Science

From the Philadelphia Enquirer editorial board: From so-called vaccine skeptics like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to anti-vaccine advocates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., some politicians are hoping to gain political power by exploiting the misguided fears of worried parents and the curdled selfishness of American individualism exemplified by the anti-vaxxer movement. Although these candidates’ chances of reaching the presidency are …

Politico Europe reports: Nearly 17,000 people may have died after taking hydroxycholoroquine during the first wave of COVID, according to a study by French researchers. The anti-malaria drug was prescribed to some patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, “despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits,” the researchers point out in their paper, published …

USA Today reports: Owning a pet may help slow cognitive decline among older people who live alone, according to a study published this week. A large cohort study of adults ages 50 and older living in the United Kingdom showed pet owners had less verbal memory and verbal fluency declines compared to people who lived alone without a pet. The …

The New York Times reports: As the holiday season winds down and Covid-19 cases start to pick up, a variant called JN.1 has now become the most common strain of the virus spreading across the United States. JN.1, which emerged from the variant BA.2.86 and was first detected in the United States in September, accounted for 44 percent of Covid …

Mashable reports: Ancient Mars wasn’t simply just wet. It experienced momentous floods. As clear evidence of this water-filled past, NASA released an image snapped by its Perseverance rover, showing large heavy boulders absolutely blanketing part of the Jezero Crater, a dried-up river delta. “The rounded boulders seen here are believed to have been washed into Jezero Crater, which Perseverance is …

Mashable reports: NASA has a lot on its plate, between staring at strange things on Uranus, monitoring solar flares, investigating Enceladus, visualising Mars’ wet past, probing dead stars, recovering space rock, figuring out what’s going on with Voyager, and generally preparing to get humans on the moon. But there’s always time for a cat video,  On Monday, NASA announced it …

CBS News reports: The new COVID-19 variant that scientists call JN.1 now makes up about 44.1% of COVID-19 cases across the country, the CDC estimated Friday, marking another week of the fast-spreading variant’s steep rise in the U.S. The increase is more than two times larger than the 21.3% that the CDC now estimates the strain made up of infections …

Yahoo News reports: The U.S. flu season is underway, with at least seven states reporting high levels of illnesses and cases rising in other parts of the country, health officials say. The CDC posted new flu data on Friday, showing very high activity last week in Louisiana, and high activity in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina. …

CBS News reports: The number of countries battling disruptive outbreaks of measles surged to 37 last year, a report published by the CDC confirmed Thursday, as officials warn that the global fight against the disease has struggled to recover in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measles can be deadly, especially in children, but it is preventable with a common …

CNN reports: The Starship system made it much further into flight than the first attempt in April, but ultimately ended in another explosion. The rocket and spacecraft safely lifted off the pad, with the Super Heavy booster igniting all 33 of its engines. During the last attempt, multiple engines shut down prematurely. Then, the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft …

The New York Times reports: The decision by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday to approve the weight loss drug tirzepatide adds a potent new tool to the fast-growing arsenal of obesity drugs. The drug, which will go by the brand name Zepbound, contains the same compound in the sought-after diabetes drug Mounjaro. Many people have used Mounjaro off-label …

Space.com reports: A spectacular annular solar eclipse will grace the Americas on Oct. 14 and you can track it down to the exact second with NASA’s 2023 Eclipse Explorer. The Eclipse Explorer’s interactive map details when and where the eclipse will be visible, including the path and duration of annularity (the areas from which the ‘ring of fire’ can be …

The Jerusalem Post reports: In a totally unexpected move, the Jordanian government has been forced to act quickly against what it called two parties who spread false information, causing chaos among children and parents. The prosecutor general is looking into possible cybercrimes committed to dissuade the public from the acceptance of the new measles (MR) vaccine that will be rolled …

The Washington Post reports: Sea ice levels around Antarctica just registered a record low — and by a wide margin — as winter comes to a close, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). This significant milestone adds worry that Antarctic sea ice may be entering a state of decline brought on by climate change. “There is …

NBC News reports: More than three years into the pandemic, the millions of people who have suffered from long Covid finally have scientific proof that their condition is real. Scientists have found clear differences in the blood of people with long Covid — a key first step in the development of a test to diagnose the illness. The findings, published …

The New York Times reports: A brown-and-white capsule that spent the last seven years swooping through the solar system — and sojourning at an asteroid — has finally come home. And it has brought a cosmic souvenir: a cache of space rock that scientists are hungry to get their hands on. On Sunday morning, those scientists waited eagerly as the …

Reuters reports: California on Thursday sued two anti-abortion organizations for telling patients that they can help reverse the effects of the abortion pill mifepristone, a potentially dangerous claim not supported by evidence. In a complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, accused Heartbeat International (HBI) and RealOptions Obria of violating a state law …

ABC News reports: An asteroid NASA’s been tracking for nearly 25 years could impact Earth in the future, a new report reveals. First discovered in 1999, Bennu, the near-Earth asteroid, could possibly drift into the planet’s orbit and could hit the planet by September 2182, according to the OSIRIS-REx science team. Bennu passes near Earth every six years and has …

Fortune reports: U.S. COVID infections are hovering near levels of the pandemic’s first peak in 2020, and approaching the Delta peak of late 2021, according to wastewater surveillance and modeling by forecasters. Viral wastewater levels are not far behind all of the pandemic’s 2020 peaks except for one—the initial peak of March 2020, which they’ve already surpassed. And they lag …

The Associated Press reports: The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday against the effectiveness of the ingredient found in …