Some states have started to ease tight social distancing restrictions as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations begin to plateau across the United States. Still, the emergence of more infectious coronavirus variants in this country has prompted many officials to proceed cautiously on reopening their economies, the Associated Press reported. The recipe for the balancing act seems…  read on >  read on >

Think your dog is smart? New research suggests one way to find out. Most dogs can’t learn words without extensive training, but a few with exceptional abilities learn words without any formal training, researchers report. They learn words simply by playing with their owners. The team of Hungarian researchers investigated how quickly two of these…  read on >  read on >

Too much screen time can make your toddler more distractible, British researchers warn. The use of smartphones and tablets by babies and toddlers has soared in recent years. “The first few years of life are critical for children to learn how to control their attention and ignore distraction, early skills that are known to be…  read on >  read on >

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Retired doctors and nurses are being called to the front lines of the U.S. coronavirus vaccination effort, the White House COVID-19 Response team announced Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is amending its rules to allow retired health professionals to administer COVID-19 vaccine shots,…  read on >  read on >

There’s some much-needed good news on both the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. On the treatment front, promising new data on two coronavirus antibody cocktails suggests these therapies can keep patients out of the hospital and even prevent illness altogether in some people. And in terms of prevention, on Tuesday Israel reported a sharp drop…  read on >  read on >

The relationship between humans and man’s best friend is an enduring one. New research suggests that not only did dog domestication likely happen sometime before 23,000 years ago, but the first people to enter the Americas more than 15,000 years ago probably brought their dogs with them. “When and where have long been questions in…  read on >  read on >