Puzzled otters learn from each other

Asian short-clawed otters learn from each other when solving puzzles to get food, a new study shows.

New fossil seal species rewrites history

The discovery, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, radically changes scientists' understanding of how seal species evolved around the world.

As virus spikes, Europe runs low on ICU beds, hospital staff

In Italy lines of ambulances park outside hospitals awaiting beds, and in France the government coronavirus tracking app prominently displays the intensive care capacity taken up by COVID-19 patients: 92.5% and rising. In the ICU in Barcelona, there is no end in sight for the doctors and nurses who endured this once already.

China gears up for world's largest online shopping festival

Chinese consumers are expected to spend tens of billions on everything from fresh food to luxury goods during this year's Singles' Day online shopping festival, as the country recovers from the pandemic.

California seeing biggest jump in virus cases in months

California's coronavirus cases are at their highest levels in months, a disquieting reality Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday was "obviously sobering" and that led San Francisco Bay Area health officials to urge people who travel outside the region to quarantine for two weeks upon return.

Electrifying growth of renewables despite pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic may have dealt a blow to energy demand but growth of renewables in the electric power sector has continued at a record pace, an IEA report said Tuesday.

Key events in development of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

Key events in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine by partners Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech:

EU agrees on tighter rules for surveillance tech exports

The European Union on Monday agreed to tighten up rules for the sale and export of cybersurveillance technology.

US allows 1st emergency use of a COVID-19 antibody drug

U.S. health officials have allowed emergency use of the first antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental approach against the virus that has killed more than 238,000 Americans.

Brazil halts trials of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine

Brazil's health regulator said it had suspended clinical trials of a Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccine after an "adverse incident" involving a volunteer recipient, a blow for one of the most advanced vaccine candidates.

Large, delayed outbreaks of endemic diseases possible following COVID-19 controls

Measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as mask wearing and social distancing are a key tool in combatting the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. These actions also have greatly reduced incidence of many other diseases, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Researchers isolate and decode brain signal patterns for specific behaviors

At any given moment in time, our brain is involved in various activities. For example, when typing on a keyboard, our brain not only dictates our finger movements but also how thirsty we feel at that time. As a result, brain signals contain dynamic neural patterns that reflect a combination of these activities simultaneously. A standing challenge has been isolating those patterns in brain signals that relate to a specific behavior, such as finger movements. Further, developing brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that help people with neurological and mental disorders requires the translation of brain signals into a specific behavior, a problem called decoding. This decoding also depends on our ability to isolate neural patterns related to specific behaviors. These neural patterns can be masked by patterns related to other activities and can be missed by standard algorithms.

Efforts needed to better integrate family caregivers into health care teams

Integrating family caregivers into a patient's health care team can help improve care quality and the quality of life for both patients and their families, yet family caregivers face significant barriers coordinating their efforts with the formal health care team, according to a new RAND Corporation study.