Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 30, 2020

SARS-CoV-2 uses a second secret doorway into cells

When it comes to how the coronavirus invades a cell, it takes three to tango. The dance began with the ACE2 receptor, a protein on human cells that allows SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to enter and infect the cell. But now enter a new dance partner – another...

Sep 30, 2020

COVID-19 household transmission is way higher than we thought

COVID-19 spreads in U.S. households more often than previously thought, according to a new study. The study, published Friday (Oct. 30) in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, involved 191 people in Tennessee and Wisconsin who lived with someone recently diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 102 people become infected...

Aug 31, 2020

Creepy images show airway cells teeming with SARS-CoV-2

Striking new images show a close-up view of the novel coronavirus as it invades cells that line the human airway. The images provide a glimpse of the staggering number of virus particles that are produced during an infection — indeed, infected cells can churn out virus particles by the thousands....

Aug 31, 2020

Are carrots orange because of a Dutch revolutionary?

There's a popular folklore that links orange carrots to the Dutch royal family. But is it true? In the late 1500s, the Dutch low countries were a Spanish colony, ruled as the Spanish Netherlands by Habsburg monarchs in Madrid. Then along came William, Prince of Orange, a bygone territory in...

Aug 31, 2020

Seven lineages of SARS-CoV-2 identified in Nigeria: Why that matters

By the first week of August 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic had caused about 654,000 deaths worldwide. In Nigeria, as of July 28, there were 38,945 confirmed cases recorded with 813 deaths. The pandemic hit the African continent last, and the numbers remain comparatively low for most countries. But there is...

Aug 31, 2020

Why AstraZeneca just paused its coronavirus vaccine trial

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. E.D.T. to include new information on the serious event that paused the trial. Clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University have been put on hold after a participant developed a suspected adverse reaction, Stat News first...

Aug 31, 2020

13-year-old dies of rare 'brain-eating' amoeba after swimming in Florida lake

A teen has died from a rare brain-eating amoeba infection after a family vacation in Florida, according to news reports. The 13-year-old, Tanner Wall, and his family had recently stayed at a campground in North Florida, which has a water park and lake where the boy went swimming, according to...

Aug 31, 2020

Why can't humans digest corn?

Corn has a way of staying intact from plate to poop. The bright yellow kernels found in our favorite summer dishes can show up — seemingly undigested — in the bathroom hours later. How does corn survive the digestive system? And maybe more importantly, should you even eat a food...

Aug 31, 2020

Flu season may be very mild this year, thanks to COVID-19 precautions

Flu season may be pretty mild this year thanks to measures taken to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the report, published Thursday (Sept. 17) in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the researchers...

Aug 31, 2020

CDC reverses controversial coronavirus testing guidelines

In its latest about-face, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reversed controversial COVID-19 testing guidelines that were posted to the agency's website last month, reportedly over the objections of its own scientists. On Aug. 24, the CDC updated its testing guidelines to say that being exposed to...

Aug 31, 2020

Trump administration plans to distribute 100 million rapid COVID-19 tests to states

The Trump administration has announced a plan to distribute millions of rapid COVID-19 tests to states, with a focus on using the tests to reopen schools. On Monday (Sept. 28), President Donald Trump said in a news conference that the federal government would soon begin deploying 150 million rapid COVID-19...

Jul 31, 2020

Why do some people never gain weight?

It's one of life's great injustices: Some people must carefully pay attention to everything they put in their mouths in order to maintain their weight, while others can eat doughnuts to their heart's content and achieve the same result. So what's the secret? How do some people manage to never...

Jul 31, 2020

Fall could bring rare, paralyzing illness in children, CDC warns

As if the COVID-19 pandemic weren't bad enough, health officials say we're due for an outbreak of a rare, polio-like illness in children this fall. Cases of this disease, known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), spiked late in the summer and fall of 2014, 2016 and 2018, and officials expect...

Jul 31, 2020

Common colds train the immune system to recognize COVID-19

Previous infections with common cold viruses can train the immune system to recognize SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study. The study, published Aug. 4 in the journal Science, found that immune cells known as T cells that recognize common cold coronaviruses also recognize specific sites...

Jul 31, 2020

4 die from drinking tainted hand sanitizer, CDC reports

At least four people in the U.S. have died after drinking tainted hand sanitizer, and about a dozen more have experienced serious health effects including vision loss, according to a new report. The report follows warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about dozens of hand sanitizer products found...