Why it’s so hard to be a nurse in America, according to two nurses
Last month, at the start of a fourth Covid-19 wave in the US, a nurse in a Seattle-area intensive-care unit announced her resignation on Twitter. “No amount of money could…
Astronomers were skeptical about dark matter — until Vera Rubin came along
Vera Rubin didn’t “discover” dark matter, but she put it on the map. Dark matter is a wild concept. It’s the idea that some mind-boggling percentage of all the matter…
What we actually know about the vaccines and the delta variant
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed, and with it, so has the effectiveness of the vaccines. The bottom line remains the same: The mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna that are…
What full FDA approval for Covid-19 vaccines really means
Nearly nine months after the first Americans received their shots, the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration for people 16 and older on…
How a cheap antidepressant emerged as a promising Covid-19 treatment
Since Covid-19 patients started showing up at clinics and hospitals a year and a half ago, doctors and researchers have been hard at work trying to figure out how to…
The lab leak hypothesis — true or not — should teach us a lesson
The origins of the novel coronavirus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic remain a mystery. US intelligence agencies have now completed a 90-day probe into the origins of SARS-CoV-2, but their…
Hurricane Ida could ravage the Covid-strained Gulf Coast
Hurricane season brings a recurring set of difficulties to coastal communities, and particularly to the South. Like other natural disasters, hurricanes can lay bare inadequate infrastructure, political ineptitude, and stark…
What do hurricane categories mean?
Hurricane Ida has begun pummeling the Gulf Coast, making landfall as a Category 4 storm on Sunday near Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The storm has already tied for the strongest recorded…
What an enormous global study can tell us about feeling better during the pandemic
During the pandemic, I’ve spent a lot of time alone. I live by myself. I work from home. At times, I experienced fits of fidgetiness and restlessness, contributing to feelings…
One of the worst public health dangers of the past century has finally been eradicated
On Monday, the United Nations announced an environmental and public health milestone: the end of the use of leaded gasoline in automobiles and road vehicles worldwide. The last holdout was…
The new Alzheimer’s drug that could break Medicare
Medicare, the federal health insurance program that covers Americans over 65, is facing an impossible dilemma: Should it cover a new and expensive medication for Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicts 6…
The West has all the ingredients for another terrible wildfire season
Summer has not officially started yet, but wildfire season has already arrived in the US. Now an intense heat wave coupled with extreme drought is threatening to make things worse.…