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Wearing a face mask also can help protect you — not just others from you — from the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s new guidance updated its previous assertion that the main benefit of wearing a mask was to help prevent those infected from spreading the bug to others. “Adopting universal masking policies can help avert future lockdowns, especially if combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, hand hygiene, and adequate ventilation,” the CDC said.

Earliest Shoe-Wearers Revealed by Toe Bones Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Shod? Look at the Toes Jan. 25, 2008 -- People started wearing shoes around 40,000 years ago, according to a study on recently excavated small toe bones that belonged to an individual from China who apparently loved shoes. Most footwear erodes over time. The earliest known shoes, rope sandals that attached to the feet with string, date to only around 10,000 B.C. For the new study, the clues were in middle toe bones that change during an individual's lifetime if the person wears shoes a lot. "When you walk barefoot,...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2005 – The Army and Marine Corps are recalling about 18,000 protective vests, but officials emphasize that troops wearing them aren't at risk and that the recall has nothing to do with ballistic plate protection. The recall, announced Nov. 17, affects 18,425 Outer Tactical Vests - 8,083 from the Army and 10,342 from the Marine Corps, defense officials said. Officials call the recall a precautionary measure, ordered because the 14 affected lots of vests may not have met contractual specifications regarding ballistic performance when they were produced and fielded between 1999 and 2001. An administrative review conducted...

Sturdy shoes first came into widespread use between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago, according to a US scientist.Humans' small toes became weaker during this time, says physical anthropologist Erik Trinkaus, who has studied scores of early human foot bones. He attributes this anatomical change to the invention of rugged shoes, that reduced our need for strong, flexible toes to grip and balance. The research is presented in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The development of footwear appears to have affected the four so-called "lesser" toes - excepting the big toe. Ancient footwearWhile early humans living in cold northern climates may...