Category: Coping with COVID
Are you a mosquito magnet? It’s because of how you smell.
Washington Post Your body is a big protein shake that smells like stinky feet for hungry mosquitoes. Some people are magnets for mosquitoes, emitting a tantalizing combination of chemicals that invites the pesky insects to dine on them. Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York found people who have higher levels of certain acids on […]
Jun 3, 2025
Why Did Doctors Wear Beak Masks During the Bubonic Plague?
HistoryFacts Few images in medical history are as striking (or as creepy) as those of plague doctors with their long, beaked masks. This peculiar costume, worn by physicians during outbreaks of bubonic plague in Europe, has become an enduring symbol of the disease. But why did doctors wear these strange masks, which surely must only […]
May 21, 2025
Miss your flight? There’s a dance for that.
Washington Post Dancer Blake McGrath missed his flight after creating an airport dance. It sparked a TikTok trend. Blake McGrath has danced all over: in his living room, on the lawn, in local grocery stores, on concert stages, on television sets, in the movies. And, perhaps most visibly of late, at the airport. A professional dancer for […]
May 14, 2025
Chimpanzees use medicinal leaves to perform first aid, scientists discover
Phys.org Scientists studying chimpanzees in Budongo Forest, Uganda, have observed that these primates don’t just treat their own injuries, but care for others, too—information which could shed light on how our ancestors first began treating wounds and using medicines. Although chimpanzees elsewhere have been observed helping other community members with medical problems, the persistent presence of […]
May 14, 2025
World’s tallest and smallest dogs meet up for a playdate
Smithsonian Magazine The world’s tallest and shortest dogs recently met up for a playdate—and their unique get-together was just as adorable as you might imagine. Reggie is a massive Great Dane that can easily rest his head on the kitchen counter, while Pearl is a pint-sized Chihuahua that barely hovers off the ground. Despite their […]
May 7, 2025
Humans’ Wounds Heal Much More Slowly Than Other Mammals’
NYT We naked apes need Band-Aids, but shedding the fur that speeds healing in other mammals may have helped us evolve other abilities. Watching wild baboons in Kenya, Akiko Matsumoto-Oda, an evolutionary biologist and primatologist at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan, had a front-row seat to the violence between these monkeys, especially the […]
Apr 30, 2025
One Simple Hack to Ruin Your Easter
The Atlantic The price of eggs has some online creators suggesting that potatoes are a suitable alternative. Like countless others who have left their hometown to live a sinful, secular life in a fantastic American city, I no longer actively practice Christianity. But a few times a year, my upbringing whispers to me across space […]
Apr 16, 2025
The Return of the Dire Wolf
Time Romulus and Remus are doing what puppies do: chasing, tussling, nipping, nuzzling. But there’s something very un-puppylike about the snowy white 6-month olds—their size, for starters. At their young age they already measure nearly 4 ft. long, tip the scales at 80 lb., and could grow to 6 ft. and 150 lb. Then there’s […]
Apr 9, 2025
