Early data hint that the mutant is slightly more transmissible. A stealthy version of the omicron variant has been detected in the U.S., but so far, it makes up a very low proportion of the overall cases in the country. This version of the variant, called BA.2, bears some geneticContinue Reading
The sphinxes were originally 26 feet (8 meters) long. Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered two colossal limestone statues of King Amenhotep III that are fashioned to look like sphinxes, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission discovered the sphinx-like statues, which were originally aboutContinue Reading
Weekly social interactions form unique signatures that make people stand out How you interact with a crowd may help you stick out from it, at least to artificial intelligence. When fed information about a target individual’s mobile phone interactions, as well as their contacts’ interactions, AI can correctly pick theContinue Reading
Hippos respond differently to the calls of familiar and unfamiliar hippos. The thunderous calls of common hippos can be heard from more than half a mile (1 kilometer) away — and when a hippo hears the booming call of an unfamiliar hippo, the animal often responds by letting loose aContinue Reading
They were likely used to sip beer communally. Slender gold and silver tubes crafted during the Bronze Age are the world’s oldest drinking straws, a new study finds. Archaeologists found the 3-foot-long (1 meter) metal tubes in 1897 while excavating a burial mound known as a kurgan from the ancientContinue Reading
By screening the eyes, doctors may one day be able to predict a person’s risk of early death. By examining tiny vessels inside a person’s eyes, doctors might one day be able to predict that person’s risk of early death, according to a new study. Though the risk of illnessContinue Reading
Were these “jerks of the sea” acting kindly? In a strange encounter off the coast of western Australia, a pod of orcas seems to free a humpback whale from a rope entangling its tail. But were they really trying to rescue it? It isn’t clear whether the orcas (Orcinus orca)Continue Reading
But shortages mean that new antivirals and other drugs may be hard to come by Two years into the COVID pandemic, as the highly contagious Omicron variant pushes infections to record highs, U.S. physicians have a growing arsenal of therapies to keep mild disease from worsening. At the same time,Continue Reading
Experts predict that such nonhuman-to-human “xenotransplants” may become a viable option within the next decade It’s an exciting time to be an organ transplant physician. Just two weeks ago, doctors in Baltimore reported completing the first successful transfer of a pig heart into a living human patient. Now pig kidneysContinue Reading
The viruses were bacteriophages, meaning viruses that infect bacteria. A woman’s oozing wound failed to heal after nearly two years of antibiotic treatments intended to vanquish the bacterial infection. So her doctors unleashed viruses to slay the superbug. The experimental therapy specifically involved viruses that infect bacteria, known as bacteriophages,Continue Reading