Jeffrey Shaman, an environmental health scientist at Columbia University, hopes that he and his colleagues will someday change the nightly news. “The way you get pollution reports and pollen counts on the local weather report, you could also have a flu forecast on there,” said Dr. Shaman.

Each year, the flu season arrives like clockwork. But once it strikes, it can unfold in surprising ways. In 2012, for example, it arrived in November, four weeks ahead of the typical flu season. Some years it can be especially brutal, and in others, very mild. Infection rates may start climbing in some parts of the United States when they are already falling in others.

Continue reading “This Week’s Forecast: What Flu Season May Look Like” →

Imagine you’re a looking for a place to shoot a monster movie. The plot involves animals kept in suspended animation for seven centuries springing back to life. Chances are you wouldn’t pick South Center Lake for your location. The charming 898-acre lake sits on the outskirts of the small town of Lindstrom, Minn., known as America’s Little Sweden. Gothic it’s not.

But in real life, South Center Lake has become the setting for a remarkable resurrection. Scientists have revived shrimp-like animals that have been buried at the bottom of the lake for an estimated 700 years. If this estimate holds up to further testing, they are the oldest animals ever resurrected.

Continue reading “A Living Time Capsule Shows the Human Mark on Evolution” →