Antihistamines to treat long COVID: What you need to know

2 stars covered in unusual elements have a puzzling origin story | Antihistamines to treat long COVID: What you need to know | Was the mysterious 'Russian flu' actually a coronavirus? Some scientists think so. Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( February 16, 2022 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [2 stars covered in unusual elements have a puzzling origin story]( [2 stars covered in unusual elements have a puzzling origin story]( (Nicole Reindl) Astronomers have spotted a pair of bizarre stars, unlike any ever seen, covered in a mysterious buildup of unusual chemicals. These cosmic oddballs may have been born through a very rare type of merger between two stars at different ends of their respective life cycles. Researchers detected the two stars, named PG1654+322 and PG1528+025, while scanning the sky using data collected by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in China and the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory in Arizona. Full Story: [Live Science]( (2/16) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] COVID-19 [] [Antihistamines to treat long COVID: What you need to know]( [Antihistamines to treat long COVID: What you need to know]( (GIPhotoStock via Getty Images) Over-the-counter antihistamines, typically taken for allergies, may help relieve the debilitating symptoms of long COVID in some people, a new case report suggests. The report, published Feb. 7 in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, included two middle-age women with long COVID, a condition also known by the medical term "post-acute sequelae of COVID-19" (PASC). After catching COVID-19 in 2020, the women developed a slew of symptoms that lingered for many months after their initial infections had cleared; these long-lasting symptoms included cognitive impairment, skin rashes and bruising, chest pain and profound fatigue. Full Story: [Live Science]( (2/16) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] History & Archaeology [] [Was the mysterious 'Russian flu' actually a coronavirus? Some scientists think so.]( [Was the mysterious 'Russian flu' actually a coronavirus? Some scientists think so.]( (Shutterstock) In 1889, a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in Russia and then spread across the globe, triggering at least three waves of infection over the course of several years. Now, some scientists suspect that this illness, dubbed the "Russian flu," actually may have been caused by a pandemic coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, The New York Times reported. There are some easily drawn parallels between the two pandemics. For instance, during the Russian flu pandemic, schools and workplaces closed due to the sheer number of people infected. Those infected often lost their senses of taste and smell, and some endured long-lasting symptoms that lingered for months. In general, the Russian flu seemed to kill far more elderly people than children, unlike influenza viruses, which tend to be similarly fatal to both age groups, according to the available historical records, which include government health records, newspapers and journal articles. Full Story: [Live Science]( (2/16) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Curious Creatures [] [Watch amazing video of cockatoos that learn to play 'golf']( [Watch amazing video of cockatoos that learn to play 'golf']( (Goffin Lab) In an incredible (and perhaps disconcerting) video, a Goffin's cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana) named Figaro plays a game of putt-putt golf. With seeming ease, the bird places a ball on a platform before using a stick to sweep it into a hole. Researchers say that studying such behaviors in birds may shed some light on how humans learned to use our own tools. Among animals, tool use is quite rare. Within that elite group of tool users, a select few are able to use compound tools, which are two or more objects used together for a common goal. Most human tools are compound tools — think an ax, with the metal head on a wooden handle, or a menagerie of objects working in concert like a car or a computer. Full Story: [Live Science]( (2/16) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [9 out of 10 ticks in this Pennsylvania park carried a potentially fatal neurological virus]( [9 out of 10 ticks in this Pennsylvania park carried a potentially fatal neurological virus]( (Lex20 via Getty Images) A site in Pennsylvania recently recorded the highest-ever concentration of ticks carrying a variant of potentially fatal Powassan virus called deer-tick virus (DTV). This rare virus has the potential to cause deadly infections with lasting neurological effects, and officials fear it and other serious tick-borne illnesses may become more common in the future. Powassan virus is transmitted to humans bitten by infected female black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis). Between 2008 and 2017, most of the cases were diagnosed in and around the Great Lakes region. Full Story: [Live Science]( (2/16) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: How quickly can the Powassan virus be transmitted from a tick bite? (Learn the answer [here]() [Vote]( [Within 1 minute]( [Vote]( [Within 15 minutes]( [Vote]( [Within 1 hour]( [Vote]( [It takes more than 3 hours](   [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( Future US LLC © 1100 13th St. NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005