Foundations of Science

Foundations of Science

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Bodily Functions Explained: Itch and Scratch

Meant to remove invaders, either infectious or simply irritating, a scratch is human skin’s first line of defense.

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6 Views of a Neuron by Golgi and Cajal

Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal stain cells and uncover the intricate secrets of the nervous system.

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Female Pioneers: Meet the Biochemist Who Tackled One of TB’s Great Mysteries

American scientist Florence Seibert developed a reliable test for TB, which has helped saved millions of lives.

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Smallpox Vanquished

Once one of the world’s deadliest diseases, smallpox’s complete eradication was the result of a worldwide deployment of a vaccine begun 50 years ago. To date it’s still the only human disease ever to disappear from Earth. Considered one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, alongside the likes of getting a man on the moon, and one of the greatest medical feats in all of human history, smallpox was…
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Bodily Functions Explained: The Cough

It’s an everyday occurrence. A little tickle in your throat, a wayward speck of pollen, perhaps — or a bit of water traveling down the wrong pipe — and then a full-on chain reaction in your body. Your torso lurches forward with force as your esophagus slams shut then opens wide again. In between, your lungs compress in a short burst and abdominal and rib muscles contract to push the equivalent of most of a two-liter…
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The Long And Short Of Aging

The length of our telomeres, the caps on the ends of chromosomes, can predict how well we’re aging.

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What a Porcupine Quill Can Teach Us About Making Better Needles

Taking a design cue from the animal world, mimicking a porcupine quill might help make a more effective—and less painful—needle.

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Hungry, Hungry Macrophages (video)

Macrophages, the human immune system’s horde of cells that clear the body’s detritus by eating it, may be induced to gorge — in the name of helping combat Alzheimer’s and other diseases.

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Flashback: Spanish Flu Mask

At the close of WWI, an estimated 50 million people died from the Spanish flu. Masks were the uninfected’s main line of defense.