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In the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak individuals took to social media to connect with others who, like them, were experiencing a wide array of problems long after they’d recovered from the disease itself. Symptoms included lingering fatigue, shortness of breath, “brain fog” and recurring fevers. In the year since it was officially declared a pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID, has sickened or infected more than 100 million people worldwide and killed more than 2....

UNITED NATIONS – They are the carbon offsetting projects most hated by environmentalists, but there may now be an opportunity to put an end to them. Currently, there are five coal-fired power plants registered as emission reduction projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an international offsetting program run by an arm of the United Nations. Pressure from developing nation governments led to their inclusion in the program, as supporters claim the newer supercritical coal plants avoid carbon dioxide emissions by preventing dirtier plants from being built instead....

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The average fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States hit a record high 23.6 miles per gallon (mpg) for the model year 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday.Projections for the model 2013 year indicate a rise of 0.4 mpg, the EPA said, though the agency added that it did not yet have final data for 2013.The 23.6-mpg reading for 2012 was a 1....

Late last month, officials at California’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography turned to Twitter seeking donations to maintain the iconic ‘Keeling curve’, a 55-year record of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. An appeal for funds launched in July had attracted only a few small con­tributions, not nearly enough to keep the program going. Scripps geochemist Ralph Keeling, who took over the CO2 measurements started by his father Charles, is neither surprised nor disappointed....

If by fiat I had to identify the most consequential ideas in the history of science, good and bad, in the top 10 would be the 1798 treatise An Essay on the Principle of Population, by English political economist Thomas Robert Malthus. On the positive side of the ledger, it inspired Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace to work out the mechanics of natural selection based on Malthus’s observation that populations tend to increase geometrically (2, 4, 8, 16 …), whereas food reserves grow arithmetically (2, 3, 4, 5 …), leading to competition for scarce resources and differential reproductive success, the driver of evolution....

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, before the Cleveland Cavaliers became Lebron’s squad, the team’s fortunes rested heavily on the back of the steadfast and reliable point guard Mark Price. One of Price’s claims to fame: his run at Calvin Murphy’s streak of 78 consecutive free-throws-made. In April 1993 Price missed what would have been his record-tying shot from the charity stripe; later that month, Michael Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves would end up breaking the record in a game against the Utah Jazz....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Isle of Skye, Scotland, is a land of myth, legend, and swirling mists that easily transport a visitor through time. The history of the island goes back to the Neolithic Period, and it has been the site of many significant events but, when I think of Skye, its place in Scottish legend always comes first to mind....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Aztec empire flourished between c. 1345 and 1521 CE and dominated ancient Mesoamerica. This young and warlike nation was highly successful in spreading its reach and gaining fabulous wealth, but then all too quickly came the strange visitors from another world. Led by Hernán Cortés, the Spaniard’s formidable firearms and thirst for treasure would bring devastating destruction and disease....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State was enacted as the climax of decades of conflict between monarchists and anticlerical Republicans who viewed Christianity as a permanent obstacle to the social development of the Republic. The law ended the 1801 Concordat between Napoleon and the Vatican, disestablished the Catholic church, and declared state neutrality in religious matters....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. One of the most influential and important Christian leaders during the Early Medieval Period was Pope Gregory the Great (540–604 CE). Renown for his administrative prowess and ecclesiastical reforms during a time of “obscurantism, superstition, and credulity” (Gonzalez, 288), he helped solidify the Christian church as a pillar of European society for centuries to follow....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) both dished out and received a wide range of imaginative punishments. Victims of piracy endured torture, floggings, and ceremonies of humiliation, but when brought to justice, the pirates were given such punishments as lengthy prison sentences, transportation to work in the deadly conditions of African mines, or public execution by hanging....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Disease has been a part of the human condition since the beginning of recorded history – and no doubt earlier – decimating populations and causing widespread social upheaval. Among the worst infections recorded is the plague which is fairly well documented in the West starting with the Plague of Justinian (541-542 CE) and continuing on through the Black Death (1347-1352 CE)....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. In 88 BCE, Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78 BCE) marched on Rome and entered the city’s sacred inner boundary, the pomerium, bearing arms. Breaking this taboo, he sought to gain political power and control of the army of the East that had been offered to his enemy, Gaius Marius (c....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Rites of Eleusis, or the Eleusinian Mysteries, were the secret rituals of the mystery school of Eleusis and were observed regularly from c. 1600 BCE - 392 CE. Exactly what this mystic ritual was no one knows; but why the ancient Greeks participated in it can be understood by the testimonials of the initiated....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The siege of Antioch in 1097-1098 CE occurred during the First Crusade (1095-1102 CE) when the western Crusader knights were on their way to retake Jerusalem. The great metropolis of Antioch in northern Syria was heavily fortified, and it would take eight months and a slice of treachery to finally break into the city....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Historia Augusta (Great History) is a Latin work of the 4th century CE that chronicles the lives of Roman emperors from 117-285 CE. Among the many stories related is the history of Zenobia of Palmyra and her challenge to Roman authority which was crushed by the emperor Aurelian in 273 CE....

When the brain remembers, proteins in two locations deep within the organ—the amygdala and hippocampus—encode the memory until it is stored, or “consolidated” in the vernacular. Neuroscientists once thought that a memory, when put in its place, became permanent and stable. That’s a problem for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), plagued by crippling, debilitating memories that they cannot shake. “We wish that we could somehow target unpleasant or pathological memories and reduce their emotional strength,” says Bryan A....

I was on the train going north from New York City recently, heading to Boston for the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). But there was already science and technology galore right in front of me: a copy of one of those catalogues that hawks fancy, state-of-the-art goodies. I picked it up and lost myself in today’s fabulous world of tomorrow. For example, there was a product that could “instantly eliminate the appearance of baldness and thinning hair” with “keratin protein fibers....

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Over the last half-decade, public transit ridership declined nationwide. The number of vehicle miles traveled in cars is rising, and traffic congestion is getting worse in many U.S. cities. At the same time, the century-old taxi industry is struggling, with many taxi companies going bankrupt. Are ride-hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber to blame?...

Although these rather bland-looking platforms are only recently popping up in gyms and spas, whole-body vibration training (WBVT) has been around for quite a long time. According to the BioMedical Journal, the ancient Greeks were the first to think that shaking the human body would elicit faster healing. The history of whole-body vibration training Ancient Grecian doctors used body vibration machines as a “therapeutic methodology” to help soldiers recover from their injuries....