How Coronavirus Spreads through the Air: What We Know So Far

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May 12, 2020

Dear Reader, Can coronavirus spread through the air? It's a critical question that we need answered. In our lead story, health and medicine editor Tanya Lewis explains what we know so far. Next up, some cosmology news: two entirely different ways of "weighing" the universe produce conflicting results—and a potential sign of revolutionary new physics. And lastly, today is International Nurses Day, which celebrates the profession while also commemorating the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Below, we share a few stories about the many roles and contributions of nurses in advancing public health and welfare.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health How Coronavirus Spreads through the Air: What We Know So Far The virus that causes COVID-19 can persist in aerosol form, some studies suggest. But the potential for transmission depends on many factors, including infectiousness, dose and ventilation By Tanya Lewis

Physics How Heavy is the Universe? Conflicting Answers Hint at New Physics The discrepancy could be a statistical fluke—or a sign that physicists will need to revise the standard model of cosmology By Anil Ananthaswamy

Public Health Antipoaching Tech Tracks COVID-19 Flare-Ups in South Africa Coming out of lockdown, the country is relying on thousands of local case trackers and on software, once used to protect rhinoceroses, for disease surveillance By Sarah Wild

Automotive Ultrasensitive Fuel Gauges Could Improve Electric Vehicle Batteries The devices can image a battery's magnetic field, spotting weaknesses and more accurate readings of charge levels By John Fialka,E&E News

Public Health How Do Children Spread the Coronavirus? The Science Still Isn't Clear Researchers are still trying to understand what the deal is with kids and COVID-19 By Smriti Mallapaty,Nature magazine

Policy & Ethics We Need to Rethink Involuntary Hospitalization during This Pandemic Patients held for psychiatric care are especially vulnerable; we must act now to support them By Nathaniel P. Morris,Robert A. Kleinman

Public Health Nurses Are Playing a Crucial Role in this Pandemic—as Always The profession's contributions to improving the public's health during times of crisis date back to the days of Florence Nightingale By Janice Phillips,Cathy Catrambone

Public Health Grief on the Front Line--and Beyond In their own voices, health care workers from across the country reflect on coping with the coronavirus By Jillian Mock,Jen Schwartz

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Nurses Are Caretakers, Not Scientists, Right? Wrong In fact, they've been doing scientific research since the days of Florence Nightingale By Nalo Hamilton | October 2016

QUOTE OF THE DAY "I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel." Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing

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