Here's what we have this time: How to fund the scientific enterprise ... Our complicated relationship with nuclear power ... Ways to read and enjoy more ... and an overlooked environmental consequence to legalizing marijuana.
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Here's this week's offerings: Why we emotionally attach to Alexa and Siri ... the Pontiff joins the debate on AI ... India can go to Mars (but bathrooms still seem to be a challenge) ... and how do those restaurant buffets turn a profit?
COVID-19 has spread across the media much faster than across the world. The uptick is seen in the articles we're bringing forward this week. But rather than concentrate on what to do -- which has already been amply covered -- we're sharing reflections on how we got here. And what we can do differently.
Balance is an intricate “dance” of multiple sensory inputs. But what happens when one of them stops working as well as it should? As it turns out, hearing loss has unanticipated consequences.
In criticizing the journal Science, when it rains it pours.
We will soon be approaching the moment when, despite all of our best efforts, we'll be one ventilator shy of what's needed. It's now time to share what critical-care physicians and nurses have known for some time, and what they're planning to do when that moment arrives.
An occasional feature where a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.
Throughout this pandemic, we have heard many heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of how we're responding and coping. Many of those have been about the elderly, accounts written by adult children describing how they miss contact with their parents, segregated from them by institutional living. But here is a first-hand account by an older couple in their mid-80s, who describe what they are thinking and living through during this staggering health crisis.
Stories of "Chicken Little" and how we "model" our world. Should we always be the center of those models? In our moment of existential dread, new data seems to suggest we got the dinosaur extinction wrong. Finally, in six months, we will have our first national election in the time of COVID-19; how should we prepare?
As we turn to social mingling once again, those of us blessed with 20-20 hindsight are increasingly angry at the models used by policymakers in locking us down. It is time to speak of the misuse of tools and regret.
As we move towards social mingling, the official mantra is the three T’s, testing, track, and tracing. There are two bottlenecks, first having enough reliable tests; second, having the labor force, human or technological, to do the tracking. While the process of track and trace remains under development, testing is increasing and is frequently now a daily metric by government officials.
How did drinking a large glass of expensive celery juice every morning become the latest health fad? It beats us.
Stephanie S. (not her real name) is a teacher in New York City. She is facing some difficult, perhaps even impossible, choices. Will she return to the classroom, where COVID will surely spread? Or refuse to do so, and lose her a job and health insurance? What about remote teaching or a so-called "hybrid model?" Here are her thoughts.
Thinking Aloud is an irregularly-scheduled column that considers how we think about a particular issue. First up: Given all the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, how do you decide how you should behave?
“The extent to which SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, will circulate during the 2020–21 influenza season is unknown. However, it is anticipated that SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses will both be active in the United States during the upcoming 2020–21 influenza season.” - CDC 2021 Guidelines
Let’s assume that an effective vaccine for COVID-19 -- one with a level of efficacy you'll find comforting --becomes available over the next few months. Under all circumstances, demand will outstrip supply. So as we form the line, who is in the front?
The media reports of national COVID-19 statistics mask the substantial and continuing variations among regions. The virus doesn't care about geography, but we need to understand geographic differences if it is to be contained.
Our friendly neighbors to the north are fibbing about the coronavirus in their country, justifying a border closure with the United States that no longer makes sense.
Europe is in worse shape than the U.S. when it comes to new infections, at least for the time being. Without a change in strategy -- and hoping for a vaccine is not a strategy -- going back into lockdown is pointless, as a third (or fourth) wave will emerge when society reopens.
Kelsey Grammer is poised, quick witted, has a good sense of humor, and carries an aura of intellectual authority. He should be the next Jeopardy! host.
A writing partnership, between a University of Maryland professor and the pharmaceutical expert at the American Council on Science and Health, continues to thrive, producing valuable health information for publication in a major national newspaper.
Every year Livermore National Laboratory produces a chart of where our energy comes from and where it goes. The biggest changes, less coal, more natural gas.
From Stat, "Health care workers in the UK are seven times likelier to fall ill with severe Covid-19 than the rest of the population, according to a large new study." The statement is factual; it's just without a context. It is far scarier than need be.
The governor of Washington State has canceled Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, and about 20% of Seattle's restaurants and bars have closed permanently. The governor's arbitrary policies, such as banning indoor dining while allowing customers to eat inside tents, deserve part of the blame. Photographs put the absurdity on stark display.
The war against the "infodemic" ... why are we drawn to conspiracy ... what if we could save ourselves from climate change -- but had to use GMOs ... doodles from a lockdown ... and in the seasonal spirit, the economy that is Christmas Trees.
Pagination
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