The U.K. approved the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge trial
In a few weeks, dozens of young and healthy volunteers in the United Kingdom will be intentionally exposed to the coronavirus as part of...
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
The COVID-19 death toll sent U.S. life expectancy plunging in 2020
Life expectancy in the United States plunged in the first half of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. A preliminary estimate of overall...
Some Neandertal genes in people today may protect against severe COVID-19
Some genetic variants inherited from Neandertals may protect against developing severe COVID-19. A new study looked at a stretch of DNA on chromosome 12...
The oldest animal DNA ever recovered reveals mammoths’ evolution
The oldest DNA ever recovered from an animal is adding new chapters to mammoth life history, going back more than 1 million years. Genetic...
Here’s how to watch NASA’s Perseverance lander touch down on Mars
All eyes are on Mars — and all ears, too. When NASA’s Perseverance rover touches down on the Red Planet on February 18, the...
A rare bird sighting doesn’t lead to seeing more kinds of rare birds
It was a cold, overcast Saturday morning in Salem, Ore., when Jesse Laney set out to catch a glimpse of a painted bunting. He’d...
A body burned inside a hut 20,000 years ago signaled shifting views of death
Middle Eastern hunter-gatherers changed their relationship with the dead nearly 20,000 years ago. Clues to that spiritual shift come from the discovery of an...
Modified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects
Cotton plants native to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula may all look the same — unkempt and untamed bushes with flowers that shift from pale yellow...
In the social distancing era, boredom may pose a public health threat
In recent months, journalists and public health experts have bandied about the term “pandemic fatigue.” Though not clearly defined, the general gist is that...
Pfizer’s vaccine appears to reduce coronavirus transmission
Researchers are getting the first real-world hints that a vaccine can curb the coronavirus’s spread, not just prevent people from getting seriously ill. People...
Myanmar: UN investigators document deliberate military attacks on civilians 
Colombia earthquake: UN joins national response 
Security Council LIVE: Spotlight on Israeli settler violence in West Bank 
Obstetric Violence: Syrian Women Speak Out