Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
The body’s response to allergic asthma also helps protect against COVID-19
A protein called IL-13 mounts defenses that include virus-trapping mucus and armor that shields airway cells from infection.
- Health & Medicine
How I decided on a second COVID-19 booster shot
Boosters help for a short time, and mixing vaccines doesn’t seem to push the immune system toward making unhelpful antibodies, studies show.
- Health & Medicine
Joggers naturally pace themselves to conserve energy even on short runs
Data from fitness trackers and treadmill tests challenge ideas about what drives speed.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists were seeking the cause of psoriasis
In the 1970s, scientists found a link between a chemical messenger and psoriasis, a complex inflammatory skin disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Antibiotics diminish babies’ immune response to key vaccines
With each round of antibiotics during a child’s first two years, antibody levels to four vaccines dropped further from what’s considered protective.
- Particle Physics
Muons spill secrets about Earth’s hidden structures
Tracking travel patterns of subatomic particles called muons helps reveal the inner worlds of pyramids, volcanoes and more.
- Health & Medicine
What experts told me to do after my positive COVID-19 at-home test
Rapid at-home tests mean many COVID-19 cases go unreported, but they’re a great tool for deciding when to leave isolation. I found that out firsthand.
- Health & Medicine
Why taking medications during pregnancy is so confusing
It's hard to know what new drugs are safe when medical research excludes pregnant people.
- Particle Physics
A new nuclear imaging prototype detects tumors’ faint glow
Nuclear imaging that relies on Cerenkov light could supplement standard-of-care technology for identifying location of tumors.
- Archaeology
This hieroglyph is the oldest known record of the Maya calendar
Plaster fragments with the markings date to at least 200 B.C. and indicate that the calendar system, still used today, might be centuries older.
- Anthropology
How ancient, recurring climate changes may have shaped human evolution
Climate changes drove where Homo species lived over the last 2 million years, with a disputed ancestor giving rise to H. sapiens, a new study claims.
- Health & Medicine
What we learned about COVID-19 safety from a NYC anime convention
November’s Anime NYC convention was not a COVID-19 superspreader event, which means there are lessons to be learned.
