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

Mental Health

Johns Hopkins receives the first NIH grant for clinical psychedelic research in half a century

For the first time in decades, the National Institutes of Health is funding a clinical psychedelic study, perhaps a turning point for the field.

B. David Zarley

CRISPR

Surgeons connected a pig kidney to a human

Scientists linked a pig's kidney to a human body for the first time. This breakthrough experiment marks one step closer toward the goal of using animal organs for life-saving transplants.

Teresa Carey

Coronavirus

Ear sensor can monitor COVID-19 patients remotely

An ear sensor successfully alerted doctors to signs that COVID-19 patients isolating at home were getting worse and should be hospitalized.

Kristin Houser

Inventions

Smart microscope slides make breast cancer cells leap off screen

Breast cancer cells appear brightly colored when placed on new smart microscope slides, which could help doctors diagnose patients earlier.

Kristin Houser

Inventions

New cardiac patch can be implanted with a syringe

A new cardiac patch developed by Canadian scientists could help repair heart damage by supporting tissue without blocking electrical activity.

Kristin Houser

Mental Health

Brain implant relieves woman’s treatment-resistant depression

A woman with severe treatment-resistant depression has found relief, thanks to “pacemaker” implanted in her brain by UCSF researchers.

Kristin Houser

Psychology

Therapy can relieve chronic back pain by rewiring the brain

A psychological treatment for chronic back pain left two-thirds of study participants with little-to-no pain after just one month.

Kristin Houser

Public Health

WHO recommends its first malaria vaccine

A malaria vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, Mosquirix, has been recommended for use by the World Health Organization.

Kristin Houser

CRISPR

CRISPR partially restores vision in colorblind people

Scientists used CRISPR to direct edit DNA inside a healthy human cell, restoring partial vision to blind people.

Teresa Carey

Healthcare

Wearable health monitors help predict flu before symptoms start

A human challenge trial suggests that wearable health monitors could help predict flu and cold infections before symptoms appear.

Kristin Houser

Sections

Series & Columns

Freethink

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