Health

The future of fertility, from artificial wombs to AI-assisted IVF

A look back at the history of infertility treatments and ahead to the tech that could change everything we thought we knew about reproduction.

Kristin Houser

Overlay of hands and abstract patterns in purple and blue tones, symbolizing hope for Parkinson's cure.

Drugs

The exciting research that may cure Parkinson’s

GeneCode is developing a drug it hopes won’t just alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms but also protect and restore patient’s neural health.

Kevin Dickinson

A child sitting on a couch in a dimly lit room, holding and looking intently at a tablet, as if testing the Goldilocks hypothesis for the perfect screen brightness.

Mental Health

Beyond screen time: Rethinking kids’ tech use with the “Goldilocks hypothesis”

The “Goldilocks hypothesis” asks parents to think beyond screen time and consider the habits that teens build around technology use.

Kevin Dickinson

Medicine

One shot could stop severe bleeding and save thousands of lives

A potentially lifesaving treatment to stop severe postpartum hemorrhage could soon be more accessible to the people who need it the most.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

One way to speed up clinical trials: Skip right to the data with electronic medical records

It takes around 17 years for medical research to translate into clinical practice — why not use EMR data to speed things up?

Oscar Marroquin and Erin McCreary and Kevin Kip

a man holding a microscope slide covered in tiny colorful dots

Medicine

New drug delivery tech could ensure you never forget your meds

Rice University's new drug delivery tech uses biodegradable microparticles to administer medications exactly when and where they are needed.

Kristin Houser

a microscope image of tuberculosis bacteria

Public Health

Tuberculosis kills over a million people a year. New breakthroughs may help humanity fight back.

The world needs a tuberculosis vaccine, but the challenge trials that could help are impossible to run. Two new approaches look to change that.

B. David Zarley

Coronavirus

Nasal COVID-19 vaccine outperforms mRNA shots in new study

A live attenuated vaccine for COVID-19 that delivered via a nasal spray outperformed several shots in a preclinical study.

Kristin Houser

Brain

Epilepsy surgery has a success rate of only 50%. This digital brain may change that.

Using patient data and AI, French researchers have created a digital model of the brain to figure out which brain region needs removed.

B. David Zarley

Virology

Viruses cause 200+ diseases. This one drug may be able to treat them all.

New Zealand-based startup Kimer Med wants to create an antiviral that would be effective against many known viruses — and unknown.

B. David Zarley

a diagram of the nanoparticle containing mrna

Medicine

New mRNA therapy could bring an end to peanut allergies

A new peanut allergy treatment based on mRNA could potentially lead to therapies that prevent all types of allergies in people.

Kristin Houser

Drugs

Narcan is now available over-the-counter in the US

Naloxone administered by nasal spray can be a lifesaving drug with minimal side effects. It's now approved for over-the-counter use in the U.S.

Janice L. Pringle and Lucas Berenbrok

Healthcare

Standing on a vibrating platform could deliver some of the same benefits as exercise

The reason whole-body vibration training is gaining interest is because it’s far easier to do than regular exercise.

Hope Rose Edwards and Matthew Farrow

Sections

Video

Freethink

We focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.