When Herminia Pasantes Ordóñez was about 14 years old, in 1950, she heard her mother tell her father that she would never find a husband. Pasantes had to wear thick…
Category: Humans
A new technology uses human teardrops to spot disease
Human tears could carry a flood of useful information. With just a few drops, a new technique can spot eye disease and even glimpse signs of diabetes, scientists report July…
Here are experts’ answers to questions about COVID-19 vaccines for little kids
Four weeks ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on COVID-19 vaccines for young children. Days later, doctors’ offices and clinics began rolling out shots for…
Demond Mullins climbed Everest to inspire more Black outdoor enthusiasts
Demond “Dom” Mullins’ days as a student at Lehman College in New York were interrupted in 2004 when his National Guard unit was deployed to Baghdad. A year later, he…
Two pig hearts were successfully transplanted into brain-dead people
Pig hearts beat for three days inside the chests of two brain-dead patients who were kept alive using ventilators. The feat helps researchers prepare for future clinical trials of pig-to-human…
‘Virology’ ponders society’s relationship with viruses
VirologyJoseph OsmundsonW.W. Norton & Co., $16.95 As a journalist covering COVID-19, I’ve had a front-row seat to the pandemic. I’ve been overwhelmed with despair over the death and suffering. I’ve…
Demond Mullins climbed Everest to inspire more Black outdoor enthusiasts
Demond “Dom” Mullins’ days as a student at Lehman College in New York were interrupted in 2004 when his National Guard unit was deployed to Baghdad. A year later, he…
The flowery scent of a Zika or dengue infection lures mosquitoes
Some mosquito-borne viruses turn mice into alluring mosquito bait. Mice infected with dengue or Zika viruses — and people infected with dengue — emit a flowery, orange-smelling chemical that tempts…
College COVID-19 testing can reduce coronavirus deaths in local communities
Getting a COVID-19 test has become a regular part of many college students’ lives. That ritual may protect not just those students’ classmates and professors but also their municipal bus…
The idea that many people grow following trauma may be a myth
“What does not kill me, makes me stronger,” 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously wrote. Variations of that aphorism abound in literary, spiritual and, more recently, psychological texts. That…
