Two Decades of Pandemic War Games Failed to Account for Donald Trump

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August 06, 2020

Dear Reader, Pandemic drills anticipated several outcomes that have played out in response to COVID-19—medical-equipment shortages, massive disorganization, and the spread of misinformation. But the scenarios did not account for world leaders who reject the advice of public-health specialists. Read today's lead story to learn more. In physics news, experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider suggest that the Higgs boson couples with elementary particles called muons to give them mass. The finding further strengthens the Standard Model. And lastly, a drug that treats poisoning from heavy metals may also offer a fighting chance at surviving a venomous snakebite. A study shows that oral doses of the medication can reduce viper venom's effects in mice.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health Two Decades of Pandemic War Games Failed to Account for Donald Trump The scenarios foresaw leaky travel bans, a scramble for vaccines and disputes between state and federal leaders, but none could anticipate the current levels of dysfunction in the United States By Amy Maxmen,Jeff Tollefson,Nature magazine

Environment Methane Cloud Sitting over U.S. Southwest Threatens Indigenous Residents An EPA proposal to weaken pollution controls could make the ongoing threat worse By Jean Chemnick,E&E News

Physics Higgs Boson Gives Next-Generation Particle Its Heft Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider suggest that muons and other "second-generation particles" obtain their mass from interacting with the Higgs, further strengthening the Standard Model By Daniel Garisto

Medicine Pill Takes the Bite Out of Viper Venom A preexisting drug could buy time for snakebite treatment By Harini Barath

Behavior & Society Were French People Born to Speak French? No. The belief that people are suited to speak particular languages by biology is widespread—but wrong By Katherine D. Kinzler

Chemistry What Is Ammonium Nitrate, the Chemical That Exploded in Beirut? The blast injured thousands and killed at least 78 people By Gabriel da Silva,The Conversation US

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FROM THE ARCHIVE The Chance of Identical Fingerprints: 1 in 64 trillion Originally published in June 1894 | August 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Looking forward, many hope that the mistakes in handling the coronavirus will spur a fundamental reset in how US policymakers think about pandemic preparedness. This means restructuring health systems, empowering public-health leaders and ensuring that all components function in unison in the event of a crisis." Amy Maxmen and Jeff Tollefson via Nature magazine

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