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In an August report in the journal Cell, Fauci and medical historian David Morens, his National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) colleague, foresee an accelerating rate of pandemics in the years ahead driven largely by deforestation, urban crowding, and wet markets for wild game, which will make increasing environmental degradation worldwide in this century, “the key determinant of disease emergence.”

 

“A deadly barrage” of pandemics is coming, a new report warns.

Source: COVID-19 Might Just Be The First Big Pandemic Of This Century

Even though protective masks have become more common, transparent versions that make lip-reading possible aren’t in widespread use in hospitals, schools, or big-box stores.

Source: Why Haven’t Clear Face Masks Caught On Yet?

By 2050, 70% of the world’s population is expected to live in towns and cities.

Source: Biodiversity loss could be making us sick – here’s why

Microsoft Excel: 1 — Human Genetics: 0.

Source: Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates – The Verge

Preston Estep was alone in a borrowed laboratory, somewhere in Boston. No big company, no board meetings, no billion-dollar payout from Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s covid-19 vaccine funding program. No animal data. No ethics approval. What he did have: ingredients for a vaccine. And one willing volunteer. Estep swirled together the mixture and…

Source: Some scientists are taking a DIY coronavirus vaccine, and nobody knows if it’s legal or if it works | MIT Technology Review

The red maple is the only known natural source of compounds, called ginnalins

Source: A promising Alzheimer’s treatment comes from the red maple tree

The pandemic has forced universities to bring their courses online – but this is just the first step on the road to a long-overdue educational revolution

Source: COVID-19 is sparking a revolution in higher education

A business model that seemed marginal before the coronavirus pandemic now looks like the future of restaurants.

Source: Our Ghost-Kitchen Future

Despite long-held questions over the efficacy of Chinese traditional medicine, Chinese experts maintain that an herbal formulation based on a nearly 2,000-year-old text is showing promise in treating COVID-19.

Source: VICE – China is Treating COVID-19 With a Blast From the (Distant) Past

Cloth face coverings are gonna be around for a while, so here are the WIRED team’s favorites for running, walking, and going to work.

Source: 15 Face Masks We Actually Like to Wear