Lydia Denworth

New York

Science Journalist at Freelance

Science journalist and speaker. Contributing editor @SciAm. Author of FRIENDSHIP (@wwnorton). Co-Author of PARENT NATION.

Articles

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Loud Snoring in Kids

4 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Lydia Denworth

The rattling or whistling noises of regular snorers are famously hard on those who share their beds. Middle-aged men and people who are overweight come frequently to mind as perpetrators because they are the most common sufferers of sleep apnea, often caused by a temporarily collapsing airway that makes the person snore heavily. But recent studies in children and pregnant women have revealed that even mild snoring can negatively affect health, behavior and quality of life.
Hit the Curiosity Sweet Spot to Speed Up Learning

1 month ago | hechoencalifornia1010.com | Lydia Denworth

The world is full of things to learn. Where to start? How to choose what to pay attention to? What motivates someone to seek new knowledge? The desire to learn is partly a preference for novelty: we tend to seek out new information and experiences, and that adds to what we know. We also like to reduce uncertainty. Information can bring food, safety, relationships, and other physical rewards.
New Drugs, and Diets, Soothe Inflammatory Bowel Disease

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Lydia Denworth

I recently met a 26-year-old chef named Caroline Horvatits whose story is simultaneously distressing and hopeful. About a decade ago, during high school, Caroline was stricken by gut pain so severe she couldn’t sleep and missed her midterm exams. After a colonoscopy, a gastroenterologist diagnosed her with ulcerative colitis (UC), a disease where the body’s immune cells overreact and attack the colon—part of the large intestine—leaving open sores in the lining.
Neuro Ph.D. programs adjust admissions over funding unease

2 months ago | thetransmitter.org | Claudia Lopez Lloreda |Calli McMurray |Lydia Denworth |Katie Moisse

ReporterThe Transmitter ReporterThe Transmitter Share this article: Tags: Academia, Craft and careers, Funding, Policy The Ph.D. application process crescendos during the first few months of every year: Prospective students visit schools, programs extend offers, and applicants decide which one to enroll in by 15 April. But this year, changes to the funding infrastructure of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) have disrupted that process.
The last two-author neuroscience paper?

2 months ago | thetransmitter.org | Lydia Denworth |Katie Moisse |Mark Humphries |Austin Coley

When Mala Murthy and Sebastian Seung of Princeton University saw high-resolution 2D electron microscope images in a 2018 Cell paper, they decided to try to build a fruit fly connectome with that dataset. Funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative, Murthy and Seung used the electron microscopy data to launch the work that resulted in FlyWire, a nine-paper package published in Nature in October 2024. The work made international headlines for its novelty and ambition.
Broken Legs and Ankles Heal Better If You Walk on Them within Weeks

2 months ago | scientificamerican.com | Lydia Denworth

Twenty years ago my husband, Mark, broke his left ankle and was in a cast and on crutches for nearly two months. Last year he broke the other ankle. But this time, after surgery, his doctor surprised us by instructing Mark to walk on it two weeks later. It turns out the standard advice to stay off a broken leg bone for at least six weeks is based less on scientific evidence and more on cultural caution—physicians like to play it safe.
Endometriose is veel meer dan alleen hevige menstruatiepijn

2 months ago | eoswetenschap.eu | Lydia Denworth

De pijn van endometriose, een ziekte waar naar schatting één op de tien Belgische vrouwen aan lijdt, kan verschrikkelijk zijn. Sommige vrouwen kunnen er niet meer door werken of naar school gaan. Toch herkennen veel artsen de symptomen vaak niet. Gemiddeld duurt het zeven tot negen jaar voordat de diagnose wordt gesteld. Dat schokkende cijfer, gecombineerd met het algemene gebrek aan kennis over endometriose, is een goed voorbeeld van de kenniskloof tussen de gezondheid van vrouwen en mannen.
Wielu dorosłych nie wyrasta z ADHD

Jan 21, 2025 | projektpulsar.pl | Lydia Denworth

Zaburzenie to wygląda inaczej u osób dorosłych i często nie jest rozpoznawane, diagnostyka jest jednak coraz lepszaSłyszałam o mężczyźnie, który jako dziecko otrzymał w latach 90. diagnozę zespołu nadpobudliwości psychoruchowej z deficytem uwagi (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, w skrócie ADHD).
Painful Endometriosis Can Affect the Whole Body, Not Only the Pelvis

Jan 21, 2025 | scientificamerican.com | Lydia Denworth

The pain from endometriosis, which affects an estimated one in 10 Americans born female, can be terrible. Some people are unable to work or go to school. Yet many physicians don’t recognize the symptoms. On average, it takes sufferers seven to nine years to get a diagnosis. That startling statistic, along with the general lack of familiarity with endometriosis, is a powerful example of the gap in knowledge about women’s and men’s health.
Hearing Aids May Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline and Dementia

Dec 6, 2024 | scientificamerican.com | Lydia Denworth

A friend of mine noticed that she couldn’t always hear her phone ringing or family members calling from another room. A hearing test revealed mild loss in high frequencies, which was possibly age-related—she was in her early 60s, and some difficulty with these frequencies can come with advancing years. She didn’t need hearing aids yet but said she would monitor the situation and get them if the time came. She was glad she asked for the test. Not many people do, nor do most doctors offer.