The FDA’s recent approval of the Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab is a crucial crossroads in the continuing search for a cure for this devastating disease. Federal regulators approved Biogen’s drug, through an accelerated process, earlier this month. The FDA’s approval came over the objections of its own scientific advisers, who had cited a lack of evidence […]
Read MoreWhy some biologists and ecologists think social media is a risk to humanity
Social media has drastically restructured the way we communicate in an incredibly short period of time. We can discover, “Like,” click on, and share information faster than ever before, guided by algorithms most of us don’t quite understand. And while some social scientists, journalists, and activists have been raising concerns about how this is affecting […]
Read MoreWhat if the truth isn’t out there?
The US military’s official report on UFOs is here, and its conclusion is scintillating: There’s some stuff in the sky, the government isn’t sure what it is, there’s no evidence that it’s aliens, but also no one’s ruling out aliens. So in conclusion, the UFOs are part of life’s rich pageant and anything is possible. […]
Read MoreAnimals can navigate by starlight. Here’s how we know.
“No, no, no, no, Brian. No, no, no, no.” I had asked Stephen Emlen, a Cornell emeritus professor of neurobiology and behavior, what seemed to me an obvious question: When he brought birds into planetariums in the 1960s and 70s, did they ever, um, make a mess in there? “No poops in the planetarium,” Emlen […]
Read MoreHow heat waves form, and how climate change makes them worse
The Pacific Northwest is sweltering under a record-breaking heat wave. Portland reached 116 degrees Fahrenheit this week. Seattle reached 108 degrees. Vancouver reached 89 degrees. The searing heat has buckled roads, melted power cables, and led to a spike in deaths. It’s especially concerning in a region like the Pacific Northwest, where few buildings have […]
Read MoreOffaly boost Division 2 survival hopes after comeback win in Down
Football League Results Division 2 Down 0-14 Offaly 0-15 Division 3 Antrim 1-19 Longford 0-12 Westmeath 1-12, Limerick 1-6 ********** Advertisement OFFALY KEPT THEIR Division 2 survival hopes alive today with a massive comeback win on the road against Down. The Faithful county were 0-15 to 0-14 winners after a dramatic finish in Páirc Esler, […]
Read MoreKerry ace and captain stars as UL survive UCC fightback to win another O’Connor Cup
UL 0-12 UCC 0-11 UL CAPTAIN FIADHNA Tangney scored 0-4 as her side were crowned Yoplait O’Connor Cup champions again after a thrilling win over UCC. The holders held a 0-10 to 0-4 lead at half-time and they went on to make it five titles since 2014 at a wet and windy DCU Dóchas Éireann. […]
Read MoreHow political polarization broke America’s vaccine campaign
The Covid-19 epidemic in the United States risks becoming a tale of “two Americas,” as Anthony Fauci warned in June: a nation where regions with higher vaccination rates are able to beat back the coronavirus, while those with lower vaccination rates continue to see cases and deaths. At face value, it’s a division between those […]
Read MoreThe US health system was already falling short. Then Covid-19 happened.
Take a long enough lens — say, 25 years — and it seems as though health care in America is inarguably getting better. People are living longer than they did a quarter century ago. The burden of disease, a metric that includes premature deaths and disability, has dropped. The number of avoidable hospitalizations and hospital […]
Read MoreHow a lizard’s venom inspired the promising weight loss drug Wegovy
After learning that the venom of a Gila monster lizard contained hormones that can regulate blood sugar, Daniel Drucker started wondering why. And could the venom somehow help treat diabetes? Drucker is a scientist and endocrinologist at the University of Toronto who has dedicated his career to understanding the universe of hormones in the body, […]
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