Do Your Genes Predispose You to COVID-19?

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

             

April 30, 2020

Dear Reader, Did you know that the way you walk can identify who you are and how you're feeling? From an article by technology editor Sophie Bushwick, learn how researchers developed sensors that remotely analyze footsteps by measuring vibrations in the floor. In space news, cuts to NASA's Mars Exploration Program in President Trump's budget proposal for 2021 could shut down spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet—ending decades of U.S. leadership in exploring our neighboring world. And for today's featured story: the genetics of blood groups may offer some insight into whether you are likely to be infected with COVID-19.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Biology Do Your Genes Predispose You to COVID-19? Individual differences in genetic makeup may explain our susceptibility to the new coronavirus and the severity of the disease it causes By Loïc Mangin

Policy & Ethics Mars Needs Money: White House Budget Could Prompt Retreat from Red Planet Proposed cuts could end decades of U.S. leadership in exploring that world By Leonard David

Medical & Biotech Footstep Sensors Identify People by Gait The supersensitive system can also glean clues about health By Sophie Bushwick

Behavior & Society Masks and Emasculation: Why Some Men Refuse to Take Safety Precautions They think it makes them look weak, and avoiding that is evidently more important to them than demonstrating responsible behavior By Peter Glick

Policy & Ethics If You Think Preparedness Is Expensive, the Pandemic Puts Things in Perspective Here are lessons COVID-19 has taught us By Claire Pomeroy

Public Health Galileo's Lessons for Living and Working Through a Plague An outbreak in Italy in the 1630s forced him to find new ways of doing his research and connecting with family By Hannah Marcus

Conservation New Data on Killer House Cats Wild cats kill more animals than domestic ones do. But pet cats kill many more of them in a small area than similarly sized wild predators. By Jason G. Goldman | 03:23

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Digital & Full Archive For $69 per year, your Digital & Full Archive subscription includes 12 digital issues with full digital archive access back to 1845 and Android and iOS app access.

ADVERTISEMENT

FROM THE ARCHIVE Rocks, Rockets and Robots: The Plan to Bring Mars Down to Earth Coordinated by NASA and ESA, an ambitious effort to retrieve samples from the Red Planet faces major obstacles By Robin George Andrews | February 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The science and exploration activities within NASA have been seen as having high value for decades, and I don't see that changing. They were worth doing before the pandemic, and I expect them to be worth doing after the pandemic, too." Bruce Jakosky, planetary scientist and principal investigator of the MAVEN mission

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us