Science unscripted

"The mistake was mine, and mine alone." Following an apology from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Easter lockdown is off the menu. But at what cost? Also, new research appears to contradict our earlier reporting on the "introverts vs. extroverts" debate ... until you look closer.

Here we go again. After months of lockdown and a few weeks of reprieve, Germany's heading right back into what might be the hardest lockdown yet. Also, if you've had blood clots in the past, should you be worried about COVID-19 vaccines? And could the common cold end up "reactivating" a coronavirus infection from months earlier?

It's frustrating, and even depressing, to attend a small anti-corona rally on a cold, rainy night in March of 2021. But it's also important to find out what the people in those crowds are trying to change, where they're coming from as individuals, and which of their concerns are valid.

Doctors from Germany and Austria say they've not only figured out the mechanism behind a rare form of thrombosis linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, but have also developed a diagnostic tool and a suggested therapy to "clear it up immediately."

Extremely rare blood clots — and nine deaths in Europe — are possibly linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. Also true: 3,500 EU citizens died of COVID-19 yesterday.

Have people really gained more weight during the pandemic? How did brain researchers predict stock movements (or by extension, cryptocurrencies) an entire day in advance? And finally, with COVID-19 variants spreading amongst under-15s, it's time to ask: When should we start vaccinating kids?

OK, place your bet. Who's done better during lockdowns: introverts or extroverts? Also, what percentage of hospitalized patients still have COVID symptoms half a year later? Finally, what's the latest timeline for vaccinating children against COVID-19?

Your eating habits have probably changed during this pandemic — and in ways you might not have realized. But as three separate studies have shown, a few variables really do matter when it comes to what you'll look like (and how you'll feel) when the world opens back up.

It's a question that consumes millions of investors every single evening: Is a stock going to rise or fall tomorrow? The crazy thing is, we might actually be able to answer this question — if we could only look deep into our brains.

Do Germans have a good case for wanting things to reopen? Or it based more on psychological fatigue and social isolation? Also, does China have any science on its side when it compels (some) visitors and locals to undergo an anal COVID-19 swab? And finally, is it just anecdotal, or do Zoom and Skype conferences really have a different — and exhausting — effect on our brains than normal meetings?