Recent Episodes
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The FUS involved in ALS
A chance meeting may be what's keeping a man alive after his siblings and mother all died from ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease that attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord leading to loss of muscle control.
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The Bad "Rap" of Vaccine Adjuvants
Among our treasured medical marvels are vaccines. They've saved at least 100million lives and prevented more than 500 million cases of childhood infectious disease, according to the World Health Organization. Yet, a growing minority of people attack vaccines and now target the adjuvants in vaccines that make them work better.
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The Chemistry of Mercury
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered at the end of July that the remaining uses of ethylmercury in vaccines be removed, it was political. For years before President Trump appointed Kennedy cabinet head to oversee our nation's top health agencies, he was a vaccine skeptic who blamed this form of mercury for autism. Yet study after study has debunked this claim, so let's get a short chemistry lesson to explain why. Ethylmercury is also known as thimerosal, and, for years, was safely used to preserve some vaccines.
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Nobel the Man behind the Ultimate Science Prizes
This month, we honor the Nobel Prizes, science's highest award, named for Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and industrialist.
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Why Do We Prune in Water?
Some of our body's automatic functions remain a mystery. For example, why do our fingers prune after some time in the water? We don't know, but a new study suggests it improves our grip on wet objects. There's a term for pruning called water-induced finger wrinkling. Yep, there's a term for that.
