Column

Health & Medicine

Nasal vaccines for COVID-19 offer hope and face hurdles

A squirt up the nose could reduce virus transmission, but like shots in the arm, the nasal vaccines have challenges to overcome.

Science & Society

Growing wildfire threats loom over the birthplace of the atomic bomb

Climate change is expected to make wildfires worse across much of the Southwest United States. A key nuclear weapons lab could be in the hot zone.

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.

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.

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.