Explore our stories on COVID-19 and past pandemics.
COVID-19 Mortality Is Worsened By Air Pollution, New Research Finds
A Harvard research team finds that an increase of one part per billion of air pollution is linked with an 8% increase in COVID-19 mortality.
11:49
A Small COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Shows Promise
Early indicators from a small vaccine study are a positive step toward the end of the pandemic. Plus, what’s happening with locusts in East Africa, and how climate change is impacting hurricanes.
11:40
Monitoring Your Pandemic Health, From Your Home
New at-home tests and health monitoring devices may give a new picture of the COVID-19 pandemic.
17:15
Fact Check My Feed: Finding The Falsehoods In ‘Plandemic’
Plus, a breakdown of this week’s COVID-19 news, including what we do and don’t know about the virus in semen and coronavirus mutations.
10:37
Global Flare-ups Of COVID-19 Hot Spots
Countries that were touted as early successes in “flattening the curve” are seeing flare-ups of COVID-19 outbreaks.
34:08
The Many Ways COVID-19 Exacerbates Pre-existing Inequality
COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting Black, Latino, and Native American communities. Why?
17:15
How Do We Build Trust Into Contact Tracing?
Governments and companies are building digital solutions to trace COVID-19’s spread. But public health experts say human labor and trust is irreplaceable.
17:04
Navigating COVID-19 By The Numbers
Mathematical modeling can help guide tough decisions about how society should respond to COVID-19.
17:16
A Pandemic Precedent—Set in 1918
What can we learn from the United States’ response to the 1918 influenza pandemic?
7:38
Strokes In COVID-19 Patients, Plus Trauma In Healthcare Workers
A handful of COVID-19 patients under the age of fifty have experienced strokes, raising questions about the virus.
Looking Back At The 1918 Flu Pandemic, In Photos
Take a glimpse at archival photos of scenes and people living during one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.
12:10
The Challenging Path To A COVID-19 Vaccine
Are efforts to speed the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus adding risk to the process?
12:04
A Shifted Coronavirus Timeline
The first COVID-19 death in the U.S. was three weeks before we initially thought.
12:13
Fact Check My Feed: Can Coronavirus Reactivate In Patients After Recovery?
Virologist Angela Rasmussen clears up details on reactivation of the coronavirus in recovered patients and a study looking at runners and bikers droplet clouds.
12:07
Inequality In The Air
COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on minority populations who are exposed to polluted air.
17:12
Routine Healthcare Is Falling Through The COVID-19 Cracks
The COVID-19 crisis is restricting patients’ access to regular care.
12:07
Big Data’s Latest On Tracking The Spread of COVID-19
Are you following stay-at-home orders? In some countries, the government will use cell phone data to make sure.
17:28
With Low Supplies, DIY Medical Gear Is On The Rise
Due to shortages of crucial supplies, healthcare workers ask volunteers to make medical masks.
6:55
Pandemic Survivors May Be Key To First COVID-19 Treatment
What you need to know about the CDC’s new face mask guidelines and an experimental COVID-19 treatment launching in New York.
16:21
Citizen Scientists: Submit Your COVID-19 Symptoms (Or Lack Of Them)
How citizen scientists can help the CDC track the spread of coronavirus in the United States.
16:59
Fact Check My Feed: Which COVID-19 Treatments Are Backed By Science?
Virologist Angela Rasmussen returns to explain the studies behind the stories on your news feed.
11:15
Why Do We Still Not Have Enough COVID-19 Tests?
The new reason for the U.S.’s testing backlog? Materials like swabs, chemical reagents, and lab shortages are causing delays.
16:57
Fact-Checking Your Coronavirus News Feed
Experiencing COVID-19 information overload? Two experts offer clarity on the studies taking over news headlines this week.
28:16
Coronavirus: Sanitizing, According To Science
The coronavirus is easy to kill with soap and water. We talk how it works, and why it matters for more people than you.
12:26
A New World, Shaped By COVID-19
A roundup of the COVID-19 stories that will define the “new normal,” including tracking spread through smartphone location data and ventilator triage.
22:20
How To Prepare Your Healthcare System For A New Coronavirus
If COVID-19 spreads in the U.S., hospitals have ways to prepare. Public health experts explain why more testing and protecting healthcare workers will be key.
17:18
Looking To The Genome To Track And Treat The New Coronavirus
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the new coronavirus from two patients in Washington state.
17:15
How To Track And Stop The Spread Of The Coronavirus Outbreak
Nearly 10,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, as of January 31. Experts consider measures that could be put in place to halt the spread of the pathogen.
6:44
What Does A ‘Pandemic’ Actually Mean?
What the World Health Organization’s declaration of a ‘pandemic’ means, and more from the week in science.
12:11
COVID-19 Numbers Are Rising. But How Are Those Numbers Counted?
Changes in how countries are diagnosing infection with the coronavirus can make shifting numbers difficult to interpret.
The Origin Of The Word ‘Quarantine’
‘Trentino’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
17:05
New Virus Paralyzes Chinese Cities
Officials in China have quarantined two large cities, where some 20 million people live, over fears of a novel virus outbreak.
The Origin Of The Word ‘Vaccine’
This world-changing tool of immunization got its name from a cow virus.
34:06
Forecasting The Future Of Pandemics—In 1994
In 1994, Laurie Garrett and Stephen Ostroff came on Science Friday to contemplate some troubling trends in public health. Twenty-two years later, they’re back for a check-up.
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Degrees Of Change
Understanding the challenges, but focused on the solutions, Degrees of Change explores the problem of climate change and how we as a planet are adapting to it.
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