Science & Health

CVS and Walgreens will start dispensing mifepristone, one of the medications used to induce an abortion, in stores this month. The news was first reported by The New York Times. It comes more than a year after both retail pharmacy chains, the nation’s two largest, said they would pursue certification from the Food and Drug […]

An “age is just a number” mindset is fantastic when it comes to things like writing your first novel later in life or marrying your soulmate who happens to be younger than you. But one place it does not apply is when it comes to shoveling snow, which so many of us do every winter: […]

WASHINGTON — Alzheimer’s quietly ravages the brain long before symptoms appear, and now scientists have new clues about the dominolike sequence of those changes — a potential window to one day intervene. A large study in China tracked middle-aged and older adults for 20 years, using regular brain scans, spinal taps and other tests. Compared to […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — A private U.S. lunar lander touched down on the moon Thursday, but contact with the craft was weak, company officials said. There were no immediate updates on the lander’s condition from the company, Intuitive Machines. Tension mounted in the company’s command center in Houston, as controllers awaited a signal from the spacecraft […]

Elon Musk, Neuralink’s billionaire founder, said on Monday the first human patient received an implant from the brain-chip startup on Sunday and is recovering well. “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had given the company clearance last year […]

GENEVA — While new data show that smoking globally is on the decline, the World Health Organization warns that this good news is being undercut by an alarming rise in the use of e-cigarette and vaping devices, especially among children. “It is an alarming increase in the last four to five years. That is why we […]

NEW YORK — Sixty years ago, the U.S. surgeon general released a report that settled a longstanding public debate about the dangers of cigarettes and led to huge changes in smoking in America. Today, some public health experts say a similar report could help clear the air about vaping. Many U.S. adults believe nicotine vaping is […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday its preliminary review did not find evidence that weight-loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s NOVOb.CO Wegovy were tied to suicidal thoughts and the agency will continue to study the issue. Still, the FDA, which has listed suicidal thoughts as a potential safety signal for such drugs, […]

Bird flu has made its way into fur and elephant seal populations for the first time on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, a team of scientists confirmed Thursday, setting off alarm bells for conservationists as the highly contagious disease has already killed millions of birds worldwide. Scientists first suspected the presence of avian influenza […]