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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Carlyn Zwarenstein

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More than a plague: How colonialism, class and incarceration feed disease outbreaks

Edna Bonhomme, author of "A History of the World in Six Plagues," details how pandemics are about more than viruses

yesterday 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Bird flu isn't as silent as we think — experts caution the pandemic threat is still growing

Bird flu isn't as silent as we think — experts caution the pandemic threat is still growing

It's been months since a major update in H5N1 news, but that doesn't mean the virus has disappeared

30.04.2025 3

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

We once rid the US of this nasty parasite. Now it could be coming back

We once rid the US of this nasty parasite. Now it could be coming back

For years, a multi-country effort kept screwworm at bay. The US picking fights with Mexico isn't helping

28.04.2025 30

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Weird, rare mushrooms in Ecuador reveal secrets about life and loss of biodiversity

Weird, rare mushrooms in Ecuador reveal secrets about life and loss of biodiversity

The real world analog of "Common Side Effects" underscores the loss of biodiversity before we even know what's gone

26.04.2025 20

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Humans think — AI, not so much. Science explains why our brains aren't just fancy computers

Humans think — AI, not so much. Science explains why our brains aren't just fancy computers

New research is revealing how specialized neurons give our brains an edge artificial intelligence can only dream of

25.04.2025 7

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

A torrent of infectious diseases is erupting from melting ice. We shouldn't freak out just yet

A torrent of infectious diseases is erupting from melting ice. We shouldn't freak out just yet

As the world heats up, vast numbers of microbes frozen in vast amounts of ice are set to thaw. We must prepare

24.04.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Our cells carry their own sexual identity. That's science, not ideology

Research on sex differences is being defunded and censored — but our very cells differ according to sex

22.04.2025 50

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

The ultimate comeback: the science of resurrection

Sure, "Jesus lizards" walk on water. But some of God's other creatures have mastered coming back from the dead

20.04.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Take back the night: Establishing a "right to darkness" could save our night skies

Dark sky proponents mull the rights of nature to battle light pollution. Here's how it would work

15.04.2025 30

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Erasing the stars: Satellite megaconstellations are a mega problem for Earth and sky

With satellite numbers skyrocketing over the next few years, the time to grasp the implications is now

04.04.2025 6

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

War zone innovation: For Palestinians, survival has meant creativity

Adaptation, perseverance, "delusional" hope. Our world needs the ingenuity Gazans offer in spades

29.03.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

What makes humans intelligent? These unique neurons might hold the key

Research suggests our intelligence may arise from specialized brain cells only found in humans

25.03.2025 70

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Masks off: The lessons we didn't learn from COVID

The pandemic accelerated economic disparity, revealing a disturbing acceptance of mass death. Did we learn nothing?

15.03.2025 8

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

You don't want to throw a measles party

As the anti-vaccine movement brings measles surging back, we must also recall why we need a vaccine for it

11.03.2025 5

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Plant and human immune systems are closer than we think, study finds

Similar biochemical cycles keep vitamin B6 in balance in plants — and in the humans who eat them

05.03.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Scientists reveal process of ancient volcanic eruption that turned a victim's brain to glass

To make glass from soft tissue the sequence of events must be exactly right. This is how experts think it went down

04.03.2025 7

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Trump is gutting environmental data, obscuring climate and pollution risks to the public

Deleting websites and ignoring scientific data threatens to undo clean air and water regulations

27.02.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Can humans really extinguish all life on Earth? It's complicated

Would dropping every nuke or climate change make our home a barren, sterile world? Probably not, but we're trying

25.02.2025 20

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Tuberculosis is on the rise again. We can fight it — if we try

Slashes in federal funding for disease surveillance could once more make old diseases formidable foes

21.02.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Back to the Miocene: What the climate 13.8 million years ago could tell us about our future world

Scientists look to the Miocene for clues of what we might expect from global heating caused by fossil fuels

17.02.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

In the brain, smell and sight are closer friends than we thought

New research explores the many ways our sensory experiences overlaps, teaching us new ways the brain perceives

16.02.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

The FDA just approved a new painkiller. Is it too good to be true?

Meet suzetrigine, a non-opioid that promises to avoid addiction risk. But some experts say it can't replace opioids

10.02.2025 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Migrants are on the front lines of the bird flu crisis but deportation fears are causing chaos

Migrant farmworkers are on the front lines of the H5N1 surge — but deportation fears complicate virus surveillance

09.02.2025 6

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

As the Trump admin deletes online data, scientists and digital librarians rush to save it

The race is on to save public information about health and science before Trump makes it disappear

04.02.2025 6

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Scientists find Ozempic may treat cancer, Alzheimer's and more. Is it hype or truly a "wonder drug?"

New research is finding semaglutide, a diabetes and obesity drug, has a lot to teach about how the body works

25.01.2025 9

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

“Mirror life” poses extreme existential risk to the world, scientists warn

Experts issue a dire warning about a theoretical form of life that could overwhelm everything living on Earth

18.01.2025 40

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Digital smell has arrived. Are we ready for Stinkygram?

Some research suggests that “olfactory training” — practicing to improve your olfaction, or sense of smell — can actually improve your cognitive...

05.01.2025 9

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Can the incoming Trump administration put health above politics?

The COVID-19 pandemic was uniquely colored by the Trump administration, to put it lightly. Almost five years ago, Donald Trump downplayed the...

29.12.2024 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Is color even real? The true nature of the rainbow is deeper than it seems

White light can be blinding, cold, unforgiving. Our physical reality often finds it too much as well, splitting it apart any chance it gets. Plants...

16.11.2024 9

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Health care workers in Gaza ask why the international community ignores their suffering

Just over a year ago, after a massive explosion in the parking area of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza killed 471 people and wounded hundreds more,...

11.11.2024 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

UN report accuses Israel of willfully destroying Gaza’s health care infrastructure

Six days after the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel ordered the evacuation of 22 hospitals in northern Gaza. In fact,...

30.10.2024 5

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Nature keeps evolving crabs and the internet is obsessed. What’s going on here?

As XEC, the latest COVID variant takes hold, we are watching viral evolution play out on a time scale short enough to follow, with different...

14.10.2024 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

All eyes on XEC: Why COVID sleuths are paying attention to this variant

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, suddenly breaks out like a horse from the...

09.10.2024 3

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

From dinosaurs to dolphins, what gaze following reveals about the evolution of empathy

Picture this: You’re at a bar and someone clearly intoxicated starts telling your friend their grand theory about how the Titan submersible...

14.09.2024 10

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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Numbers game: Is math the language of nature or just a human construct?

Nearly twenty years after I graduated high school and my last calculus class, I still get that nightmare where I’m at the exam for a calculus course...

27.07.2024 30

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Carlyn Zwarenstein