As America, and even his own administration, woke up to the threat of Covid-19, President Donald Trump still didn’t seem to get it. Within weeks of suggesting that people social distance in mid-March, the president went on national TV to argue that the US could reopen by Easter Sunday in April. “You’ll have packed churches…
Month: March 2022
Pigs are as smart as dogs. Why do we eat one and love the other?
Imagine a dog. She spends her entire life in an iron crate so small that she cannot turn around. Her tail has been cut off so that other dogs in cages jammed up against hers won’t chew it off in distress. When she has puppies, the males are castrated without painkillers. They are left close…
Scientists fear the Western wildfires could lead to long-term lung damage
During the peak of the recent wildfires, cities like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, suffered some of the dirtiest air in the world, making breathing the air like smoking a pack of cigarettes in a day. The smoke from these fires has shrouded millions of people in dirty air, as you can see in this…
“It isn’t a question of politics”: Fauci on calling out Sen. Rand Paul’s misinformation
Six months into the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, remains one of the most visible and steadfast defenders of science in an increasingly politicized environment. On Thursday, Vox and Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram spoke to Fauci about calling out Sen….
On climate change, oil and gas companies have a long way to go
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The oil and gas industry has found itself under a harsh spotlight as concern over climate change increases across the world. Lately, oil and gas majors have responded to the scrutiny with a series of pledges, plans,…
Coronavirus is in the air. Here’s how to get it out.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, can float in the air. In particular, it can linger in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, spreading farther than 6 feet from its source. These indoor public spaces are high risk and should be avoided while the virus is still spreading. But, increasingly, people are returning to those spaces: Bars…
What Biden can do to fix Trump’s Covid-19 mess
If Joe Biden beats Donald Trump this November and ends up in the Oval Office in January, he’ll quickly face one of the gravest challenges any president has seen in the modern era: Hundreds of thousands of Americans will be dead from Covid-19. Public trust in scientific and government institutions will be depleted. If the…
How the air travel industry is scrambling to convince people to fly
Kyle Potter, the editor of the travel deals website Thrifty Traveler, is used to flying a lot. But things haven’t been the same since the pandemic. Back in June, when he flew for the first time since Covid-19 hit the United States, it was an eerie experience. “Pretty much everyone just really feels on edge….
You can get reinfected with Covid-19 but may still have immunity. Let’s explain.
Researchers at the University of Nevada have reported that a 25-year-old man was reinfected in June with SARS-CoV-2, the virus the causes Covid-19. He joins a handful of other confirmed cases of reinfection in people without immune disorders — in Belgium, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Ecuador — where researchers have demonstrated that the genetic…
The absurd controversy over Joe Biden’s “transition away from the oil industry”
At the second and final 2020 presidential debate on Thursday, when asked by President Donald Trump if he would “close down the oil industry,” former Vice President Joe Biden said that he intends to “transition away from the oil industry, yes.” Republicans are working furiously to make this supposed admission into a scandal, hoping it…