• The Battle of the SARS-CoV-2 Variants

    In order to fight the pandemic in the long term, it is crucial to understand why one variant prevails over another. A new study has provided important answers by comparing the spread and transmission of different emerging variants in parallel.

  • Experts Call on Biden Administration to Change Pandemic Plan

    On Thursday, members of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 pandemic transition team called on the president to shift his approach to the virus, accepting that it will be endemic and that new variants could emerge and arguing that the country needs a new strategy for living with the virus two years after it was first identified in Wuhan, China.

  • More Trusting Societies Have Been More Successful at Reducing Coronavirus Cases and Deaths

    Countries where people have more trust in each other have been more successful in bringing down waves of coronavirus cases and deaths, a new study shows.

  • Early Israeli Findings Show Fivefold Boost from Fourth COVID Vaccine Dose

    Researchers in Israel, who monitored the results of fourth COVID-1 vaccine shots, report that these second booster shots produce a fivefold increase in antibody levels.

  • COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the Military Is a Manageable Challenge

    The military has vaccinated the vast majority of service members, but pockets of hesitancy remain. What’s driving the reluctance, and what should be done to overcome it?

  • The Big Promises and Potentially Bigger Consequences of Neurotechnology

    Neurotechnology is an umbrella term for a range of technologies which interact directly with the brain or nervous system. This can include systems which passively scan, map or interpret brain activity, or systems which actively influence the state of the brain or nervous system. There are growing excitement and growing concern about the potential applications of neurotechnology for everything from defense to health care to entertainment.

  • Social Capital and COVID-19 Response

    Social capital measures how well connected we are to our families, communities, workplaces and religious groups. Researchers found that early in the COVID-19 pandemic, high levels of social capital were associated with a slower spread of the virus.

  • Radioactive Contamination Is Creeping into Drinking Water Around the U.S.

    As mining, fracking and other activities increase the levels of harmful isotopes in water supplies, health advocates call for tighter controls.

  • U.S. Guns Sales Have Been Surging: Study

    An estimated 7.5 million U.S. adults became new gun owners over a recent 28-month span, sharply increasing the prospects for home accidents or people taking their own lives, according to new research.

  • Train Engineer Inspired by Covid-19 Conspiracy Theory to Intentionally Derail Locomotive

    A train engineer at the Port of Los Angeles pleaded guilty last week to a federal terrorism charge for intentionally running a locomotive at full speed off the end of railroad to “wake people up” to a government plot to use Covid-19 as a pretext to “take over” the country.

  • Modernizing U.S. Public Health: What Needs to Be Done

    While much of the past 20 months has focused on the response to and treatment of COVID-19, it has also brought to light the challenges faced by our nation’s public health systems. A coalition of concerned organizations issued a five-year roadmap for state and local elected officials and public health leaders to build a more equitable, robust, and sustainable public health system.

  • Getting Quickly to the Scene of a HAZMAT Incident

    During a HAZMAT response, the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Strike Force (NSF), comprised of five specialized units of first responders, are ready to rapidly deploy to the scene. Getting quickly to the scene of a HAZMAT incident is critical—whether it’s an oil spill or release of chemical, biological, or radiological materials.

  • Community, Faith, and Public Violence

    Communities with more religious congregations have fewer mass public shootings, according to new research. Outside the bounds of community, individuals can succumb to a tide of despair and solitude. Some give in to alienation, and succumb to deaths of despair from suicide or addiction. Some choose to enact their rage on the community itself, committing horrific acts of random violence.

  • Deaths of Undocumented Migrants in Southeastern U.S. Cluster in Hot, Dry Areas

    Deaths of undocumented migrants crossing the deserts that span the southern United States border between Mexico and Arizona are disproportionately clustered within regions of greatest physiological stress, including those where dehydration is likely, reports a new study.

  • Creating Dangerous Viruses in the Lab Is a Bad Way to Guard against future Pandemics

    In 2011, three top U.S. government scientists — Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Francis Collins, the head of NIH, and Gary Nabel, then a top official at Fauci’s institute – wrote that given the uncertainties regarding the emergence of new, pandemic-causing pathogens, “important information and insights can come from generating a potentially dangerous virus in the laboratory.” Laura H. Kahn writes that “There are other less risky ways of preventing pandemics than conducting gain-of-function research on pathogens.”