Disability

Researchers experimented with venom from red spitting cobras (pictured here), as well as black-necked spitting cobras.

Common Blood Thinners Could Combat Snakebites, Preventing Tissue Damage and Amputations, Study Finds

An estimated 400,000 people per year are permanently disabled because of snake venom, which can cause lesions and necrosis at the bite site

A petri dish with bacteria from a stool sample. The researchers found a number of bacteria, fungi and viruses in fecal samples from children that were altered in children with autism.

Gut Microbes Could Help Diagnose Autism, Study Suggests

While more research is needed, scientists detected specific differences between the gut microbiomes of children with and without autism

The procedure allowed people to walk faster, climb stairs better and avoid obstacles more easily.

New Bionic Leg and Surgical Procedure Allow People to Walk With More Control After Amputations

The experimental surgery connects two muscles in the legs of people with below-the-knee amputations, allowing them to control a prosthetic limb with their brain

Researchers have previously found evidence of Neanderthals caring for sick and injured individuals.

Neanderthal Child May Have Had Down Syndrome, Fossil Suggests

The child's survival until at least 6 years old could be evidence of collaborative caregiving in Neanderthal societies, according to a new paper

Electrodes, placed above and below the injury, provide electric stimulation during rehabilitation, in this artist's rendering of the new Arc-Ex device.

New Device Delivers Electric Pulses to Help Patients Regain Movement After Spinal Cord Injuries

Alongside physical therapy, the electric stimulation helped patients with tetraplegia improve mobility in their arms and hands in a small trial

A portrait of Ludwig Van Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, painted in 1820.

Locks of Beethoven's Hair Are Unraveling the Mysteries of His Deafness and Illnesses

Researchers found high levels of lead, mercury and arsenic in the German composer's hair, which may help explain some of his many ailments

"Change Your Game / Cambia tu juego" looks at scores of innovations that improve performance, ensure safety and more accurately score games.

From the JogBra to Gatorade to Breakaway Basketball Rims, Sports Are a Field for Invention

A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History aims to inspire the next generation of innovators

A composite image showing multiple stages of 2019's solar eclipse as seen from Chile.

This Handheld Device Allows Blind People to Experience the Solar Eclipse With Their Ears

The technology, which translates the intensity of sunlight into a range of sounds, was designed to make eclipses more accessible to visually impaired people

Michel Talagrand is the 27th recipient of the Abel Prize, which was first awarded in 2003.

Mathematician Who Made Sense of the Universe's Randomness Wins Math's Top Prize

Michel Talagrand took home the 2024 Abel Prize for his work on stochastic systems, randomness and a proof of a physics reaction that many experts thought was unsolvable

Remains of a stillborn infant with Down syndrome from the Iron Age, found in a 2,800-year-old house at the Las Eretas archaeological site in Spain.

DNA Reveals Presence of Down Syndrome in Ancient Society

The burials of infants with Down syndrome in Europe provide insight into how babies with genetic conditions were cared for in premodern times, according to a new study

Fabrizio Fidati, a 57-year-old amputee, uses the MiniTouch device with his prosthetic to accurately sort cubes of different temperatures.

In a First, a Prosthetic Limb Can Sense Temperature Like a Living Hand

The advance may help users feel a greater sense of human connection through touch

The cast of How to Dance in Ohio brings neurodivergent characters to the Broadway stage.

Broadway's 'How to Dance in Ohio' Stars Seven Autistic Actors

The musical is loosely based on a 2015 documentary of the same name

Emilie Gossiaux's Londons Dancing with Flowers (2023)

New Exhibition Celebrates the Bond Between an Artist and Her Guide Dog

Artist Emilie Gossiaux has been working with a 13-year-old lab named London for a decade

The Lyric’s senior director of digital initiatives, Brad Dunn, meets with SoundShirt designers at CuteCircuit in London.

This High-Tech Shirt Helps Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Patrons Feel Music

Guests at Chicago's Lyric Opera can now immerse themselves in performances through the SoundShirt’s vibrations

An X-ray shows where the prosthetic metal fingers attach to the device.

Archaeologists Discover Centuries-Old Prosthetic Hand in Germany

Used by a man between 30 and 50 years old, the four prosthetic fingers date to between 1450 and 1620

Artist Dan Miller works at Creative Growth Art Center, which is partnering with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Acquires More Than 100 Works by Artists With Disabilities

The purchase is one of the largest acquisitions of its kind by any museum in the United States

TranscribeGlass is an attachment device that can pick up speech or audio from across a lecture hall.

This Augmented Reality Tool Could Change Communication for Some Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

TranscribeGlass attaches to any pair of glasses and projects real-time subtitles in the user’s field of vision

After a federal investigation, United will implement changes designed to improve the air travel experience for passengers who use wheelchairs.

After Federal Investigation, United Airlines Agrees to Make Changes for Travelers With Wheelchairs

The "lengthy" U.S. Department of Transportation investigation examined the airline's mishandling of a passenger's wheelchair

Installation photography of Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2023.

Video Artists Set the American Experience to Music

The Smithsonian American Art Museum brings its latest time-based media art to the widest possible audience, including the deaf and hearing impaired

Seventy-eight years after the end of World War II, hospital trains are an oft-forgotten chapter in U.S. military history.

What Happened on the Trains That Brought Wounded World War II Soldiers Home?

The logistics of moving patients across the U.S. by rail were staggeringly complex

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