If you’re not familiar with a finger trap, it’s traditionally a tube woven from bamboo that “traps” the fingers of an unsuspecting person who places them inside. While the origins of the finger trap are debatable, the simplicity and joy of one never gets old. Weaving strips of newspaper in a circular shape creates this…
If a pot of homemade soup brings to mind a big kettle of many ingredients simmering for hours, think again. There’s an easy formula for preparing vegetable soups that requires only a few ingredients and minimal cooking time, yet yields the same rich comfort that soup is intended to provide. You need about a pound…
This means setting aside time to have conversations about how much friendship you’re looking for — whether a mere running buddy or a BFF — while still allowing for the relationship to evolve. Talking about the Covid-19-related precautions you’re each taking can also make any in-person meet-ups more comfortable. “I tend to overcommunicate, especially now,”…
Have you ever had the dream where you take a test that you haven’t studied for? Or the one where you’re caught in a public place in your underwear? Here’s another common one: You open a door in your home and discover a room you have never seen before. To make this one a reality,…
Given the constraints of virus lockdowns and worries over health and safety, the bulk of your automobile use may be from grocery-store runs these days. Regardless of where you have gone in the past nine months, you’ve probably driven less than you did pre-pandemic, and that pattern could continue for many weeks or months to…
Mr. Levitt, who lives in Manhattan, has learned the hard way that his feet become blocks of ice when he sits outside for an hour or more. He’s taken to wearing warm shoes with a few layers of socks, and he and his wife and children also make sure to bring blankets. With their beanies,…
Epidemiologists say the true number of infections is probably much higher than the official tallies. Even with much more widespread testing now than in the pandemic’s early months, they say, many people who have never experienced symptoms may not have been tested or counted. Ira Longini, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida,…
In desperate times, there are many ways to stretch vaccines and speed up inoculation campaigns, according to experts who have done it. Splitting doses, delaying second shots, injecting into the skin instead of the muscle and employing roving vaccination teams have all saved lives — when the circumstances were right. During cholera outbreaks in war…
The coronavirus vaccine wasn’t supposed to be a golden ticket. A tiered and efficient rollout was meant to inoculate frontline workers and the most vulnerable before the rest of society. But scattershot and delayed distribution of the still-limited supply now threatens to create a new temporary social class — one that includes not just people…
Maria Polyakova, an economist at Stanford University, has studied the effects of the pandemic on the U.S. economy. “In general,” she said, “we expect that staying at home mechanically slows the pandemic, as it reduces the number of interactions between people.” Updated Jan. 22, 2021, 10:27 p.m. ET “The trade-off is that the reduction in…