Contributor

B. David Zarley

Senior Staff Writer

Contact

[email protected]

B. David Zarley is a senior staff writer for Freethink, where he covers health and medicine, including infectious disease, psychedelic research, mental health, and the brain. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Verge, Jezebel, Frieze, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Paste Magazine, and numerous other publications. He lives in Chicago and can be reached via Signal by request. Send him story ideas!

Surgery

Wasps inspire a new surgical needle

The next new surgical tool may come from an odd place: parasitic wasps whose eggs eat their hosts inside-out.

B. David Zarley

Engineering

Microbes inside concrete can warn us about rotting infrastructure

By learning about the bacteria that live inside concrete, scientists hope to develop early warning systems about damage.

B. David Zarley

Climate Crisis

Using body bags to treat heatstroke

The Pacific Northwest heat wave crushed hospitals with heatstroke victims. Doctors turned to body bags to save lives.

B. David Zarley

Virology

Ancient frozen viruses hold clues to life and climate

Using new techniques, researchers at Ohio State have identified ancient viruses we’ve never seen before.

B. David Zarley

Neuroscience

Already-approved ALS drug may help Alzheimer’s patients

A small phase 2 study has found evidence that ALS medication riluzole may have potential as a drug for Alzheimer’s.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Graphene foam sucks uranium out of contaminated water

MIT researchers have developed a graphene foam water filter that eliminates uranium contamination in hours.

B. David Zarley

Neuroscience

Researchers have created a brain sensor swarm

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed an injectable swarm of nanosenors they hope will measure the brain noninvasively.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Inside your nose, it’s bacteria vs. bacteria in the fight against meningitis

Researchers have found that nose drops containing “friendly” bacteria can protect people against meningitis-causing bacteria.

B. David Zarley

Virology

New antibodies may lead to a norovirus vaccine

Researchers have discovered antibodies that neutralize a variety of norovirus strains, a possible step toward an effective norovirus vaccine.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Harvard has a vaccine against septic shock

A new vaccine platform based on biomaterial may eventually provide rapid protection against multiple bacterial threats.

B. David Zarley