I started seeing a woman three months ago. It was all progressing nicely until the virus hit. Now, we’re practicing social distancing and relegated to phone calls and texts. I’m lucky that I make a good living, and my salary has not been affected by the pandemic. But my girlfriend works in the service industry,…
Pregnant women exposed to phthalates, a group of chemicals used in many products, may be at increased risk for preterm birth, studies have found. Now a new study has found that exposure even before conception may increase the risk. Phthalates are found in plastic toys, hair sprays, soaps, perfumes and other products and can contaminate…
New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia. “The majority is clearly European,” said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote…
There is no proof that any drug can cure or prevent infection with the coronavirus. But in the face of an exploding pandemic with a frightening death toll, people are desperate for a bit of hope, a chance to believe there is something that will help. The drug that has received the most attention is…
On March 1, there were 88 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States. By month’s end, there were more than 170,000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compiled data on people who were hospitalized from the virus during that month to get a clearer demographic picture of infected patients who have…
For most travelers nowadays, home is the only destination. Yet thanks to some imaginative podcasts, you can still explore the world. The following were selected because rather than focus on such things as miles and points, they’re transportive — rife with the sounds of cities and wilderness, conversations with creative thinkers, and ways to change…
Some conflict is normal in a family. When we’re quarantined together around the clock for days on end, with everyone affected by a range of stresses, it’s practically inevitable. And the way we talk to one another about our conflicts can often make them worse. When you have reached the moment when things run off…
Most of our workouts are at home now. Which is why it’s an ideal time to get lost in the wild world of the vintage exercise video. Beyond just titans of the genre like Jane Fonda (now leg lifting on TikTok) and Richard Simmons, there were so many celebrity or just sort of celebrity-ish workout…
April 9, 2020 — The Lancet commentary “Centring sexual and reproductive health and justice in the global COVID-19 response” highlights the detrimental impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic response on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The piece emphasizes the threat to SRH services, caused by policies designating these services as non-essential and diverting…
An international team of particle physicists have paused their search for dark matter to focus on the needs of victims of the global pandemic — in particular, their need to breathe. In severe cases, COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation, but the world’s supply of ventilators has proven too small for the exponentially…