Pandemic Response

Pandemic Response

lab leak SARS-CoV-2
In theory, scientists could've produced a deadly virus that accidentally infected lab workers. In practice, we know that didn't happen.
Large hall with rows of hospital beds occupied by patients and attended by medical staff, likely during an early 20th-century medical crisis.
Caitlin Rivers wants to tell the story of epidemiology and the public health heroes who keep the world safe and healthy.
A person in protective gear cautiously holds a white chicken inside a controlled environment chamber, underscoring precautions against bird flu.
Differences in certain avian and mammalian proteins explain why avian influenza doesn't (typically) infect humans.
A little boy finding lockdown compensation by reaching out to an old lady through a window.
Lockdowns moved the burden of COVID from the at-risk elderly to the less-at-risk young. Does this sacrifice merit compensation?
A man wearing a face mask walks past a poster of a coronavirus, symbolizing the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
Artificial intelligence can forecast the behavior of viruses and quickly make vaccines to thwart them.
An old black and white photo of a room full of beds.
Sixty years later, will anybody have heard of COVID?
The nature of civilizational threats has changed in a mere decade.
Viruses, it turns out, can block one another and take turns to dominate.
covid drug
A new drug inhibits a human enzyme that coronaviruses hijack in order to replicate.
About the project The goal of driving more progress across the world—scientifically, politically, economically, socially, etc—is one shared by many. And yet, debates about the best way to maximize progress […]
You can’t control external threats, but you can manage how you prepare and respond to the risk.
Some economists predict China's economy will overtake the U.S. economy by 2028.
plague
Centuries ago, the plague forced people into quarantine for years. Isaac Newton and Galileo used the time to revolutionize the world.
lab leak SARS-CoV-2
We don't know with 100% certainty where SARS-CoV-2 first came from or how it first infected humans. But not all options are equally likely.
Omicron
There is no rule that will force Omicron or another COVID variant to become less deadly over time, but there is reason for hope.
Here are the best answers science has to a myriad of commonly asked questions. Over the past 12 months, the status of humans on planet Earth has changed dramatically. The […]
We’ve argued over ideology for far too long. It’s time to pick a better route to prosperity. In every civilized society around the world, there’s a trade-off that must be […]
It will take a national effort to get it done. Here’s how. Over the past six months — a full half of a year — the United States has suffered more deaths and illnesses due […]
Visiting even one friend can undo all the good work that social distancing has accomplished. Over the past few months, people all over the world have come to realize just […]
In reality, it has no color at all. Here’s why. Every time you see an illustration of the COVID-19 coronavirus, it’s shown with a red color to it. Sometimes it’s red […]
And how it might ensure that future generations won’t have to face anything like this ever again. As of April 6, 2020, more than 1.3 million people worldwide have tested positive […]
Ending social distancing won’t only make us sicker, but will tank the health care industry in the process. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic continues to spread around the world. As of today, […]
And why social distancing, isolation, and sheltering-in-place are so effective, but only if we do them early enough. In any biological system, if you put a living organism into an environment […]
Now is not the time to panic. But it’s the perfect time to get informed. The typical human body is made out of some 10²⁸ atoms distributed across approximately 100 […]