Health & Medicine
- Animals
Having more friends may help female giraffes live longer
A more gregarious life, even while just munching shrubbery, might mean added support and less stress for female giraffes.
- Health & Medicine
Redefining ‘flesh-colored’ bandages makes medicine more inclusive
Peach-colored bandages label dark-skinned patients as outside the norm, says med student Linda Oyesiku. Brown bandages expand who gets to be normal.
- Health & Medicine
How 5 universities tried to handle COVID-19 on campus
U.S. colleges opened in the fall with a patchwork of control measures to keep COVID-19 at bay.
- Health & Medicine
The U.K. approved the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge trial
Dozens of young, healthy volunteers will be deliberately exposed to the coronavirus to find out how much virus it takes to get someone sick.
- Health & Medicine
The COVID-19 death toll sent U.S. life expectancy plunging in 2020
Estimates show that American’s overall life expectancy declined by a year, but for Black Americans, the drop was almost three years.
- Health & Medicine
Some Neandertal genes in people today may protect against severe COVID-19
Neandertal DNA on chromosome 12 may affect genes involved in a biochemical chain reaction that ends with the destruction of viral RNA.
- Psychology
In the social distancing era, boredom may pose a public health threat
Boredom contributes to pandemic fatigue and may account for why some people don’t follow social distancing rules.
- Health & Medicine
Pfizer’s vaccine appears to reduce coronavirus transmission
People who carry low amounts of the coronavirus in their bodies are less likely to spread COVID-19. Pfizer’s shot appears to help reduce viral loads.
- Health & Medicine
Making masks fit better can reduce coronavirus exposure by 96 percent
Double masking, rubber bands and other hacks can produce a tighter fit and prevent aerosol particles that can carry coronavirus from getting through.
- Health & Medicine
How coronavirus variants may drive reinfection and shape vaccination efforts
New coronavirus variants could infect people who have already recovered from COVID-19 or been vaccinated, but there are still many unknowns.
- Health & Medicine
The animals that ticks bite in the U.S. South can impact Lyme disease spread
Ticks in the north primarily attach to mice, which do a good job of infecting them with Lyme bacteria, setting up the spread to people.
- Health & Medicine
Nearly half a million U.S. children missed out on lead tests in early 2020
A big drop in routine lead tests, which can identify children with elevated blood levels, is another troubling sign of the pandemic’s toll.
