mouth

We may have an adequate understanding of the human body in that, well, we invented aspirin and sequenced the genome, but researchers still find out new things about the humble homo sapien all of the time. Case in point? Scientists hanging out in the human gut and mouth. The researchers are calling these virus-like structures “obelisks”, due to their presumed microscopic shape.These entities replicate like viruses, but are much smaller and simpler. Due to the minuscule size, they fall into the “viroid” class, which are…

In recent years, a growing number of scientific studies have backed an alarming hypothesis: Alzheimer's disease isn't just a disease, it's an infection.While the exact mechanisms of this infection are something researchers are still trying to isolate, numerous studies suggest the deadly spread of Alzheimer's goes way beyond what we used to think.One such study, published in 2019, suggested what could be one of the most definitive leads yet for a bacterial culprit behind Alzheimer's, and it comes from a somewhat…

Regular dental checkups and oral hygiene visits are important for identifying the early stage of mouth cancer.However, the shortage of dentists in the UK has led to a rise in mouth cancers that are spotted too late, according to the charity Oral Health Foundation.Ninety per cent of NHS (UK National Health Service) dentists surveyed by the BBC last year were not accepting new adult patients for NHS treatment.Every year, about 9,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with mouth cancer and just over 3,000 lives are lost to the…

The University of Leeds has developed a novel saliva substitute that is up to five times more effective than existing products. This new technology, utilizing microgel and hydrogel components, offers improved moisture retention and comfort for individuals with dry mouth, promising significant benefits in healthcare and quality of life.Proof of concept of new material for long-lasting relief from dry mouth conditions.A novel aqueous lubricant technology designed to help people who suffer from a dry mouth is between four…

Crohn's disease affects four million people worldwide. The condition causes debilitating symptoms such as chronic fatigue, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weight loss and malnutrition.Once symptoms develop, Crohn's is a lifelong condition – and while there are ways to manage symptoms during flare-ups, there's currently no cure.The exact causes of Crohn's disease are unknown and are probably due to a number of complex and overlapping factors – such as genetics, environmental cues (such as smoking) and an immune system that's…

Science fiction promises us all sorts of sentient automatons once artificial intelligence becomes a part of our daily lives—not hockey puck-sized speakers. Determined to breathe more life into Amazon’s smart assistant, Thomas Burns hacked together a CRT TV and a pair of moving eyes to make Alexa feel more engaging—or look more like an eighth-grade science project, depending on how you look at it.Uh Oh, Amazon Bought Your Favorite Robot CompanyAlthough most devices with built-in smart assistants provide some kind of visual…

A reconstruction of oral microflora genomes spanning a whopping 100,000-year period of human history may have revealed a surprising shift in the kinds of bacteria that like to call our mouths home.Researchers from across Germany and the US teamed up to decode DNA extracted from the dental plaque of human and Neanderthal remains, using the sequences to recreate proteins once used by the bacteria.It's a huge moment in the study of the microbes that humans harbor, giving us insights into bacteria that are no longer part of…

Taylor Swift Once Recalled Her Nightmare Audition For Les Miserables With Her Favourite Eddie Redmayne ( Photo Credit – Instagram ; Wikimedia ) Global icon Taylor Swift might be one of the biggest musicians on the planet but can she act? With an intention to kick-start her Hollywood career, the crooner actually auditioned for a role in the 2012 Les Miserables along with Eddie Redmayne. However, things did not go as Taylor Swift planned and her Hollywood dreams died a slow death. Scroll down to read how her audition…

As the name suggests, this plant is originally from East Asia. It arrived in the country in the 1800s and was used for ornamental reasons, according to the National Parks Service. Itssmall flowers allow it to spread quickly, and its roots are pretty strong which makes it harder to remove knotweed plants. And like many invasive species, it grows quickly and sucks up all of the nutrients out of the soil before some nearby native species have a chance to grow. It also tolerates being in sunlight or in the shade, which makes…

There's a problem for researchers trying to identify the size of ancient armored fish from the late Devonian period (approximately 382-358 million years ago): only the armored parts around their heads have been preserved in fossils.In other words, we've been trying to judge the size of species like those in the Dunkleosteus genus of large underwater creatures based on the size of their mouth and jaws. The rest of the body, made up of cartilage, hasn't survived down the millennia.A new analysis of data from previous…