Spend time with babies and you’ll see they pick up items, bang them together and, often, chew on them. That play is key to learning and development, but most research on infant play has taken place in a lab and not on a living room floor — until now. “At a time in development when…  read on >  read on >

Air pollution impacts the youngest humans, with new research linking dirty air to almost 6 million premature births and almost 3 million underweight babies worldwide in 2019. More than 90% of the world’s population lives with polluted outdoor air, a new study points out. And its effects continue through the years: Preemies or children with…  read on >  read on >

The highly contagious Delta variant is the reason more people have decided to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a new poll shows. But the survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation also found that among unvaccinated Americans, nearly 75% say they believe that the need for booster shots proves the vaccines don’t work. Given the diverging viewpoints,…  read on >  read on >

Two of the country’s top political leaders put talk into action on Monday, getting their booster doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. As they received their third dose of vaccine, President Joe Biden and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell both called for Americans to get vaccinated and to get their boosters when and if eligible,…  read on >  read on >

Hookworms — a common parasite in animals — have become resistant to multiple deworming drugs used to kill them, a new study finds. Veterinarians typically use three types of drugs to kill hookworms, and all three have lost their effectiveness, researchers report. Moreover, as more hookworms survive, they’ll be a threat to people, too, according…  read on >  read on >