Woman infected with COVID-19 for 335 days — longest on record

 Posted on April 14, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  498 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A woman who survived cancer was infected with the novel coronavirus for nearly a year, in the longest-ever reported case of COVID-19, according to a new study. The 47-year-old woman was first hospitalized with COVID-19 in spring 2020 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland, Science Magazine reported. Her infection continued for 335 days and was tracked through repeated positive COVID-19 tests and lingering symptoms that required supplemental oxygen at home. [Read More]

A Brief History of U.S. Innovation

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  700 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The United States has always prized its history of individual creativity, citing a unique and ingrained American spirit of ingenuity. Franklin Roosevelt called on it to pull the country out of the Depression, and President Obama focused on it in his most recent weekly address: "It is only by building a new foundation that we will once again harness that incredible generative capacity of the American people," the president said. " [Read More]

Ancient Siam: A Trip Through Thailand's Past

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  9 minutes  |  1826 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Ancient SiamIn the lowlands beneath me the rice fields bake in the hot sun. Sweat quickly beads on foreheads, and the air is lethargic and warm, tropical. From this high perch I have to bundle up my jacket though, shivering in cold winds at eye level with the clouds. I'm at the summit of Doi Inthanon, which at 8,415 feet (2,565 meters) is the highest point in the kingdom of Siam, better known today as Thailand. [Read More]

Blue Origin record-breaking rocket launch just brought Jeff Bezos to space and back

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1068 words  |  Trudie Dory

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, former CEO of Amazon and founder of the private spaceflight company Blue Origin, has just accomplished something else that you will probably never do: Visit space. On Tuesday (July 20), Bezos and three other passengers — pioneering female aviator Wally Funk, age 82; Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old Dutch physics student; and Bezos' younger brother Mark — launched in the New Shepard rocket at 9:12 a.m. EDT from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the town Van Horn. [Read More]

Docs Divided Over Best Oxygen Levels for Preemies

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  827 words  |  Patria Henriques

Extremely premature babies need oxygen to help them breathe, but exactly how much oxygen is best for these infants is a controversial topic. Two new studies aim to answer the question, but doctors are still divided on the issue. One study, published today (May 5) in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that keeping blood oxygen levels up in the higher end of the range they have traditionally been kept in — between 91 to 95 percent — may be wise. [Read More]

Haiti earthquake death toll soars to more than 1,200

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  465 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET, on Monday (Aug. 16). At least 1,297 people have died and another 5,700 are reported injured after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday (Aug. 14), rocking the capital city and toppling buildings, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and news reports. With the potential to hamper recovery efforts, the tropical depression Grace was also nearing the southern coast of Hispaniola, the island where Haiti is located, bringing  high winds and the possibility of heavy rainfall to the area, CNN reported(opens in new tab). [Read More]

Hearing aids: How they work and which type is best for you

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  10 minutes  |  1968 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Hearing aids are small electronic devices that a person wears in or behind their ears. These devices amplify ambient sound and allow people with mild to severe hearing loss to hear the sounds around them. They do not restore a person's hearing, but rather increase the volume of environmental sounds. (opens in new tab)Olive Pro: 2-in-1 Hearing Aids & Bluetooth Earbuds | $199 and up at Olive Union(opens in new tab) [Read More]

Hitchcockian Crows Spread the Word About Unkind Humans

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  715 words  |  Patria Henriques

The common crow knows when you're out to get him — and he's likely to teach his friends and family to watch out for you, a new study finds. In results that can only be described as Hitchcockian, researchers in Seattle who trapped and banded crows for five years found that those birds don't forget a face. Even after going for a year without seeing the threatening human, the crows would scold the person on sight, cackling, swooping and dive-bombing in mobs of 30 or more. [Read More]

Hurricane Harvey Before and After: Satellite Images Show Storm's Destruction

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  365 words  |  Patria Henriques

Crosby - Jan. 29, 2017Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, north of Corpus Christi, as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 25, 2017. It was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Harvey was also the first hurricane to hit the Texas coast since Hurricane Ike in 2008. After making landfall, Harvey weakened into a tropical storm, but stalled over the Texas coast, dumping huge amounts of rain over Houston and the surrounding area. [Read More]

Microcephaly: Causes & Symptoms

 Posted on April 13, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  623 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Microcephaly is a condition in which a child's brain doesn't develop properly. The most obvious symptom is that the child has a smaller head than others of the same age and gender. Because the brain doesn't grow at a normal rate, the skull doesn't either. There are a number of possible causes; recently an outbreak of the Zika virus in mothers has been linked with microcephaly in babies in Brazil. [Read More]