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The MaskBruno J. Strasser & Thomas Schlich Yale Univ. Press (2025)“Masks have signified hope and despair, courage and cowardice, a sense of community and a sense of selfishness.” All of these emotions — known to those who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic — underpin this engrossing, finely illustrated account by historians Bruno Strasser and Thomas Schlich (who was previously a physician). Their discussions cover theatrical performances in ancient Greece, plagues and gas attacks in the First World War and present-day urban smog and surgery, while addressing the crucial issue of mask efficacy.The Maya MythsMallory E. Matsumoto Thames & Hudson (2025)Deciphering Mesoamerica’s…
Cabbage soup might elicit a collective cringe in the West, where it’s connected to crash diets and the impossible quest for a “bikini body.” But in Ukrainian homes—and across much of Eastern Europe—it’s seen as the opposite: comfort food. My grandmother makes kapusta (cabbage soup) for every special occasion. It’s the first thing we eat on Canadian Thanksgiving, before the turkey hits the table. As a kid, I took my one obligatory spoonful through gritted teeth—payment for the “good stuff” that came after. These days, it’s one of the dishes I look forward to most. Kapusta (ka-poo-sta) simply refers to…
Theoretical astrophysicist Debarati Chatterjee has always seen gender for what it is — a social construct. Despite witnessing domestic violence as a child, experiencing sexual harassment as an undergraduate and a PhD student, and being one of the small proportion (around 20%) of astronomers in the world who are women, she hasn’t let her gender define her career. Leaving her home country of India to start a postdoctoral position in Germany in 2010, she saw that prejudices based on race, class and gender also existed in the international scientific community. Chatterjee works in the emerging and male-dominated field of gravitational-wave…
Credit: Tom Werner/Getty Images Officials at Novartis report that the company plans to expand its operations in North Carolina, creating a new flagship manufacturing hub with end-to-end manufacturing capabilities. The strategic investment is meant to ensure all key Novartis medicines for U.S. patients are manufactured in the U.S. and delivered to patients across the country at scale, according to Novartis. The announcement is part of Novartis’ $23 billion investment in U.S.-based infrastructure over the next five years, designed to increase manufacturing capacity and enable 100% of the company’s key medicines to be produced end-to-end in the U.S. As part of this…
New moons are a time for planting seeds and setting intentions, so you can certainly start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions. And as the twins note, a Sag new moon is the perfect time to connect with adventure, the unknown, wildness, and of course, the element of fire.
Dopamine signaling both promotes and decreases motivation to perform a particular behavior.Image credit:©iStock.com, wildpixelThe first time a person rides a rollercoaster, they may find it exhilarating, but when they get back on to ride again, they may find that they can’t replicate that initial feeling of excitement. Sometimes, this feeling of lost interest leads to people abandoning activities or behaviors altogether. Dopamine is one of the main drivers for animals, including humans, to decide whether or not to continue or repeat a behavior.1 In contexts like substance abuse, increased dopamine leads to desensitization of this neurotransmitter’s receptor.2 This in turn…
Orange juice altered 3,790 genes tied to heart and metabolic health.Benefits included reduced inflammation and improved fat metabolism.Effects varied by body type, showing personalized health impacts. We often hear that a balanced diet is key to a healthy life. Among the many foods and drink choices available, orange juice stands out as a classic—both in terms of its popularity and its potential benefits. Orange juice is a primary source of beneficial compounds called flavonoids, especially one named hesperidin. These flavonoids are known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This has led scientists to wonder: could regular orange juice consumption be…
Credit: Science Photo Library-NCI/Getty Images Qure.ai yesterday announced a collaboration with Microsoft in which Qure.ai’s lung cancer detection, measurement, and management solutions will be added to Microsoft’s Precision Imaging Network. This brings Qure.ai solutions to more U.S. hospitals and health systems. Qure.ai is already in more than 5000 sites, and expects to be in about 1000 more over the next year. What’s unique about Qure.ai is that it can greatly expand the utility of chest X-rays. “You usually get a CT for diagnosis,” Jim Mercadante, chief commercial officer at Qure.ai told Inside Precision Medicine. “But with our suite of tools…
Antibiotics are widely known to disrupt gut health by killing “good” as well as “bad” bacteria in the digestive tract.Now scientists are also exploring if other common drugs can interfere with the trillions of microbes that constitute the gut microbiome — leading to changes that linger long after you stop taking the medication.“This has been a hidden problem,” says Martin J. Blaser, MD, director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, as well as its chair of the human microbiome.Two recent studies aim to better identify medications that impact the gut microbiome and explain…
I’ve tried pretty much every version of intermittent fasting over the years—early windows, late windows, the classic 16:8. These days, I mostly stick to a gentle 12-hour overnight fast. But one question still lingers for me: If timing really does matter, how much does it matter? And is there a meaningful difference between eating earlier in the day versus later, even if the meals look exactly the same?