Picture a bridge made of Legos. One side has three support pieces, the other two. How would you stabilize the bridge? Most people would add a piece so that there…
Category: Humans
Parents in Western countries report the highest levels of burnout
The ongoing pandemic has hammered parents. For many, work shifted to home. Schools closed or went partially remote in many places. Grandparents at high risk of getting severely ill with…
Redefining ‘flesh-colored’ bandages makes medicine more inclusive
When Linda Oyesiku was a child, she skinned her knee on her school’s playground. The school nurse cleaned her up and covered the wound with a peach-tinted bandage. On Oyesiku’s…
A rare bird sighting doesn’t lead to seeing more kinds of rare birds
It was a cold, overcast Saturday morning in Salem, Ore., when Jesse Laney set out to catch a glimpse of a painted bunting. He’d heard earlier that week through a…
In the social distancing era, boredom may pose a public health threat
In recent months, journalists and public health experts have bandied about the term “pandemic fatigue.” Though not clearly defined, the general gist is that people have grown tired of the…
Lasers reveal construction inspired by ancient Mexican pyramids in Maya ruins
At Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, three giant pyramids rise above the ancient city’s main street, the Avenue of the Dead. The smallest of these is the Temple of the Feathered…
Vikings lived in North America by at least the year 1021
Vikings inhabited North America exactly 1,000 years ago, a new study finds. Counting tree rings reveals that wooden objects previously found at an archaeological site on Newfoundland’s northern peninsula were…
Dog DNA reveals ancient trade network connecting the Arctic to the outside world
Ancient Arctic communities traded with the outside world as early as 7,000 years ago, DNA from the remains of Siberian dogs suggests. Analysis of the DNA shows that Arctic…
How one scientist aims to boost Black people’s representation in genetic datasets
Nearly two decades after researchers assembled the first genetic blueprint for human life, our understanding of our instruction manual has a dramatic and problematic bias: It’s based primarily on white…
Why being pregnant and unvaccinated against COVID-19 is a risky combo
Snow covered the storied field of Fenway Park in Boston when Kate Yohay, in the second trimester of her pregnancy, arrived. The ballpark had become a COVID-19 vaccination site, and…
