Science Times: The Pandemic Today

Getting Closer to an End

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story October 13, 2020 The Pandemic Today Back in June, Science Times stepped back to look at what researchers have learned so far about the coronavirus. Today, in another special edition of the section, our reporters look into the near future of the pandemic and dare to ask, “Is an End in Sight?” There will be hard times before dawn truly arrives. But, as Donald G. McNeil Jr. writes, it’s worth pausing to acknowledge the collective accomplishment that has brought us this far “as millions of Americans agreed, however reluctantly, to accept the sacrifices involved in shutting down parts of the economy, keeping distance from one other and wearing masks.” Keep up the vital work, and stay safe. — Alan Burdick Emiliano Ponzi A Dose of Optimism, as the Pandemic Rages On The months ahead will be difficult. But the medical cavalry is coming, and the rest of us know what we need to do. By Donald G. McNeil Jr. Emiliano Ponzi   First, a Vaccine Approval. Then ‘Chaos and Confusion.’ Come spring, Americans may have their choice of several so-so coronavirus vaccines — with no way of knowing which one is best. By Carl Zimmer Gabby Jones for The New York Times   The Race for a Super-Antibody Against the Coronavirus A network of scientists is chasing the pandemic’s holy grail: an antibody that protects against not just the virus, but also related pathogens that may threaten humans. By Apoorva Mandavilli Edu Bayer for The New York Times   Heidi Larson Knows How to Build Trust in Vaccines For the founder of the Vaccine Confidence Project, squashing viral rumors means building trust — and avoiding the term “anti-vaxxer.” By Jenny Anderson     The Coronavirus Unveiled Scientists around the world have captured detailed images of the coronavirus. By Carl Zimmer Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Listen to the latest about the pandemic The pandemic has killed more than one million people around the world, at least 210,000 in the United States alone. The illness has infiltrated the White House. On The New York Times podcast, “The Daily,” Donald G. McNeil Jr., a Times health reporter, offered an update on the measures to fight the coronavirus and tries to predict the course of the outbreak. Gracia Lam   Personal Health When Symptoms of Covid-19 Don’t Go Away Research is underway to assess the pandemic’s long-term effects and find ways to prevent and treat lasting symptoms. By Jane E. Brody Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times   ‘I Feel Like I Have Dementia’: Brain Fog Plagues Covid Survivors The condition is affecting thousands of patients, impeding their ability to work and function in daily life. By Pam Belluck Taylor Glascock for The New York Times   After a Hospital Stay for Covid, Patients May Face Months of Rehabilitation Many patients who were critically ill with Covid-19 face arduous recoveries, often requiring extensive physical rehabilitation. By Anahad O’Connor Chang W. Lee/The New York Times   ‘I Won’t Be Used as a Guinea Pig for White People’ Mistrust of vaccines runs deep in African-American communities. Against formidable odds, Father Paul Abernathy and his teams are trying to convince residents of Pittsburgh’s historic Black neighborhoods to volunteer for trials testing a Covid-19 shot. By Jan Hoffman and Chang W. Lee Oliver Contreras for The New York Times   Can Trump Really Speed Approval of Covid Treatments? Emergency-use authorizations, a formerly obscure corner of regulatory law, have become a centerpiece of the government’s response to the pandemic. By Robert P. Baird Brittainy Newman for The New York Times   Extra Pounds May Raise Risk of Severe Covid-19 Even people who aren’t obese may be more likely to become seriously ill when infected with the coronavirus, the C.D.C. said. By Roni Caryn Rabin Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT TimesTalks: Feeding the World Join us today at 2:30 p.m. ET to go behind the scenes and explore the ways food is grown, prepared and distributed globally, as Times On Tech writer Shira Ovide sits down with Sara Menker, founder and C.E.O. of agribusiness tech innovator Gro Intelligence; and Greg Lehmkuhl, president and C.E.O. of cold storage giant Lineage Logistics. They’ll discuss the lessons from this unprecedented year, and explore how data, A.I. and robotics is helping make the entire food supply chain safer and more efficient. R.S.V.P. SCIENCE NEWS Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times   What’s Special About Bat Viruses? What We Don’t Know Could Hurt Us The immune systems of bats are weird, but we don’t know how weird, how they got that way or enough about other animals. By James Gorman George Etheredge for The New York Times   New England’s Forests Are Sick. They Need More Tree Doctors. Climate change is taking a toll on woodlands in the Northeast. By Marguerite Holloway and George Etheredge Millard H. Sharp/Science Source   Trilobites What Happened to South America’s Missing Mega-Mammals? South America is filled with mammals from North America, but why more didn’t survive the reverse trip has been a natural history mystery. By Asher Elbein Oli Scarff/Getty Images   Trilobites Why Scientists Made Venus Flytraps That Glow By splicing a special gene into the carnivorous plants, scientists visualized the chemistry that helps them snap shut on prey. By Cara Giaimo Dianne Cameron/Six Flags Discovery Kingdom   Brain Surgery for a ‘Sweet Boy’: Saving Cronutt the Sea Lion Cronutt, like a growing number of ocean mammals, developed seizures because of toxins in the water. Scientists hope a pioneering procedure he underwent this week could help. By Matt Richtel Tessa Campbell   Trilobites Man’s Best Friend Once Made Nice Wool Blankets, Too Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest once bred dogs in large numbers and sheared them for wool. By Lesley Evans Ogden Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to 2 Scientists for Work on Genome Editing Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna developed the Crispr tool, which can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with high precision. By Katherine J. Wu, Carl Zimmer and Elian Peltier trilobites People With This Mutation Can’t Smell Stinky Fish A very small percentage of people don’t mind the pungent odor of fish, a genetic study found. By Katherine J. Wu Can You Spot One of These Migrating Birds? More than 500 bird species in North America migrate in the fall, so it’s a great time to whip out the binoculars. By Cara Giaimo Hidden Beneath the Ocean’s Surface, Nearly 16 Million Tons of Microplastic New research shows that the amount of fragments embedded in the sea floor is far more than the plastic floating on the ocean’s surface. By Tiffany May Warning: Don’t Touch This Hairy-Looking Caterpillar Contact with a puss caterpillar can cause a painful reaction as well as a rash, fever, muscle cramps or swollen glands, experts caution. By Christina Morales CLIMATE CHANGE Sem Van Der Wal/EPA, via Shutterstock   What’s Green, Soggy and Fights Climate Change? You might be surprised: Protecting peat bogs could help the world avert the worst effects of global warming, a new study has found. By Henry Fountain Rose Marie Cromwell for The New York Times   Florida Sees Signals of a Climate-Driven Housing Crisis Home sales in areas most vulnerable to sea-level rise began falling around 2013, researchers found. Now, prices are following a similar downward path. By Christopher Flavelle HEALTH Getty Images   Phys Ed How the Pandemic Is Changing Our Exercise Habits Many of us have been moving less since the pandemic began. But some, including many older men and women, seem to be moving more. By Gretchen Reynolds Amrita Marino   Ask Well Does Cancer Chemotherapy Increase My Covid Risks? People with cancer, especially leukemia, are at higher risk of dying from Covid-19, though chemotherapy does not appear to increase the risk. By Mikkael A. Sekeres, M.D. Monique Wray   Is Everybody Doing … OK? Let’s Ask Social Media Researchers are looking at online behavior to gauge public mental health. The results aren’t pretty. By Casey Schwartz Rest Better With Light Exercises Stretching and meditative movement like yoga before bed can improve the quality of your sleep and the amount you sleep. Here is a short and calming routine of 11 stretches and exercises. By Kelly DiNardo Imagno/Getty Images   The Checkup In Terms of Child Mortality, It’s a Good Time for Public Health Despite the crises of 2020, parents can realistically expect that children born today will outlive them. That wasn’t always the case. By Perri Klass, M.D. Email us Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. Make a friend’s day: Forward this email. Got this from a friend? Subscribe to the Science Times newsletter. Check out other New York Times newsletters (all free!) including: Climate Fwd: for climate coverage and expert analysis. The Upshot for a data-driven look at the news. Well for the latest on health, fitness and nutrition. Continue reading the main story Need help? 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