| Large therapeutics trials resume, Pfizer launches a new booster study, and NYC eliminates remote learning for next school year. Here's what you should know: Headlines Large-scale trials resume to find drugs that can be repurposed to treat Covid-19 In recent weeks, researchers in Europe and the US have started or resumed efforts to find drugs that can treat Covid-19. Though vaccination rates are going up in some parts of the world, people in other regions won't have access to shots for a while, and even then this disease is unlikely to go away completely. Two large-scale, randomized trials of multiple drugs—one from the WHO and another from the NIH—are relaunching efforts to repurpose existing oral drugs to treat people soon after they come down with Covid. Pfizer launches a new study combining Covid-19 boosters and pneumonia vaccines Pfizer is beginning a new study today that will test the efficacy of giving fully vaccinated adults over 65 a booster dose of the Covid-19 shot in addition to a pneumonia vaccine. The trial aims to test whether combining these vaccine is safe and effectively boosts the immune system's defenses against the two diseases. It will include 600 adults who participated in Pfizer's initial late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial and received their second dose at least six months ago. New York City schools will resume all classes in person next fall This morning Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City public schools will not have a remote learning option next school year. New York is one of the first big cities to make this call, a major decision for the country's largest school system. Around 600,000 of the city's 1 million students stayed home this school year. The district is planning to require masks in school buildings and to follow the CDC's social distancing guidelines, though those policies may change before the fall. Daily Distraction Paintings on the walls of limestone caves located on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island have survived for more than 40,000 years. Now, thanks to changes brought on by climate change, they're eroding troublingly fast. Something to Read Joe turns 39 this year, but he's looked more or less the same for a long time. He's a naked mole rat—the oldest one ever recorded, in fact. WIRED's Max Levy chronicled his illustrious life and what it tells us about how humans age. Sanity Check It's getting hot out there. Here are our favorite ways to stay cool without powering up your air conditioning. One Question How has the pandemic changed the way people impulse shop? By some estimates, the pandemic has accelerated the world's pivot to online shopping by three to five years. Among other things, this means fewer people are mulling gum, magazine, and candy bar purchases while they wait to check out, and impulse buys have taken a hit. According to one market research firm, North American sales of gum fell 14 percent last year, and mints by 15 percent, compared with 2019. Now, marketers have to work on new ways to keep the impulse buy alive, like offering complementary products just before checkout online.
Covid-19 Care Package 📦 The Covid-19 virus can linger on objects for as little as a few hours or as long as a couple of days, depending on the surface. Here's a look at the research. 😷 If you're planning to go out in public, you're still going to need a mask for some time to come. Here are the best ones you can buy, or how to make one at home. 💉 The data is in, and the vaccines are working. Here's how to get an appointment in your area. 💻 Whether or not you're a work-from-home pro, here's how to stay productive without losing your mind. 😔 It's hard not to be anxious about a global pandemic, but here's how you can protect yourself and your family without spiraling and how to not hate the loved ones you're quarantined with. ✂️ It may still be a while before you can see your hairstylist, so here's how to cut your hair at home, plus other ways to keep yourself lookin' fresh. 🦠Read all of our coronavirus coverage here. | 
-(1).jpg "naked mole rat")
