Did you put on sunscreen today? Yes? Go put on some more.
Tans may be fashionable, but the risks that come with sun damage are anything but — and they can last a lifetime. That's why England banned tanning beds for anyone under 18 back in 2011. Even so, people as young as 14 have found ways to use them illegally. Now, the rules are getting stricter: businesses will be legally required to check ID before letting anyone near a sunbed, and salons will need to post clear health warnings — including dropping any misleading claims that certain beds can prevent sunburn or help with weight loss.
Even with stronger laws, misinformation is still a problem. Rumors about tanning beds offering benefits like vitamin D have a way of spreading while the risks get quietly ignored. Experts say that even a single tanning bed session before the age of 35 increases the risk of skin cancer by nearly 60% — and young skin is especially vulnerable. Skin cancer is already the most common cancer in the world. The tan isn't worth it.
Cholesterol is tricky — your body needs the waxy substance to build cells and make hormones, but there’s a bad type of cholesterol called “LDL” (low-density lipoprotein). Too much LDL can put people at risk for heart attacks or stroke, so controlling cholesterol levels can be life-saving.
Luckily, a new gene editing therapy called VERVE-102 may be able to help with high cholesterol. There’s a trial running now that’s small but mighty, involving only 35 patients, all of whom have either inherited high cholesterol or have had a heart attack at a young age. They continued their regular medication but added this new gene editing therapy to their treatment.
Not only did results show levels of bad cholesterol reduced by up to 62%, but the level continued to remain low after a year, suggesting that patients may only need one treatment to feel the effects of this treatment for the rest of their lives. Is it magic? Close! It’s science!
The idea behind the gene editing plays off of the liver’s role. It’s supposed to clear bad cholesterol from the blood and stop it from clogging up vessels, unless a protein called PCSK9 gets in the way. PCSK9! It even kind of sounds like “pesky”! The new medicine edits PCSK9’s gene, so that it stays out of the way and the liver can do its job.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a large central African country now facing an Ebola outbreak along with neighboring Uganda. Ebola is a serious virus spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids, causing fever, vomiting, and bleeding. This outbreak's strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
This isn't the DRC's first health crisis — and it's not bad luck. Three main factors are at play: the DRC borders nine countries with heavy cross-border movement and conflict-driven displacement, making disease spread easy; its health system is stretched thin, so early symptoms (which mimic other illnesses) often go unnoticed; and close contact with wildlife in its vast forests — including hunting and eating bushmeat — raises the risk of animal-to-human disease jumps.
Together, these factors explain why outbreaks keep happening — and why this one deserves close attention.
In Can Cigarettes Be Banned?, host Radzi Chinyanganya explores the debate surrounding the legality of cigarettes and smoking. This video discusses why cigarettes have not been banned despite the known health risks, and how governments use disincentives (policies that discourage certain behaviors) to regulate their use. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.
The article "Everything You Need to Know About Microplastics" from BBC's Science Focus explores the origins, distribution, and impacts of microplastics. Experts Dr. Laura Foster and Thomas Stanton discuss how these particles enter ecosystems, their effects on wildlife and potential human health risks, and suggest measures individuals and governments can take to mitigate the problem.
The article "6 'Healthy' Foods That Are Actually Ultra-Processed" from BBC's Science Focus discusses foods that are often perceived as healthy but are actually highly processed.
Did you put on sunscreen today? Yes? Go put on some more.
Tans may be fashionable, but the risks that come with sun damage are anything but — and they can last a lifetime. That's why England banned tanning beds for anyone under 18 back in 2011. Even so, people as young as 14 have found ways to use them illegally. Now, the rules are getting stricter: businesses will be legally required to check ID before letting anyone near a sunbed, and salons will need to post clear health warnings — including dropping any misleading claims that certain beds can prevent sunburn or help with weight loss.
Even with stronger laws, misinformation is still a problem. Rumors about tanning beds offering benefits like vitamin D have a way of spreading while the risks get quietly ignored. Experts say that even a single tanning bed session before the age of 35 increases the risk of skin cancer by nearly 60% — and young skin is especially vulnerable. Skin cancer is already the most common cancer in the world. The tan isn't worth it.
Cholesterol is tricky — your body needs the waxy substance to build cells and make hormones, but there’s a bad type of cholesterol called “LDL” (low-density lipoprotein). Too much LDL can put people at risk for heart attacks or stroke, so controlling cholesterol levels can be life-saving.
Luckily, a new gene editing therapy called VERVE-102 may be able to help with high cholesterol. There’s a trial running now that’s small but mighty, involving only 35 patients, all of whom have either inherited high cholesterol or have had a heart attack at a young age. They continued their regular medication but added this new gene editing therapy to their treatment.
Not only did results show levels of bad cholesterol reduced by up to 62%, but the level continued to remain low after a year, suggesting that patients may only need one treatment to feel the effects of this treatment for the rest of their lives. Is it magic? Close! It’s science!
The idea behind the gene editing plays off of the liver’s role. It’s supposed to clear bad cholesterol from the blood and stop it from clogging up vessels, unless a protein called PCSK9 gets in the way. PCSK9! It even kind of sounds like “pesky”! The new medicine edits PCSK9’s gene, so that it stays out of the way and the liver can do its job.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a large central African country now facing an Ebola outbreak along with neighboring Uganda. Ebola is a serious virus spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids, causing fever, vomiting, and bleeding. This outbreak's strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
This isn't the DRC's first health crisis — and it's not bad luck. Three main factors are at play: the DRC borders nine countries with heavy cross-border movement and conflict-driven displacement, making disease spread easy; its health system is stretched thin, so early symptoms (which mimic other illnesses) often go unnoticed; and close contact with wildlife in its vast forests — including hunting and eating bushmeat — raises the risk of animal-to-human disease jumps.
Together, these factors explain why outbreaks keep happening — and why this one deserves close attention.
In Can Cigarettes Be Banned?, host Radzi Chinyanganya explores the debate surrounding the legality of cigarettes and smoking. This video discusses why cigarettes have not been banned despite the known health risks, and how governments use disincentives (policies that discourage certain behaviors) to regulate their use. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.
The article "Everything You Need to Know About Microplastics" from BBC's Science Focus explores the origins, distribution, and impacts of microplastics. Experts Dr. Laura Foster and Thomas Stanton discuss how these particles enter ecosystems, their effects on wildlife and potential human health risks, and suggest measures individuals and governments can take to mitigate the problem.
The article "6 'Healthy' Foods That Are Actually Ultra-Processed" from BBC's Science Focus discusses foods that are often perceived as healthy but are actually highly processed.