Rural Americans are dying of covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts — a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated. While the initial surge of covid-19 deaths skipped over much of rural America, where roughly 15% of Americans live, nonmetropolitan mortality rates quickly started to outpace those of metropolitan areas as the virus spread nationwide before vaccinations became available, according to data from the Rural Policy Research Institute. Sin… (more…)

According to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, women demonstrate increased creative thinking when they are the most fertile, during the ovulation phase of the reproductive cycle. The findings suggest that creativity may be a sexually selected trait that signals a woman’s reproductive fitness. Studies have shown that women’s peak fertility aligns with certain cues that encourage mating behavior. For example, women are perceived as more attractive during ovulation, the phase of the reproductive cycle with the highest chance of pregnancy. … (more…)