More from Philip Kiefer

COVID rapid antigen tests for Omicron detection lined up like dominoes
COVID-19

Why at-home antigen tests might be missing early cases of Omicron

By Philip Kiefer

A nurse in a mask and gown writes in a medical chart in front of a patient in a hospital bed.
COVID-19

Here’s more evidence that vaccines help against Omicron

By Philip Kiefer

female doctor in protective clothing prepares test tubes for covid
COVID-19

Why it’s so hard to make quick, accurate estimates on new COVID variants

By Philip Kiefer

What to do if you test positive for COVID, were exposed, or have symptoms
COVID-19

What to do if you test positive for COVID, were exposed, or have symptoms

By Philip Kiefer

a pair of gloved hands raised in the air
Health

COVID vaccines weren’t the only big health breakthroughs in 2021

By Philip Kiefer

It’s too early to dismiss Omicron as a mild COVID variant
COVID-19

It’s too early to dismiss Omicron as a mild COVID variant

By Philip Kiefer

A series of brightly colored lines indicating a human genome.
Health

The benchmark for human diversity is based on one man’s genome. A new tool could change that.

By Philip Kiefer

A giant tornado moves fast along a highway towards a town miles ahead
Climate Change

Hurricane-force winds broke a single-day record while smashing the Midwest’s power grid

By Philip Kiefer

A tornado behind a row of farmhouses and fields.
Environment

Why it’s so difficult to forecast a tornado’s path

By Philip Kiefer

Three nicotine plants with flowers in a sunny field.
COVID-19

This new COVID vaccine uses plants as factories for viral proteins

By Philip Kiefer

A plastic plate with differently colored wells, being held up to a light by gloved hands.
COVID-19

Researchers are racing to figure out if Omicron can beat our vaccines

By Philip Kiefer

A brown wasp with long antennae on a tree trunk.
Animals

To help stop voracious tree-killing beetles, send in the Russian wasps

By Philip Kiefer

Flight bans won’t stop Omicron
COVID-19

Flight bans won’t stop Omicron

By Philip Kiefer

Omicron isn’t going away. Here’s how to protect yourself from the latest COVID variant.
COVID-19

Omicron isn’t going away. Here’s how to protect yourself from the latest COVID variant.

By Philip Kiefer

What’s sweeter than honey to these bees? Rotting meat.
Animals

What’s sweeter than honey to these bees? Rotting meat.

By Philip Kiefer

Four prairie dogs standing up in a row on a rock.
Animals

The American West’s changing climate might mean more plague-carrying critters

By Philip Kiefer

a thick green lake
Environment

Ancient cities had toxic pollution, too

By Philip Kiefer

You can get a COVID booster shot. Here’s what else you need to know.
COVID-19

You can get a COVID booster shot. Here’s what else you need to know.

By Philip Kiefer

A gloved hand drawing a vaccine.
COVID-19

Which COVID-19 booster should I get?

By Philip Kiefer

A sun rising over a mountain in Spain.
COVID-19

How to tell when the COVID pandemic is nearing its end

By Philip Kiefer

Ice-capped mountains in Kathmandu, Nepal, seen from a Landsat satellite
Climate Change

See 24,000 years of climate history at a glance

By Philip Kiefer

A deer looks down a snowy trail at two women walking.
Animals

The animal kingdom is full of coronaviruses. Here’s what that means for COVID’s future.

By Philip Kiefer

Rooftop solar panels in Koko Head, Oahu, Hawaii.
Climate Change

What your elected leaders have been up to at COP26

By Philip Kiefer

An overlooked fossil turned out to be a new herbivorous dinosaur with an oddly shaped nose
Animals

An overlooked fossil turned out to be a new herbivorous dinosaur with an oddly shaped nose

By Philip Kiefer

A bird's eye view of white tanks containing gasoline at a refinery.
Climate Change

The new infrastructure bill will fund pollution cleanup. But will it hold polluters accountable?

By Philip Kiefer

A satellite image of forest with patches of cleared land.
Climate Change

World leaders promise to end deforestation. Is that even possible?

By Philip Kiefer

A model heart
COVID-19

How dangerous is myocarditis? The truth about the scary-sounding condition.

By Philip Kiefer

Biologists vastly underestimated how much whales eat and poop
Animals

Biologists vastly underestimated how much whales eat and poop

By Philip Kiefer

A young harbor seal looking at the camera
Animals

Baby seals sing bass notes when they want attention

By Philip Kiefer

A boy gets a vaccine while sitting on his mom's lap.
COVID-19

Why are kids’ immune systems different from adults’?

By Philip Kiefer

A lemur holding onto a vine with one arm.
Animals

These fuzzy lemurs have a human-like ability to sing on beat

By Philip Kiefer

A cannabis plant, ground cannabis, and a vial of green liquid.
Health

Why did Texas ban Delta-8?

By Philip Kiefer

A translucent krill with red spots on its belly.
Animals

In constant darkness, Arctic krill migrate by twilight and the Northern Lights

By Philip Kiefer

A zookeeper wearing a mask vaccinates an orangutan through a grille.
Animals

Zoo animals are getting COVID vaccines made specially for them

By Philip Kiefer

Three syringes and ampules.
COVID-19

What the COVID-19 vaccine booster data still can’t tell us

By Philip Kiefer

rendering of human shaping of amazon rainforest
Conservation

This wild grassland in the Amazon isn’t as untouched as it seems

By Philip Kiefer

person in car gets covid nose swab test
COVID-19

What can viral load really tell us about infectiousness?

By Philip Kiefer

fossilized human footprints
Archaeology

These footprints could push back human history in the Americas

By Philip Kiefer

greenland ice sheet
Climate Change

The jet stream is moving north. Here’s what that means for you.

By Philip Kiefer

satellite image of smoke from the australian wildfires
Environment

Australian wildfires fueled an algae bloom bigger than the continent itself

By Philip Kiefer

point reyes national seashore lighthouse
Conservation

Why Point Reyes’ new land management plan is so controversial

By Philip Kiefer

satellite view of what remains of hurricane ida
Environment

Why Ida drenched the Northeast—and what that means for future storms

By Philip Kiefer

New Orleans’ billion-dollar levees survived Hurricane Ida. Can they handle what’s coming?
Climate Change

New Orleans’ billion-dollar levees survived Hurricane Ida. Can they handle what’s coming?

By Philip Kiefer

power line repair
Environment

Hurricanes can pack a one-two punch: the storm, then deadly heat

By Philip Kiefer

led streetlights on UK street
Animals

Streetlights are making caterpillars grow up faster—and that’s a bad thing

By Philip Kiefer

tetrapod fossil
Animals

Our four-legged ancestors evolved from sea to land astonishingly quickly

By Philip Kiefer

person playing violin
Science

You might like Stradivarius violins because worms hate them

By Philip Kiefer

haitian coast
Environment

Why the aftershocks from Haiti’s earthquake could be incredibly destructive

By Philip Kiefer

The Pacific Northwest is about to have another major heatwave. Is this the new normal?
Climate Change

The Pacific Northwest is about to have another major heatwave. Is this the new normal?

By Philip Kiefer

We have now seen our sense of smell in action
Biology

We have now seen our sense of smell in action

By Philip Kiefer

What you need to know about variants, vaccines, and breakthrough COVID cases
COVID-19

What you need to know about variants, vaccines, and breakthrough COVID cases

By Philip Kiefer

a sulfur-crested cockatoo perched on a wall
Animals

Australian cockatoos are teaching each other to open trash cans

By Philip Kiefer

flood waters surrounding a bench
Climate Change

Europe’s floods and the Pacific Northwest’s heat waves share a common culprit

By Philip Kiefer

tins of dog food
Animals

Raw dog food can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria

By Philip Kiefer

moderna covid shot
COVID-19

What you should know about COVID booster shots so far

By Philip Kiefer

researcher holds up metal chickasaw artificat
Archaeology

Centuries-old tools reveal how the Chikasha people fought off conquistadors

By Philip Kiefer

pregnant person holding their belly
Health

A new drug could help treat perinatal depression

By Philip Kiefer

hemp plants
Health

Why you’re suddenly hearing about delta-8 THC

By Philip Kiefer

peaches
Food Safety

‘Fugitive dust’ seems to have caused last summer’s salmonella outbreak from peaches

By Philip Kiefer

baby birds in a nest
Animals

Many animals climate-control their homes. Global warming could mess with that.

By Philip Kiefer

honey bees swarming
Animals

Temperature tells honey bees what time it is

By Philip Kiefer

wet street market selling fish
COVID-19

New data shows Wuhan markets were ripe for diseases to jump from animals to people

By Philip Kiefer

footprint in desert sand
Archaeology

Humans may have arrived in the Americas 15,000 years earlier than we thought

By Philip Kiefer

Gray foxes use black bears as personal body guards
Animals

Gray foxes use black bears as personal body guards

By Philip Kiefer