Readers: This is absolutely not an excuse to skip your colonoscopies.

Swallow a small device and it'll scrape your gut bacteria for signs of trouble

Arnold's Favorite Field Trip

A new edible device could supplement colonoscopies. Swallow it and it will make its way downtown, scooping up gut bacteria to study any problem areas.

Swallow a Small Device and It’ll Scrape Your Gut Bacteria for Signs of Trouble

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200812161333.htm">Swallowing this colonoscopy-like bacteria grabber could reveal secrets about your health</a> [Purdue University]

More on swallowable tech: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/poopbots-edible-tech-gastrable">Edible Tech Is Finally Useful, Is Here to Help You Poop</a>

Devices

I'd rather a little device go down than a camera go up.

One puff a day, they claim, might keep people safe until a vaccine is ready.

Scientists built an inhaler they claim stops coronavirus

Puff, Puff, Pass

Scientists developed a tiny molecule that they think they can load up into an inhaler and use as a shield against the coronavirus.

Scientists Built an Inhaler They Claim Stops Coronavirus

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200811234951.htm">&#8216;AeroNabs&#8217; promise powerful, inhalable protection against COVID-19</a> [University of California, San Francisco]

More on coronavirus treatments: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-test-covid-antibody-treatment-humans">Scientists Test First COVID-19 Antibody Treatment on Humans</a>

Rx/Medicines

The scientists say it's like wrapping the virus up in a straightjacket.

"I can't tell you 100 percent that this is going to be a super useful intervention. But I find it very exciting."

Blood transfusions helped menopausal women get pregnant

Turning Back The Clock

In extremely preliminary research, blood transfusions seem to have reversed some aspects of menopause and allowed women to get pregnant.

Blood Transfusions Helped a Menopausal Woman Get Pregnant

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251489-menopausal-woman-gives-birth-after-blood-plasma-injection-in-ovaries/">Menopausal woman gives birth after blood plasma injection in ovaries</a>

More on fertility treatments: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/delay-menopause-20-years">New Operation Could Delay Menopause for 20 Years, Says Clinic</a>

Treatments

"There are loads of questions that we still have to answer."

"If, in my lifetime, I can help to build a marketplace where people can access safe, standard medicine, that would be glorious for me."

Meet the woman who wants to sell psychedelic drugs to scientists

Local Drugstore

Havn Life wants to build a safe, standardized supply chain for psilocybin researchers in Canada so they can develop new medical treatments.

Meet the Woman Who Wants to Sell Psychedelic Drugs to Scientists

More on psilocybin: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/canadian-startup-building-shroom-farm-in-jamaica">This Startup Is Building a Huge Magic Mushroom Farm in Jamaica</a>

"We all had to hide for so long and grow massive crops in indoor spaces without being arrested."

Gates says the long wait for test results is "just stupidity."

Bill Gates called most US coronavirus tests "garbage"

Ya Blew It

Bill Gates says that the long wait times for coronavirus test results render the whole thing useless. Or, in his words, the tests are "garbage."

Bill Gates Called Most US Coronavirus Tests “Garbage”

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-us-tests-are-completely-garbage/">Bill Gates on Covid: Most US Tests Are ‘Completely Garbage’</a> [Wired]

More on Bill Gates: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-gates-slams-elon-musk-covid">Bill Gates Slams Elon Musk for Spouting COVIC Misinformation</a>

Developments

"The majority of all U.S. tests are completely garbage, wasted."

"In these unprecedented times of COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent increase in the incidence of mental health conditions, accessing ways to improve community mental health and reduce the incidence of anxiety, depression and suicide is ever more important."

Scientists propose adding psychoactive drug to our water supplies

On Tap

Scientists who identified a link between naturally-present lithium in drinking water and lower suicide rates suggest lacing communities' water supply.

Scientists Propose Adding Psychoactive Drug to our Water Supplies

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/akzyeb/link-between-lithium-in-drinking-water-suicide-study">Scientists Say Lithium Should Be Added to Drinking Water to Prevent Suicides</a> [Vice]

More on mental health: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/american-life-expectancy-falling-drugs-suicide">The American Life Expectancy Is Now Falling Due to Drugs, Suicide</a>

Mental Health

They say it could prevent suicides.

Russian officials are injecting themselves with an experimental COVID vaccine

Rushing Ahead

Russia may begin a mass COVID-19 inoculation campaign this Autumn, but there's no available data showing that the experimental vaccine works.

Russian Officials Are Injecting Themselves With an Experimental COVID Vaccine

READ MORE: <a href="https://qz.com/1888283/russia-plans-to-use-a-vaccine-that-doesnt-yet-meet-who-standards/">Russia is planning to use a vaccine that doesn’t yet meet WHO standards</a> [Quartz]

More on vaccines: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-giving-people-covid-vaccine-not-done-tested">China Is Giving People a COVID Vaccine That Isn’t Done Being Tested</a>

The country wants to begin mass inoculations later this year, but there's no public evidence the vaccine works.

He was dying. Then came a new genetic cure.

Gene therapy lets boy with muscular dystrophy walk again

Molecular FedEx

An experimental gene therapy seems to have staved off a young boy's Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suggesting new treatments could be on the way.

Gene Therapy Lets Boy With Muscular Dystrophy Walk Again

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/27/893289171/a-boy-with-muscular-dystrophy-was-headed-for-a-wheelchair-then-gene-therapy-arri">A Boy With Muscular Dystrophy Was Headed For A Wheelchair. Then Gene Therapy Arrived</a> [NPR]

More on muscular dystrophy: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/handheld-device-crispr-diagnose-genetic-conditions">Handheld CRISPR Device Diagnoses Genetic Disease in 15 Minutes</a>

"Within three weeks he was running up the stairs."

The pandemic “has shown what humans are capable of — both positively and negatively.”

WHO calls COVID-19 the "most severe" health crisis in its history

Gold Medal

According to the director-general of the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe health crisis in the organization's history.

WHO Calls COVID-19 the “Most Severe” Health Crisis in Its History

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-this-is-the-most-severe-health-crisis-ever-says-who/">Covid-19 news: This is the &#8220;most severe&#8221; health crisis ever, says WHO</a> [New Scientist]

More on COVID-19: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/kazakhstan-denies-disease-deadlier-covid19">Kazakhstan Denies China&#8217;s Claim of Disease Deadlier Than COVID-19</a>

"The pandemic continues to accelerate."

"We can't not make discoveries because they might be misused."

Scientists studying sex differences in the brain fear their work will be misrepresented

Treading Lightly

A team of scientists studying how sex chromosomes are linked to differences in the brain has to tread lightly, lest their work be misrepresented.

Scientists Studying Sex Differences in the Brain Fear Their Work Will Be Misrepresented

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/a-study-finds-sex-differences-in-the-brain-does-it-matter/">A Study Finds Sex Differences in the Brain. Does It Matter?</a> [Wired]

More on neuroscience: <a href="https://futurism.com/women-science-gender-gap">Men And Women Equally Good At Science, But Men Think They’re Better</a>

/ medicine