After a relaxing day at the Jersey Shore last July, Jessica Reeder and her son and daughter headed back home to Philadelphia. As they crested a bridge from New Jersey…
Category: Humans
A COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5 is nearly here
The littlest kids in the United States are nearly done waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine. On June 15, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously…
Ancient bacterial DNA hints Europe’s Black Death started in Central Asia
Although best known as a plague that killed millions of Europeans from 1346 to 1353, the Black Death originated about a decade earlier in Central Asia, a new study suggests.…
Nasal vaccines for COVID-19 offer hope and face hurdles
A few weeks ago, I was obsessed with my nose and throat. I was on a trip to Seattle to speak at a small, masks-required virology meeting about being a…
A new origin story for domesticated chickens starts in rice fields 3,500 years ago
It turns out that chicken and rice may have always gone together, from the birds’ initial domestication to tonight’s dinner. In two new studies, scientists lay out a potential story…
A new origin story for domesticated chickens starts in rice fields 3,500 years ago
It turns out that chicken and rice may have always gone together, from the birds’ initial domestication to tonight’s dinner. In two new studies, scientists lay out a potential story…
Glial cells may take on big jobs in unexpected parts of the body
In the theater of the brain, nerve cells have long been cast as the stars, bringing mental scenes to life with their electrical and chemical performances. Yet many of the…
Trained dogs sniff out COVID-19 as well as lab tests do
Dogs are as reliable as laboratory tests for detecting COVID-19 cases, and may be even better than PCR tests for identifying infected people who don’t have symptoms. A bonus: The…
Missing COVID-19 data leave us in the dark about the current surge
As science journalists, we’re accustomed to data. We sift through it and talk it over with experts. We pay close attention to the stories that numbers can tell. But at…
4 answers to key questions about the monkeypox outbreak
An outbreak of monkeypox has some people worried that the world is on the brink of another pandemic. That’s not likely, experts say. The concern has been fueled by more…
