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Coronavirus

How optimizing indoor humidity can help stop the spread of Covid and flu

OPINION: Recent CDC guidelines for indoor air quality disregard the benefits of humidity. But research shows it can kill viruses and help thwart infections.

How to recover from the Great Education Disruption

OPINION: Children around the world were out of school for months, with big impacts on learning, well-being and the economy. How do we avoid a ‘generational catastrophe’?

Covid, RSV and the flu: A case of viral interference?

The ‘tripledemic’ unfolding this winter is one of several odd trends among respiratory virus infections these last years. Viruses, it turns out, can block one another and take turns to dominate.

What next-gen Covid-19 vaccines might look like

From building up defenses in the nose to slowing down a virus’s ability to make copies of itself, scientists are rolling out a raft of creative approaches to fighting infection

How to fight Covid with light

Some wavelengths of light in a range called far-UVC kill microbes in experiments and appear to be harmless to people. Could they be used to make indoor spaces safer against the coronavirus?

How long will it take to understand long Covid?

Covid long-haulers experience a litany of symptoms, and researchers have proposed a variety of theories to explain them. It’s a morass to figure out, but the answers are important for the multitudes still suffering from an infection that happened to them months or even years ago.

The pain of prolonged grief disorder

Psychologists are beginning to understand that for some people, intense and sustained feelings of loss are symptoms of a serious condition — one that can last for years and erode wellbeing

Pandemic psychology: Nothing new under the Sun

OPINION: Our behavior during Covid-19 echoes that of individuals, societies and governments during past plagues. We can and should do better.

How to short-circuit short-term thinking

OPINION: Human behavior is fueling major social dilemmas — from climate change to the Covid pandemic to the spread of misinformation. But that means it’s also the solution, if only we can harness psychology for the common good.

How zinc helps you fight off infections

Our bodies require the vital mineral for the healthy functioning of the immune system 

Question the ‘lab leak’ theory. But don’t call it a conspiracy.

OPINION: If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, labels get in the way of facts and make the truth that much harder to find.

Let’s change how we pay for hospitals

OPINION: Many health facilities were already in fiscal straits before Covid-19 — except in Maryland. The state’s innovative and sound approach could be the answer to rescuing systems nationwide.

Why we are developing a patent-free Covid antiviral therapy

OPINION: During global health crises such as pandemics, drug discovery should be publicly funded and open, with no research secrets locked away

To understand airborne transmission of disease, follow the flow

Viruses and bacteria travel in fluids, such as the air we breathe. Studying exhalations, toilet flushes and rain drops, with math and modeling, can sharpen the big-picture view of how to prevent infections.

Why don’t kids tend to get as sick from Covid-19?

Some children have been hospitalized and some have died, but at a tiny fraction of the adult rate. As children head back to school, scientists are hoping that research will provide answers.

Building an immune system for the planet could prevent the next pandemic

OPINION: We need a global information network that spans borders so we can spot — and stop — new pathogens before they threaten world health

What will history say about Covid? Museums scurry to collect — and prepare to remember.

A worn pair of nurse’s shoes. That coronavirus model Anthony Fauci used in public briefings. Oral histories, iconic photos and social media posts. All of us are curators now, and what we preserve — as well as what we don’t — will write the pandemic story.

Covid cut pollution and got us outside. Let’s keep it up.

OPINION: Urban planners need to find ways to reduce traffic and provide equal access to green spaces 

The science of habits

If you’re trying to break a bad habit or start a good one, psychologists have some tips

Demographers tackle Covid-19

What they learn could help steer the future of public health

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