What a U.S. Exit from the WHO Means for COVID-19 and Global Health

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June 01, 2020

Dear Reader, Here's the latest science news to start your week: SpaceX 's first Crew Dragon spaceship to carry astronauts slid into a dock at the International Space Station on Sunday, concluding a historic 19-hour voyage to for its veteran NASA crew. Next up, new statistical methods and excavation work on Easter Island suggest that the arrival of Europeans contributed to the island's societal collapse. Then, read about how Americans' trust in medical scientists has grown since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. But there are growing divisions between Republicans and Democrats in the confidence they have in medical scientists. And, from our main story, find out how experts in health policy are contending with repercussions of President Trump "terminating" the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization. Also, this weekend, anti-police brutality protests continued across the U.S. and in cities around the world in solidarity with George Floyd. A story from 2019 that's featured below examines the data on how racial biases play into deadly encounters with the police.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health What a U.S. Exit from the WHO Means for COVID-19 and Global Health As President Trump terminates the U.S.'s relationship with the agency, experts foresee incoherence, inefficiency and a resurgence of deadly diseases By Amy Maxmen,Nature magazine

Space SpaceX's Crew Dragon Docks with Space Station The first-ever orbital flight of astronauts on a private spacecraft has been a historic success By Meghan Bartels,SPACE.com

Behavior & Society From behind the Coronavirus Mask, an Unseen Smile Can Still Be Heard Emotion researcher Ursula Hess explains why a facial expression can be detected when obscured by a face covering By Stella Marie Hombach

Evolution Rethinking Easter Island's Historic 'Collapse' Controversial new archaeological research casts doubt on a classic theory of this famous island's societal collapse By Tom Garlinghouse,Sapiens

Behavior & Society Partisan Differences over the Pandemic Response Are Growing Polling finds public trust in medical scientists has increased but only among Democrats—while optimism about a vaccine is broadly shared By Cary Funk,Alec Tyson

Space Astronomers Watch as Planets Are Born High-resolution images of the debris disks around stars are revealing how solar systems form By Meredith A. MacGregor

Climate Climate Change Threatens the Ancient Wild Rice Traditions of the Ojibwe Yields of native wild rice have shrunk due to temperature rise, shoreline erosion and other environmental problems By Daniel Cusick,E&E News

Public Health Coronavirus Lockdowns May Raise Exposure to Indoor Air Pollution Smarter cooking and cleaning can lessen the risk By Emily Anthes

Behavior & Society Your Brain, Free Will and the Law Stanford University neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky talks about human behavior, the penal system and the question of free will. By Robert M. Sapolsky,Steve Mirsky | 42:06

Climate Rapid Antarctic Ice Melt in the Past Bodes Ill for the Future Geological evidence shows glaciers retreated by as much as 6 miles in a year at the end of the last ice age By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

Arts & Culture The Boulders of Lyell Canyon Science in meter and verse By Janet MacFadyen

Arts & Culture Recommended Books, June 2020 How innovation works, a history of American hurricanes, and more By Andrea Gawrylewski

Public Health Special Report: The Coronavirus Pandemic How it started, where it's headed, and how scientists are fighting back

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FROM THE ARCHIVE What the Data Say about Police Shootings How do racial biases play into deadly encounters with the police? Researchers wrestle with incomplete data to reach answers By Lynne Peeples,Nature magazine | September 2019

QUOTE OF THE DAY "What you should see when you see black protesters in the age of Trump and coronavirus is people pushed to the edge, not because they want bars and nail salons open, but because they want to live. To breathe." Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, author and former NBA player

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