Newest Posts
HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO FIND A WHALE?
Despite their incredible size and widespread adoration by the general public, surprisingly little is known about the behavior and distribution of many cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). From acoustic tracking to electronic tagging technologies, new approaches are laying the groundwork for more effective study and conservation of cetaceans.
DISGUST: YOUR BEHAVIORAL IMMUNE SYSTEM
How do we avoid getting sick in a world full of bacteria, viruses, and other deadly pathogens? We have evolved a subsystem within our immune system that functions as our very first line of defense against pathogens. This primary subsystem is called the “behavioral immune system”. This behavioral immune subsystem’s methods of defense against pathogens can be described up in one word….disgust.
SEASONAL FLU VIRUS: WHY VACCINES NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE
Who should get the seasonal flu vaccine? Why is the flu vaccine different each year? How does the flu vaccine protect us? The CDC has estimated that seasonal influenza or the flu is responsible for around 50,000 deaths worldwide each year. In 1918, the “Spanish flu” pandemic killed over 6,750,00 people in the U.S. and caused over 50 million deaths worldwide. The more recent 2009 pandemic flu resulted in over 200,00 deaths during its first year of circulation in the human population.
HELLO MICROBE MY OLD FRIEND: HOW A DIVERSE MICROBIOME TRAINS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AGAINST ALLERGIES
Why does the immune system sometimes go haywire and cause allergies? Scientists now think that a healthy immune system needs training early in life by unlikely allies: microbes. How can microbes be our friends in the face of allergies, and why are these disorders getting more common recently?