Data

Psychology

Why do we miss the rituals put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Even solitary rituals bind us to our groups and help calm anxieties. What happens when those traditions are upended?

Health & Medicine

Five big questions about when and how to open schools amid COVID-19

Researchers weigh in on how to get children back into classrooms in a low-risk way.

Health & Medicine

Hydroxychloroquine can’t stop COVID-19. It’s time to move on, scientists say

Hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work as antiviral or a treatment for COVID-19, an abundance of scientific data suggest.

Earth

Deadly temperatures expected to arrive later this century are already here

Temperatures near humans’ physiological limit have doubled in frequency since 1979, exposing millions of people to dangerously hot and humid conditions.

Health & Medicine

Young adults can face severe cases of COVID-19, too

While risk of having a severe case of COVID-19 rises with age, younger adults are also landing in the hospital and ICU, new U.S. statistics show.

Science & Society

How the U.S. census has measured race over 230 years

As the U.S. census gets under way, a review of historical data shows the difficulties in measuring race

Science & Society

To fight discrimination, the U.S. census needs a different race question

Asking about race on the U.S. census can help identify discrimination against minority groups. But sociologists say the question needs a makeover.

Earth

2019 was the second-warmest year on record

2019 was the second-warmest year on record, ending a decade that topped 140 years of heat records.

Life

A ‘bonanza’ of new bird species was found on remote Indonesian islands

Bird discoveries typically come in a trickle. But in a remote corner of Southeast Asia, 10 newly described songbird species and subspecies were found.

Earth

Here’s how climate change may make Australia’s wildfires more common

An El Niño–like ocean-atmosphere weather pattern called the Indian Ocean dipole helped fuel extremely dry conditions in Australia.

Climate

How the Arctic’s poor health affects everyday life

A new NOAA report features testimony from indigenous communities in Alaska who are weathering the impacts of Arctic warming.

Earth

Fingerprints of climate change are increasingly appearing in extreme weather

A new report finds evidence that some of 2018’s extreme weather events were linked to human-caused climate change.