Research News

Studies of steroids, including the generic drug dexamethasone, have found that these drugs can reduce deaths in patients hospitalized with serious cases of COVID-19.

Inexpensive Steroids Can Save Lives Of Seriously Ill COVID-19 Patients

7:06pm September 02, 2020

by Richard Harris

Multiple studies now confirm earlier research: Dexamethasone and hydrocortisone, drugs that reduce an immune system's overreaction, can help reduce deaths of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

A walk through the streets of New York during the pandemic echoes the loneliness and isolation many Americans are feeling in their battle against a virus that has brought multiple traumas — with no end in sight.

Pandemic's Emotional Hammer Hits Hard

4:37pm September 02, 2020

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been profound, researchers find. Nearly 25% of Americans are depressed, particularly those who have low incomes and have lost a job or a loved one.

Gyms are reopening with fewer people and more protocols, and they want to rehabilitate their pandemic-battered image. Although there's not much evidence, they say the science is on their side.

Making Gyms Safer: Why The Virus Is Less Likely To Spread There Than In A Bar

11:12am September 02, 2020

by Will Stone

Gyms are reopening with fewer people and more protocols, and they want to rehabilitate their pandemic-battered image. Although there's not much evidence, they say the science is on their side.

Science

Bats Use Baby Talk To Teach Their Pups, Researchers Say

4:09pm August 31, 2020

Researchers say mother bats use baby talk to communicate with their pups. Experts say that it helps bats learn the language.

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'Disease tolerance' is the ability of an individual, due to a genetic predisposition or some aspect of behavior or lifestyle, to thrive despite being infected with an amount of pathogen that sickens others. It might play a role in asymptomatic coronavirus

Scientists Explore Why Some People Are Able To Live With An Infection Unscathed

6:00am August 29, 2020

by Emily Laber-Warren

What if your body could corral an infection instead of eliminating it? Immunologists who see this sort of "disease tolerance" in plants wonder what role it might play in asymptomatic human infections.

Several influenza vaccines have been made in the form of a nasal spray, instead of an injection. The sprays confer two kinds of immunity to the recipient but can be difficult technologically to make.

What A Nasal Spray Vaccine Against COVID-19 Might Do Even Better Than A Shot

12:15pm August 28, 2020

by Joe Palca

A vaccine against the coronavirus needs to keep people from getting very sick and dying. But preventing the spread of the disease is also important, and vaccines delivered by nasal spray may do that.

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Dr. Pierre Chanoine administers a COVID-19 swab test on a person outside the Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia in April. The group Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium offers testing at various locations to help address heath disparities in Africa

'Racial Inequality May Be As Deadly As COVID-19,' Analysis Finds

5:48pm August 27, 2020

by Maria Godoy

A century of U.S. statistics finds mortality rates and life expectancy were much worse for Black Americans during pre-pandemic years than they have been for white people during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Pacific Ocean from space. In both liquid and frozen form, water covers most of the Earth's surface, and there's been a debate among scientists about where all the water originated.

Water, Water, Every Where — And Now Scientists Know Where It Came From

5:41pm August 27, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Some unusual meteorites suggest that Earth got its water at its start, rather than forming dry and being watered by comets later on.

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Science

Where Did Earth's Water Come From?

4:19pm August 27, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists have long debated whether the Earth's water was here when the planet formed or whether it arrived later. A study suggests much of the water originated in rocks from which Earth is built.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn drew a hailstorm of criticism from scientists this week for mischaracterizing a study's findings in a way that hyped the benefits of convalescent plasma. He later apologized, but critics say the damag

FDA's Hahn Apologizes For Overselling Plasma's Benefits As A COVID-19 Treatment

7:15pm August 25, 2020

by Richard Harris

The Food and Drug Administration's chief said Sunday the therapy reduces deaths among COVID-19 patients by 35%. On Monday he apologized, acknowledging that statistic greatly exaggerates any benefit.