Pour one out for Delta, the SARS-CoV-2 variant that Season 3 of the pandemic seems intent on killing off. After holding star billing through the summer and fall of 2021, Delta’s spent the past several

The 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass is one of the nation’s most traffic-clogged corridors . For workers, students and anyone else trying to go between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside d

The Covid Vaccine We Need Now May Not Be a Shot Nasal vaccines under development around the world may make better boosters by stopping the coronavirus in the airways. Waiting after a booster shot of t

On Wednesday, I linked to an analysis, from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, of Substack’s hosting of fringe and extremist publications. I had been sitting on that story for a week or so as I was

A new Stanford study points to more climate pollution coming from the gas stove than previously understood. Catherine Marois/Getty Images Rebecca Leber is a senior reporter covering climate change for

Getty Images/fStop Anna North is a senior correspondent for Vox, where she covers American family life, work, and education. Previously, she was an editor and writer at the New York Times. She is also

Posted on January 28, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi Posting here for archive purposes. In an email, I was asked, given the rise of book bans in schools/libraries, if it made sense for me/other authors to

Bicycling Op-Ed: Why We Are Relaunching the ‘Future of Transportation’ Caucus 12:01 AM EST on January 24, 2022 Image: David Wilson, CC By Two and half years ago, we launched the Future of Transportati

A Fight Over Rooftop Solar Threatens California’s Climate Goals Utility regulators have proposed slashing the incentives homeowners receive to install solar panels, a long-sought goal of utilities and

A woman walks past a mural of a flying white dove dropping Covid-19 vaccine vials in Rome, Italy, in April 2021. The next big challenge for Covid-19 vaccines is to develop one to cover all variants, a

News Analysis The C.D.C.’s New Challenge? Grappling With Imperfect Science The Omicron coronavirus variant is moving much faster than researchers can, worsening a longstanding problem: The agency must

If you go out seeking to learn from their proponents why blockchains and the systems built atop them are apparently the future of our web, you’ll begin to see some common themes. Two of the ones I see

[Helpful note: This article assumes a knowledge of, and reveals details from, the plot of “Arrival.” Read at your own risk.] Large-scale Hollywood films employ a wide range of consultants, from ER doc

For Coronavirus Testing, the Nose May Not Always Be Best As Omicron spreads, some experts are calling for a switch to saliva-based tests, which may detect infections days earlier than nasal swabs do.

I don’t generally lead with benchmarks or pricing, but here’s a thought about the new iPad Mini, which comes equipped with a version of the same A15 chip as the new iPhone 13 and 13 Pro models: For $5

When Delta swept across the United States last year, the extremely transmissible and deadlier variant threw us into pandemic limbo . The virus remained a danger mostly to unvaccinated people, but they

If you’re trapped in COVID isolation right now, you’re making muffins. If that’s literally true, good for you, and I can recommend these . But I’m talking metaphorically. Right now, the infection you’

Zeynep Tufekci The C.D.C. Is Hoping You’ll Figure Covid Out on Your Own Jan. 5, 2022 Credit... Katherine Lam By Opinion Columnist I have some good news and some bad news, and they’re both the same. Se

It’s a new year! Let’s start with the good news! There are now seven independent lab studies showing that Omicron is less infective in the lower lungs. Here’s a compilation from Eric Topol ( who is on

Walter Barker has, since the fall of 2020, had five doses of COVID-19 vaccine. He’s already starting to ponder when he might need a sixth. Barker, a 38-year-old office worker in New York, received his

The first thing I noticed is that it’s thicker than the MacBook Pros of the preceding few years. It feels thicker. It looks thicker. But look at the specs . Last year’s 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro: 0.61 in

After such a momentous 2020 for the Mac , it was hard for 2021 to measure up . But with the Apple silicon transition well underway, the question remains: What does the Mac’s 2022 have in store? Good n

” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. Click here to listen to his new podcast series on all things happiness, How to Build a Happy Life . A re you putting

The Interior Department gave the green light Tuesday to two huge solar farms in the California desert — a reminder that the Biden administration still has tools to combat climate change even if it can

Updated at 12:00 p.m. on December 16, 2021 America was not prepared for COVID-19 when it arrived . It was not prepared for last winter’s surge. It was not prepared for Delta’s arrival in the summer or

And there it is, the first trickle of data to confirm it. In the eyes of vaccinated immune systems, Omicron looks like a big old weirdo—but also, a kind of familiar one. That’s the verdict served up b

Trash never dies. Sometimes it’s not even trash. That’s the notion behind a state law that on Jan. 1 will require Californians to separate organic material from their other garbage. It’s a landmark re

The day before I got my COVID booster shot, news of the variant we’re now calling Omicron erupted around the world. Mere hours earlier, I’d been on the fence about boosting, as I had been for months.

At a White House press briefing yesterday, NPR’s national political correspondent Mara Liasson asked Press Secretary Jen Psaki a question that’s been on many people’s minds: “There are still a lot of

A new dichotomy has begun dogging the pandemic discourse. With the rise of the über-transmissible Delta variant, experts are saying you’re either going to get vaccinated , or going to get the coronavi

A lot is still unknown around Omicron, but a worrying trend has become clear: This variant sure is spreading fast. In South Africa , the U.K. , and Denmark —countries with the best variant surveillanc

No one knows exactly what endemic COVID will look like, but whatever it looks like, this— gestures at the current situation —ain’t it. COVID is not yet endemic. There is little doubt that the coronavi

It’s still wait-and-see time for many key characteristics of the Omicron variant. I think the fact that it’s going to cause more breakthroughs in vaccinated people, and re-infections in people with pr

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — In an industrial area of this seaside city, a little-known biotech company is entering a pivotal phase of making Africa’s first coronavirus vaccine by attempting to replicate

1 of 15 | Nazima Shaikh, mother of Arbaz Mullah weeps as she speaks to the Associated Press at her home in Belagavi, India, Oct. 6, 2021. Arbaz Mullah was a Muslim man in love with a Hindu woman. But

Travelers at the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 27, 2021, after several countries imposed new travel restrictions in response to the omicron Covid-19 variant. Phill Magakoe/AFP via

As fall dips into winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the coronavirus has served up the holiday gift that no one, absolutely no one, asked for: a new variant of concern , dubbed Omicron by the World He

A man peeked into the construction site of a large Central African cultural center funded by the Chinese government in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Race to the Future How the U.S. Lost Grou

Zeynep Tufekci Omicron Is Coming. The U.S. Must Act Now. Nov. 28, 2021 Credit... Pete Kiehart for The New York Times By Opinion Columnist Leer en español There’s very little we know for sure about Omi

We have a new variant in town, Omicron. I was hoping to avoid learning the Greek alphabet, but here we are. I’ve written a piece about it at the New York Times , calling for early, precautionary actio