TimeMagazine Well hello! I’m so glad you’re here. A version of this article also appeared in the It’s Not Just You newsletter. Sign up to get a new edition every Saturday. The supernova that is gymnast Simone Biles has been explaining a phenomenon called “the twisties” for we who are more earthbound creatures. It’s “not having … Read more
When school facilities closed for in-person learning in early March 2020, the assumption was that the shutdown and pandemic would be temporary blips in the memory of our students. Some 16 months later, school facilities are finally preparing to re-open for in-person learning. We could go about business as usual, but after the devastation of … Read more
When music fan Noah Zelinsky bought tickets to the Chicago music festival Lollapalooza in May, he thought it might signal something of a return to normalcy after more than a year of isolation. “There’s so much pent up excitement, being the first major thing back,” he says. But a lot can change in two months. … Read more
In mid-June, U.S. maps tracking the spread of COVID-19 began showing a cluster of cases growing in the middle of the country. The epicenter lay in Missouri, particularly its more rural and remote areas. At the time, Missouri had something that other states didn’t: the Delta variant. To be fair, the highly transmissible Delta variant … Read more
I’ll say this for the pre-vaccine days: it was far easier to think about risk when the only sensible option—for those lucky enough for it to even be an option—was to hunker down, avoid as much contact with other people as possible, and wait out the storm. But a year of self-imposed isolation, fueled partially … Read more
When Simone Biles strode into Ariake Gymnastics Center for the women’s gymnastics team competition on July 27, the expression on her face said it all. Normally all smiles and easy-going, Biles appeared sternly serious and maybe even troubled. That expression only deepened after she landed her vault in the first round. Intending to do a … Read more
There was probably little doubt that when the U.S. women’s gymnastics team walked into the arena at the Tokyo Olympics for the team event, their leotards would embody some red, white and blue theme. And the women did not disappoint. Striding on to the mats, the four-woman team event squad resembled patriotic superheroes in their … Read more
The nation’s top health agency is expected to backpedal Tuesday on its masking guidelines and recommend that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is surging, according to a federal official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to release the data. … Read more
Here we go again. The United States is now experiencing a fourth wave of COVID-19, with very rapidly rising infections. The surge in new daily cases is driven by the Delta variant, which makes up 83% of sequenced samples in the U.S. and which is estimated to be twice as transmissible as the original strain. … Read more
What to do about the U.S. vaccine uptake rate? Even with what appears to be a slight increase as people try to protect themselves against the more transmissible Delta variant now spreading through many parts of the country, only a pitiful 0.1% or so of Americans are currently getting their first dose every day. That’s … Read more