Concerns about Waning COVID-19 Immunity Are Likely Overblown

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July 31, 2020

Dear Reader, A few recent studies have found that coronavirus antibodies start to wane in the weeks and months after a mild infection. But that doesn't necessarily mean immunity disappears. Health and biology editor Tanya Lewis explains why in our lead story. Also in today's news, arctic sea ice hit an all-time low for July against a backdrop of record-breaking temperatures and raging wildfires at the northern reaches of Earth. Experts speculate that 2020 could be the most extreme year in history for Arctic ice cover. And lastly, we have a fascinating piece on why blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health Concerns about Waning COVID-19 Immunity Are Likely Overblown The decline seen in some studies is normal, experts say. But scientists must wait to see whether infection confers long-term protection By Tanya Lewis

Medicine Fauci Optimistic About COVID-19 Vaccines, Though Immunity Unknowns Complicate Development Teams are starting to test vaccines using messenger RNA or chimpanzee cold viruses to inoculate humans. Will their benefits last? By Liz Szabo,Kaiser Health News

EARTH With Fires, Heat and a Cyclone, Arctic Breaks Melting Record Sea ice loss could ultimately beat the record low season of 2012 By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

Biology Why Are Blue Whales So Gigantic? Dinosaurs were big, but these are the largest animals in the history of the planet—and we're just beginning to understand the reasons for their size By Eric M. Keen

Natural Disasters Do Animals Really Anticipate Earthquakes? Sensors Hint They Do Cows, sheep and dogs increased their activity before tremors, seemingly reacting, in part, to one another By Nancy Averett

Public Health Coronavirus News Roundup, July 25-July 31 Pandemic highlights for the week By Robin Lloyd

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Rubber Airplane Propellers Can Eliminate Icing Originally published in June 1994 | July 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The data on the decline of the antibodies is not scary. We're seeing a tiny drop, which is quite expected... I don't think there is this really rapid decay like people have reported." Zania Stamataki, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy

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