Curated News: Staff Picks

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A new study shows there was substantial social distancing inequalities throughout New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers reported that areas with the lowest individual income and a greater percentage of non-white and/or Hispanic/Latino individuals, used the subway to a greater degree during the pandemic, and the strongest driver of subway use in communities of color was the percent of individuals in essential work. This is one of the first studies to assess the interrelationship between sociodemographic factors, mobility, and COVID-19. Findings are online in the preprint of medRxiv ahead of peer-reviewed publication.

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One-third of American families have lost income since the beginning of shutdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, with such losses striking families from all economic groups, according to a new nationally representative survey by the RAND Corporation.

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Nearly twelve years ago, Michigan voters approved the use of medical cannabis by residents with certain health conditions. A year and a half ago, they voted to approve its use by all adults, for any reason. What happened between those two dates is the focus of a comprehensive new report.

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Harvard scientists have developed DNA-barcoded microbial spores that can be safely introduced onto objects and surfaces at a point of origin, such as a field or manufacturing plant, and be identified months later, to help trace problems like the source of foodborne illness.

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Working from home during the pandemic became an unexpected reality for millions of Americans, and while many want their careers permanently based where they live, hurdles to that goal remain, reports the first comprehensive study of the social and cultural impact of the coronavirus conducted by the USC Center for the Digital Future and the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

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Integrating radiocarbon dating and microarchaeology techniques has enabled more precise dating of the ancient Wilson’s Arch monument at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, according to a study published June 3, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Johanna Regev from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and colleagues.

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Using the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper telescope, astronomers have for the first time measured the Fermi Bubbles in the visible light spectrum. The Fermi Bubbles are two enormous outflows of high-energy gas that emanate from the Milky Way and the finding refines our understanding of the properties of these mysterious blobs.

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Researchers urge a moratorium on prescribing chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, with or without azithromycin, to treat or prevent COVID-19, and caution that the reassuring safety profile of hydroxychloroquine may be more apparent than real. Safety data derive from decades of prescriptions by clinicians, primarily for their patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, both of which are of greater prevalence in younger and middle age women, who are at very low risk of fatal heart outcomes due to hydroxychloroquine.

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure may cause menopause to occur two years earlier in women, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Demonstrations spread across the U.S. to confront the deaths of black men and women at the hands of police. Experts will discuss how to prevent more unarmed black men and women from being killed by police, and what can be done by individuals outside of law enforcement.

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A study of teens diagnosed with the vaping-linked respiratory disease EVALI revealed that most also had gastrointestinal symptoms and a history of psychosocial factors, including substance abuse, UT Southwestern researchers found in one of the first clinical reviews of its kind.

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Recently published findings show that wearing and using a luxury good, like a Prada handbag, can lead ordinary people to behave badly.

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Using skin cells from human volunteers, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have created fully functional mini livers, which they then transplanted into rats. In this proof-of-concept experiment, the lab-made organs survived for four days inside their animal hosts.

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There is a world of life on the backs of loggerhead sea turtles, and it’s more abundant and diverse than scientists knew. An international team led by Florida State University researchers found that more than double the number of organisms than previously observed live on the shells of these oceanic reptiles, raising important questions about loggerhead sea turtle ecology and conservation.

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Female college students appear to be more affected by high alcohol use than men, which may lead to less interest in academics, according to new research including by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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Parents likely misjudge how much time their young children are plugged into mobile devices – or how they are spending that time – a new study suggests.

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Researchers predict the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) gene has a key role in shaping immune response to COVID.

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The Notre Dame study showed that students reported increased mindfulness towards the environment after performing ecological attachment tasks like contemplating nature, or practicing environmental preservation tasks like recycling and limiting electricity usage.

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In a new study, researchers at the University at Albany have turned to more than a century’s worth of data (from 1901 to 2012) in NOAA’s International Tree Ring Data Bank to both analyze historical tree growth at 3,579 forests around the world and create a model for future projections (from 2045 to 2060).