The patient: A 61-year-old man in India
The symptoms: The man went to an emergency department after fainting. He had felt nauseous just before the episode, which lasted about three minutes and was followed by a second fainting episode lasting about two minutes. He also had swelling around one eye.
His family told doctors that he hadn't shown any jerking movements, loss of bladder control or subsequent grogginess, which would have been telltale signs of a seizure.
What happened next: Because the man had fainted twice and had a history of heart disease, doctors first looked for problems affecting his brain and heart. An MRI of his brain, used to look for structural abnormalities that could explain the fainting, and an electroencephalogram (EEG), which records the brain's electrical activity, did not reveal a cause.
The man had persistently low blood pressure, the doctors observed, and this led them to move him to the intensive care unit. There, doctors carried out tests for infections and heart attack, but all came back negative.
Meanwhile, the swelling around one of his eyes spread to both eyes and then across his face, while his blood pressure continued to fall despite treatment with intravenous fluids.
The doctors probed further into the man's medical history and activities before the fainting episodes. They learned that he had applied an artificial hair dye two days before he became ill. Soon afterward, he developed itching on his scalp, neck and face. He self-treated with the allergy medicine cetirizine, an antihistamine, for two days. He also reported spending two to three hours outdoors in the sun each day after he'd applied the hair dye.
The diagnosis: Based on the man's recent use of hair dye, the itching that followed, his rapidly worsening facial swelling and his persistently low blood pressure, doctors concluded that he was experiencing anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that can affect the whole body. The reaction can be life-threatening if left untreated.
The treatment: Doctors treated the man with epinephrine (also called adrenaline), a hormonal medication that rapidly reverses the effects of anaphylaxis. They also gave him antihistamines and steroids to help bring the allergic reaction under control, along with intravenous fluids to raise his blood pressure.
However, the patient's blood pressure remained dangerously low, so doctors continued giving him epinephrine through an intravenous drip for about 16 hours. Over the next three days of treatment, his blood pressure stabilized and the swelling in his face gradually subsided.
He was transferred to a general ward and treated there for another five days before being discharged. He was advised that he could have a similar reaction in the future and referred to a dermatologist.
What makes the case unique: Most allergic reactions to hair dye remain limited to the skin, causing itching, redness and swelling where the dye has touched it. Severe reactions affecting the whole body are uncommon, the man's doctors wrote in a report of the case.
The itching the man noticed shortly after applying the dye was likely an early, mild allergic reaction, his doctors wrote. That reaction later progressed to a much more severe one, they suggested, raising the possibility of a "biphasic" allergic reaction, an uncommon pattern seen in about 5% of patients with anaphylaxis. However, this remains only a possible explanation.
The doctors also noted that the man's prolonged sun exposure after he applied the dye may have intensified the reaction; they cited previous research that ultraviolet light can enhance the allergy-triggering effects of para-phenylenediamine, a common ingredient in hair dyes. In the report, the doctors did not identify the exact hair dye ingredient that triggered the reaction in this instance.
The case highlights the importance of asking about recent use of products such as hair dye when doctors evaluate patients with otherwise unexplained fainting, facial swelling or shock, the medical team concluded.
For more intriguing medical cases, check out our Diagnostic Dilemma archives.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.
Can you guess the diagnosis in these strange medical cases? Find out with our diagnostic dilemma quiz!
A fourth person in Pennsylvania has died of measles, the state health department confirmed Tuesday. The latest death was in an unvaccinated 18-year-old resident of Mifflin County.
In the announcement, the state health department also confirmed a county coroner's report over the weekend of the death of an unvaccinated 40-year-old woman in Jefferson County. The state had previously reported two deaths in Lancaster County; both were infants—a newborn boy and a 6-week-old girl, both too young to be vaccinated.
According to the Mifflin County coroner, Andrea L. Alcalde, the 18-year-old's cause of death was determined to be acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is a rare but known severe complication of measles. The condition is characterized by a rapidly progressing autoimmune disorder in which aberrant inflammation from an infection strips away the protective coverings of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Before measles vaccines were widely used, ADEM was commonly associated with measles, though other viral infections can also spur its development.
© Getty | Natalya Maisheva
Dr. Stephen Kane from the University of California, Riverside and colleagues offer a tidy explanation for one of the Solar System’s enduring puzzles: why Venus, so similar to Earth in size and mass, has no moon at all.
The post New Study Explains Why Venus Has No Moon appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Chama-se Geração STEM .PT e é um novo programa lançado pelo .PT concebido para apoiar e reconhecer raparigas e mulheres que querem construir o seu percurso académico nas áreas da Ciência, Tecnologia, Engenharia e Matemática (STEM).
The post Geração STEM .PT tem bolsas de 5 mil euros para apoiar o talento feminino nas áreas da ciência e tecnologia appeared first on Tek Notícias.
iPhone 18 Pro arrives with Apple concentrating its biggest changes in three areas: camera control, sustained performance, and battery life. The new Pro models retain familiar 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, but introduce a variable-aperture main camera, the 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, redesigned thermal hardware, and a smaller Dynamic Island.
The lineup consists of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299 in the U.S., respectively. Both begin with 256GB of storage and are available in black, silver, glacier, and a new burgundy finish. Preorders opened September 12, with retail availability beginning September 18 in more than 65 countries and regions.
Rather than treating the Pro models as a cosmetic update, Apple has focused on changes that become more noticeable during demanding use, particularly photography, video work, gaming, AI processing, and long sessions away from a charger.
The centerpiece is a new 48MP Fusion Main camera with a physical variable aperture, a first for the iPhone.
Six laser-cut aperture blades can adjust the amount of light reaching the sensor while also changing depth of field. The camera supports four aperture settings: ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0.
At the wider end, the camera can gather more light in darker scenes. A narrower aperture can keep more people or background detail in focus, giving photographers another tool beyond computational depth effects and Portrait mode.
Apple also gives users direct access to those settings through new Pro controls in the Camera app. Aperture, shutter speed, and white balance can be adjusted manually, while a histogram provides a more conventional way to monitor exposure.
The feature is paired with a new main-camera sensor and updated computational imaging pipeline. Apple says the combination improves low-light performance and detail, while Photographic Styles gain texture and grain controls for additional control over an image’s appearance.
Video receives several additions as well. Cinematic effects can now be applied after recording to footage captured at up to 60 frames per second, while Time-lapse can record in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR. Audio Mix has also been updated with improved voice processing and the ability to isolate music.
For photographers who want more evidence of how an image originated, Apple is introducing Apple Reference Image. In Reference mode, the main camera signs sensor data, which Private Cloud Compute uses to create an unalterable reference version that can be compared with an edited image in Photos. Apple is also preparing support for the SynthID standard as another way of identifying AI-generated or altered content.
A20 Pro is built using a 2-nanometer manufacturing process and contains a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, and dual 16-core Neural Engine.
Apple says memory bandwidth is 50% higher than on A19 Pro, while GPU performance can be up to 40% faster. The Neural Engine provides 32 cores in total, doubling the AI processing capability of the previous Pro chip.
The silicon change is closely tied to a redesigned cooling system. Apple has rearranged the chip package so that the silicon die sits beside the memory rather than beneath it in the thermal path, allowing A20 Pro to connect more directly to a next-generation vapor chamber.
That vapor chamber has three times the surface area of the previous generation and uses new materials to move heat away from the processor more effectively. Apple claims the design can deliver up to a 40% gain in sustained performance compared with iPhone 17 Pro.
That distinction is more relevant than peak benchmark numbers for workloads such as extended gaming sessions, video editing, computational photography, and local AI models, where heat can force a phone to reduce performance over time.
Connectivity has also moved further toward Apple-designed silicon. The N1 wireless chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, while the new C2 modem succeeds C1X. Apple says C2 uses 15% less energy while offering faster uploads and adds mmWave support in the U.S.
Battery improvements are another major part of the new hardware.
Apple rates eSIM-only versions of iPhone 18 Pro for up to 36 hours of video playback, while iPhone 18 Pro Max reaches as much as 45 hours. Apple says Pro Max receives the largest battery-life increase ever delivered in an iPhone.
Some of that gain comes from using the space previously occupied by a physical SIM tray. In markets receiving eSIM-only models, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, the larger internal battery provides an additional two hours of rated video playback.
Charging has accelerated as well. iPhone 18 Pro can reach 50% charge in approximately 15 minutes using a supported wired setup, while wireless charging reaches 50% in around 30 minutes. Apple says five minutes of wired charging on iPhone 18 Pro Max can provide roughly seven hours of video playback.
Both devices use aluminum unibody construction with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back. Storage options run from 256GB through 2TB.
The iPhone 18 Pro weighs 211 grams, while iPhone 18 Pro Max weighs 249 grams. Display sizes remain 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively.
The hardware launches alongside iOS 27, which places Apple Intelligence and the new Siri AI more prominently across the system.
Siri AI can use personal context from information stored across apps, respond to onscreen content, perform actions in supported apps, and handle more open-ended questions. A new Siri mode in Camera lets users ask questions and take action based on objects or information visible through the viewfinder.
Photo tools include Spatial Reframing, Extend, and an upgraded Clean Up feature, while Safari can monitor selected webpages for changes such as a product restock or price adjustment.
The Dynamic Island has also been physically reduced and redesigned. It can display up to three Live Activities simultaneously while continuing to support Face ID.
Apple released iOS 27 on September 14, while Siri AI is rolling out initially as a beta in English, with additional language support planned. iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reach stores September 18, giving Apple a Pro lineup whose most substantial additions are less about a new exterior shape and more about physical camera control, heat management, and how long the hardware can sustain demanding workloads.
The post iPhone 18 Pro adds variable aperture, A20 Pro, and longer battery life appeared first on AppleMagazine.
In April, the world watched as four humans circled the Moon for the first time in over 50 years with NASA’s Artemis II mission. On Saturday, Sept. 19, the public is invited to look up again with NASA events across the country, including the International Observe the Moon Night celebration held at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
International Observe the Moon Night is an annual celebration that brings people together to learn about the Moon and explore our connection to Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor. Since the program began in 2010, people around the world have participated through lunar observations, hands-on activities, artwork, music, and more.
At NASA Goddard, this year’s celebration will highlight the agency’s ongoing exploration of the Moon, including the historic Artemis II mission. Visitors can peer behind the scenes to learn more about what it took to make Artemis II’s journey around the Moon a success and discover how Goddard scientists and engineers are helping advance our understanding of the Moon, solar system, and beyond.
The event will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT.
Throughout the event at NASA Goddard, visitors can take part in interactive hands-on activities, create artwork and crafts, and capture selfies at a photo kiosk. Telescopes will also be set up outside (depending on weather), giving attendees an opportunity to observe the Moon and other astronomical objects up close. Inside the Visitor Center, guests can even see a real Apollo 14 Moon rock on display.
The event will also offer a chance to learn more about the groundbreaking research happening at NASA Goddard as scientists work to unlock the secrets of the Moon with missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and explore our solar system and the universe beyond.
International Observe the Moon Night at Goddard is free and family friendly. Registration is not required, although registering in advance will help the Visitor Center team plan for the event. The event will take place rain or shine, and free parking is available at the Visitor Center.
Additional event details, including registration, accessibility and other logistics: https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/visitor-center/events-and-programs/.
For people who cannot travel to Greenbelt, there are opportunities to participate in International Observe the Moon Night from all around the planet. Join lunar observers around the world by observing the Moon with friends and family, attending a virtual event or finding an event in your area. Learn more and register your participation at go.nasa.gov/ObserveTheMoon.
International Observe the Moon Night is sponsored by NASA’s LRO mission and the Solar System Exploration Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with support from many partners. The celebration is a way for people to pause and look up at our future destination, as NASA prepares for deep space missions to the Moon and beyond.
To learn about NASA’s Artemis program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
To learn about LRO, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/lro
Astronauts could travel back to Earth from Mars using rocket fuel converted directly from the carbon dioxide in the Red Planet's atmosphere, using a technique known as electrochemical reduction, a recent study reports.
It's an old method involving electrolysis, which is the application of an electrical current to drive a chemical reaction, but the new trick produces methane pure enough to be used as liquid propellant. (A number of rocket engines these days burn liquid oxygen and liquid methane — including the Raptors that power Starship, the rocket SpaceX is developing to help humanity get to Mars.)
"The work we're doing is basically taking CO2 and using electricity to convert it into carbon-containing fuels and chemicals," said Carter Racine in a statement. Racine is a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University and a member of the study team, which was led by University of Mississippi chemical engineer Ahmed Badreldin.
"You can't bring up everything you need [on Mars] from Earth, because every additional kilogram adds enormous cost and complexity to launch and escape Earth's gravity," added Badreldin. "So the question becomes, How do we make the fuels and chemicals needed for space exploration from the resources already available at the destination?"
One answer is electrochemical reduction, which takes place in an electrolyzer, with electrons flowing from the negatively charged anode to the positively charged cathode. Water at the anode is oxidized, meaning it loses an electron, which is transferred to the carbon dioxide at the cathode, where one of its atoms gains an electron and becomes what chemists refer to as "reduced" (meaning its oxidation state is lowered). It can then react with the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that have split from the oxidized water molecules.
The anode contains a catalyst, and the choice of material for the catalyst dictates what carbon-based compounds are produced when the reduced carbon reacts with the hydrogen and oxygen. For example, a gold catalyst leads to the production of carbon monoxide (CO), while copper produces more complex compounds including alcohols, ethanol and methane (CH4).
What makes the work of Badreldin's team stand apart from previous experiments is that they have developed a nanometer-scale copper catalyst doped in nitrogen that is able to produce nearly pure methane.
Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has been used to produce methane before, in applications on Earth. The problem is, those methods have produced a lot of byproducts alongside methane. On Earth we have complex equipment that separates the methane from the other unwanted compounds, but astronauts are not going to be able to take such unwieldy devices to Mars when every kilogram counts. That's a problem, because for methane to be used as a liquid propellant in rocket fuel it needs to be pure.
However, the specific copper catalyst used by Badreldin's team is able to preferentially produce methane over other compounds, thereby creating it pure without having to refine it. And there's plenty of carbon dioxide available on Mars to use: While Mars' atmosphere is thin, it is nonetheless composed of 96% carbon dioxide.
Even if astronauts never go to Mars, the usefulness of this technique on Earth is clear. Rather than drilling for this natural gas, we can create methane from the carbon dioxide already in our atmosphere.
"We want to do that because right now many of these carbon-based products ultimately come from virgin fossil resources," said Racine. "If we can make them using captured CO2 and renewable electricity, it could reduce reliance on virgin fossil carbon and help close the carbon cycle."
Consequently, electrochemical reduction has also been suggested for use on Earth as a carbon sequestration technique, drawing carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere where it acts as an unwanted greenhouse gas.
The problem with that is, converting carbon dioxide into methane to be burned as a fuel simply releases that carbon dioxide straight back into the atmosphere in a net-zero cycle. Ideally, we want to lock that carbon dioxide away from the atmosphere for a long period of time, but Badreldin doesn't think the technology is ready yet.
"What we are ultimately interested in is seeing whether we can move beyond simply recycling CO2 and toward pathways that are net-negative," he said. "That means using CO2 as a carbon source while converting it into products where the carbon is stored or used long enough that it is not immediately released back into the atmosphere."
It should be noted that the best way to alleviate climate change is to cease burning all fossil fuels, including methane. However, using methane created from electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction in a net-zero process rather than drilling for it could help during the transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources.
The study reporting this research was published in April in the journal ACS Catalysis.
Is that a footprint on Mars? Sorry to burst your bubble, but no. However, scientists have found a strange feature unlike anything they've seen before on the Red Planet's surface.
While NASA's Perseverance rover is the newest addition to the agency's robotic Red Planet fleet, its cousin Curiosity is still going strong and finding strange and unusual things on Mars 14 years after landing.
In new observations captured on Mars' Mount Sharp, the Curiosity team has identified "features unlike quite anything we have seen in the past," Michelle Minitti, deputy principal investigator for Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), said in a statement.
These mysterious features are a bunch of broad, shallow pits scattered across the Martian bedrock.
While little pits and divots are common to find on the Martian surface, these wide, shallow pits that researchers saw with Curiosity are quite different from surface features that have been seen before.
"The pits of this week were much broader and shallower than past features and were not accompanied by obvious objects that were once in the pits," Minitti said.
The team collected as much data as they could on the strange pits using Curiosity's various instruments, including MAHLI, the Mastcam camera, ChemCam (the Chemistry and Camera complex) and APX (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer).
They have so far found interesting layers in the pit material that seems chemically different from the main bedrock.
But we will have to wait and see what else researchers might be able to learn about these odd pits. How did they form? How long have they existed? What can they tell us about the history of Mars?
The Moon may have emerged largely intact within hours of the colossal impact that shaped its birth. Earth has an unusually large moon for a planet of its size and position in the solar system, yet scientists still do not fully understand how that companion came to exist. Now, researchers from the Southwest Research Institute [...]
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