Health & Medicine

  1. Materials Science

    Microscopic images reveal the science and beauty of face masks

    Important insights into the particle-filtering properties of different fabrics also offer a sense of the unseen, textured world of face masks.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    4 takeaways from the WHO’s report on the origins of the coronavirus

    The leading hypothesis is that the coronavirus spread to people from bats via a yet-to-be-identified animal, but no animals have tested positive so far.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine has 100 percent efficacy in young people

    Vaccinated 12- to 15-year-olds developed higher levels of coronavirus antibodies compared with vaccinated 16- to 25-year-olds from a previous trial.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Frog skin cells turned themselves into living machines

    The “xenobots” can swim, navigate tubes, move particles into piles and even heal themselves after injury, a new study reports.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines may block infection as well as disease

    The mRNA vaccines are about 90 percent effective at blocking coronavirus infection, which could lead to reduced transmission, real-world data suggest.

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  6. 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.

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  7. Animals

    Dim lighting may raise the risk of a West Nile virus exposure

    Dimly lit nights increased risk of West Nile virus exposure in chickens. Artificial light proved a better predictor of risk than population or paving.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Here’s what makes 4 promising COVID-19 vaccines unique — and potentially useful

    More vaccines still in the works are exploring a variety of approaches, including pills and electrical zaps.

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  9. 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.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    New drugs that block a brain chemical are game changers for some migraine sufferers

    Drugs that block a brain chemical called CGRP are helping some patients who suffer from migraine pain.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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