Science Times: Covid Combat Fatigue

Plus: A.I. Breakthrough That Could Accelerate Drug Discovery —

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story December 1, 2020 Daniel Brenner for The New York Times Covid Combat Fatigue: ‘I Would Come Home With Tears in My Eyes’ Doctors and nurses on the front lines are running on empty, under increasing duress as the pandemic surges and hospitals are overrun with patients. By Katherine J. Wu Courtesy of Tennessee Aquarium Effort to Rescue Endangered Turtles Becomes a Thanksgiving Odyssey After a plane transporting 30 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles to Louisiana from Massachusetts was snagged by delays, frantic calls for help went out. By Marie Fazio Stephanie Higgins Trilobites This Rat Covers Itself With Poison That Can Take Out an Elephant The African crested rat gnaws on poisonous tree branches, then grooms its noxious spittle into its fur. By Katherine J. Wu DeepMind London A.I. Lab Claims Breakthrough That Could Accelerate Drug Discovery Researchers at DeepMind say they have solved “the protein folding problem,” a task that has bedeviled scientists for more than 50 years. By Cade Metz Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Email us Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK Tim Gruber for The New York Times The Long Darkness Before Dawn With vaccines and a new administration, the pandemic will be tamed. But experts say the coming months “are going to be just horrible.” By Donald G. McNeil Jr. Cody O'Loughlin for The New York Times Moderna Applies for Emergency F.D.A. Approval for Its Coronavirus Vaccine The first shots could be given as early as Dec. 21, if authorization is granted. By Denise Grady Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times Who Will Get the Coronavirus Vaccine First? A C.D.C. advisory panel will decide on its recommendations on Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what we expect, along with answers to other questions about the new shot. By Abby Goodnough Jim Wilson/The New York Times Should Isolation Periods Be Shorter for People With Covid-19? Patients are usually most infectious two days before symptoms begin and for five days after, a new analysis finds. By Apoorva Mandavilli Justin Lane/EPA, via Shutterstock Prisons Are Covid-19 Hotbeds. When Should Inmates Get the Vaccine? Federal officials have suggested that corrections staff receive high priority for a coronavirus vaccine, but not the millions of vulnerable inmates held in U.S. facilities. By Roni Caryn Rabin Tatyana Makeyeva/Reuters The Virus Won’t Stop Evolving When the Vaccine Arrives The coronavirus is not a shape shifter like the flu virus, but it could become vaccine resistant over time. That prompts researchers to urge vigilance. By James Gorman and Carl Zimmer   Evidence Builds That an Early Mutation Made the Pandemic Harder to Stop Scientists were initially skeptical that a mutation made the coronavirus more contagious. But new research has changed many of their minds. By James Glanz, Benedict Carey and Hannah Beech Getty Images Time to Upgrade Your Mask? New research shows adding a filter and improving the fit makes a cloth mask work even better. By Tara Parker-Pope Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORE SCIENCE NEWS Rene Limoges/Montreal Insectarium He Was a Stick, She Was a Leaf; Together They Made History A surprise clutch of eggs has solved a century-old leaf insect mystery. By Sabrina Imbler Bryan Lowry/Alamy Trilobites Hawaii’s Fresh Water Leaks to the Ocean Through Underground Rivers If the water could be pumped to the surface, it could help alleviate shortages on the island. By Matt Kaplan Colleen Michele Jones/The St. Augustine Record, via Associated Press 19th-Century Ship Is Revealed by Storm Erosion in Florida Researchers believe the vessel is the Caroline Eddy, a ship built during the Civil War and wrecked in 1880. “It was a sea like a mountain,” its captain recounted at the time. By Marie Fazio Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times E.P.A.’s Final Deregulatory Rush Runs Into Open Staff Resistance As President Trump's Environmental Protection Agency rushes to complete its regulatory rollbacks, agency staff, emboldened by the Biden victory, moves to stand in the way. By Lisa Friedman HEALTH Gracia Lam Personal Health Despite Pandemic Shutdowns, Cancer Doesn’t Take a Break The danger of delayed screenings is greatest for people with known risk factors for cancer. By Jane E. Brody Baz Ratner/Reuters Berry-Flavored H.I.V. Medication Is Ready for Babies For the 80,000 children who die of H.I.V. each year, drugs are often bitter or hard to swallow. Dolutegravir will soon come in a tasty dissolving tablet. By Donald G. McNeil Jr. Emily Rose Bennett for The New York Times A.A. to Zoom, Substance Abuse Treatment Goes Online It began as a stopgap way to get through the pandemic, but both participants and providers say virtual sessions have some clear advantages and will likely become a permanent part of recovery. By Matt Richtel Ruth Fremson/The New York Times The New Old Age Biden’s Plan for Seniors Is Not Just a Plan for Seniors The incoming administration aims to tackle child care, elder care, preschool and more in one ambitious aid program. By Paula Span Yuri Gripas/Reuters McKinsey Proposed Paying Pharmacy Companies Rebates for OxyContin Overdoses Court filings reveal consultants’ talk of a records purge during the opioid crisis, and shed new light on sales advice given to the billionaire Sackler family and their drug company, Purdue Pharma. By Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT The Checkup New Guidelines Cover Opioid Use After Children’s Surgery Parents should not be afraid of managing the child’s pain with opioids when they are needed, but should make sure a child does not have access to leftover doses. By Perri Klass, M.D. Shut Down Your Computers, Kids, and Lace Up Teens and tweens need exercise, period. Many parents are finding informal, creative and encouraging ways to get their isolated offspring outside safely. By Rachel Levin Feature The Reigning Queen of Pandemic Yoga The YouTube celebrity Adriene Mishler made yoga accessible and search-optimized even before so many Americans were confined at home. Can she help us learn to live better lives in front of the computer? By Molly Young Wildfire Smoke Is Poisoning California’s Kids. Some Pay a Higher Price. Fires are making the state’s air more dangerous. How much that hurts depends largely on where you live and how much money your family has. By Somini Sengupta and Nadja Popovich 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? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Science Times from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018