US health groups call for vaccine mandates for medical workers

Hospitals and other health care facilities should require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a coalition of seven organizations representing medical professionals said Tuesday.

London mayor calls to retain face coverings on public transport

London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday called for use of face coverings to remain compulsory on public transport in the British capital after government plans to relax COVID curbs begin on July 19.

Sydney virus lockdown extended by at least two weeks

Sydney's five million residents will be in virus lockdown for at least another two weeks, state premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday, rejecting calls to tighten restrictions further.

Virus fears haunt Spain's transplant patients despite vaccines

Wearing a face mask and social distancing were a part of Magdalena Moskal's life long before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Hard to swallow: Coral cells seen engulfing algae for first time

In a world-first, scientists in Japan have observed individual stony coral cells engulfing single-celled, photosynthetic algae.

Study evaluates biodiversity impacts of alternative energy strategies

Climate change mitigation efforts have led to shifts from fossil-fuel dependence to large-scale renewable energy. However, renewable energy sources require significant land and could come at a cost to ecosystems. A new study led by Ryan McManamay, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental science at Baylor University, evaluates potential conflicts between alternative energy strategies and biodiversity conservation.

Study finds 'thriving gap' between students who attend high school remotely vs. in person

New research finds that high school students who attended school remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic suffered socially, emotionally, and academically compared with those who attended in person.

NASA, European Space Agency join forces on climate change

NASA and the European Space Agency joined forces Tuesday in the battle against climate change, a move they said paves the way to a global response to the problem.

To track elephants, scientists keep an ear to the ground

The "mini earthquakes" that elephants make by both walking and vocalizing are not only a way to communicate with each other but can be used to track their movements, according to a study published Wednesday.

A greener Games? Tokyo 2020's environmental impact

Olympics organisers have pledged to prioritise sustainability at the Tokyo Games in an attempt to demonstrate how countries such as Japan—a top carbon emitter—can work towards a greener future.

EU wades into battle over its green revolution

The EU unveils a plan Wednesday to meet its bold green pledge of carbon neutrality by 2050, at the risk of triggering an epic political clash over electric cars and fuel prices.

AI beefs up veggie burgers as market booms

Have a beef with beef? A burgeoning veggie burger industry is using artificial intelligence to propose alternatives.

Race to find beached baby orca's mother in New Zealand

Wildlife rescuers in New Zealand were scrambling to keep a stranded baby orca alive Wednesday, as volunteers scoured waters off Wellington to find the calf's mother.

Thousands of firefighters battle big blazes across the West

An army of firefighters labored in hot, dry and windy weather Tuesday to contain fires chewing through wilderness and burning homes across drought-stricken Western states already sweltering in the second heat wave of the year.

Series of earthquakes in eastern Taiwan causes some damage

A series of more than 20 earthquakes struck the east coast of Taiwan on Wednesday morning, causing some damage.

Alcohol consumption linked to more than 740,000 new cancer cases in 2020

Four percent of newly diagnosed cancer cases in 2020 may by associated with drinking alcohol, according to a global study published in The Lancet Oncology, leading its authors to call for greater public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancers and increased government interventions to reduce alcohol consumption in worst-affected regions.

Physicists describe sun's electric field

As the Parker Solar Probe ventures closer to the sun, we are learning new things about our home star.

How does the world use emojis? Study finds universal expressions across countries and continents

Before Millennials were over laugh-cry emojis, they were the most used emojis across the world, according to researchers at USC. The emoji was more popular than smiley faces say researchers who categorized millions of tweets across 30 countries and evaluated over 1700 emojis. Their study, "An empirical study of emoji usage on Twitter in linguistic and national contexts" was published in Online Social Networks and Media.

A history of drug dependence is associated with negative mental health outcomes

New research published online in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that Canadians with a history of drug dependence are much less likely to have flourishing mental health and are more likely to have mental illness.

Unlike other global crises, COVID-19 pandemic did not spark more smoking in its initial stage

Unlike other population-level stressful events such as natural disasters, COVID-19 has not resulted in a net increase in smoking, according to a new study from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project, at the University of Waterloo.

Lateral flow tests are 95% effective at detecting COVID-19 when used at the onset of symptoms

A new study by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, University of Oxford, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, and the Medical University of Graz, has found that lateral flow tests detect COVID-19 with similar accuracy to laboratory-based PCR tests, providing they are used at the onset of infection and soon after symptoms start.

Early anticoagulant treatment shown to reduce death in moderately ill COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 is marked by heightened inflammation and abnormal clotting in the blood vessels, particularly in the lungs, and is believed to contribute to progression to severe disease and death. New trial results show that administering a full dose of a standard blood thinner early to moderately ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19 could halt the thrombo-inflammation process and reduce the risk of severe disease and death.

COVID precautions may result in more breast cancer deaths

A new paper in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute indicates that disruptions in health care due to the COVID 19 pandemic may increase breast cancer deaths.