Neuroscientists at UCL have found no significant association between COVID-19 and the potentially paralysing and sometimes fatal neurological condition Guillain-Barré syndrome. Researchers say the findings, published in the journal Brain*, along with a linked scientific commentary** by UCL and other international experts, should provide the public with reassurance, as the UK’s national coronavirus vaccination programme…
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If a one-man “Carol” strikes you as mere humbug, try the relative luxury of Jack Thorne’s “A Christmas Carol” at the Old Vic, directed by Matthew Warchus. (A version played on Broadway two winters ago.) In this production, livestreamed from an empty theater, Andrew Lincoln stars as Scrooge. Thirteen other actors assist in his transformation…
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For many, sparkling water is the perfect beverage — versatile and utterly refreshing, able to cleanse the palate and it contains zero calories. And it sure seems to be having a moment. Sales of packaged sparkling water have skyrocketed since the pandemic confined so many seltzer fans to their homes, with MarketWatch reporting a dramatic…
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Here are some puzzles, mostly priced between $10 and $200, for the novice or the aficionado. Jigsaw for Beginners Happily, most ordinary jigsaw puzzles announce their difficulty numerically. A 100-, 200- or 500-piece puzzle should satisfy the first-time solver, as should clear images with bright colors, cut into a regular grid pattern. “What is most…
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There’s no way to sugarcoat it: The pandemic has plunged the world into a crisis of grief. It has caused the deaths of more than 290,000 people in the United States, many of them grandparents and parents. In New York State alone, 4,200 children lost a parent or caregiver to Covid-19 between March and July,…
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Slightly uneven little spheres dusted in cocoa to simulate the soil on a freshly dug fungus — the black Tuber melanosporum — defines a chocolate truffle at its most basic. Inside is a firm yet velvety center, a confection called ganache. Truffles are never cheap, but before you take out the credit card consider the…
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And because “there’s no substitute for in-person coat drives,” Ms. Amodio said, her charity has come up with creative ways to stage them. Last month, a school in Atlanta held a coat drive during morning drop off. Masked volunteers collected more than 400 coats through rolled-down windows. There is more demand to feed the hungry.…
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This has been a long and winding year, but it’s almost at an end. To solve this puzzle, cut out the pieces of the maze and fit them together to make a rectangle, then find your way through the labyrinth to 2020’s finale. Upon your journey, you will encounter a series of images. Use these…
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An independent committee of experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday afternoon voted to recommend the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and older. That endorsement, which now awaits only final approval by Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the C.D.C., is a key signal to hospitals and doctors that they…
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At Novant Health in Winston-Salem, N.C., the new ultracold freezers are ready — enough to eventually house more than 500,000 doses of the first coronavirus vaccine approved in the United States. In Los Angeles, the Cedars-Sinai medical center has installed extra security cameras to protect the secret location of its soon-to-arrive supply of the vaccine.…
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