Mihika Basu
Mihika Basu has spent a decade and some reporting on education, health, science, and the environment. She is Senior Editor with MEA Worldwide. Mihika loves watching horror movies and stalking cats on Instagram in her spare time.
Write to her at mihika.b@meawwworld.com
Latest From Mihika Basu
Do dark personalities prefer dark characters? People who like fictional villains may share some traits, says study
Individuals who score high for psychopathy and Machiavellianism are more likely to report that they enjoy, identify, and empathize with villainous characters, suggests analysis
Who is Rochelle Walensky? Incoming CDC chief warns of ‘dark weeks’ and 500,000 Covid-19 deaths in US by mid-Feb
Rochelle Walensky's projection comes even as experts have warned that the UK coronavirus variant will likely become the dominant strain in the US by March and worsen the pandemic
Andrew Cuomo slams US for negligence, says UK's mutant Covid variant is ‘getting on a plane and flying to JFK’
120 countries demand that before people get on a flight in the UK to come to their country they have to test negative for coronavirus, but the US does not require one
Joe Biden WILL make Americans wear masks for first 100 days in office as he lays out plans to halt Covid-19 surge
The president-elect has asked Dr Anthony Fauci to serve as chief medical adviser and to be part of his coronavirus response team
Oregon, New Mexico issue lockdown orders as Covid-19 model predicts US deaths may nearly double by March 2021
While Oregon has announced a two-week ‘freeze,’ a 'stay at home' order has been imposed in New Mexico
Wildlife populations have fallen by alarming 68% average in 46 years due to rampant human activity: WWF report
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report 2020 sounds the alarm for global biodiversity with a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world through the Living Planet Index (LPI)
Hurricane Isaias makes landfall in North Carolina, experts predict floods, tornadoes and storm surges
There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation along portions of the immediate coastline and adjacent waterways of northeastern South Carolina and the North Carolina coast
Early death among people with mental illness mostly due to poor physical health and can be prevented
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission found that a range of mental illnesses are associated with a lifelong burden of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, which can cause premature deaths
Millions of Americans to face dangerously hot days in coming decades as climate change may shatter heat index
Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi will experience the largest rise in extreme heat, a new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists warns
Radiation on Marshall Islands up to 1,000 times higher than Chernobyl or Fukushima
From 1946 to 1958, 67 nuclear weapons were tested in the Marshall Islands, a remote constellation of atolls in the Pacific Ocean, which was then a US trust territory.
Nutrient pollution was killing coral reefs long before climate change, claims study
The analysis shows nitrogen loading from the Florida Keys and greater Everglades ecosystem caused by humans, rather than warming temperature, to be the primary driver of coral reef degradation at Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area
Risk of dementia can be significantly reduced with regular exercise and proper diet no matter what your genes say
The research found that the risk of dementia was 32% lower in people with a high genetic risk if they follow healthy behaviors such as regular physical activity, healthy diet, no smoking, and moderate alcohol consumption
Scientists develop 'therapeutic food' that can repair gut microbes of malnourished children and boost healthy growth
Gut microbes of kids who were given the food - a mixture of nutrients from chickpea, soy, bananas, and peanuts - underwent a complete transformation, resembling microbial communities found in healthy children of the same age
Facial plastic surgery might actually make men more attractive, likeable and trustworthy
A new study states that subtle changes in facial appearances are powerful enough to alter judgments of personality.
Oumuamua is not an alien spaceship! First interstellar object to pass through solar system found to be of natural origin
A comprehensive analysis of ‘Oumuamua shows it is red, has an elongated, cigar-like shape and an odd spin pattern, much like a soda bottle laying on the ground, spinning on its side
Scientists discover early warning signs of eating disorder that could help millions affected by it
Before diagnosis, people with eating disorders showed higher levels of other mental disorders, high levels of self-harm, and had a greater prescription of central nervous system drugs, and dietetic drugs, reveals analysis
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C impossible without retiring or replacing all fossil fuel-burning infrastructure
To limit warming to no more than 2°C, it will be necessary to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century, says an international research team
Nearly one-third of LGBT+ scientists consider quitting their jobs because of workplace discrimination, new survey finds
The comprehensive survey of those working in the physical sciences in UK and Ireland, shows that nearly half of the scientists, who said they were trans, have considered leaving their jobs because of the work environment, with almost 20% of them thinking this often
OCEAN THREAT: Swimming in the sea considerably increases the risk of infection, says new study
Bacteria from the ocean can cover the skin from just a 10-minute swim, shows new research, which says that while swimming, healthy resident bacteria are washed off while ocean bacteria are deposited onto the skin
Has a cure for baldness been found? Scientists use stem cells to grow hair in breakthrough research
The research team created natural-looking hair that grows through the skin using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be generated directly from adult cells; Human iPSCs can replicate indefinitely, and can be derived from a simple blood draw