Science unscripted

New research from Berlin has shown that cells inside children's upper airways are "primed" for a faster immune response than in adults. This antiviral difference is probably why kids tend to have a mild COVID-19 infection that disappears after just a few days.

Despite the rise of the delta variant and some lax local attitudes toward COVID-19, your hosts of science unscripted are back from summer vacation — and just in time, too.

...and we'll be back on August 14!

Have you ever seen a video of someone floating, just like in space, except it looks like they're inside an airplane? Well, one of the hosts of science unscripted got to go on one of those "zero g" flights — and not all of him came back out.

What's the deal with the (very rare) cases of heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccines? And with so many people concerned about long-term side effects... is there any evidence to actually support that position? Finally, some new research on a group of people who quietly lost a big part of themselves during the pandemic: adolescents.

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.