Not long before the end of the school year, my husband and I received an e-mail from our fifth-grader’s principal that may now be all-too-familiar to many parents. The subject…
Category: Humans
Britons’ tools from 560,000 years ago have emerged from gravel pits
In the 1920s, laborers and amateur archaeologists at gravel quarry pits in southeastern England uncovered more than 300 ancient, sharp-edged oval tools. Researchers have long suspected that these hand axes…
Monkeypox is not a global health emergency for now, WHO says
Monkeypox is not yet a global public health emergency, the World Health Organization said June 25. The decision comes as the outbreak of the disease related to smallpox continues to…
5 misunderstandings of pregnancy biology that cloud the abortion debate
On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. By undoing the landmark 1973 decision that protected a person’s right to an abortion, the highest court in the…
Western wildfires’ health risks extend across the country
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…
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…
