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October 20, 2025—Aluminum in vaccines is safe and often necessary. Plus, the land along South Africa's coast is rising, and cells have a self-destruct mechanism when viruses invade. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | A model shows proteins called death fold domains (green) telling a caspase enzyme (blue) to kill the cell after it has been compromised by pathogens. Stowers Institute for Medical Research/Tayla Miller | | How it works: Aluminum salts in vaccines are called "adjuvants" and produce a stronger immune response in the body. They activate parts of the immune system that boost the production of antibodies and T cells against specific invading substances. "Without the adjuvant, you don't get enough of the immune response, and the vaccine won't work," says Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, of certain vaccines. "It's absolutely essential." Such adjuvants lower the amount of material required to trigger an immune response, reducing the number of booster shots needed and improving the body's immune memory of a pathogen. For comparison: Vaccines contain tiny amounts of aluminum—even less than what infants ingest through breast milk or formula. During the first six months of life, babies receive about four milligrams of aluminum from vaccines, 10 milligrams from breast milk or 40 milligrams from regular formula. A typical adult vaccine contains 1.5 milligrams or less of aluminum. Adults living in the U.S. ingest about 7-9 milligrams of aluminum per day, according to the CDC. | | Land rising along South Africa's coast may be closely tied to humans' use of water. Dhoxax/Getty Images | | South Africa's southern coast is slowly ascending. For decades, scientists believed plumes of molten rock were pushing the Earth's crust upward, but new research reveals a different reason: the depletion of water reserves. Using GPS and satellite gravity data collected between 2000 and 2021, researchers discovered a roughly six-millimeter rise in the land surface. This coincides with the depletion of the country's water reserves and periods of drought. Scientists hypothesize that without water weight in Earth's crust in that region, the land has room to move up, like a foam mattress relieved of pressure. Why this is interesting: Depleting water resources typically leads to sinking, like in the San Joaquin Valley or the Chesapeake Bay in the United States. But South Africa's rising coast coincides with the rainy and dry seasons. During the rainy season, rivers and reservoirs are stocked with water (depressing the crust), which then evaporates or gets pumped away during the dry season. Scientists think that over time, the long-term usage of groundwater has tipped the balance toward the latter. What the experts say: "The presence of water, either as ice and snow on the land surface or as groundwater below, and the removal of that water are intimately tied to the deformation of the ground's surface," says Stanford University geophysicist Rosemary Knight. —Andrea Tamayo, Newsletter Writer | | | | |
SPONSORED CONTENT BY NORTON | | "Brilliant (and brilliantly funny)…"—Deborah Blum | | "Mary Roach is her own genre of book—gonzo, hilarious, wildly educational. This is Roach at her finest." —Daniel Kraus, author of Whalefall | | | | |
- We're coming into RSV season. Zachary Rubin, a double board-certified pediatrician and allergist, gives some tips on what to look out for, especially in babies. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the U.S. Click here to watch the full video. | 1 min
| | - Smith has two children. At least one of them is a boy. What is the probability that the other child is a boy? Jones has two children. The older one is a girl. What is the probability that the other child is a girl? Click here for the solution.
| | Aluminum is naturally found in the environment—in the soil and air (aluminum is the most common metal in Earth's crust). But by far the primary exposure route for humans is in processed foods. Manufacturers add aluminum during food processing primarily to improve texture and appearance, and as a firming or anti-caking agent. It is also used in the manufacturing of food packaging and cookware. Metals have shaped Earth and the human world alike, woven through our food, tools and even our bodies. Understanding how such substances interact with us isn't cause for alarm—it's the essence of science. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor
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