TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories

Pap Tests: Another Revision of Recommendations

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Days after a government task force rolled back its mammography screening recommendations, another influential group issued revised guidelines on Pap tests for young women

The New Mammogram Guidelines: What You Need to Know

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

If the brouhaha over new mammogram guidelines has proved anything, it's that even modern medicine does not rely on statistics, scientific facts and clinical outcomes alone

Spotlight: New Mammogram Guidelines

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

An independent government panel this week abandoned its long-standing recommendation that healthy women over 40 get a breast-cancer screen once every year or two years

Carbon Sinks: Oceans Absorbing Less Carbon Dioxide

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

A new study finds that the oceans' ability to absorb man-made carbon emissions may be dwindling at the same time the world's emissions rates show no sign of slowing

U.S. Gets a D on Preterm Birth Rates, Says March of Dimes

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Among the many reasons for the high preterm birth rate in the U.S.: lack of insurance, cigarette smoking and elective cesarean-section deliveries that are scheduled too early

A Brief History of Toilets

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

From outhouses to water closets, humans have been devising creative ways to go to the bathroom since, well, since the first person crossed his legs with an urgent need to go

Flibanserin Drug: Will 'Female Viagra' Boost Sex Drive?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Drug companies have long sought to develop the "female Viagra," but it's hard to find a cure when you don't know exactly what you're treating

Panel Suggests Delaying Regular Mammograms Until Age 50

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

In a turnaround from long-standing guidelines from the American Cancer Society, a U.S. task force recommends that women begin regular breast-cancer screening at age 50, not 40

U.S. vs. China: Working Together on Global Warming?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

At loggerheads over several issues, the senior and junior superpowers (andcarbon producers) have lots of potential common ground on climate change

Heart Transplants: A Brief History

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Twenty-five years after Baby Fae's death following the world's first animal-to-human infant heart transplant, TIME looks back at the history of the procedure

China: Two Die After Swine Flu H1N1 Vaccine

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Two deaths in people receiving the H1N1 vaccine were reported in China, where an estimated 12 million have been inoculated so far

Protecting Forests May Still Help Climate-Change Fight

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Climate negotiators have real hope that a proposed agreement to reduce deforestation could prove to be a bright spot in a meeting that might otherwise be considered a failure

World Leaders Put Off a Climate Change Treaty

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

As climate change experts had long expected, world leaders said this weekend they will not reach an agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in December

NASA's LCROSS Mission Confirms Water on the Moon

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

A month after a lunar mission smashed into the surface of the moon, analysis of the impact shows the presence of water on the moon, NASA scientists say

Black Carbon Pollution May Be Key to Global Warming

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

By some estimates, black carbon may account for as much as 18% of the planet's warming, making it the No. 2 contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide

Malaria Drugs: Artemisinin-Resistant Strain Appears

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

A dangerous new malaria strain has taken hold on the Thai-Cambodia border. Can an ambitious new plan to bring cheaper, better drugs to malarial countries like Cambodia stamp out the world's third deadliest disease before it's too late?

H1N1 Death Totals: New Flu-Fatality Numbers

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

In the span of a week, the CDC's official tally of U.S. deaths from swine flu has tripled. But does that say anything about the severity of the disease?

Bacteria in Gut Linked to Obesity; Western Diet a Factor

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

Diet, exercise and genes aren't the only factors responsible for body weight, say researchers, who are discovering evidence of another component: the bacteria in your gut

Large Hadron Collider: Damaged by a Time-Traveling Bird?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 EST

The Large Hadron Collider, outside Geneva, has been beset with delays and problems since 2006, when it was originally scheduled to launch. Are they portents from the future?