Covid-19 spawned a revolution in understanding how some common viruses spread and how we can stop them — Even as rising monkeypox cases cause a global and national health emergency, and the long-forgotten poliovirus threatens to re-emerge, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history rages on. Amid this viral trifecta and the neverending carnage of lives lost and families shattered by Covid-19, there’s one positive note:

Eradicated in the U.S. long ago, the virus that can cause paralysis and death has re-emerged — Parents of kids who haven’t had the poliovirus vaccine—a surprisingly large number, we just learned—might consider history. Before the highly effective vaccine was developed in the 1950s, polio caused 15,000 cases of paralysis in the United States every year. Since then, we’ve gotten it totally under control. Until now.

Never-ending want drives foolish behavior that’s unhealthy for us and the planet — The pursuit of happiness is deeply woven into our collective psyche, prized by psychologists and pushed by self-help gurus, analyzed in countless scientific studies, and even guaranteed as a right in the Declaration of Independence. So it must be an incredibly worthy pursuit, though toward a goal rarely achieved, given…

News Brief: We know nature is good for the mind and body, and new research finds it’s not just what you see out there that promotes well-being — Few things soothe me more on a hot summer day than the smell of a pine forest at cooler altitudes. That unique earthy smell of fresh rain is a close second. Or, I don’t know, it’s really hard to beat the clean, salty scent that wafts in on an ocean…

Cutting just a few calories offers big health benefits — After a weeks-long camping trip through remote desert and mountain areas across the West, I had to tighten my belt a full notch. Literally. …

Modern life is way too easy, and that’s a huge health problem — BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL FOREST, WYOMING — Ample firewood is strewn across the wide, dry flood plain of Pacific Creek, just outside Grand Teton National Park. Three trips in different directions, returning each time with a bundle of dried-out former branches and beaver-hewn tree trunks, yields enough for tonight’s fire. I’m not…

A horrifically beautiful mountain landscape decimated by fire emits inexplicably eerie, meaningful cries — DIXIE NATIONAL FOREST, UTAH—Where once a grove of majestic aspens stood, their paper-thin leaves whispering at the slightest summer breeze and shouting the passage of any strong gust, now mostly denuded white and black corpses reach hopelessly skyward, pitifully thin arms outstretched, weakened trunks poised for an inevitable toppling.

We all tend to underestimate how much others value an unexpected call or text, new research finds — Friendships and social interactions are vital to our well-being, promoting good mental health and even physical wellness, according to much scientific research. We humans thrive on social connections. But some of us — and this will sound hauntingly familiar or downright puzzling depending on whether you lean toward introversion or…

The answer is a strong yes, and here’s why you should start now — If you are over age 30 and not working to counter the natural effects of aging, your muscles are wasting away as you read this. By age 70, you’ll have lost about 40% of your once enviable muscle mass. It doesn’t have to be like this, and if it is…