Science

James Webb Space Telescope managers weigh whether to release its data right away

6:24pm February 06, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Astronomers who win time to use space telescopes typically get a period of time when they alone can see the resulting data. But telescope managers are considering making all data public immediately.

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Eileen and Louise both got COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic in New York. Eileen ended up on a ventilator for two months and then spent five months in a rehab hospital. Louise fought the illness at home as hospitals started filling up.

Family caregivers of people with long COVID bear an extra burden

5:00am February 06, 2023

by Kat McGowan

When a case of COVID-19 morphs into the mysterious, chronic condition known as long COVID, the specialists, appointments, medications and daily need for family care can overwhelm everyone involved.

Guet N'dar, Senegal (October 7, 2022) - The neighborhood Khar Yalla, which means 'Waiting for God," in Wolof, was meant as a place for those who had been displaced by rising seas to live. But this neighborhood soon, too, was inundated with water.

When the seas rise in Senegal, so do the fortunes of far-right parties in Europe

5:00am February 06, 2023

Sweeping global trends are changing the world. As climate change heats up the planet and pushes people to migrate, far-right politicians see both a threat and an opportunity.

People look at a dead gray whale at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Calif., in May 2019, a year when 122 gray whales died in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last year, 47 of the whales died.

An unusually high number of whales are washing up on U.S. beaches

5:03am February 05, 2023

by Bill Chappell

The unexpected deaths are hitting humpbacks and North Atlantic right whales on the East Coast and gray whales on the West Coast — populations that were already under watch.

Eye-popping egg prices have finally started to fall. Wholesale eggs in the Midwest market dropped by 58 cents to $3.29 a dozen at the end of January, according to USDA data.

Eggs prices drop, but the threat from avian flu isn't over yet

5:00am February 05, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

After months of eye-popping prices, egg lovers are finally seeing some relief. Wholesale prices in the Midwest fell by 58 cents at the end of January, but the days of a $1.50 a dozen may not return.

Gas utilities and cooking stove manufacturers knew for decades that burners could be made that emit less pollution in homes, but they chose not to. That may may be about to change.

Gas stove makers have a pollution solution. They're just not using it

9:33am February 04, 2023

by Jeff Brady

Gas utilities and cooking stove manufacturers knew for decades that burners could be made that emit less pollution in homes, but they chose not to. That may may be about to change.

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What's a spillover? A spillback? Here are definitions for the vocab of a pandemic

7:01am February 04, 2023

by Max Barnhart

Since the pandemic was declared in 2020, many perhaps unfamiliar terms have become part of daily conversation. Here's a glossary, from antibodies to zoonosis.

Bobbi Wilson holds her collection of spotted lanternflies as she is honored at the Yale School of Public Health on Jan. 20.

Yale honors the work of a 9-year-old Black girl whose neighbor reported her to police

10:15am February 03, 2023

by Vanessa Romo

Bobbi Wilson went on a mission to save New Jersey's trees, capturing spotted lanternflies. That frightened her neighbor, who called the cops. Now, her bug collection is part of a Yale museum.

Yeshnee Naidoo prepares a "flow cell" for analysis by one of the center's many genetic sequencing machines.

Who's most likely to save us from the next pandemic? The answer may surprise you

1:07pm February 02, 2023

by Nurith Aizenman

The South African-based scientist who co-discovered the omicron variant of COVID-19 makes an intriguing argument.

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Each year, RSV infections send up to 80,000 kids under 5 to the hospital for emergency treatment. A new antibody treatment could protect the youngest kids — newborns and up infants up to 2 years old.

A single-shot treatment to protect infants from RSV may be coming soon

1:02pm February 02, 2023

by Tarryn Mento

The illness sends tens of thousands of babies to the hospital each year. If approved, the new injection would be the first broadly available prevention tool.