All posts tagged: winter

Norovirus vaccine pill shows promise against ‘winter vomiting’ bug

Norovirus vaccine pill shows promise against ‘winter vomiting’ bug

Published by skeptic

An artist’s impression of the norovirus Science Photo Library/Alamy An early trial of a norovirus vaccine pill has shown promise at protecting against the notorious “winter vomiting” bug, with researchers saying it could potentially be available for use in a few years. The virus is highly contagious, infecting the stomach and intestines and causing vomiting and diarrhoea. Most people recover within a few days, but very young and older people are especially at risk of ending up in hospital, with significant healthcare costs. “Just in the US alone, it’s a 10 billion-[dollar]-a-year problem,” says Sean Tucker at biotech company Vaxart in San Francisco, California. This has spurred scientists to develop a vaccine, but so far, efforts have failed. That is partly because prior attempts have focused on developing injectable vaccines, which are less good at generating protective antibodies in the intestine, where the virus replicates, says Tucker. To address this, Tucker and his colleagues previously developed an oral norovirus vaccine that delivers a protein from the GI.1 norovirus variant into the intestine. An initial trial …

Mid-Atlantic States Brace For Another Winter Blast

Mid-Atlantic States Brace For Another Winter Blast

Published by skeptic

Another midweek winter storm is expected to bring heavy snow and ice from Kansas through the Ohio Valley and into the Mid-Atlantic. This wintry system overlaps with a polar vortex pouring Arctic air into the central and eastern areas of the Lower 48.  Meteorologist Kelly Cass wrote on X, “Another winter storm from the plains/midwest to the east. Oh, and yes, some snow for parts of the south too!” Cass provided snow total forecasts through Wednesday for parts of the Midwest and Southeast.  More notably, the forecast through Thursday for the Mid-Atlantic states shows the potential for a major winter storm that could impact Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Meteorologist Ava Marie of local media outlet WBAL in Baltimore provided a more in-depth snow forecast for the Washington–Baltimore metro area. It was me. 😉 I spent all weekend wishing away the snowstorm, and voila, the models continue to decrease the snow for Baltimore. I’ll let you know if that changes, but that’s the best data we have for now. Are you bummed? Or relieved? @wbaltv11 …

8 Best Touchscreen Gloves (2025), Tested and Reviewed

8 Best Touchscreen Gloves (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Published by skeptic

Other Touchscreen Gloves We Tested Sealskinz Waterproof Cold Weather Gloves. Photograph: Simon Hill Some of the touchscreen gloves we tried fell short of a recommendation for one reason or another. Marks and Spencer Knitted Gloves for $18 or £10: A gift from my in-laws, these knitted gloves from reliable UK retailer Marks and Spencer are pretty good. They keep your hands cozy but also have special touchscreen pads on the index finger and thumb tips. I can swipe, tap, and type reasonably well with these gloves on. Graphene-X All Rounder Bio-X Gloves for $119: With a classy look, high-tech graphene material on the back, and plant-based bio leather on the palm and fingers, these gloves are certainly unique. They’re comfy too, but they completely failed to keep my hands warm. The touchscreen material works and I had no trouble tapping and swiping, but the joins and squared-off shape on the fingertips made it almost impossible to type accurately. Trendoux Winter Gloves for $15: These affordable gloves have tips on the index fingers and thumbs that work …

Ancient society may have carved ‘sun stones’ to end volcanic winter

Ancient society may have carved ‘sun stones’ to end volcanic winter

Published by skeptic

Stone plaques with sun motifs found on Bornholm island, Denmark Antiquity Publications/John Lee, National Museum of Denmark Hundreds of mysterious engraved “sun stones” unearthed in Denmark may have been ceremonially buried because a volcanic eruption in about 2900 BC made the sun disappear. A total of 614 stone plaques and fragments of plaques engraved with decorative motifs of the sun or plants have been unearthed in recent years at the Vasagård West archaeological site on the Danish island of Bornholm. They were found in a layer that dates to some 4900 years ago, when Neolithic people were farming the area and building enclosures encircled by earthworks of banks and ditches. Most of the carved sun stones were found in the ditches around these enclosures and they had been covered by a stone pavement containing bits of pottery and other items. The pottery is typical of the late Funnel Beaker culture, which was present in this region until about 2900 to 2800 BC. It was originally proposed that the stone carvings of the sun were buried …

The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison

The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison

Published by skeptic

In his ninth novel, The Heart of Winter, Jonathan Evison crafts an intimate portrait of a 70-year marriage that feels both expansive in its timespan and wonderfully precise in its attention to life’s small, defining moments. Through the story of Abe and Ruth Winter, Evison explores how love endures not through grand gestures, but through the quiet acts of showing up day after day, year after year. The Dance of Opposites At the heart of this novel is an unlikely pairing – Ruth Warneke, a poetry-loving liberal arts student with dreams of Paris, and Abe Winter, a pragmatic business major who finds security in life insurance policies and bow ties. Their initial blind date in 1953 seems destined for failure, yet somehow these opposites begin a dance that will last seven decades. Evison masterfully weaves between past and present, showing us how young Ruth and Abe become the elderly couple facing their greatest challenge yet – Ruth’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. The narrative structure allows us to see both how much they’ve changed and how …

How to identify tree species in the winter

How to identify tree species in the winter

Published by skeptic

acronym: A word made by combining some of the starting letter or groups of letters from a number of words. For instance, STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Radar is an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging. Even laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. anxiety: A nervous reaction to events causing excessive uneasiness and apprehension. People with anxiety may even develop panic attacks. app: Short for application, or a computer program designed for a specific task. archive: (adj. archival) To collect and store materials, including sounds, videos, data and objects, so that they can be found and used when they are needed. The term is also for the process of collecting and storing such things. People who perform this task are known as archivists. ash: (in biology) A group of deciduous trees in the olive family that are popular in landscaping and for timber. attention: The phenomenon of focusing mental resources on a specific object or event. beetle: An order of insects known as Coleoptera, …

Winter in The City: Edited by R B Wood & Anna Koon

Winter in The City: Edited by R B Wood & Anna Koon

Published by skeptic

“Winter in the City,” edited by R.B. Wood and Anna Koon, is more than just an anthology—it’s an exploration of what it means to exist in the liminal spaces of life and place. This collection of 18 short stories, each set in a different city during the harsh season of winter, offers a blend of dark speculative fiction that is as haunting as it is illuminating. The cities in this anthology are not mere backdrops; they are vibrant characters, each pulsing with their own life, history, and peculiarities. From the frozen Seine in Paris to the snow-laden Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, each locale is brought to life with vivid prose and meticulous detail. Here is an analytical deep dive into the tales that make up this chilling masterpiece. 1. Dhaka by Anjum Noor Choudhury In the chaos of election-year Dhaka, Kubuddhi, a stranded supernatural being, roams the city, longing for home. Through haunting streets and fiery rallies, he attempts to protect humanity while grappling with the city’s corruption. His story intertwines political critique and …

How to survive winter by hacking your light habits

How to survive winter by hacking your light habits

Published by skeptic

Many people who live in the northern part of the world suffer extended periods of darkness this time of the year – and often the winter blues. But there are things you can do to boost your health and wellbeing, and prevent winter depression. Several meteorological phenomena produce a lack of daylight. In research, we often refer to the number of hours with daylight as a photoperiod. At winter solstice, the photoperiod is short – or even absent if you go to the Arctic circle. People living in Russia, Canada, northern USA and northern Europe get very little sunlight in winter. Capital cities like Oslo in Norway, Stockholm in Sweden and Helsinki in Finland are all situated above 59 degrees north. These densely populated areas have inhabitants who are particularly affected by a lack of light. Another obstacle for people up north is the very low angle of the sun in the sky. Even if the sun rises above the horizon, it is often blocked by nature or buildings. Then there is the common thick …

Staff Picks: Our Favorite Winter Holiday Traditions

Staff Picks: Our Favorite Winter Holiday Traditions

Published by skeptic

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash As we wrap up the roller coaster of a year that was 2024 and barrel through the holiday season, AHA staff share some of their favorite year-end traditions that help them mark the season and bring joy into their lives—and stomachs. Desserts are essential for my family during the holidays. From babka and chocolate cake at Chanukah, to various cookies and pies (including elderberry when my grandparents were alive) at Christmas, and also banana nut bread and brownies on New Year’s Day. We don’t always have time to bake together, so I appreciate whenever I can join in molding dough, decorating gingerbread cookies, packing to-go containers for guests, and eating leftover batter (it helps with clean up). We usually get a box of goodies from friends in Germany, marzipan and M&Ms from family, and gelt and candy canes in our stockings. It’s all pretty sweet. —Emily Newman, Senior Education Coordinator   My family has a new holiday tradition that I really enjoy. A few years ago, my father and his wife moved …

The 10 Best Men’s Topcoats are Long and Layerable

The 10 Best Men’s Topcoats are Long and Layerable

Published by skeptic

We may only be at the beginning of winter, but if you haven’t broken out the big coat yet, consider yourself lucky. There are many varieties of big coat—puffers, ski coats, parkas—and while we’re into all of them, when we think about big coats, we think about topcoats. The men’s best topcoats are those you can fit any number of layers underneath. They tend to be long, and should, for the sake of the season, be fairly heavy. Your grandparents wore them, old Hollywood celebrities wore them, and we wear them today for the very same reasons: Whether you’re stepping out in a suit or your softest old hoodie and jeans, throwing on a topcoat over it all will keep you so much warmer, and help you walk a little taller. To help you layer up like history’s most advanced dressers, we’ve gathered up 10 of our favorites below. The Winter Topcoat Hit List American Trench Highlander Balmacaan American Trench The Highlander Balmacaan Made in New York from an impossibly handsome gun-check cloth from England’s …