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Health & Medicine

To end social distancing, the U.S. must dramatically ramp up contact tracing

Life after social distancing may involve apps that ask you to self-isolate after you’ve been near someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

Paleontology

A ‘crazy beast’ from the time of dinosaurs belongs to an obscure mammal group

Paleontologists have finally matched a bizarre fossil, Adalatherium hui, to an obscure group of ancient mammals called gondwanatherians.

Paleontology

Spinosaurus fossil tail suggests dinosaurs were swimmers after all

Unique among known dinosaurs, Spinosaurus had a finlike tail, which the predator may have used to propel itself through the water.

Health & Medicine

Vaping may damage the heart just as smoking does

Vapers and smokers showed similar signs of blood vessel damage, compared with people who didn’t smoke or vape.

Animals

Here’s why a hero shrew has the sturdiest spine of any mammal

The hero shrew’s rigid backbone is among the weirdest mammal spines, its incredible strength aided by fortified vertebrae bones.

Physics

Scientists ‘strummed’ a molecule’s chemical bonds like guitar strings

Scientists dragged an atomic force microscope tip, with a single carbon monoxide molecule dangling from it, across a chemical bond.

Health & Medicine

What coronavirus antibody tests tell us — and what they don’t

Antibody tests can give a clearer picture of who has been infected but don’t guarantee immunity for those who test positive.

Health & Medicine

Some patients who survive COVID-19 may suffer lasting lung damage

Results from a study in China suggest that some COVID-19 patients will be left with long-term lung problems.

Anthropology

Skeletal damage hints some hunter-gatherer women fought in battles

Contrary to traditional views, women in North American hunter-gatherer societies and Mongolian herding groups likely weren’t all stay-at-home types.

Paleontology

Deep caves are a rich source of dinosaur prints for this paleontologist

Several deep caves in France are proving to be a surprising source of dinosaur tracks.

Humans

It’s time to stop debating how to teach kids to read and follow the evidence

Most children need help learning to read, but there’s long-standing disagreement on how best to help them. Decades of research have identified the most effective approaches.

Planetary Science

This is the most comprehensive map of the moon’s geology yet

Cartographers merged Apollo-era maps and modern lunar observations to into a new geologic map of the moon.