How Bacteria Get Past Our Defenses

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1103 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Mucus is more than gross — it's a critical barrier against disease, trapping many of the germs that want to invade your body. A wet mesh of proteins, antiseptic enzymes and salts, mucus is what keeps all but a few microbes from wreaking havoc on many of our most exposed tissues. Helicobacter pylori is one of the few. [Read More]

If you got the COVID-19 vaccine, here’s what the CDC says you can do

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  532 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Fully vaccinated people in the U.S. can visit indoors — mask-less and without social distancing — with other fully vaccinated people, according to new, long-awaited guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the guidelines.  "We've been through a lot this past year and with more and more people getting vaccinated each day, we are starting to turn a corner," [Read More]

Mega Volcanoes May Have Killed Half of Earth's Species

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  702 words  |  Patria Henriques

Massive volcanic eruptions may have led to the extermination of half of Earth's species some 200 million years ago, a new study suggests. The release of gases from giant eruptions caused climate change that led to the End-Triassic Extinction, the widespread loss of land and sea species that made way for the rise of the dinosaurs, the research says. The new study, published today (March 21) in the journal Science, shows that a set of major eruptions spanning from what is now New Jersey to Morocco occurred very close to the time of the extinction. [Read More]

Neanderthals Doomed by Vision-Centered Brains

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  521 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Neanderthals' keen vision may explain why they couldn't cope with environmental change and died out, despite having the same sized brains as modern humans, new research suggests. The findings, published today (March 12) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that Neanderthals developed massive visual regions in their brains to compensate for Europe's low light levels. That, however, reduced the brain space available for social cognition. "We have a social brain, whereas Neanderthals appear to have a visual brain," [Read More]

People Need to Stop Taking Wild Raccoons into Their Homes

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  303 words  |  Trudie Dory

Seeing an injured wild animal is distressing, but as much as you might want to help the little critter, you probably shouldn't try to take care of it yourself. A man in Maine learned this the hard way when he took in an injured wild raccoon that turned out to have rabies. The man, who lives in Kennebunkport, Maine, was bitten several times after he took in the raccoon, according to a Facebook post from the Kennebunkport Police Department. [Read More]

Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective, early data suggests

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  781 words  |  Patria Henriques

Early data suggests that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, the company announced on Monday (Nov. 9).  The vaccine, developed by Pfizer and German drug company BioNTech, is currently being tested in a large phase 3 clinical trial — the last and most critical stage of testing in which vaccines must prove to be safe and effective in a large group of people — that began in late July. [Read More]

Photos: Hidden Monuments Found at Ancient Site of Izapa Kingdom

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  245 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The Izapa kingdom looks more impressiveArchaeologists have revealed a network of at least 41 satellite towns surrounding the ancient capital of Izapa in southern Mexico. A lidar surveyed showed that the small settlements all followed the same blueprint, almost like cookie-cutter suburbs. Famed carvings of IzapaThe ancient city of Izapa was the seat of power for a kingdom that existed between 700 and 100 B.C. In this photo, archaeologist Robert Rosenswig (in the backwards hat) works on an excavation at Izapa, uncovering one of the many carved boulders found in the ancient city. [Read More]

Physicists who disproved '5th force' win $3 million 'Breakthrough' prize

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  7 minutes  |  1471 words  |  Trudie Dory

Three physicists won a $3 million Breakthrough prize for proving there is no fifth force (that we know of). And it all started with a series of table-top experiments using cheap equipment. Eric Adelberger, Jens Gundlach and Blayne Heckel together lead the "Eöt-Wash Group," which is devoted to precise tests of physical laws. They take their name from the early-1900s physicist Loránd Eötvös and the University of Washington, where they work. [Read More]

Pick Your Poison: Some Venom Can Be Healing

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1199 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Healing Venom?Poison isn't always bad for you. The venom of some creatures may actually have medical applications. The practice of turning venoms from animals into cures for people dates back to at least ancient Rome, according to a 2015 paper in the World Journal of Biological Chemistry. The Romans looked to animal venoms for ways to treat conditions including smallpox and leprosy. Today's researchers still look to the animal kingdom's many venoms in their search for treatments. [Read More]

Scientists Watch a Fish Think

 Posted on June 24, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  481 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

For the first time, scientists have imaged the brain activity of a fish watching its prey. Observing neural signals in real time offers an important glimpse into how brains perceive the outside world. In the new study, researchers developed a way to follow these signals in the brain of a zebrafish larva, using a sensitive fluorescent marker. "It's a breakthrough," molecular and cell biologist Florian Engert of Harvard University, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience. [Read More]