A version of this article appeared in this week’s It’s Not Just You newsletter. SUBSCRIBE HERE to have an It’s Not Just You essay delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
March is the anteroom of months. It’s both the end of last year’s winter and the beginning of the new y…
Read moreGlobal sea levels could rise by over 6 feet by 2100––twice as much as had previously been predicted––threatening major cities and potentially flooding hundreds of millions of people, a study published Monday warned.
The implications for coastal populations around the world could be severe if the predictions in the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy…
Read moreA recently approved treatment was supposed to protect babies from RSV, but demand is outpacing the supply of the medication.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nirsevimab, an antibody that sticks to and prevents Respiratory Syncytial Virus from infecting cells, in July. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) then recommended the medication for all babies ei…
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Smiley faces may seem benign, but typing them in work emails may be doing more harm than good.
In a new study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel wanted to find out whether including smileys in work emails actually has an effect on the message. “:)” really does make an imp…
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The science of cosmology has had a spectacular run. Over the past few decades, cosmologists have carried out measurements and observations that have enabled us to reconstruct our universe’s past in incredible detail. We can now say with great confidence that we understand how and why our universe evolved over the vast majority of its history. From this perspective, our universe looks more…
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After many twists and turns, and much spectacle, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is now Speaker of the House of Representatives, brought into power after ceding to extreme demands from the right-wing of the Republican Party.
This session of Congress was never going to be a blockbuster one for climate policy. But the chaotic process of electing McCarthy portends ongoing congressional dysfunction…
Read moreA new version of Omicron, BA.5, is now responsible for more than half of new infections in the U.S. No one seems safe from being able to catch it: not even vaccinated people or those who have gotten COVID-19 in the past. That’s because this virus is different enough from the original version—and even from previous versions of Omicron—that the vaccines and booster shots everyon…
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About three-quarters of people in the U.S. have had COVID-19 at least once, according to the latest federal estimates—but, if they were asymptomatic, some of them might not realize it.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, researchers have tried to understand why some people who are infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus never experience telltale symptoms like a cough, sore throat, or feve…
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Forget everything you think you know about being single—starting with the assumption that it means ready to mingle.
More people than ever before are living solo: Nearly 40% of adults in the U.S. are unpartnered, up from 29% in 1990, according to the Pew Research Center. And about half aren’t interested in dating or a relationship.
Take Bella DePaulo, a 69-year-old in San…
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