Placenta

New evidence shows plant leaves absorb airborne microplastics, a previously overlooked route for the particles to enter crops that has implications for ecology and human health

April 12, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

A blood test can accurately predict whether someone without a known risk of preeclampsia is likely to develop the potentially fatal hypertensive pregnancy condition

Oxytocin, a hormone linked to bonding behaviors, might also help mice modulate their pregnancies. Someday, this line of research could improve our understanding of human fertility.

Biological sex is all over the news lately. Whether it's via President Trump's executive order affecting passport policy, moving trans inmates between prisons or shifting the requirements for women in sports — appeals to "the biological reality of sex" are constant. In truth, biological sex, like a lot of scientific categories, is nuanced. It's defined by multiple criteria – including chromosomal, chemical and…

These include subtle differences in brain folding patterns and cortical thickness.

By modifying 20 regions of the genome, scientists successfully bred mice with two male parents and raised them to maturity.

It's a new way to create "bi-paternal" mice that can survive to adulthood—but human applications are still a long way off.

There are probably microplastics in your kitchen. These are the swaps to make to protect your health.

The fires in L.A. have caused terrible air quality conditions across the county. Here are ways you can protect yourself, and your children, from the health impacts of wildfire smoke.

Here are easy swaps to minimize microplastics in your kitchen.

Observational study details kidney disease risk for children after gestational exposure

A new mRNA therapy tested in mice may target the root cause of the potentially fatal pregnancy disorder preeclampsia. It's yet to be tested in humans.

Researchers are still unsure how genes create shared facial features. Genetics play a significant role, but environmental factors matter too.

The levels of plastic in the human brain have increased 50% increase since 2016, according to a new preprint study not yet peer-reviewed.

Comedian Jon Stewart is pressing the Biden administration to fix a loophole in a massive veterans aid bill that left out some of the first U.S. troops who responded after the Sept. 11 attacks and got sick after deploying to a base contaminated with dangerous levels of uranium.

According to the CDC, as of July 19, 2024, a total of 28 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from 12 states - Georgia

Doctors speak out against the non-medical term "late-term abortion" being used on public platforms

It has come to the point where mothers are canceling each other, and quite frankly, it's ridiculous.