Science Vs

President Trump says an anti-malarial drug could be a “gift from god” for treating Covid-19. Does it really work? And is it dangerous? We talk to toxicologist Professor Daniel Brooks, infectious disease specialist Dr. Matthew Pullen, and microbiologist Professor Karla Satchell. Also: VAMPIRE BATS! We’ve set up a voicemail to collect all of your questions about Coronavirus...

Healthcare workers across the U.S. are saying they don’t have enough protective gear to keep them safe against the coronavirus. They’re having to reuse masks, and they’re worried that they may have to resort to homemade cloth masks. Is all this safe? Plus, reports are saying that ibuprofen, the stuff in Advil, is making people with coronavirus sicker. But what does the science say? To find out we spoke to infectious disease expert Professor Raina MacIntyre, industrial hygienist Dr...

As Covid-19 cases rise in the U.S., healthcare workers are already struggling to keep up. In a different kind of episode, we bring you an interview with Dr. Antoinette Ward, who is leading Covid-19 testing at a major hospital in Atlanta — and finding ways to treat the rapidly increasing number of patients. This interview comes from iHeartRadio’s The Women. For more stories from those on the front lines, listen here: http://bit.ly/TheWomenPodcast Here’s a link to the transcript: https://bit...

The coronavirus pandemic is here, and in the U.S., this is starting to get very real. We talk to people in South Korea and Italy to see what life has been like for them. And we find out what the problem was with America’s tests — are they fixed now? And now that social distancing is on everyone’s mind, do we have evidence that it will really “flatten the curve”? We speak to public health expert Prof. Josh Sharfstein, virologist Prof. Vincent Racaniello, and epidemiologist Prof. Elizabeth Radin...

Science Vs is back March 19th. Fact you next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, and it’s already killed several people in the U.S. People are starting to worry that this will turn into a full-blown pandemic. So how many of us could ultimately get infected — and is it time to prepare for the worst? To find out, we talk to epidemiologists Dr. Cécile Viboud and Prof. Marc Lipsitch. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/2IjUqW0 and our Hand Washing Song: https://player.gimletmedia...

The new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, and it’s already killed several people in the U.S. People are starting to worry that this will turn into a full-blown pandemic. So how many of us could ultimately get infected — and is it time to prepare for the worst? To find out, we talk to epidemiologists Dr. Cécile Viboud and Prof. Marc Lipsitch. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/39lgw6l and our Hand Washing Song: https://player.gimletmedia...

A new virus showed up in China late last year, and it’s making its way to other countries too. So what do scientists know about the virus so far? And how worried should we be? To find out we talk to infectious disease researchers Dr. Kristian Andersen and Dr. Catharine Paules, physician Dr. Hui, and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci. We did an episode on a *fictional* pandemic, which you can find here: https://gimletmedia...

This week — asteroids. Could a space rock really slam into us and destroy the world? And if we did spot one heading straight for us, is there anything we could do to stop it? We speak with asteroid researcher Dr. Alan Harris, astrophysicist Dr. Sergey Zamozdra, computational physicist Dr. Cathy Plesko, and physicist Dr. Andy Cheng.  Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2MrW1vp  Selected references:  Overview of Chelyabinsk impact and risk from asteroids: http://bit...

American healthcare has big problems. Some say the solution is Medicare For All: one government plan for everybody. But others say government healthcare would be worse than what we already have. Who’s right? And how did things get this bad? We talk to health policy researchers Prof. Harold Pollack and Robin Osborn.  Check out the full transcript here: https://bit.ly/38ye0cY  Selected references:  Paper from last year on why American healthcare spending is so high: https://bit...