Contributor

B. David Zarley

Senior Staff Writer

Contact

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B. David Zarley is a senior staff writer for Freethink, where he covers health and medicine, including infectious disease, psychedelic research, mental health, and the brain. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Verge, Jezebel, Frieze, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Paste Magazine, and numerous other publications. He lives in Chicago and can be reached via Signal by request. Send him story ideas!

Medicine

New drug could provide long-term HIV prevention

HIV prevention typically requires a daily pill. A new, injectable drug may be able to work for over a month at a time.

B. David Zarley

Coronavirus

Gamers are helping find COVID-19 vaccines

Developing COVID-19 vaccines is a challenge. RNA platforms show some promise, but overcoming their drawbacks requires help — perhaps from a video game.

B. David Zarley

Drugs

This company is using beer yeast to make psilocybin

Brewing the magic in Psilocybe cubensis is difficult at scale. One Danish company thinks beer yeast may be the answer.

B. David Zarley

Coronavirus

This ultrasound connects to an iPhone to help catch COVID-19

Ultrasound can be a useful diagnostic tool for COVID-19. A portable ultrasound machine called the Butterfly iQ may make it safer.

B. David Zarley

Virology

Bats are not the enemy

Researchers are developing options from the domestic to the deific to allow humans and bats to live together in...

B. David Zarley

Can humans figure out how deep learning AI thinks?

Deep learning AI is becoming more complex, capable, and impenetrable, but these scientists are attempting to break the black box.

B. David Zarley

Virology

A nonthermal plasma field can eliminate 99.9% of airborne viruses

Airborne viruses can be tough to stop. A team at Michigan has developed a device that may stop them cold.

B. David Zarley

Virology

Hunting zoonotic diseases before an outbreak

Stopping zoonotic diseases — and pandemics — may require studying not just viruses, but also animals, habitats, and people.

B. David Zarley

Coronavirus

COVID’s unique challenge for the Navajo nation

With a lack of access to running water and other resources, the Navajo Nation faces a tough challenge in COVID-19. But the Diné are fighting back.

B. David Zarley

Animals

Researchers are rushing to freeze… lab mice sperm?

With their labs closing and the future unclear, researchers are sending precious cargo — the sperm of lab mice — to be frozen and stored.

B. David Zarley