Universities sometimes offer “Pet Your Stress Away” events offering a chance to relax while gently patting the head and stroking the back of a calm dog. But some people are more interested in interacting with cats than dogs, according to a new study that linked preference to personality type. “Our study shows that we may…  read on >  read on >

Perhaps to no one’s surprise, new research has determined that men do, in fact, have a much stronger sex drive than women. After reviewing more than 200 studies, investigators “found that men consistently report a higher sex drive,” said study author Julius Frankenbach, a doctoral student of psychology at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany. En…  read on >  read on >

China announced Wednesday that it has started giving its citizens a COVID booster that can be inhaled through the mouth. The oral vaccine was distributed in Shanghai. A video appeared on Chinese state media, showing people holding a translucent white cup with a short nozzle to their mouths. Text accompanying the video said a person…  read on >  read on >

Smoking is an incredibly hard habit to break. Anne Levine of Baltimore can attest to that. But Levine, 58, is getting help from a potential new tool: psychedelics. The four-decade smoker has tried to quit a dozen times. But once she became part of a research trial testing a psychedelic drug, quitting became easier. Researchers…  read on >  read on >

A tool used to restore forest ecosystems could also be key to the battle against tick-borne disease, researchers say. Forest managers and land owners use prescribed fire to combat invasive species, improve wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem health. A recent study suggests it could also reduce tick populations and transmission of diseases that have proliferated…  read on >  read on >

The key to better child behavior after surgery may be a more peaceful operating room. “The period before, during and after surgery is a particularly unpredictable time for parents,” explained Nguyen Tram, a research scientist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “By implementing some small measures in the OR, we found we were able…  read on >  read on >

Despite the presence of gorilla trekkers in their habitat, endangered gorillas in the region surrounding East Africa’s Virunga Volcanoes do not have human herpesvirus, researchers say. The Gorilla Doctors team was able to assess the region’s mountain gorillas in a noninvasive way, simply watching the animals as they walked through the forest. As the gorillas…  read on >  read on >

The more often you work out, the more effective your COVID-19 vaccination will be, a new study suggests. Fully vaccinated folks who clocked high weekly levels of physical activity were nearly three times less likely to land in the hospital with COVID, compared to those who got the jab but didn’t exercise often, researchers found.…  read on >  read on >