illnesses and other health problems, including heart disease.

Keeping track of your blood sugar is poised to become a lot easier for some diabetics living in the U.S. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Eversense Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system. The Eversense is not the first approved CGM system, though it is the first with a fully implantable…

A fringe theory about the origins of Alzheimer’s disease—that latent viral infections can sometimes trigger its emergence—has gotten perhaps its most significant bit of support yet. A complex new study published Thursday in Neuron has found evidence that certain viruses are not only more common in the brains of people…

A series of heartbreaking investigative stories published Wednesday by Reveal and The Texas Tribune highlight the disturbing conditions many undocumented children have been allegedly forced to endure in privately run shelters set up to house them as they await proceedings to determine whether they can stay in the…

With yet another Jurassic Park movie headed to theaters, it’s the perfect time for busybody scientists to shatter our conceptions of how dinosaurs looked and acted. The latest dino truth bomb comes courtesy of a new study published Wednesday in PLOS One. It suggests that most dinosaurs, including the fearsome…

A towering invasive plant capable of scarring anyone unlucky enough to touch its toxic sap is cropping back up in the U.S. And for the first time ever, it’s been spotted in the state of Virginia.

There are plenty of bad (and cool!) tattoos out there, but few might ever be as regrettable as the one that apparently caused an immune disorder and years of chronic pain in a UK woman. The bizarre medical tale, detailed by her doctors Monday in BMJ Case Reports, is apparently the first recorded instance of such a…

Most of us know that spending too much time at loud rock concerts can be bad for our hearing later on. But a new study published Thursday in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery suggests that kids as young as nine can be at risk of hearing loss from an unexpected source: their smartphones and tablets.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has abruptly halted its $100 million study meant to examine whether moderate drinking can be good for your heart. The decision, announced Friday, comes in the wake of a report commissioned by the federal agency that reaffirmed allegations first reported by the New York Times…

Consumer DNA testing is going to the dogs. A Canadian testing company has been accused of sending back supposedly human ancestry results on a faux sample that actually came from a chihuahua named Snoopy, CBC News reported Wednesday. Remarkably, it’s the second company reported to have been fooled by doggy DNA in…

The wide assortment of flavorings used to spice up your vaping experience could be damaging your cardiovascular system, suggests new research released Thursday. The study, published in the journal of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, found that several common e-cigarette flavorings can directly harm…

Despite the best efforts of a Republican-led Congress over the past two years, the Affordable Care Act has largely stayed intact. A recent study published in Health Affairs offers the latest bit of evidence that the sweeping health care law, flawed and incomplete as it might be, has been a net good. In California, the…

In recent years, psychedelic party drugs such as LSD and MDMA have been studied by scientists for their potential ability to treat mental health problems like depression and anxiety—often in microdoses much smaller than the what a person would take to trip. But while the research into these drugs is promising, there’s…

On Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health revealed its new plan to tackle the opioid crisis, which it dubbed the Helping to End Addiction Long-term, or HEAL, initiative. Among the ideas presented are research programs devoted to better understanding chronic pain, developing new non-opioid painkillers and addiction…

With summer just around the corner, it’s getting to be the perfect weather to enjoy some delish fruits of the melon variety. Unfortunately, there’s a nasty outbreak of Salmonella that’s contaminated certain brands of pre-cut melons, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A test developed by scientists in the UK and US might someday be able to pinpoint the men most likely to get prostate cancer. A new study published Monday in Nature Genetics suggests the test can detect the one percent of men who are genetically most vulnerable to developing prostate cancer, a leading cause of cancer…

The annual rate of death by suicide has steadily risen in the US since the turn of the millennium, according to a new report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In many cases, those who died had not been diagnosed with any mental health condition—though the data does not specify…