Column
- Health & Medicine
Missing COVID-19 data leave us in the dark about the current surge
Yankee Candle reviews and wastewater testing offer indirect hints, but we’re “flying blind,” says data expert Beth Blauer of Johns Hopkins University.
- Cosmology
A century ago, Alexander Friedmann envisioned the universe’s expansion
Alexander Friedmann saw that Einstein’s equations predicted multiple cosmic scenarios, including a Big Bang.
- Science & Society
Pressure to conform to social norms may explain risky COVID-19 decisions
As a science reporter covering COVID-19, I knew I should mask up at Disney World. Instead, I conformed, bared my face and got COVID-19.
By Sujata Gupta - Health & Medicine
Here’s the latest good and bad news about COVID-19 drugs
After coronavirus vaccines, antivirals and a monoclonal antibody are the next line of defense, but the treatments may be hard for some people to find.
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A changing climate means changes on the plate
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses the future of food through the lens of climate change.
By Nancy Shute - Health & Medicine
How I decided on a second COVID-19 booster shot
Boosters help for a short time, and mixing vaccines doesn’t seem to push the immune system toward making unhelpful antibodies, studies show.
- Health & Medicine
What experts told me to do after my positive COVID-19 at-home test
Rapid at-home tests mean many COVID-19 cases go unreported, but they’re a great tool for deciding when to leave isolation. I found that out firsthand.
By Anna Gibbs -
To solve mysteries, scientists look to muons
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses how researchers are using subatomic particles called muons as tools for scientific discovery
By Nancy Shute - Health & Medicine
We can do better than what was ‘normal’ before the pandemic
With all that people have endured, it would be a missed opportunity to toss aside what we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In Pandemic Year Three, still so many questions
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses what we've learned about COVID-19, and what questions remain in the pandemic's third year.
By Nancy Shute - Science & Society
Here are the Top 10 times scientific imagination failed
Some scientists of the past couldn’t imagine that atoms or gravity waves could one day be studied – or nuclear energy harnessed.
- Health & Medicine
How I’ll decide when it’s time to ditch my mask
New COVID-19 masking guidelines are designed for communities not individuals, making a decision about safety difficult.