Sociology
How a Virus Exposed the Myth of Rugged Individualism
Humans evolved to be interdependent, not self-sufficient
"The Coronavirus Outbreak"
Public Health
Introducing a Special Issue on How COVID Changed the World
Please share your observations about how the pandemic changed life for you and yours
Public Health
COVID Is Here to Stay
How do we live with it?
Policy
COVID’s Uneven Toll Captured in Data
Visualizing ongoing stories of loss, adaptation and inequality
Policy
The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth
Virus origin stories have always been prone to conspiracy theories. COVID disinformation has threatened research—and lives
Public Health
Introducing 21 Ways COVID Changed the World
The pandemic didn’t bring us together, but it did show us what we need to change the most
Pharmaceuticals
Nasal Spray COVID Preventives Are Finally in Development
Different methods of drug delivery give us more tools to fight disease
Behavior
A High-Speed Scientific Hive Mind Emerged from the COVID Pandemic
The pandemic pushed researchers into new forms of rapid communication and collaboration
Epidemiology
New Studies Support Wuhan Market as Pandemic’s Origin Point
The reports’ authors say that the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, jumped from animals sold at the market to people twice in late 2019—but some scientists want more definitive evidence...
Epidemiology
What Is a Vaccinated Person’s Risk of Dying from COVID?
Vaccination definitely lowers the odds, but the exact answer is hard to find
Vaccines
These Vaccines May Be Ready to Take On New COVID Variants
Novel types of jabs could enhance T-cell immunity or protect against emerging strains
Public Health
COVID Still Threatens Millions of Immunocompromised People
People who suffer from diseases or take treatments that leave them highly vulnerable to COVID fear being left behind as the country drops pandemic restrictions
Pharmaceuticals
Chewing Gum with GMO Could Reduce the Spread of COVID
Gum carrying a protein produced by genetically modified lettuce traps SARS-CoV-2
Public Health
COVID Dominated Their Science Lives: Here’s What Four Experts Learned over Two Years
We’ve all lived through the pandemic, but these scientific experts lived inside it—fighting nearly every day to understand the novel coronavirus, predict its spread, decode its dangers and fight it on the front lines of care...
Vaccines
Tracking Outbreaks through Sewers, and Kids’ Vaccines on Hold Again: COVID Quickly, Episode 24
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.You can listen to all past episodes here...
Public Health
How COVID Changed the World
Lessons from two years of emergency science, upheaval and loss
Psychology
The Personality Trait ‘Intolerance of Uncertainty’ Causes Anguish during COVID
High levels of it have put people at risk of emotional problems
Microbiology
Omicron’s Surprising Anatomy Explains Why It Is Wildly Contagious
Specific mutations hide the COVID-causing variant from the immune system and give it a new route into more cells
Policy
There Is Nothing Normal about One Million People Dead from COVID
Mass media and policy makers are pushing for a return to pre-COVID times while trying to normalize a staggering death toll
Epidemiology
How Sneezing Hamsters Sparked a COVID Outbreak in Hong Kong
Hamsters are only the second species known to have spread SARS-CoV-2 to humans
