Science

As the H5N1 bird flu virus steamrolls its way across the globe — killing wild animals, commercial livestock and even some people — scientists and health officials fear we’re on the precipice of another global pandemic. But when, where and how that could come to pass is hard to predict — in part, some researchers […]

You might have heard of Lise Meitner. A native of Austria, she was the first woman to become a full professor of physics in Germany. She also helped discover nuclear fission. Yet the 1944 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for that accomplishment went solely to her longtime collaborator, Otto Hahn. Meitner battled misogyny and sexism at

In an effort to improve American diets, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Thursday released a new definition of what it means for a food to qualify as “healthy.” Products like fruit-flavored yogurt, fortified white bread and sweetened energy bars will no longer be allowed to label themselves as healthy if they exceed certain limits

Groundbreaking weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have understandably generated a lot of excitement, bringing hope to the hundreds of millions of people grappling with obesity. When combined with a healthier diet and exercise, these drugs, which suppress appetite, deliver an average 10% reduction in body weight that can be sustained for years. With more

This summer an old high school friend of mine decided to quit drinking entirely. She didn’t want to, but she felt she had no choice. “All of a sudden my body decided that alcohol is poison,” she told me recently over a bitter grapefruit mocktail at an Italian restaurant. “I can have as little as

A longtime internist who founded a chain of Southern California clinics has surrendered his medical license after an accusation from the state medical board that he sexually assaulted three patients, two of whom worked for his clinics. Dr. Mohammad Rasekhi signed an agreement to give up his medical license last month, weeks after the Medical

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday as the H5N1 bird flu virus moved from the Central Valley to Southern California dairy herds, while federal officials confirmed the first U.S. case of severe illness in a hospitalized Louisiana patient — a concerning development as the virus continues to spread throughout the nation via

Three men sought help at clinics or emergency rooms in Los Angeles County over a three-month period this year, each reporting severe diarrhea and a recent history of sexual contact with other men. Stool cultures revealed that all three were infected with Shigella sonnei, a strain of Shigella bacteria that is resistant to five of

Polio came for 5-year-old Lynn Lane when she was visiting her grandmother in rural Indiana. Suddenly, her arms and legs became weak, and by the time she got to a hospital in Indianapolis, she was totally paralyzed and in respiratory failure. Lane spent the next several months in an iron lung. “I don’t really remember

The Biden administration said Tuesday it was offering Pacific Gas & Electric a record $15-billion loan guarantee to help the utility upgrade its transmission lines, which have been blamed in causing wildfires, and make other improvements to meet fast-rising energy use. The commitment, which still must be finalized, would help PG&E expand hydropower generation and