Science

Brain Freeze: Why Can Ice Cream Knock Us Out?
ExplainerBrain Freeze: Why Can Ice Cream Knock Us Out?

It’s an experience many of us have had, often while sitting at a café terrace in summer or sharing a bowl of ice cream with friends. You take a bite, swallow too quickly, and suddenly a sharp pain shoots across your forehead, a jolt so sudden it makes you stop in your tracks. The term “brain freeze” captures this almost absurd sensation, as ...

Informing Parents not Enough to Fight Childhood Obesity
Informing Parents not Enough to Fight Childhood Obesity

Government-led programs attempting to curb childhood obesity by educating parents do not work, an international study published Thursday concluded, and researchers are calling for policies that prioritize society-wide solutions. Obesity is a major health crisis with more than one in eight people globally now obese, according to the World Health ...

Motherhood in the 21st Century
VideosMotherhood in the 21st Century

Eight chapters explore what motherhood reveals about our times – from the invisible experience of pregnancy denial to the choice of late motherhood, navigating medicine, the unconscious, social taboos and the intimate voices of clear-eyed mothers. Discover the full series starting today on our website.

WHO Backs Weight-Loss Drugs, Urges Cheap Generics
WHO Backs Weight-Loss Drugs, Urges Cheap Generics

The World Health Organization recommended a range of blockbuster weight-loss drugs to treat diabetes and obesity globally for the first time on Friday, calling for cheap generic versions to be made available for people in developing countries. The new generation of appetite-suppressing drugs called GLP-1 agonists -- which include the brands ...

From Montpellier to Beirut: Sharing Medical Innovation
From Montpellier to Beirut: Sharing Medical Innovation

The conference hall of the Hôpital Français du Levant buzzed on Friday with unusual excitement. Impeccable white coats, understated suits, attentive gazes: doctors, researchers, diplomats and institutional representatives gathered for a rare moment in the recent history of Lebanese medicine. Beneath the large bay windows flooding the room with ...

Wildfires Producing 'Witches' Brew' of Air Pollution: UN
SpotlightWildfires Producing 'Witches' Brew' of Air Pollution: UN

Wildfires are releasing a "witches' brew" of pollutants that can end up wrecking air quality a continent away from the blaze, the UN's weather and climate agency said Friday. The World Meteorological Organization said the quality of the air people breathe was interlinked with climate change, and the two issues needed to be tackled ...

When AI Confronts Alzheimer’s: Bill Gates’ Million-Dollar Bet
SpotlightWhen AI Confronts Alzheimer’s: Bill Gates’ Million-Dollar Bet

Is the fight against Alzheimer’s on the brink of a revolution? Driven by Gates, a new international science prize worth $1 million has just been unveiled to encourage the use of AI in tackling this neurodegenerative disease, which currently affects more than 55 million people worldwide. The announcement, made through the Alzheimer’s Disease ...

Rejuvenating from Within: The Bold Promise of Regenerative Medicine
SpotlightRejuvenating from Within: The Bold Promise of Regenerative Medicine

Just a few decades ago, regrowing a lost limb or fully rejuvenating tissues seemed almost impossible, like something out of a fairy tale. Today, biomedical research is moving fast, and two recent studies published in Nature are changing the landscape. One team has uncovered new insights into how human blood stem cells age, while another has ...

Expired Medications: Lebanon Sitting on a Health and Environmental Time Bomb
Expired Medications: Lebanon Sitting on a Health and Environmental Time Bomb

"An expired medication can be just as dangerous as a counterfeit one," says Joe Salloum. A shocking statement, almost a cry of alarm, meant to shake the authorities and shine a spotlight on a long-neglected problem. Yet behind this deliberately dramatic tone, scientific reality calls for more nuance: an expired medication is not always toxic, but ...

ChatGPT to Get Parental Controls After Teen's Death
ChatGPT to Get Parental Controls After Teen's Death

American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI said Tuesday it would add parental controls to its chatbot ChatGPT, a week after an American couple said the system encouraged their teenaged son to kill himself. "Within the next month, parents will be able to... link their account with their teen's account" and "control how ChatGPT responds to their ...

Cooling La Niña May Return in Coming Months
Cooling La Niña May Return in Coming Months

The cooling La Niña weather phenomenon may return between September and November, but even if it does, temperatures are nonetheless expected to be above average, the United Nations said Tuesday. La Niña is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that cools surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It brings ...

Ancient Tombs Unearthed in Iraq due to Drought
Ancient Tombs Unearthed in Iraq due to Drought

Archaeologists in drought-hit Iraq have discovered 40 ancient tombs after water levels in the country's largest reservoir declined, an antiquities official said Saturday. The tombs, believed to be over 2,300 years old, were unearthed at the edges of the Mosul Dam reservoir in the Khanke region of Duhok province in the country's north. "So far, ...