The birds and the bees talk may need an upgrade soon. Scientists are working on ways to use blood and skin cells to replace sperm and eggs. So, will sex go by the wayside?
Karen Weintraub writes about the science behind these headlines in Scientific American. She says we are still years away from human babies being created with eggs and sperm. So far scientists have only created eggs out of skin cells from mice.
The idea of creating babies without parents will likely raise a number of ethical and cultural questions. Weintraub says the scientific studies are still in such early stages that they haven't begun to receive cultural scrutiny.
You've probably heard about respiratory viruses like RSV and the flu, but now doctors are saying a new virus is on the rise. Cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, spiked this spring, according to the CDC. The virus causes many of the same symptoms as the flu , including coughing, runny nose, sore throat, and fever.
There's new information about the world's oldest flying reptile, which was discovered in Australia. The giant creature is known as a pterosaur and lived about 107 million years ago.
Food workers who showed up while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause between 2017 and 2019, federal health officials said Tuesday.