Biden Urges COVID Vaccination for America’s Youngest Kids
President Biden on Tuesday urged parents to schedule COVID-19 vaccinations for their little kids. “The United States is now the first country in the world to offer safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months old,” he said at a press briefing. “[For] the first time in our fight against this […]
Opinion | A Small Intern in a Big Hospital
I am a gopher. See my tiny paws. See them furiously digging and digging and digging. Little puffs of dirt and soil are thrown haphazardly over my little shoulders. My tiny brain was completely absorbed in the digging of that very inconsequential, very little, very specific hole. Tail in the air, head down, no breaks. […]
Brain-based computing chips not just for AI anymore
With the insertion of a little math, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have shown that neuromorphic computers, which synthetically replicate the brain’s logic, can solve more complex problems than those posed by artificial intelligence and may even earn a place in high-performance computing. The findings, detailed in a recent article in the journal Nature Electronics, show […]
More spice could help seniors avoid salt
Add a little spicy seasoning to a low sodium meal, and adults over the age of 60 may have a harder time noticing a lack of salt, according to a new study in the journal Food Quality and Preference. Led by Carolyn Ross, a professor of Food Sciences at Washington State University, the study tested […]
Sex and the symbiont: Can algae hookups help corals survive? Rice biologists’ discovery can be used to help climate-challenged reefs survive for now
A little more sexy time for symbionts could help coral reefs survive the trials of climate change. And that, in turn, could help us all. Researchers at Rice University and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography already knew the importance of algae known as dinoflagellates to the health of coral as the oceans warm, and have […]
To Prevent Chronic Illness, Start With Mental Health
It should come as little surprise that the pandemic triggered a surge in mental health issues. Millions lost their jobs, life-threatening illness lurked at every corner, and socializing in person became dangerous. Indeed, the CDC recently reported that since the pandemic started, 41% of Americans reported symptoms of anxiety or depression — up from about […]
Cleaner air has boosted US corn and soybean yields
A key factor in America’s prodigious agricultural output turns out to be something farmers can do little to control: clean air. A new Stanford-led study estimates pollution reductions between 1999 and 2019 contributed to about 20 percent of the increase in corn and soybean yield gains during that period — an amount worth about $5 […]