Trust is key as Estonia tests global vaccine passports

Could a QR code open up the world? That is the question in Estonia as it takes a lead in global efforts to develop digital vaccine passports.

Covid-19 prompts more to grasp for 'digital nomad' dream

"When I talked about this before the pandemic, people thought I was crazy . Now they tell me I was right after all," said Arnaud Wilbrod, a French freelance editor who moved to the Estonian capital Tallinn after his home country went into lockdown.

Chip shortage puts the brakes on automakers

A shortage of silicon chips is forcing automakers to cut back on production across the globe and may encourage efforts to cut reliance on Asian suppliers.

Dog show: Pet pooches play more when humans are watching

Pet dogs are far more likely to play with one another when their owner is present and being attentive, according to a new study, raising the intriguing possibility that they are putting on a show for our benefit.

Eat your heart out: COVID-safe Valentine's Day dining

It's a COVID-era conundrum for Valentine's Day: how to eat out with your beloved when you live in a country where all restaurants are closed?

German farmers rail against insect protection plans

The German government is set unveil legislation on Wednesday to halt a dramatic decline in insect populations, but farmers are up in arms over measures they say threaten their livelihoods.

WhatsApp flap shows importance of message platform to Facebook

When WhatsApp users began to raise concerns about a new privacy policy being rolled out, members of a Washington pickup soccer group decided to switch their communications to rival messaging platform Signal, ditching the Facebook-owned service.

Covid patients asphyxiate as Latin America battles oxygen shortage

As a second, deadly wave of COVID-19 batters Latin America, images have emerged from country after country of desperate people lining up for days to buy oxygen to ease the suffering of infected loved ones fighting for breath.

Cataloguing genetic information about yams

Yams are a staple food in West Africa, which produces over 90% of the world's yams each year. Yams play a key role in the food security, economic income, and traditional culture for the region.

Research reveals why plant diversity is so important for bee diversity

As abundant and widespread bees, it is common to see both bumble bees and honey bees foraging on the same flower species during the summer, whether in Britain or many other countries.

Pre-COVID subway air polluted from DC to Boston, but New York region's is the worst

Commuters now have yet another reason to avoid packing themselves into subway stations. New York City's transit system exposes riders to more inhaled pollutants than any other metropolitan subway system in the Northeastern United States, a new study finds. Yet even its "cleaner" neighbors struggle with enough toxins to give health-conscious travelers pause.

You don't need to know nature to love it: study

A common belief in nature conservation is that people need to "know nature" in order to care about it. However, new research has found that farmers in the Brazilian Amazon can develop strong connections with nature despite having little knowledge of local biodiversity—in this case local bird species.

Social distancing in the natural world: Strategies to detect and avoid disease

The notion of social distancing rose to public prominence approximately a year ago, when health officials began recommending it as a way to slow the spread of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. Despite the novelty of the concept among many contemporary human audiences, social distancing has considerable precedent among animals. Writing in BioScience, Mark Butler of Florida International University and Donald C. Behringer of the University of Florida outline the role of social distancing in nature and compare it with its human counterpart. They describe numerous animals in which distancing has evolved, including guppies, chimpanzees, birds, ants, and mice, among many others.

Baby vampire bat adopted by mom's best friend

During a study with captive vampire bats at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, a young vampire bat pup was adopted by an unrelated female after its mother died. Although this observation was not the first report of adoption in vampire bats, it is uniquely contextualized by more than 100 days of surveillance-camera footage. This footage captured by STRI research associate Gerry Carter's lab at Ohio State University reveals intimate details about the changing social relationships between the mother, the pup and the adoptive mother throughout their time in captivity.

Millions of lives saved annually by 2040 if countries raise their climate ambitions: modelling study

Adopting policies that are consistent with achieving the Paris Agreement and prioritise health, could save 6.4 million lives due to better diet, 1.6 million lives due to cleaner air, and 2.1 million lives due to increased exercise, per year, across nine countries.

Friends matter: Giraffes that group with others live longer

A research team led by Monica Bond, research associate at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies of the University of Zurich (UZH), studied giraffes in Tanzania for five years. The biologists examined the relative effects of sociability, the natural environment, and human factors on survival of the mega-herbivore. They have now shown that adult female giraffes living in larger groups have higher survival chances than more socially isolated individuals.

Dragonflies perform upside down backflips to right themselves

The findings add to current knowledge of how insects fly and keep stable in the air. They could also help to inspire new designs in small aerial vehicles like drones, which can be useful for search-and-rescue attempts and building inspection.

Cheap herbal cigarettes/bidis widely available online and marketed as 'healthy' option

Cheap herbal cigarettes and bidis—a blend of herbs rolled in tendu leaves—are widely available online and often marketed as a safer, healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes, along with various other unverified 'health' claims, finds research published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

Fetal exposure to antibiotics in mid to late pregnancy linked to childhood asthma risk

Fetal exposure to antibiotics in mid to late pregnancy may be linked to a heightened risk of childhood asthma, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

WHO says don't dismiss AstraZeneca shot after SAfrica delays jabs

The World Health Organization insisted Monday that the AstraZeneca vaccine was still a vital tool in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, after South Africa delayed the start of its inoculation program over concerns about the drug's efficacy against a virus variant.

Fossil fuel pollution causes one in five deaths globally: study

Fossil fuel pollution caused more than eight million premature deaths in 2018, accounting for nearly 20 percent of adult mortality worldwide, researchers reported Tuesday.

Party over at Clubhouse, the app that had China talking

The repression of Muslim Uighurs, the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and S&M hook-ups—nothing was off-limits in the rambunctious, unfiltered chatrooms of Clubhouse, before China's censors silenced the conversation.

Iran starts limited COVID vaccinations with Russian shots

Iran on Tuesday launched a coronavirus inoculation campaign among healthcare professionals with recently delivered Russian Sputnik V vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East with its death toll nearing 59,000.

Delta Air Lines to leave middle seats empty through April

Delta Air Lines said Monday it will continue to block some seats on all flights through spring break and Easter to provide a bit more space between passengers.

Millie Hughes-Fulford, trailblazing astronaut, dies at 75

Millie Hughes-Fulford, a trailblazing astronaut and scientist who became the first female payload specialist to fly in space for NASA, died following a yearslong battle with cancer, her family said. She was 75.

Arab spacecraft closes in on Mars on historic flight

A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates was set to swing into orbit around Mars in the Arab world's first interplanetary mission Tuesday, the first of three robotic explorers arriving at the red planet over the next week and a half.

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study in daycare centres in France suggests low rates of infection in very young children

Children aged between 5 months and 4 years attending daycare during lockdown in March to May 2020 in France had low rates of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood—known as seroprevalence—suggesting that virus infection rates were low in this population.

Addressing breastfeeding disparities for African American mothers

An abundance of data underscore the importance of breastfeeding and human milk for the optimal health of infants, children, mothers, and society. But while breastfeeding initiation rates have increased to more than 80% in the U.S., a disparity exists for African American mothers and infants. In this group, breastfeeding is initiated only about 69% of the time.

Distinctness of mental disorders traced to differences in gene readouts

A new study suggests that differences in the expression of gene transcripts—readouts copied from DNA that help maintain and build our cells—may hold the key to understanding how mental disorders with shared genetic risk factors result in different patterns of onset, symptoms, course of illness, and treatment responses. Findings from the study, conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, appear in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

Happiness really does come for free: study

Economic growth is often prescribed as a sure way of increasing the well-being of people in low-income countries, but a study led by McGill and the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technologies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) suggests that there may be good reason to question this assumption. The researchers set out to find out how people rate their subjective well-being in societies where money plays a minimal role, and which are not usually included in global happiness surveys. They found that the majority of people reported remarkably high levels of happiness. This was especially true in the communities with the lowest levels of monetization, where citizens reported a degree of happiness comparable to that found in Scandinavian countries which typically rate highest in the world. The results suggest that high levels of subjective well-being can be achieved with minimal monetization, challenging the perception that economic growth will automatically raise life satisfaction among low-income populations.

Biologists uncover forests' unexpected role in climate change

New research from West Virginia University biologists shows that trees around the world are consuming more carbon dioxide than previously reported, making forests even more important in regulating the Earth's atmosphere and forever shift how we think about climate change.

Soft robots use camera and shadows to sense human touch

Soft robots may not be in touch with human feelings, but they are getting better at feeling human touch.

Variable weather makes weeds harder to whack

From flooded spring fields to summer hailstorms and drought, farmers are well aware the weather is changing. It often means spring planting can't happen on time or has to happen twice to make up for catastrophic losses of young seedlings.

Evidence for routine brain tumor imaging is murky, but research can shed light

What is the best way to monitor a brain tumor? This question is at the heart of a new Position Statement published in open-access journal Frontiers in Oncology. The article is the work of a large collaboration of UK experts and stakeholders who met to discuss the value of routinely imaging brain tumor patients to assess their tumor treatment response, which is known as "interval imaging". Their verdict: there is very limited evidence to support the practice at present. However, the article also discusses how future research could determine and maximize the value of interval imaging by assessing its cost effectiveness and how it affects patient quality of life, treatment and survival.

Lockdown linked to drop in asthma attacks, GP data suggests

Asthma attack rates seen at GP surgeries fell significantly during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020, a study suggests.

Study finds wearable devices can detect COVID-19 symptoms and predict diagnosis

Wearable devices can identify COVID-19 cases earlier than traditional diagnostic methods and can help track and improve management of the disease, Mount Sinai researchers report in one of the first studies on the topic. The findings were published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research on January 29.

Analysis confirms racial disparities in COVID-19 infection

An analysis of Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California early in the COVID-19 pandemic found racial and ethnic disparities in the likelihood of testing positive for the coronavirus, but no significant disparities in mortality among those who were hospitalized.

Early Indian monsoon forecasts could benefit farmers

Farmers in India should be provided with early forecasts of expected variations in the monsoon season in order to reduce crop losses, scientists say.

Researchers develop data tool that may improve care

With the aid of sophisticated machine learning, researchers at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine demonstrated that a tool they developed can rapidly predict mortality for patients facing transfer between hospitals in order to access higher-acuity care. This research, published today in PLOS One, could help physicians, patients and their families avoid unnecessary hospital transfers and low-value treatments, while better focusing on the goals of care expressed by patients.

Screening strategy based on baseline breast density at age 40 may be effective for reducing breast cancer mortality

A mammography screening strategy based on a baseline breast density measure at age 40 may be the most effective and cost effective way to reduce breast cancer mortality. Current breast cancer screening guidelines recommend that mammography begin at age 50 for women at average risk. Findings from a microsimulation modeling study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Higher excess COVID-19 death risk in middle-aged people with type 2 diabetes

A largescale analysis led by the University of Exeter and funded by Diabetes UK, has found a disproportionately higher COVID-19 death risk in middle-aged people with type 2 diabetes, raising questions over vaccination strategies across Europe.

Environmentally friendly behavior is easy—tourists just need a 'nudge'

A new study in Frontiers in Communication has demonstrated the powerful impact that subtle messaging and cues, or 'nudges', can provide on encouraging people to show socially desirable behaviors. Travelers who were observed on the Indonesian island of Gili Trawangan, a popular tourist destination, were more likely to demonstrate environmentally conscious actions, such as refusing a plastic bag or avoiding contact with a coral reef, when they were 'nudged' towards the desirable action with either a written or face to face interaction. The researchers found that any intervention, whether framed positively or negatively, was enough to lead people to make environmentally conscious decisions, compared to being given no behavioral cues or messaging. The study provides many practical takeaways that can be easily implemented by tourist operators or businesses, at a low cost, to increase environmental stewardship and promote positive behaviors in their customers.