Research News

Researcher Studies How Messaging On COVID-19 Disparities Affects Policy Preferences

5:20pm April 18, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with professor Evan Lieberman about the study he co-authored looking at how sharing information about the pandemic's racial disparities affect peoples' policy opinions.

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As a doctor, I was eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in December, but I also was pregnant, and there wasn't yet much data then to inform my decision. What I needed was a different kind of information.

OPINION: Doctors Should Be More Candid With Their Patients

2:39pm April 18, 2021

by Mara Gordon

As a doctor, I was eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in December, but I also was pregnant, and there wasn't yet much data to inform my decision. What I needed was a different kind of information.

Researchers have shown that the Indian jumping ant can shrink and regrow its brain.

Science

The Incredible Shrinking And Growing Brains Of Indian Jumping Ants

7:58am April 18, 2021

A new study of Indian jumping ants shows they have the ability to shrink and expand their brains — a first for any insect.

Using fluorescent antibody-based stains and advanced microscopy, researchers are able to visualize cells of different species origins in an early stage chimeric embryo. The red color indicates the cells of human origin.

Scientists Create Early Embryos That Are Part Human, Part Monkey

4:35pm April 15, 2021

by Rob Stein

An international team has put human cells into monkey embryos in hopes of finding new ways to produce organs for transplantation. But some ethicists still worry about how such research could go wrong.

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A mass vaccination site at the Lumen Field Event Center in Seattle had plenty of takers for the COVID-19 vaccine when it opened in mid-March. Though some relatively rare cases of coronavirus infection have been documented despite vaccination, "I don't see

CDC Studies 'Breakthrough' COVID Cases Among People Already Vaccinated

1:03pm April 13, 2021

by Rob Stein

COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective but don't always provide perfect protection. Some vaccinated people later exposed to the virus still get sick. Why and how often that happens is under study.

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Deaths from COVID-19 are often due to the immune system overreacting to the coronavirus. New drugs to suppress that reaction are showing promise, say researchers.

Drugs Targeting Immune Response To COVID-19 Show Promise

2:29pm April 07, 2021

by Richard Harris

Researchers are reporting some progress in their search for drugs that tamp down the overwhelming immune reaction that can kill a patient with COVID-19.

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Sonia Sein with her surgeons and ICU team at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Woman Gets New Windpipe In Groundbreaking Transplant Surgery

7:51am April 06, 2021

by Richard Harris

A medical team in New York City says it has performed the first complete surgical transplant of a trachea. These kinds of transplants are one of the last big transplant challenges.

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Researchers identified a mummified Blue-Fronted Amazon parrot, recovered from an ancient cemetery in the Atacama Desert.

Science

Mummified Parrots Reveal 'Sophisticated' Trade In Ancient South American Desert

7:36pm April 02, 2021

Scientists found remains of parrots in the Atacama desert, far from the birds' home in the Amazon. The discovery allowed scientists to reconstruct ancient trading routes used to transport the birds.

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A study of mice that hear imaginary sounds could help explain human disorders like schizophrenia, which produce hallucinations.

Mice That Hear Imaginary Sounds May Help Explain Hallucinations In People

5:01pm April 01, 2021

by Jon Hamilton

An experiment that induced imaginary sounds in both people and mice could help explain how brain disorders like schizophrenia cause hallucinations.

Scientists have made new more accurate comparisons between types of atomic clocks.

Science

Scientists Get Closer To Redefining The Length Of A Second

7:33pm March 29, 2021

A group of scientists from Boulder, Colo., compared three different atomic clocks. It's a step toward redefining the length of a second.

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