He and his colleagues were digging a trench in the Canadian province of Quebec, one that they planned to fill with 35 metric tons of wood, cover with clay soil, and let sit for nine years.

Specifically, Shields is working to encourage others to embrace aging and the increased risk of shingles for people over 50. About one million people develop shingles in the U.S. each year.

When Nancy Greeley was in her 50s, her sister, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Rochester, told her to get the shingles vaccine. Despite Greeley’s best intentions ...

Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful, blistering rash.It is caused by the same virus as chickenpox, called the varicella zoster virus. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Auto news: Toyota ...