Americans don’t wear contact lenses properly and it leads to about 1 million eye infections a year
If you’re one of the 38 million Americans who wear contact lenses, there’s a good chance you’ve developed some dangerous habits.
Latest headlines
Want to boost your brain power? A new study says video games are the answer.
![Want to boost your brain power? A new study says video games are the answer.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/CODBS_Generic_2DBox_Front.jpg)
Flouting conventional wisdom, a new study found that playing action video games can make you a better learner by improving your ability to multitask, focus and retain information.
How Wikipedia reading habits can successfully predict the spread of disease
![How Wikipedia reading habits can successfully predict the spread of disease](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/508243426-430_image_982w.jpg)
Researchers were able to forecast the spread of influenza and dengue around the world, just by looking at page views on Wikipedia articles about those diseases.
Rosetta comet landing makes history
![Rosetta comet landing makes history](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/12/Web-Resampled/2014-11-11/Comet1112-006-crop1415750591-kswF--145x100@wp.com.jpg)
Mission becomes first to touch down on a comet and will begin analyzing it and sending images back home.
Americans don’t wear contact lenses properly and it leads to about 1 million eye infections a year
![Americans don’t wear contact lenses properly and it leads to about 1 million eye infections a year](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/Merlin_5024154_image_982w.jpg)
If you’re one of the 38 million Americans who wear contact lenses, there’s a good chance you’ve developed some dangerous habits.
Massachusetts town’s hearing on proposed tobacco ban ends abruptly after crowd gets rowdy
![Massachusetts town’s hearing on proposed tobacco ban ends abruptly after crowd gets rowdy](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/West1.jpg)
The crowd grew so unruly that the Westminster Board of Health chairwoman abruptly ended the event after just four speakers.
Comet photos awaken wonder at space exploration
![Comet photos awaken wonder at space exploration](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/13/Production/WashingtonPost/Images/04488134-8395.jpg)
It took a set of retro-looking images to reawaken the world’s sense of wonder about space exploration.
Why everyone is freaking out about what shirt a scientist wore
![Why everyone is freaking out about what shirt a scientist wore](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/b288d9a2-6fc6-4f6c-b143-09bc706bfaa0-620x372.jpeg)
Matt Taylor made a decision that the Internet is (rightfully) a-twitter over: He wore a shirt covered in busty, scantily clad women when he went to brief the media.
That orphaned baby otter is learning to swim and hosting Google Hangouts
![That orphaned baby otter is learning to swim and hosting Google Hangouts](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/Images/04479690-023.jpg)
Update: 681 is still adorable.
How’s the Rosetta lander doing? Here’s everything we know.
![How’s the Rosetta lander doing? Here’s everything we know.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/Welcome_to_a_comet.jpg)
Philae is transmitting data back to Earth, but it isn’t stable yet -- and might die soon.
Dr. Oz solicits health questions on Twitter, gets attacked by trolls instead
![Dr. Oz solicits health questions on Twitter, gets attacked by trolls instead](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/148639481.jpg)
Filling #OzsInboz, Twitter users hammered the surgeon with sarcasm and attacks on his credibility.
Toxic levels of a chemical in plastic medical devices could endanger preemies
![Toxic levels of a chemical in plastic medical devices could endanger preemies](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/2011-10-28T165040Z_01_MKZ08_RTRIDSP_3_POPULATION-376_image_982w.jpg)
The chemical is strictly regulated in toys but is used in abundance in the neonatal intensive care unit where vulnerable preemies are struggling to survive.
Why do people cry tears of joy and pinch babies’ cheeks? According to science, it may help you calm down.
![Why do people cry tears of joy and pinch babies’ cheeks? According to science, it may help you calm down.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/istock10014841H18161917_baby.jpg)
Having negative or aggressive reactions to positive emotions is common. And calming.
How U.S., Chinese officials found common ground on climate
![How U.S., Chinese officials found common ground on climate](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/12/Health-Environment-Science/Images/Hkg10117636.jpg)
Diplomats highlighted U.S. gains against pollution in persuading China to accept a deal on climate change.
After Ebola, hunger invades Liberia
![After Ebola, hunger invades Liberia](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/10/Foreign/Images/food141415619310.jpg)
Markets have been closed to limit large gatherings and the virus has disrupted planting and harvesting.
Rosetta mission lands probe on a comet — and makes history
![Rosetta mission lands probe on a comet — and makes history](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/12/Health-Environment-Science/Images/458856938.jpg)
Landing a probe on a 2.5 mile-wide comet some 300 million miles from Earth is no small step for mankind.
The gross things co-workers do in the bathroom stall next to you
![The gross things co-workers do in the bathroom stall next to you](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/Merlin_7443800_image_982w-300x200.jpg)
Americans are eating and texting in their work bathrooms. Oh, and 10 percent of them don’t always wash their hands, either. Eww.
For some parents of autistic children, Jerry Seinfeld’s self-diagnosis was ‘a slap in the face’
![For some parents of autistic children, Jerry Seinfeld’s self-diagnosis was ‘a slap in the face’](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/Mark_Twain_Prize-0f67b.jpg)
By aligning himself with the autistic community, the actor and comedian drew the ire of many families with autistic children.
Philae’s instruments
![Philae’s instruments](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/12/Health-Environment-Science/Graphics/w-PhilaeLander_promo.jpg)
Rosetta's Philae lander will use a wide variety of instruments to gather information on the structure and composition of Comet 67P/C-G.
Rosetta mission makes history, lands on comet 300 million miles away
![Rosetta mission makes history, lands on comet 300 million miles away](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/Comet1112-006-crop1415750591.jpg)
The lander Philae is expected to send a panoramic image home and begin analyzing the comet.
Why some people just can’t dance or clap to the beat
![Why some people just can’t dance or clap to the beat](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/dirty-dancing_image_982w.jpg)
Those people, a very small sliver of the population, have a real disorder called “beat deafness,” according to a new McGill University study.
In Panama’s rain forest, death means more life
![In Panama’s rain forest, death means more life](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/Photo3_-RainforestCanopyPanama-CityAndPacificOcean-225x300.jpg)
Killing drier seedlings in their cribs creates space, and more space allows more diverse species of trees.
‘An epidemic in a different phase’
![‘An epidemic in a different phase’](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/12/Health-Environment-Science/Images/Secret_Cuban_Twitter-Ban-03d10-2326.jpg)
USAID administrator Rajiv “Raj” Shah talks about the challenges of combatting Ebola in Liberia.
Rosetta and Philae are breaking our hearts on Twitter
![Rosetta and Philae are breaking our hearts on Twitter](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/Images/Germany_Rosetta_Comet_Landing-0996e.jpg)
The spacecraft and its lander: A love story as old as time.
Australia put cigarettes in standardized packs with graphic labels -- and they’re working
![Australia put cigarettes in standardized packs with graphic labels -- and they’re working](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/cigarettes_australia_image_982w.jpg)
Support for the new packaging jumped from 28 percent to 49 percent among smokers after they were implemented.
Diagnosing glaucoma by watching your iPad? It could be here sooner than you think.
![Diagnosing glaucoma by watching your iPad? It could be here sooner than you think.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/carter-image-7-v2-2-p196g216dnh5m1g851o3d1gbu1i5h.jpg)
In the future, eye disease may be diagnosed by watching a movie or TV show on your iPad.
For Rosetta, a comet up close
![For Rosetta, a comet up close](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/11/Health-Environment-Science/Graphics/w-Rosetta_promo.jpg)
Even before the Philae landing probe approachesthe surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko today, scientists know the space rock is not what they imagined when the mission launched in 2004. Data collected by the Rosetta orbiter shows that the comet is warmer and shaped differently than expected, and the surface is porous and uneven rather than smooth. That increases the difficulty for the first attempt to land a craft on a comet.
Watch the historic Rosetta comet landing live, starting now
![Watch the historic Rosetta comet landing live, starting now](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/600Rosetta.jpg)
The live stream will run through Wednesday, and the landing is set for 11 a.m. Eastern time.
Landing a probe on a comet for the first time in history
![Landing a probe on a comet for the first time in history](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/15349407860_c2e775f75b_o.png)
Looking at the comet up close could give us clues about the origin of our solar system and life.
New U.S. rockets will include launch-escape systems
![New U.S. rockets will include launch-escape systems](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/07/11/National-Enterprise/Images/tvm4.jpg)
A rocket-powered tower would allow astronauts to separate from a launch vehicle and parachute to safety.
‘Untold’ ER stories: The 100th episode
![‘Untold’ ER stories: The 100th episode](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/11/Health-Environment-Science/Images/Ebola-07b7c-2322.jpg)
TV show offers hospital stories that you have to see to believe.
He lost an arm and a leg in Iraq, but, wow, is he fit
![He lost an arm and a leg in Iraq, but, wow, is he fit](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/11/Web-Resampled/2014-11-11/MH1114_FEA_COV_011415291291-kSRE--358x239@wp.com.jpg)
Magazine makes an Army sergeant its ‘Ultimate Health Guy.’
The New York ‘egg-freezing party’ reproduces itself in Silicon Valley
![The New York ‘egg-freezing party’ reproduces itself in Silicon Valley](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/MHAsChMS.jpeg)
Aimee Eyvazzadeh -- a.k.a. “the egg whisperer” -- wants to make the parties a thing in San Francisco, where they could pair well with some of the benefits offered by Silicon Valley employers.
Scientists investigate the cat genome to see how wildcats turned into lazy furballs
![Scientists investigate the cat genome to see how wildcats turned into lazy furballs](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/speaking-of-science/201411/Images/Grumpy_Cat_Endorsement-017d7.jpg)
Cats are only semi-domesticated, the researchers say, but now we know how we’ve changed them genetically.
Drug-resistant superbug existed before use of penicillin
![Drug-resistant superbug existed before use of penicillin](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/09/19/Editorial-Opinion/Images/2013-09-16T210838Z_01_TOR115_RTRIDSP_3_HEALTH-SUPERBUGS.jpg)
Bacterial sample came from a soldier who died of dysentery in 1915, long before antibiotics were in wide use.
Why evolution is right and creationism isn’t
![Why evolution is right and creationism isn’t](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/02/05/Production/WashingtonPost/Images/Evolution_Debate-09a1a.jpg)
Bill Nye the Science Guy on how an asteriod collision with Earth ultimately led to humans.
Need help kicking your sugar habit? This might help.
![Need help kicking your sugar habit? This might help.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/to-your-health/201411/Images/SugarScience_Backgrounds_Cover_Photo.jpg)
A new UCSF project, SugarScience, is taking on Big Sugar by tackling America’s knowledge deficit.
Ever used mace? Here’s the back story.
![Ever used mace? Here’s the back story.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141113215324im_/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_145x100/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/11/11/Web-Resampled/2014-11-11/sciscan-mace-0011415306170-k8wC--172x114@wp.com.jpg)
After a friend was mugged, an inventor and his schoolteacher wife started mixing chemicals together.
Latest from Kaiser Health News
Most Read: National
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1Why some people just can't dance or clap to the beat
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2The amazing final days of 'Simpsons' co-creator Sam Simon, who's donating his $100 million fortune
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3How's the Rosetta lander doing? Here's everything we know.
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4Americans don't wear contact lenses properly and it leads to about 1 million eye infections a year
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5The gross things co-workers do in the bathroom stall next to you
On Parenting: Prepping kids for the holidays
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Amy Joyce takes questions on how to set your kids up for a happy and tantrum-free holiday season.
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