Blog

The Midwest and East Coast are in the middle of a heat dome, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Heat waves are getting hotter as global warming leads to more extreme weather, and 2023 was the hottest year on record. Some scientists say 2024 is poised to be even hotter overall.As temperatures rise, so do concerns about heat-related illnesses. According to the National Weather Service, heat kills more people in the U.S. than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes combined. Doctors are also still learning about how poor sleep quality on hot days can increase symptoms of anxiety and depression.Here's a brief guide to preventing heat exhaustion and heat stroke— and what cities around the U.S. are doing to help residents stay safe.Why is heat so dangerous?It's easy to see the sun's effects on t...

As much as people enjoy the warm summer months, high temperatures can be hard on the human body. “As mammals, we live close to the thermal edge of life and death,” says Craig Heller, a physiologist and biology professor at Stanford University. “We run at 37°C [98.6°F], and only a couple of degrees above that puts us into heat illness and heat stroke.”Not every part of the body is the same temperature, however, “and blood flow determines where the heat is distributed,” Heller says.What part of the body cools down the fastest? And can we use that knowledge to cool down more quickly when it’s hot outside?Focus on your coreIn order to prevent the negative health effects of high temperatures, scientists say the most important goal is to reduce your core temperature. The most effective way to do...

As the weather starts heating up this week, you may be tempted to go outside—but with the outdoors comes the possibility of getting bitten by mosquitoes. And if you find yourself getting a lot of mosquito bites, it could be because of the way you smell or the colors of the clothes you are wearing, recent research has found.“If you think you are a mosquito magnet, it’s probably the case,” Jeffrey Riffell, a biology professor at the University of Washington who studies mosquito sensory systems, said in a video on the university’s website released earlier this month. “Some individuals are bitten way more than others.”Riffell has been working with a team of researchers to try to better understand how mosquitoes find food—male mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers to get sugar, while females dri...