Some infections are tougher to recover from than others. Take COVID-19 infections, for instance. According to a new study in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, people with COVID and COVID-like symptoms typically take around nine months to recover from their infections mentally, and around three months to recover from their infections physically, suggesting that mental recovery is a particularly lengthy process that requires more study and more medical attention.“We have newly recognized the diffe ...read more

The next breakthrough in cancer therapy could come from the seafloor, where sea cucumbers hold a secret solution. These unassuming creatures may not look the part of a medical hero, but a sugar compound they possess shows promise as a precious resource that may be able to stem the tide of cancer growth.A recent study published in Glycobiology has shown that this sugar compound produced by sea cucumbers — called fucosylated chondroitin sulfate — can curb a particular enzyme responsible for th ...read more

With minimal Neanderthal archaeological sites connecting Eastern Europe and Eurasia, it had long been a mystery as to how Neanderthals traveled between the two regions between 120,000 years and 60,000 years ago. Researchers in a new study, published in PLOS One, used a new computer simulation to pinpoint the ancient paths the Neanderthals took as they traveled over 2,000 miles in less than 2,000 years. The research reveals that they likely followed river valleys and moved during warmer periods. ...read more

Cemeteries are more than just places where we bury our dead. They can reveal important details about a location, like the lifestyle, diet, and subsistence strategies of societies.A new multidisciplinary study, published in Scientific Reports, uses a Hungarian cemetery in Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom to identify a turning point in the Bronze Age history of Central Europe. By analyzing cemetery remains, researchers discovered that dietary changes occurring between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages dispr ...read more

Key Takeaways on Motion SicknessMotion sickness is caused by vestibular sensory conflict. This means, there is a difference between incoming vestibular information and what we expect that vestibular information to be.Symptoms of motion sickness include vomiting, dizziness, or a headache. You can prevent motion sickness by avoiding vestibular sensory conflict.It’s happened to many road trippers. You’re in the back of the car, reading or looking at your phone, when motion sickness hits. Nausea ...read more

A new COVID variant known as NB.1.8.1 is on the rise in the U.S. and beyond, landing on the radar of health officials. The variant, first identified in January 2025, is now being closely monitored, with cases already popping up across several states. A report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group states that the global public health risk posed by NB.1.8.1 is currently low; it also says, however, that the variant’s mutations may increase its ability to be tra ...read more

Fossils found in the stomach of a 100-million-year-old sauropod reveal that these dinosaurs didn’t fully chew their food and relied on stomach microbes for digestion. A new study from Current Biology analyzed the fossilized abdomen of a sauropod. Within it were fossilized plants, which provided further evidence that these creatures were herbivores and barely chewed their food. “No genuine sauropod gut contents had ever been found anywhere before, despite sauropods being known from fossils ...read more

Family members remember some of the early signs of Alzheimer’s in their loved ones quite well. This type of dementia often begins with struggles in communication, lapses in memory, and confusion around everyday problem-solving.But scientists are now uncovering evidence of another early signal — mood disorders, like depression and bipolar disorder, that begin later in life. While a link between these conditions and Alzheimer’s has long been suspected, what’s been missing is a clear unders ...read more

An international team of researchers has unlocked ancient genomes (aDNA) from Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago for the very first time. By combining aDNA, dietary evidence, and linguistics, the team has learned more about the migration of many ancient Pacific peoples, including the ancestors of the Māori.A new study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, describes this use of aDNA as acting like a “time machine,” allowing us to travel back to the ancient past and recover s ...read more

Key Takeaways on Crow Intelligence: Crows are highly intelligent. They can recognize faces, hold grudges, and even recognize cars. Crows cache food, and will move it if another creature sees them hiding it. They use tools, and fashion tools from twigs, forming them into the right shape for the job, making hooked tools to snag food.Most of the corvid family, which includes ravens, jackdaws, and jays, as well as crows, seem to try new things, investigate new situations, and take advantage of new o ...read more