As omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to drive the coronavirus’ spread in the United States, I’ve been thinking about what could come next. Omicron and its offshoots have been topping the…
Category: Humans
‘The Five-Million-Year Odyssey’ reveals how migration shaped humankind
The Five-Million-Year OdysseyPeter BellwoodPrinceton Univ., $29.95 Archaeologist Peter Bellwood’s academic odyssey wended from England to teaching posts halfway around the world, first in New Zealand and then in Australia. For…
7-million-year-old limb fossils may be from the earliest known hominid
In 2001, researchers unearthed a partial fossil leg bone and two forearm bones in the central African nation of Chad. Those fossils come from the earliest known hominid, which lived…
50 years ago, genes eluded electron microscopes
Visualizing Genes: The Possible Dream – Science News, September 2, 1972 Molecular biologists can now visualize the larger structures of the cell, such as the nucleus and chromosomes, under the powerful…
Sleep deprivation may make people less generous
Lack of sleep has been linked to heart disease, poor mood and loneliness (SN: 11/15/16). Being tired could also make us less generous, researchers report August 23 in PLOS Biology.…
The new CDC guidelines may make back-to-school harder
Across the United States, kids are prepping for back-to-school, or are already in classrooms, and parents are buckling up for another pandemic school year. Like me, many are trying to…
‘The Five-Million-Year Odyssey’ reveals how migration shaped humankind
The Five-Million-Year OdysseyPeter BellwoodPrinceton Univ., $29.95 Archaeologist Peter Bellwood’s academic odyssey wended from England to teaching posts halfway around the world, first in New Zealand and then in Australia. For…
The first known monkeypox infection in a pet dog hints at spillover risk
The first recorded case of person passing monkeypox to a dog could be harbinger of other animals catching the sometimes disfiguring and deadly virus. If that happens, monkeypox could establish…
COVID-19 infections can rebound for some people. It’s unclear why
For some people, including President Joe Biden and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci, the relief of vanishing COVID-19 symptoms and a negative test is fleeting.…
50 years ago, scientists hoped freezing donor organs would boost transplants
The icy world of organ freezing – Science News, August 19, 1972 If whole organs could be frozen and stored … surgeons would be able to perform far more transplants….…
