The mud that accumulates at the bottom of lakes contains a rich archive of past environments, in part because it preserves much of what is buried with it. It preserves pollen grains that tell us what plants were growing in the watershed. It also preserves... click to read more

For most of our species existence, we humans wandered the earth barefoot, walking over a vast diversity of daunting and often dangerous terrains with no shoes to protect our feet. Instead, we relied in part on a natural line of defense: calluses that form in... click to read more

The Justinianic Plague (circa 541 to 750 CE), also known as the first plague pandemic, has recently featured prominently in scholarly and popular discussions. The existing consensus attributes to the Justinianic Plague millions of deaths. The pandemic's first outbreak in the Mediterranean (circa 541-544) is... click to read more

As we are writing, the world is facing the global crisis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since the beginning of the outbreak, scientists have been struggling with establishing standards to overcome this challenging situation. Unlike for the common cold or the seasonal flu, treatments,... click to read more

The world has come to a standstill as COVID-19 hits us like a wave. A wave that has been steadily growing ever since the first case was reported in Wuhan, China, at the end of last year. Since there are currently no efficient treatment options... click to read more