Research News

Picture a hairless, wrinkly rodent about the size of a small sweet potato — kinda cool, kinda weird. They also are extraordinarily long-lived. Researchers are lining up to study their secrets.

A detailed comparison of mouse and human brain tissue found differences that could help explain why mice aren't always a good model for human diseases.

Though tobacco ads have been banned from TV for about 50 years, the marketing of electronic cigarettes isn't constrained by the law. Public health advocates consider that a loophole that hurts kids.

A recent study found virtual reality experiences were better at easing pain than watching televised nature scenes. Immersive distraction seems key to the success, scientists say.

No ordinary pair of shorts, these were designed by Harvard scientists to work with the wearer's own leg muscles when walking or running, and might make a soldier's heavy loads easier to carry.

Drugs tested in the Democratic Republic of Congo are effective in treating Ebola, scientists say. They have run a study in the midst of a deadly epidemic and in the face of armed assaults on doctors.

The scientists captured the acrobatic jumps of a tiny maggot-like creature with high-speed cameras to figure out how it does this trick with no arms, legs, or wings.

The flightless bird weighed 15 pounds, was about 3 feet tall and probably feasted on other parrots. Study lead Trevor Worthy made the discovery after examining two 19 million-year-old leg bones.

Studies are revealing new, unintended threats that neonicotinoid pesticides pose to insects. The chemicals, widely used by farmers, are difficult to control because they persist in the environment.

An interdisciplinary team in San Francisco uses acupressure, massage, counseling and other methods, as well as medicine, to help kids get relief from chronic pain. But such pediatric centers are rare.

The proportion of people who say they have a "great deal" of confidence in scientists to act in the public interest increased from 21% in 2016 to 35% in 2019, according to the Pew Research Center.

New research suggests allergies to sesame are comparably prevalent as those to some tree nuts. The findings come as the FDA weighs whether to require sesame to be listed as an allergen on food labels.