David McBrayer

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition arising from the body’s overreactive response against an infection, leading it to injure its own tissues and organs. The first known reference to “sepsis” dates back more than 2,700 years, when the Greek poet Homer used it as a derivative of the word “sepo,” meaning “I rot.”

Despite dramatic improvements in understanding the immunological mechanisms behind sepsis, it still remains a major medical concern, affecting 750,000 people in the U.S. and nearly 50 million people globally each year. Sepsis accounted for 11 million deaths worldwide in 2017, and is the most expensive medical condition in the U.S., costing over tens of billions of dollars annually.

We are researchers who study how certain types of bacteria interact with cells during infections. We wanted to understand exactly how an overreactive immune response can result in detrimental and even lethal effects like sepsis. In our newly published research, we discovered the cells and molecules that potentially trigger death from sepsis....

A prolonged summer heatwave in Australia left 91 percent of the Great Barrier Reef's coral damaged by bleaching, according to a new government monitoring report.

It was the first time on record the reef had suffered bleaching during a La Nina weather cycle, when cooler temperatures would normally be expected.

The Reef Snapshot report offered new details of the damage caused by the fourth "mass bleaching" the world's largest coral reef system has experienced since 2016, which was first revealed in March....

Women's Basketball season kicks off in the United States on Friday without one of its brightest stars: Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia just before Moscow launched its war in Ukraine.

It has been some 80 days since the two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested at the Moscow airport. But it has also taken the United States that long to go public with its push for her freedom.

The six-foot-nine (2.06-meter) player was halted on February 17 on charges of carrying in her luggage vape cartridges with cannabis oil, illegal in Russia....

Although they are currently the greatest predators on land, it’s likely that modern-day cats wouldn’t have been a match for the newly discovered Diegoaelurus vanvalkenburghae. At around 42 million years old, it’s thought to be one of the first saber-tooth cat-like predators to have roamed the planet – and a formidable hunter capable of killing prey much larger than itself.

None of our existing top predators possess a saber-tooth. But throughout much of the history of wild cats, there have been sabre-toothed forms.

Indeed, from 2.5 million years ago, until as recently as 10,000 years ago, the iconic Smilodon fatalis – commonly known as the sabre-tooth tiger – was on the prowl in California and other parts of North and South America. Although its main focus were the large, thick-skinned mammoths and woolly rhinos, early humans might well have been at risk, too....

It’s rare that an appealingly minor film wins the best picture Oscar – and a remake of a French film at that – but this year, CODA has done it.

Is it the best film from 2021? Absolutely not! But with best picture decided by preferential ballot (unlike the other awards), it makes sense that a sweet and inoffensive movie could sneak through.

One can imagine that CODA would have appeared at the second, third and fourth spot for numerous critics, unlike favourite The Power of the Dog which, as a divisive film, would have ranked last for many (as it was for this critic). ...