Science unscripted

There's been a lot of talk about academic loss during the pandemic. There has been less about emotional loss. A study from the UK suggests that what kids and adolescents need this summer — more than math or extra reading — is other kids (and some open-ended questions from the adults who care about them).

Among those who haven't vaccinated (but also among some who have), there's a real fear that COVID-19 vaccines could have serious side effects that only become apparent many months — or even years — after getting jabbed. Is that concern valid? And what would have to happen inside our bodies for something like that to even happen?

In extremely rare cases, heart inflammation, or myocarditis, can occur after an mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Now, new data from the US paints a much clearer picture of just how many people will suffer this side effect, when it tends to happen and the long-term consequences.

Is it fair to say you've been outraged by some of the risky things you've seen people doing during this pandemic? And is it also fair to say that maybe (just maybe) your assessment of how risky those things were.... was very, very biased? Also, why are so many of us so anxious about life going back to normal?

No, you're not alone. As the world re-opens, hundreds of millions of people are feeling completely overwhelmed at the idea of 'going back to the way things were before.' This feeling (which is absolutely normal) is called 'reentry anxiety.' And there are concrete things you can do to make it go away.

Nine out of 10 new infections. That's how dominant the delta variant is set to become in the EU within 10 weeks, says the ECDC. That has dramatic consequences for Europe's vaccine campaign.

A ruined wedding, an ugly scene in a coffee shop, a letter to a local newspaper. Listeners from all over the world have had a terrible time navigating our post-vaccinated world. Their stories get us closer to the actual problem.

Is it riskier to play a football game outside, or to meet one-on-one with a colleague inside? (Note: Your answer will say a lot more about your morality than you think.) Also, why is a professor of virology falsely claiming that spike proteins from vaccines are toxic?

Will mutations change our vaccination strategy? Also, a controversial step in the fight against Alzheimer's, and how to tell a six-year-old what a quantum computer is.

It's a 'breakthrough' drug for Alzheimer's… but no one's sure if it actually works. There are also clear risks of side effects... and yet it was approved by the top US drug agency (prompting three scientists to quit). What is going on?