Carissa Wong
Health Reporter at New Scientist
Health reporter @newscientist. She/Her 🏳️🌈 email: carissa.wong#newscientist.com, now @carissacwwong.bsky.social
Articles
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2 weeks ago |
newscientist.com | Carissa Wong
Two of the biggest health concerns of the modern age – ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and microplastics – have one thing in common: we don’t actually know if or how they harm our health. But researchers are proposing a bold new idea: that these problems are actually linked, and UPFs contain especially high levels of microplastics that worsen mental health. “We know ultra-processed foods have microplastics. We know that ultra-processed foods are also associated with depression and anxiety.
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2 weeks ago |
newscientist.com | Carissa Wong
If you have dense breast tissue, you could benefit from an extra round of cancer screening, according to a large trial that found this caught tumours that were missed in standard mammograms. The UK’s health services offer mammograms, a form of X-ray scan, between the ages of 50 and 71 in order to screen for breast cancer. These look for white growths that are indicative of cancer.
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2 weeks ago |
newscientist.com | Carissa Wong
There is little good-quality evidence to support the social media trend of taping your mouth closed at night to alleviate breathing difficulties – and some scientists worry it could bring its own set of problems. “The fad has taken off on social media,” says Ken O’Halloran at University College Cork in Ireland, who wasn’t involved in the new research.
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3 weeks ago |
newscientist.com | Carissa Wong
A norovirus vaccine pill that cuts the risk of infection could be available in a few years, after it showed promise in a trial where people were intentionally exposed to the virus. The highly contagious virus infects the stomach and intestines, causing vomiting and diarrhoea that typically resolve within a few days. “Billions are lost from the economy globally every year because of the lost days of work and hospitalisation,” says Sarah Caddy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
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3 weeks ago |
newscientist.com | Carissa Wong
Parents could one day track how much breast milk their baby is drinking, thanks to a device that sends alerts to their smartphones in real time. “A common anxiety around breastfeeding is the uncertainty surrounding the amounts of breast milk that babies get,” says Daniel Robinson at Northwestern University in Illinois. “It increases stress for the breastfeeding mothers, parents and even the clinicians.” Undernourished infants may grow less quickly and, in extreme cases, can become dehydrated.
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Our brains contain “banana” neurons that fire electrical signals when we see or smell the fruit, or even just hear the word “banana”. Read about @humansingleunit's cool study on how we smell, in my latest for @newscientist. https://t.co/J8uImYR3Ou
Will you live to 100? Probably not, as growth in life expectancy is slowing in wealthier countries. Researchers, including @sjayolshansky, share thoughts on what's behind the slowdown in my piece for @newscientist. https://t.co/2t8VtHTDue
Tobacco plants have been engineered to produce the exercise supplement creatine, suggesting it could one day be grown in edible plants. Read more @newscientist. Thanks to Pengxiang Fan @ZJU_China and @JoseAntonioPhD. https://t.co/k4SgbOxWg4