Ed Cara

ScienceBiology

How to Do the ‘Cat Smile’ and Make Cats Fall in Love With You

Scientists say this one weird trick will make a cat like you, or at least not be so repulsed by you. A new study found that cats who were greeted with “cat eye narrowing movements”—more commonly known as slow blinking—became more likely to return a similar expression to their owners or even strangers than when … Continued

ScienceHealth

Did the Coronavirus Plan the Vice Presidential Debate?

The vice presidential debate tonight between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris looks set to go ahead, despite Pence’s recent exposure to people who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Given the pitiful precautions enacted to prevent transmission of the aerosol-spread virus—tiny plexiglass barriers, who do you think you are protecting?—it’s worth wondering: Did the … Continued

ScienceBiology

Gene-Editing CRISPR Pioneers Get a Well-Deserved Nobel Prize

On Wednesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to scientists Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their pivotal roles in discovering CRISPR/Cas9, an ancient bacterial defense system that’s been adapted into a cheap and revolutionary gene-editing technology. This is the first Nobel in Chemistry to be shared exclusively by two … Continued

ScienceHealth

Woman With Rare Skull Condition Leaked Spinal Fluid After Covid-19 Nasal Swab, Doctors Say

A Iowa woman’s nasal swab test for covid-19 caused her to leak spinal fluid, her doctors report, in what seems to be the first recorded injury of its kind related to the novel coronavirus. But don’t worry too much about something similar happening to you during a swab test—the unfortunate accident was likely only possible … Continued

ScienceHealth

No Evidence That Hydroxychloroquine Can Prevent Covid-19, Concludes New Study

A new study is the latest to suggest that hydroxychloroquine isn’t an effective weapon against covid-19, even when taken as a preventative drug. The randomized, double-blinded trial found no difference in the risk of catching covid-19 among health care workers who either took the malaria drug or a placebo before they were potentially exposed to … Continued

ScienceBiology

Extremely Good Cat Learns to Copy Human Movements

Feline intelligence may be more impressive than we’ve appreciated, at least according to a new study. The research claims to present the first evidence that cats can recognize and then mimic human behavior on command—a feat that only a few other animals, including dogs, are known to do. The paper, published earlier this month in the … Continued

Earther

Fat Bear Week Is Finally Here

The most wonderful time of the year is truly here. On Wednesday, Katmai National Park and Preserve’s annual Fat Bear Week will officially kick off—a tribute to the months of gorging that bears must undertake to stock up on body fat before the coming winter famine and hibernation. This year, people will vote on 12 … Continued

ScienceHealth

The FDA Approved Prescription Opioids Without Critical Safety Data, Study Says

The Food and Drug Administration has been lax in how it’s approved prescription opioid treatments dating back to the late 1990s, according to a new study out Monday. The study found that the FDA has routinely approved new opioid drugs or new formulations of existing drugs on the basis of limited evidence from clinical trials … Continued

ScienceHealth

The UK Could Be the First Country to Intentionally Give People Coronavirus to Test Vaccines

The UK is considering a controversial approach to testing potential vaccines for the coronavirus that causes covid-19: intentionally exposing volunteers to the virus, in a strategy known as challenge trials. Last week, the Financial Times reported that the UK government will allow human challenge vaccine trials to begin by January 2021. In these trials, volunteers … Continued

ScienceHealth

Don’t Be Fooled by Reports on the ‘New’ Coronavirus Mutation

A wave of attention is once again being paid to studies suggesting that the coronavirus behind covid-19 has mutated, possibly into a form that’s more infectious. But while the basic science of this research may be legitimate, it isn’t as worrisome as some headlines might lead you to believe—the virus is not becoming capable of … Continued

ScienceHealth

Too Much Licorice Stopped Man’s Heart and Killed Him, Doctors Say

A Massachusetts man’s fateful switch to licorice candy seems to have sent him to an early grave. In a case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors described how the man’s recent habit of eating a bag of black licorice every day likely led to his sudden cardiac arrest, kidney failure, and … Continued

ScienceHealth

‘Brain-Boosting’ Supplements Are Full of Unapproved, Untested Drugs, Study Finds

Supplements that supposedly improve brain health and functioning, known as nootropics, often contain unapproved and potentially unsafe drugs, according to new research published Wednesday. The study not only detected drugs unapproved in the U.S. in these nootropic products, but also found that these drugs could be in much higher doses than labeled or in combinations … Continued

ScienceHealth

Hell Yes, It’s Time to Get Your Flu Shot

Friends: The time has come. It’s the first day of fall, and you can partially fill the coronavirus-vaccine-shaped hole in your heart by getting a flu shot. I got my flu shot on Monday. My arm still kind of hurts, but that’s OK, because now I’m less likely to get and spread the extremely shitty … Continued

ScienceHealth

CDC Says Covid-19 Can Be Airborne, Then Takes It Back

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finally took a stance on whether covid-19 can be airborne, only to take it back within days. Over the weekend, the public health agency issued new guidelines that warned people about catching the viral illness from the lingering respiratory droplets and tiny aerosol particles emitted by an infected … Continued

ScienceHealth

CDC Nukes Absurd Testing Guidance, Now Says All Exposed People ‘Need a Test’

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention struck down a previous guidance that recommended against the testing of asymptomatic people for the coronavirus that causes covid-19, even if the person was exposed to the virus. The agency now recommends testing anyone who could have caught the infection from a close contact, symptoms or … Continued

ScienceHealth

CDC Says Pregnant Women With Covid-19 More Likely to Give Birth Prematurely

Pregnant women and their babies face unique challenges from covid-19, suggests new research published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study found that pregnant women who develop covid-19-related symptoms while hospitalized often become critically ill, and pregnant women with covid-19 may be more likely to have a preterm birth or possibly even … Continued

ScienceHealth

Lab-Made Antibodies Show Early Promise for Treating Covid-19

A lab-made antibody treatment has shown encouraging results in preventing hospitalizations from covid-19, at least in some preliminary data. On Tuesday, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced that its experimental antibody treatment was found to reduce the rate of hospitalizations among people with covid-19 treated in an outpatient setting, compared to a placebo control group. … Continued

ScienceHealth

Should a Covid-19 Vaccine Be Mandatory for Kids? Health Experts Are Trying to Decide

As the race to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus that causes covid-19 continues, a crucial question is on the horizon: Should a successful vaccine be made mandatory for children entering school? In a new paper out Monday, a group of experts argue that it’s still too early to answer the question definitively, but they … Continued

ScienceHealth

Scientists Flag ‘Inconsistencies’ in Russian Vaccine Study

A group of scientists is questioning the only available study so far supporting a controversial vaccine candidate for the coronavirus that causes covid-19, which is being developed by the Russian government. The group is claiming to have found “potential data inconsistencies” that make some of the findings highly unlikely to be genuine. The Russian vaccine … Continued

ScienceHealth

When Did Covid-19 Really Start Spreading in the U.S.?

A trio of new studies published Thursday seem to push back the start of the covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. Two of the studies suggest that the coronavirus behind covid-19 was spreading locally in Washington State in late January to early February, while another suggests it was sickening people in Los Angeles last December. These … Continued