The pandemic has accelerated on-line grocery sales as the fear of shortages has given way to the fear of being out and about.
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It is difficult to overstate the potential damage that an ineffective or unsafe coronavirus vaccine could inflict on confidence in public health institutions. Conspiracy theories already abound and would multiply further.
The University of Oxford, in collaboration with British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, has produced a leading coronavirus vaccine candidate. However, the Phase 3 clinical trial was paused because one patient is thought to have developed a serious adverse reaction. What could it be?
The beginner's mind, a video of Tesla production (can you see what is missing?), a video that will put a smile on your face and bring back the joy of opening a present when you were a tween, how will the rise in remote work change our lives, and finally, a question of expertise.
A new paper claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was genetically engineered in a laboratory has several red flags. It should not be taken seriously.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just updated its COVID-19 statistics on kids. You can find the full report referenced at the end of this article. But here's what the agency found.
It's now more than seven months into the pandemic in the U.S. and doctors and scientists have been trying pretty much everything -- with little to show for their efforts. Perhaps the most effort has gone into finding drugs to prevent the immune system meltdown caused by the virus. Here's another: Can a simple, safe, approved drug called phenylbutyric acid tread the line between under- and over-treatment of the immune system by reducing cell stress?
Everyone knows that the elderly and those with co-morbidities are at greater risk for hospitalization and death from COVID-19. But are all co-morbidities the same? Do some conditions result in more or perhaps fewer hospitalizations and deaths? Let's take a look.
Are vaccines going to be adequately tested for safety and efficacy if Phase 3 clinical trials are not completed? Does convalescent plasma work to treat COVID? Is the COVID death toll inflated? We attempt to clarify these controversies.
There is a lack of good clinical research on the advantages of blue-light filtering lenses.
September marks the 175th anniversary of Scientific American, one of the magazines from a memorable era in journalism that included Life as well as Time – periodicals longer than 20 pages. In honor of SA's anniversary, the editors devoted an article to the words used in articles since the founding of the magazine back in 1845.
Here's another example of the difference between statistical correlation and causation. Maybe it's best to agree on a plausible path of causation before looking for the correlation. That way it avoids fishing expeditions.
I have long been a fan of Danny Meyer's restaurants, including Shake Shack and the Union Square Café. He's a man who understands food, organization, and hospitality. One of the great lessons the restauranteur teaches involves “service recovery” – fixing mistakes with food and food service. The take-away message remains that a customer's bad experience is often corrected and rewarded by how things conclude; in other words, the end counts more than the blip in the middle. And, turns out, that Meyer's observations reflect the way our brain is wired.
Here are some of the most relevant COVID-19 developments in recent days: Europe's infections are out of control; COVID reinfection is rare; all treatments probably have serious but rare side effects; the WHO offers a misguided policy; and America's northern neighbor isn't telling the truth.
How's your stomach lately? If it's not so good, you have plenty of company. New York gastroenterologist Dr. Michael Glick explains how the stress and anxiety caused by the COVID pandemic is screwing up America's collective stomachs. And lungs, too.
While there is much back and forth around how aerosols may impact the "correct" social distance, this has been a great concern to anesthesiologists, nurses, and technicians who have to place breathing tubes into patients (intubation) requiring mechanical ventilators. After all, they are only a few inches away from those respiratory aerosols, and they have no other way to be more socially or professionally distant. A new study should bring them, and us, some ease of mind.
It's no secret that football players of all ages regularly experience head impacts and are at elevated risk for a concussion. Concern over the long-term consequences of multiple sub-concussive hits has increased public interest in new products to keep athletes safe from brain damage. However, this market space is filled with products rooted in pseudoscience. Let's take a look.
We're a decade into the "opioid crisis" and some people still cannot understand that prescription pain pills are, at worst, minor contributors. Yet the war against prescription analgesics goes on. This time it's Elizabeth Warren (and colleagues) who just don't get it. The Massachusetts Senator is pushing the DEA to allow partial refills of pills to reduce overdose deaths. What a ridiculous idea.
As the possibility of an effective COVID-19 vaccine grows, there are questions of distribution. The first-come, first-served approach seems (and is) too random to save lives or the economy. We need some form of prioritization, and here we are in uncharted territory; there are no facts, only computer models. Let's consider one optimized to save the most lives.
Science in the U.S. is under assault by postmodernism, political partisanship, and trial lawyers. Without a change in the direction of our culture, American technological supremacy is facing an existential threat.
Face masks and social distancing are the primary tools currently available for limiting the spread of COVID-19. The mask serves two functions: protecting the wearer by limiting the inhalation of airborne particles [1] and protecting others by reducing transmission of virus particles exhaled by an infected individual. This second role has not always been recognized nor well quantified. [2]
In 1938 the FDA was given regulatory authority over experimental drugs. But it wasn't until 1961 that it regulated clinical trials and their methods. In 1954, a foundation performed a methodologically controversial trial with 1.6 million children, ages 6 to 8. It was called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis's Salk Vaccine Trial. As we hurdle at "warp speed" to a COVID-19 vaccine, perhaps we can reflect on how much has changed, or not, in our search for safe, effective vaccines.
While the White House struggles to track and trace those who had close contact with President Trump and infectious others in his entourage, India is reporting on the transmission dynamics of nearly 600,000 exposed individuals. Let's take a look at what's being learned within the world’s biggest democracy.
We don't have an unlimited supply of diagnostic tests for COVID. So, researchers have developed nine simple questions that can predict whether someone is likely to have the disease.
Pfizer and Moderna are producing fewer but more effective (and pricier) vaccines, while AstraZeneca is making a greater number of less effective (and cheaper) vaccines.
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