Axios

For the second consecutive year, disproportionately fewer new doctors across all specialties applied to medical residency programs in states with abortion bans and restrictions, per a new analysis released Thursday.

The big picture: In the two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, state-level restrictions are changing the way some medical residents receive training related to abortions and emergency pregnancy care.

To most Americans, COVID-19 now ranks with everyday risks like reckless driving, smoking and drinking too much. But the emergence of new variants called FLiRT is a fresh reminder that the coronavirus still is circulating and evolving, even with hospitalizations at record lows.

Why it matters: As much as the public wants to move on — and has moved on — from the pandemic, uncertainty about the coronavirus' evolution means those who remain the most vigilant can't fully shake the pandemic experience.

As the country struggles with nursing shortages, some in the field are pushing for a federal solution: a new STEM designation.

Why it matters: Classifying nursing as a STEM field would unlock millions in federal funding for recruitment programs and expand opportunities for international students.

Google DeepMind's AlphaFold AI model, which has already revolutionized scientists' understanding of proteins, has expanded its capabilities in a new version released Wednesday.

The big picture: The new AlphaFold 3 can predict what interactions between nearly all of the molecules that form the basis of life look like — and that could open roads to new drugs or more resilient crops.

City, state and federal leaders are banking on early planning and additional spending to avoid the gut-wrenching heat death toll Arizona experienced last summer.

Why it matters: Nearly 650 people died of heat-related causes in Maricopa County last year — a 52% increase over 2022.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a 2012 deposition that a doctor suggested he may have had a dead parasite in his brain, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The big picture: Kennedy, who qualified for the presidential ballot in four states and has reportedly met the signature threshold in at least six more, said he was experiencing memory loss and mental fogginess at the time and scans revealed a dark spot on his brain.

Approximately 321,566 children in the U.S. lost a parent to drug overdose in the decade between 2011 and 2021, according to a new study.

Why it matters: The findings underscore the human toll of the increase in drug overdoses in the U.S., especially among opioid users.

Training to run 26.2 miles is a vigorous mental, physical and emotional test. Yet more people young and old are going for it.

Why it matters: Long-distance running, which experienced a pandemic-era boom, is becoming a more democratized sport. Marathon participants in their 20s are even embracing the race as a life milestone.

Four years after Medicare for All dominated the Democratic presidential primary, some of the policy's most ardent backers are laying low this election season.

Why it matters: It's an acknowledgement there's no immediate path for a single-payer system long supported by progressives, and it spares Democrats from an intraparty squabble as President Biden puts his health care achievements at the center of his reelection campaign.