Rapid at-home Covid-19 tests are finally here. Here’s how they could help end the pandemic.

Since the spring, many public health experts have been calling for rapid, at-home, over-the-counter Covid-19 tests for people without symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally authorized the first one Tuesday, potentially ushering in a new approach to combating the pandemic, which is projected to continue taking thousands of US lives each day through …

Yes, people who’ve had Covid-19 can still benefit from the vaccine

In the United States, there have been 17 million reported cases of Covid-19 — about 5 percent of the population. Millions more have been infected and either did not get tested or didn’t have symptoms to begin with. Vaccines are slowly rolling out — first to front-line health care and high-risk people, and next, likely …

10 ways Biden should fix the EPA

President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Michael Regan, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, to head the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the transition team. Regan has two decades of experience in environmental policy and positions at the Environmental Defense Fund as well as the EPA, and would be the first Black man …

Rookies, injuries and squad depth – what football teams have experimented most?

TYRONE’S FIRST WIN of the Division 1 campaign arrived against Kildare on Sunday despite the absence of a number of established players.  There were minus the services of the four (Peter Harte, Kieran McGeary, Padraig Hampsey and Michael McKernan) that shipped red cards in round 2 against Armagh plus injured pair Ronan McNamee and Mattie Donnelly. …

A second Covid-19 vaccine has received FDA emergency use authorization

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, clearing the way for it to be the second vaccine distributed in the United States. The decision follows a vote on Thursday by an advisory committee to the FDA which found that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its …

For the first time in 800 years, you can watch a “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter and Saturn are due to converge in their orbits on Monday, appearing as a double planet in the night sky — the first such occurrence in almost 800 years. The two planets have been near one another throughout the year, according to Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan. They will reach their closest approach, passing …

Why America can’t rely solely on individuals to stop Covid-19

Americans have spent much of the Covid-19 pandemic blaming one another for the coronavirus’s spread. Don’t go to that beach or park. Don’t go to that bar or restaurant. Don’t do anything for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Wear a mask! You don’t want to kill Grandma, do you? Public officials have joined in. Increasingly, they are …

How to be alone

Many of us dread being alone. We find isolation uncomfortable or downright scary. If you want to know just how eager we are to avoid it, consider a scientific study that offered people a choice between giving themselves electric shocks or being alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Believe it or not, many chose …

The isolation of 2020 is doing weird things to our bodies

“I am seeing tons of hair loss,” Mona Gohara says. Patients come to Gohara, a dermatologist and professor at the Yale School of Medicine, for all kinds of reasons from skin cancer screenings to cosmetic procedures. But this year more than ever, they’re worried about their hair. It’s not a coincidence. Stress — like, say, …