All Stories by Erin Garcia de Jesús
- Health & Medicine
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine holds up in an updated analysis of trial data
The redo dropped the overall efficacy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine from 79 percent to 76 percent. But a slight fluctuation is not unexpected, experts say.
- Health & Medicine
AstraZeneca says its COVID-19 vaccine is 79 percent effective in a U.S. trial
The shot was 80 percent effective at preventing illness in people 65 and older and prevented severe disease and hospitalization.
- Health & Medicine
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine isn’t tied to blood clots, experts say
Multiple countries suspended use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine because of concerns about blood clots, but health authorities say the shot is safe.
- Health & Medicine
We still don’t know for sure where the coronavirus came from. Here’s why
A year into the pandemic, we know the virus probably came from bats, but how and why it leaped to humans are still unknown.
- Health & Medicine
Coronavirus reinfections appear rare, especially in people younger than 65
Previous infections provide 80 percent protection in younger people and 47 percent in those over 65. Vaccines might help boost immunity further.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, researchers treated chronic pain with electricity
In 1971, doctors eased chronic pain by sending electrical impulses to the spinal cord. Fifty years later, improved techniques help paralyzed people walk.
- Life
Two new books investigate why it’s so hard to define life
For centuries, scientists have struggled to define what it means to be alive. ‘What Is Life?’ and ‘Life’s Edge’ explore the question.
- Health & Medicine
The latest Ebola outbreak may have started with someone infected years ago
Rather than stemming from a virus that jumped from an animal to a person, this outbreak might have originated from someone who had a dormant virus.
- Health & Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic is now a year old. What have scientists learned?
As we enter the pandemic’s second year, researchers share what they’ve learned and what they look forward to.
- Health & Medicine
People fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can socialize without masks, CDC says
Two weeks after their final COVID-19 shot, people can visit other vaccinated people indoors without masks or physical distancing.
- Neuroscience
Catnip repels insects. Scientists may have finally found out how
The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in other animals, senses pain and itch.
- Genetics
The oldest animal DNA ever recovered reveals mammoths’ evolution
Mammoths evolved to handle the cold over hundreds of thousands of years and North America may been home to a hybrid species, a new study finds.
