Latest articles by Scott Fields
What's Perfect Pitch?
Those rare musicians who have perfect pitch can name any note just by hearing it.
What Do Antibiotics Do?
When you get sick, more often than not the miscreant is a microbe, and doctors often fight back with antibiotics.
What Causes Eye Flashes and Floaters?
The most common cause of eye flashes is pulling between parts of the eye and the most common cause of floaters when this pulling causes material to break free.
New Approach Disarms Deadly Bacteria
A new strategy for treating bacterial disease without producing drug-resistant strains.
Microscopic Barcodes Identify Biological Weapons Quickly
The technology would allow soldiers to use the right kind of anti-pathogen protection at just the right time.
New Device Points Way to Artificial Kidney Implants
A new hi-tech membrane may soon improve the effectiveness of dialysis and might someday lead to implantable, artificial kidneys.
The Last Gold Rush and the Real Cost of Bling
Like gold? Dig deep. Making a single gold ring requires at least 20 tons of gold-flecked rock, raising the financial and environmental costs of mining.
Scientists Create Tiniest Blood Vessels
Breakthrough could lead to implants that would curb amputations among diabetics.
Fancy Flashlight to Help Find Oral Cancer
Ordinary light doesn't highlight what has turned out to be a reliable indicator of some cells' health: their natural fluorescence.
Smart Pill to Report from Inside the Body
Pending FDA approval, a device about the size of a multivitamin capsule would go in and out natural orifices and report on everything in between.
Nerves Stretched to New Limits
A whale's ability to communicate with its tail inspires new lab work revealing surprising nerve growth.
Molecule-sized Switch Could Control DNA Machines
Microscopic machines need tiny switches. This is about as small as you get.
New Human Bone Made of Seaweed and Crustaceans
Stir in a nano-scaffold and some of a patient's own cells, and this living cement could fill bone gaps.
Picture Perfect Method to Detect Deadly Bacteria
Scientists there have developed a system in which a treated silicon chip is combined with a digital camera to identify E. coli instantly.
Growing Bones: New Technique Proves Promising
Such bones could come in handy in those circumstances in which chunks of bone in the human body go missing.
Glow-in-the-Dark Creature to Provide View Inside Human Body
Nanoparticles that make their own light with the help of sea creatures could help medical technicians take clearer pictures from deeper inside the human body.
Implantable Lazy Susans Could Deliver Drug Cocktails
These devices can dole out a smorgasbord of solid, liquid, or gel-based drugs to just the right location.
Researchers Develop Portable Cocaine-A-Lyzer
A DNA molecule that stiffens and folds when it encounters cocaine is the engine that drives a new handheld, fast-acting drug detector.
Drug Nanoshuttles Target ‘Zip Codes’ in Human Body
Tiny drug-packing vessels could self-navigate to where they’re needed.
Remote Control Drug Delivery Possible
Tiny remote-controlled tubes might someday let doctors deliver potent drugs to the exact spots in the body where they are most needed.
Manufactured Nanoparticles Might Pose Health Threat
Buckyballs, among the most used and certainly the most celebrated of manmade nanoparticles, might represent a potent health threat.
