In the mid-1600s, the remains of a small child from a family of nobility, were placed in a crypt in Lithuania. Now we are learning, according to a recent report in the journal Current Biology, that this small body is revealing secrets about the origins and spread of smallpox, one of the deadliest scourges to ever plague mankind.
 

It's been nearly one year since the Food and Drug Administration recommended that teens be prevented from using tanning beds, however the agency has yet to make its final ruling. But a new study estimating significant financial and life-saving benefits of such a ban will hopefully prompt the FDA to finally act.

Vivek Murthy recently announced that e-cigarettes pose a "major public health concern," adding that "the use of nicotine-containing products by youth, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe." But that's not what the science says. It'd be far better for the Surgeon General to say that those who don't currently vape shouldn't do it, bit, but that e-cigarettes are likely to prove much safer than regular cigarettes. 

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping -- at least when it comes to easing thoughts of one's eventual demise. A few studies can attest to the notion that retail therapy tends to improve the mood of those who are in constant worry of their own mortality. And we can think of a few other reasons, too. 

As players adapt to the National Hockey League's updated concussion protocol, several who have taken head blows received on-the-spot medical evaluations. But as to whether the safety guidelines are working as intended, it's worth scrutinizing a recent controversial incident involving the NHL's leading scorer, Connor McDavid. 

You'd be excused for thinking that by now everyone understands the health risks of cigarette smoking. But some recent research points to a significant lack of knowledge among many Americans — a lack that can certainly put their health at risk.

Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr gives us a new way to think about stopping the HIV epidemic: "treatment as prevention." If implemented across the globe, it may be the key in stopping new cases of HIV -- and stopping the epidemic once and for all. 

Despite 50,000 emergency visits for carbon monoxide poisoning each year in the U.S., there is no effective way to treat it. That could change, thanks to some very clever work being done at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

All arguments are fair game as for whether Dr. Ben Carson is the right (or wrong) person to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. But don't tell us a brain surgeon only possesses the skills to be a brain surgeon.

Four new chemical elements have official names and symbols, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry recently announced. After a five-month review, IUPAC chemists have approved the names for superheavy elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 proposed by the elements' discoverers.