Category: Coping with COVID
Science Daily: Scientists discover the brain’s hidden “stop scratching” switch
Science Daily Scientists have uncovered a hidden “stop-scratching” signal in the nervous system that tells your brain when enough scratching is enough. The discovery centers on a molecule called TRPV4, which acts like part of an internal braking system for itch relief. In experiments involving chronic itch similar to eczema, mice missing this signal scratched […]
May 13, 2026
Are military dolphins working in the Strait of Hormuz? Probably not, but they have been part of the US Navy for decades
CNN With concerns about Iran laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was asked Tuesday whether Iran might turn to dolphins to help confront the US Navy. He said that he could “confirm” that Iran didn’t have dolphins to deploy as part of operations but said he would neither “confirm or […]
May 6, 2026
Ancient mass grave in Jordan confirms victims of Justinian Plague pandemic
Archeology News A mass grave uncovered in the ancient city of Jerash in modern-day Jordan is offering new evidence of how one of history’s earliest pandemics reshaped life and death in the Byzantine world. Researchers have confirmed the burial as the first biomolecularly verified plague mass grave from the First Pandemic, also known as the […]
Apr 29, 2026
Tick Bites Are No Joke. Here’s How to Prevent Them and Protect Yourself.
New York Times The mere thought of ticks makes our skin crawl. And the diseases they spread are only getting more common. In fact, the number of tick-borne illnesses reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more than doubled over the past two decades (though during the pandemic there was a drop in reported […]
Apr 29, 2026
Walt Disney was an informant for the FBI
History Fun Facts When he wasn’t building an animation empire that still dominates Hollywood more than half a century after his death, Walt Disney was busy moonlighting as an FBI informant. He was initially recruited on November 10, 1940, and was then made a “Special Agent in Charge Contact” in 1954 — essentially a voluntary FBI contact who […]
Apr 15, 2026
Diagnostic dilemma: Woman’s ‘biologically implausible’ infection led her to sneeze ‘worms’ out of her nose
Live Science Doctors reported a highly unusual case of parasitic fly infection in a woman in Greece. The symptoms: The patient, who worked outdoors on a Greek island, developed pain around the center of her face that grew progressively worse. About two to three weeks after this pain began, she also developed a severe cough. Shortly […]
Apr 8, 2026
About that cringe gmail address you created in 2007
NYT Users who have been saddled with now-cringe email handles since the mid-2000s can now change them without losing any data under a policy Google announced on Wednesday. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for those who thought it would be hilarious, in the mid-2000s, to make a profanity, a body […]
Apr 1, 2026
The Trip to the Far Side of the Moon
The Wire As soon as April 1, four people will embark on a journey that will take them farther from the Earth than anyone has ever traveled before. When NASA’s new moon rocket lifts off as soon as April 1, its immense core stage will mix 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen with 196,000 gallons of liquid […]
Mar 25, 2026
Why Some Birds Seem to Be Developing a Cigarette Habit
NYT Research from Poland adds to evidence from Latin American countries that compounds in used cigarette butts ward off parasites in bird nests. Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos, house finches in Mexico and song thrushes in New Zealand have all developed a curious habit: They put cigarette butts in their nests. Some songbirds in Britain are even nesting in outdoor […]
Mar 18, 2026
Why Falling Cats Always Seem to Land on Their Feet
NYT It takes backbone to solve an enigma like the “falling cat” problem. In 1894, the French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey tried to resolve a particularly vexing question in science: How do cats always seem to land on their feet when they fall? Using the era’s rudimentary videos, Marey was able to definitively illustrate that cats, when […]
Mar 11, 2026
