Nine Important Things We've Learned about the Coronavirus Pandemic So Far

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August 04, 2020

Dear Reader, Have you ever wondered how researchers determine ages when examining remnants from the past? They use radiometric dating. Check out the piece below to understand this versatile technique. Then, discover the way language fosters linguistic stereotypes, or read about a beetle that can slip out the back door after being swallowed alive by a frog. Also featured in this roundup: People in the path of Hurricane Isaias are shunning emergency shelters as officials from Florida to North Carolina have urged evacuating residents to stay with friends or family instead or to rent hotel rooms. And lastly, in our lead story today, Scientific American's Editor in Chief Laura Helmuth explains nine of the most important things we've learned about SARS-CoV-2 in the past seven months and why we didn't fully understand or appreciate them at first.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health Nine Important Things We've Learned about the Coronavirus Pandemic So Far Some early public health messages about COVID-19 have been overturned By Laura Helmuth

Evolution How Do Scientists Determine the Ages of Human Ancestors, Fossilized Dinosaurs and Other Organisms? Experts explain how radiometric dating allows them to reconstruct ancient time lines By Scott Hershberger

Behavior & Society How Dozens of Languages Help Build Gender Stereotypes Usage patterns shape biases worldwide, whether in Japanese, Persian or English By Gary Stix

Natural Disasters Shelters Stay Empty as Isaias Barrels Up the East Coast Concerns over COVID-19 have officials urging evacuees to stay with friends and family or at hotels By Thomas Frank,E&E News

Biology After Being Swallowed Alive, Water Beetle Stages 'Backdoor' Escape from Frog's Gut Life's journey sometimes takes you to unexpected places By Mindy Weisberger,LiveScience

Physics Translucent Frog Optics Dial In Camo Color Rather than undergoing active chameleon-like color changes, glass frogs' translucency allows light to bounce from their background through them--making their apparent color close to their setting.   By Emily Schwing | 03:08

Environment Wildfires Can Poison Drinking Water--Here's How Communities Can Better Prepare Using less plastic in water meters and other building code changes could help prevent contamination By Andrew J. Whelton,Caitlin R. Proctor,The Conversation US

Behavior & Society Can a Cartoon Raccoon Keep Schoolkids Safe from COVID-19? Well, why not? It worked for Smokey the Bear and forest fires By Kelly Lambert

Behavior & Society Misdiagnosing Our Cyberhealth Why do we ignore information that could improve our ability to predict the odds of a personal cyberattack? By Emily Balcetis

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Altered Mice Breathe Water Instead of Air Originally published in August 1968 | August 2020

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