Get smart fast: Your top research stories of the week Nov. 25
Here’s some CU news you can use:Frequentrapid COVID-19 testing could drive the epidemic toward extinction, reptiles and amphibians get theirclose-up,and the effects ofparental restrictions on childhood tech.
Frequent, rapid testing could turn national COVID-19 tide within weeks
What we learned:
- Researchers used mathematical modeling to predict whether frequency, turnaround time or sensitivity of diagnostic tests matter most in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
- Tests with swift, same-day turnaround reduced spread significantly more than much more sensitive clinical tests, which took longer to return results.
- The authors say frequent, rapid tests could be used as “personalized stay-at-home orders,” which could “drive the epidemic toward extinction within six weeks”without shutting down schools and businesses.
Museum spotlights reptiles and amphibians in incredible detail
What we learned:
- A new project at the CU Museum of Natural History will collect high-resolution 2D and 3D photos of roughly 1,100 specimens of reptiles and amphibians from its collections.
- The effort, called OMeso, will focus on animals from Mesoamerica, which boasts some of the most diverse assemblages of reptiles and amphibians in the world.
- The images may help scientists to protect endangered species, providing them with new tools to track how the ranges of vanishing animals have shifted over time.
Parental restrictions on childhood tech use have few lasting effects
What we learned:
- Researchers analyzed survey data on technology use from 1,200 participants, following the same people from adolescence to young adulthood.
- Parental restrictions on adolescent use had no lasting effect on young adult use. Time spent with technology during youth had very little effect on adult use. Lasting tech “addiction” does not appear to be widespread.
- Amid the global pandemic, parents are less worried about kids’technology use than in the past.