President Donald Trump’s speech on Thursday — and the events surrounding the Republican National Convention in general — at times came off as a celebration: a series of rhetorical monuments to a president who, based on what he and his supporters said, had triumphantly carried America through one of its best periods. Click Here: It’s…
Read more“Extinction breeds extinctions”: How losing one species can wipe out many more
Earth is now in the middle of a mass extinction, the sixth one in the planet’s history, according to scientists. And now a new study reports that species are going extinct hundreds or thousands of times faster than the expected rate. The researchers also found that one extinction can cause ripple effects throughout an ecosystem,…
Read moreThe WHO has new guidelines on face masks to fight Covid-19
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced changes to its guidelines on who should wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic and where they should wear it. The new guidance recommends that the general public wear cloth masks made from at least three layers of fabric “on public transport, in shops, or in other…
Read moreTrump’s EPA balks at a chance to save black lives
Decades of research paint a clear picture: The No. 1 environmental health risk in the US is soot. Also known as particulate pollution, it is made up of extremely small particles spewed into the air by power generation, industrial processes, and cars and trucks. There are “coarse particles,” between 2.5 and 10 micrometers in diameter,…
Read more6 feet away isn’t enough. Covid-19 risk involves other dimensions, too.
When states had strict stay-at-home orders and lockdowns in place, many decisions about the risk of getting the coronavirus were simple. People didn’t have to think about whether dining in a restaurant is safe if the restaurant was closed. Now, that states are opening up — with varying degrees of precautions and adherence in place…
Read moreWhy a second round of Covid-19 lockdowns might not be as effective
Several states are now seeing a surge in new Covid-19 coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. And the states with more alarming outbreaks — Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee — generally saw few cases early in the pandemic. Many of these states have started to relax the restrictions on movement, businesses,…
Read moreRemember the N95 mask shortage? It’s still a problem.
Texas broke records for Covid-19 hospitalizations six times last week, including a record 2,504 hospitalizations in a single day on June 10. South Carolina, North Carolina, Alaska, Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas have also all broken records of new cases reported in a single day. Alabama saw a 92 percent increase in its seven-day average of…
Read moreCDC reverses guidelines, telling people to get tested for Covid-19 even without symptoms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reversed changes to its Covid-19 testing guidelines, once again recommending that people without symptoms get tested for the coronavirus if they have come into close contact with someone known to be infected. The CDC’s new guidelines now state, “If you have been in close contact,…
Read moreThis theory might explain “Covid toes” and other mysteries of the disease
Back in March, Michigan’s Covid-19 cases exploded — leaping from zero to 3,657 in just two weeks. Detroit’s three big automakers closed factories temporarily, and the state’s largest health care system warned it was reaching capacity. In the midst of this crisis, Joseph Roche, an associate professor in the physical therapy program at Wayne State…
Read more98,000 new Covid-19 cases. And the worst may be yet to come.
The United States has reached a new terrible milestone in the Covid-19 pandemic. This past week, the country saw, on average, about 79,000 new cases per day — the highest on record in a pandemic full of atrocious records. On Friday, more than 98,000 Americans received a positive test result. From north to south, east…
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