Emma Yasinski Author Profile | The Scientist Magazine®

Composite image of earliest humans and wooly mammoths

New Evidence Complicates the Story of the Peopling of the Americas

Emma Yasinski | May 2, 2022 | 10+ min read

New techniques have shown that people reached the New World far earlier than the long-standing estimate of 13,000 years ago, but scientists still debate exactly when humans arrived on the continent—and how.

Illustrated map showing where evidence was found of the earliest humans

Infographic: Mixed Evidence on Human Occupation of the Americas

Emma Yasinski | May 2, 2022 | 3 min read

Diverse lines of evidence point to humans’ presence in the New World long before the dawn of Clovis culture. But rewriting this chapter of human history raises many questions about how these early people came to inhabit these continents.

Tool Identifies Likely Reservoir Species for SARS-CoV-2

Emma Yasinski | Nov 16, 2021 | 4 min read

Researchers used sequencing data and phenotypic traits to predict which of 5,400 species were most likely to be susceptible to contracting and spreading the virus back to humans.

two people in scrubs in front of downed trees

Louisiana Scientists Are Still Reeling from Ida

Emma Yasinski | Sep 14, 2021 | 3 min read

Some Louisiana research centers lost samples and reagents, and with power only just now being restored, there’s a long road ahead to full recovery.

two doctors looking at a medical monitor showing electrodes being inserted near a person's spinal cord

Low Frequency Electric Stimulation Can Treat Back Pain: Study

Emma Yasinski | Sep 2, 2021 | 3 min read

Patients in a small trial said their chronic pain improved an average of 90 percent over the course of 15 days, but returned shortly after the electrical stimulation sessions ended.