Runners’ Post-Pandemic Dreams

This was a different and difficult year for running, with the Olympics delayed, major marathons and races canceled, and even group runs largely off the table.We asked readers what they dream about doing as soon as it’s safe to gather again. Here’s what some of our running readers had to say. (Responses have been edited…

Is This the End of the Mink Coat?

Still, when Laura Coffey, a wholesale fur buyer, started work in the mid-1990s at the San Antonio location of the high-end Texas department store Julian Gold, she remembers that mink jackets, strollers (knee-length coats) and full-length coats made up at least 90 percent of the fur salon’s wares. Farmed mink, durable and abundant, with a…

Life Without Amazon (Well, Almost)

“Ten years ago we weren’t ordering toilet paper from Amazon,” Mr. Smalls said. “Maybe that’s how long it will take to get over it, too.” Harold Pollack, a professor at the University of Chicago, was interviewed by The New York Times in 2012 in a story about customers who were leaving Amazon. Dr. Pollack, who…

Is Dairy Farming Cruel to Cows?

Stephen Larson, a lawyer for the Dick Van Dam Dairy, described the images as staged or are taken out of context. Earlier this month, a judge dismissed a lawsuit against the farm filed by another animal rights organization, saying it lacked standing. “The accusation that they mistreated their cows is something that cuts the Van…

Will My Popcorn Explode?

What would happen if, while I was popping popcorn, all the kernels popped at once? Should I be worried? — Skye M., Portland, Maine Don’t worry, all of your popcorn kernels won’t pop at once. Popcorn kernels pop because the water inside them heats up and boils. When water boils, it usually expands, but the…

Patient characteristics associated with telemedicine access during COVID-19 pandemic

What The Study Did: This study identified racial/ ethnic, sex, age, language, and socioeconomic differences in accessing telemedicine for primary care and specialty ambulatory care; if not addressed, these differences may compound existing inequities in care among vulnerable populations. Authors: Srinath Adusumalli, M.D., M.Sc., of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, is the corresponding author.…

Assessment of neutrophil extracellular traps in coronary thrombus of case series of patients with COVID-19

What The Study Did: Severe COVID-19 is characterized by the intense formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), leading to the blockage of microvessels, as shown in pulmonary samples. The occurrence of ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a serious cardiac manifestation of COVID-19; the intrinsic mechanism of coronary thrombosis appears to still be unknown. This case series…

An explanation for the lack of blood oxygenation detected in many COVID-19 patients

One of the physiopathological characteristics of COVID-19 that has most baffled the scientific and medical community is what is known as “silent hypoxemia” or “happy hypoxia”. Patients suffering this phenomenon, the causes of which are still unknown, have severe pneumonia with markedly decreased arterial blood oxygen levels (known as hypoxemia). However, they do not report…