Disease Update

Artwork showing neurons along with the tangles of tau protein and clumps of amyloid-beta plaques that are typically found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Investigating when and how these proteins form might lead to new therapies.

Watching Alzheimer’s in action

A look inside the brains of engineered mice suggests therapies might need to target two key proteins — tau and amyloid-beta — at the same time

Photograph of a row of skeletons in a trench.

Health & Disease

Profiling the perpetrators of past plagues

The ancient pathogens in old graves are as dead as the people they once infected. Still, they tell a vivid tale.

Photograph of two elderly men sitting outdoors. They are enjoying a good joke or tale. The man on the left has his arms around the shoulders of his friend. He ls laughing. The man on the right has his arms out in front, slightly raised, as if he is relating a story. He is grinning.

The Mind

Emotions get better with age

As people grow older, they gain greater control of their feelings. How do they do that — and can they teach young whippersnappers a thing or two?

Photograph of human and robotic arms shaking hands. Scientists are devising ways for people with paralysis to control computers, robotic prosthetics and even their own limbs with their thoughts.

Technology

Bypassing paralysis

By decoding brain activity with electrical implants, computers can help disabled people move a robotic arm — or their own

Conceptual illustration showing a human figure standing in front of a large image of a virus. The figure is holding a piece of DNA.

Health & Disease

It’s not just the germs — it’s also the genes

Pathogens can make us sick. Just how sick depends on genetic variations, including ones that sabotage immune molecules called interferons. A better understanding could lead to new treatments for Covid-19 and other scourges.

Conceptual illustration shows a person vaulting over a book and calendar away from bad habits and poor willpower, as depicted by unhealthy food and money and scrunched-up paper.

The Mind

Time for half-year resolutions?

If your good intentions from a few months ago haven’t led to much, take note. A psychologist tells us what we can learn from studies on willpower.

Conceptual illustration of a ribosome with mRNA running through as it strings together amino acids to create a new protein.

Living World

When ribosomes go rogue

Unusual variations in the cellular protein factory can skew development, help cancer spread and more. But ribosome variety may also play biological roles, scientists say.

Large platters hold monkey meat that has been cooked. Several women stand behind the platters.

Food & Environment

In defense of wild meat’s place at the table

Sustainable and safe consumption of wildlife is possible, and important for those who depend on it, says a conservation researcher

Illustration of a coronavirus showing a grey sphere studded with many red protrusions.

Health & Disease

Closing in on the new coronavirus

The eye-catching spikes sticking out from the surface of SARS-CoV-2 may inspire new ways to prevent or treat Covid-19 infections

Colorized scanning electron microscope image of excrement shows a pale green piece of plant fiber covered by tiny microbes colored teal, purple, red, green, brown and more.

The Mind

The growing link between microbes, mood and mental health

New research suggests that to maintain a healthy brain, we should tend our gut microbiome. The best way to do that right now is not through pills and supplements, but better food.

Three people wearing gloves, goggles and full-body protective clothing take samples from a rodent. One of them holds the animal while another takes the specimen. A third stands at the side, holding small tubes in which the samples will be placed.

Health & Disease

Infectious disease: Making — and breaking — the animal connection

We know pathogens from other species can endanger us. Scientists are better equipped than ever to do something about it, but political buy-in is crucial.

An indigenous woman in traditional dress with a baby on her back stands in front of a lake, with high mountains in background.

Health & Disease

Born in thin air: Overcoming the challenges of pregnancy at high elevation

In people not adapted to life at altitude, the sparse oxygen can impair fetal growth, causing problems that can last a lifetime. Researchers are searching for remedies.

Collage featuring a brain, hippocampus, rabbit and neuronal activity.

The Mind

It began with a rabbit: Unraveling the mystery of memory

Half a century after the discovery of long-term potentiation, we’re still learning how the brain remembers

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