Health
- The Internet Research Agency, a troll-farm based in St. Petersburg, reached out to thousands of Twitter users in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. Afterward, some may have changed their behavior online.
- Researchers from the BioFrontiers Institute at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· have developed a saliva-based COVID-19 test capable of returning results in as little as 45 minutes—no nasal swabs or fancy laboratory equipment required. It could potentially be used for mass, inexpensive screening in community settings like schools and factories.
- A ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· researcher has received National Science Foundation funding to study COVID-19 spread in airplane cabins.
- After 239 scientists signed on to a letter arguing that the coronavirus can go airborne, the World Health Organization updated its public health guidelines.
- If each human cell has the same blueprint, or set of genes, why does an eye cell look and act differently than a brain cell or skin cell? New research moves science one step closer to solving this mystery, potentially leading to new treatments for cancer, heart abnormalities and more.
- As many as 7% of moms-to-be use marijuana while pregnant, and that number is rising fast as more use it as a remedy for morning sickness. But new research shows such use could have a lasting impact on the fetal brain, influencing children's sleep for as much as a decade.
- Researchers are exploring the tale of two online communities and their response to COVID-19: the r/Coronavirus and r/China_flu discussion boards on the social media site Reddit.
- Eat a slab of steak and your resident gut bacteria get to work immediately to break it down. But new research shows that a metabolic byproduct, called TMAO, produced in the process can be toxic to the lining of arteries, making them age faster.
- Today’s modern cities, from Denver to Dubai, could learn a thing or two from the ancestral Pueblo communities that once stretched across the southwestern United States. For starters, the more people live together, the better the living standards.
- Extremely conservative Facebook users are responsible for sharing the bulk of fake news, but extreme liberals are responsible for a good chunk of it, too, according to a new study. Those who lack trust in the media, and in society in general, are also more likely to share it.