As the coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, companies and academic labs are racing to develop a vaccine that would help society get back to normal. But there could also be costs to moving too quickly.
WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann
A bar in the Swiss Alps. A megachurch in South Korea. Scientists are focusing on certain superspreading events that might be responsible for an outsized portion of coronavirus cases.Bojan Pancevski explains how this understanding could be key to reopening.
Airlines have strained to survive after travel dried up because of the coronavirus pandemic. WSJ’s Alison Sider explains how airlines are adjusting, and the CEO of Southwest Airlines paints a picture of what the future of flying might look like.
From a Wall Street Journal article (May 16, 2020):
“Originally, we were going to make it a six-day trip,” said Mr. Goble, “but we were honestly having such a good time we extended it four times into an 11-day trip.” Normally, rental companies’ full calendars preclude such spontaneity. Thanks to the motorhome’s self-sustainable features, they stayed overnight at a campground just twice on the trip. Most of the time they’d “boondock”—that is, stop at places without water or electrical hookups, or nightly fees. Say, creekside clearings off fire roads deep in the forest.
“We have been flooded with new inquiries, and an unusually high number of longer rentals (lasting from one to three months in duration),” said Mr. Ward. “I think this is going to be the trend for the remainder of 2020 and 2021, at a minimum.” One couple, he said, just booked their RV for a three-month loop around the deep South on short notice. “Neither have work to do right now due to the virus, so they’re like, ‘There’s no better time. We’ve always wanted to travel in an Airstream. This works for us now.’”
In a season when the urge to escape home will only be matched by the need to be flexible, getting lost in America in an RV works for a lot of people right now. Mr. Rybak and Ms. O’Hara are still hoping to tick at least one national park off their list in the next few months. They even have a campsite reserved. If you see them, say “Hi.” From a safe distance.
The federal government is spending big to combat the economic damage of the coronavirus crisis, and federal debt has climbed to record levels. WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath explains the debate over the impact of all that debt.
Understanding how the body clears the new coronavirus is becoming more important as the U.S. begins to reopen. WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains how the body fights infection and why feeling better doesn’t equal being virus-free.
Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann
From WSJ Magazine:
A person who is one of the great mentors of my career and my time in the entertainment industry was Kirk Douglas. He said to me many decades ago the words that became the most important, most valuable in my lifetime, and the ones that right now mean more today than they ever meant before. He said, “Jeffrey, you haven’t learned to live until you’ve learned how to give.” The wisdom of that and the importance of that has never meant more to me than now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqkX-7EOY2k
What’s it like to launch a $1.8 billion streaming platform in the middle of a pandemic? “Everything about it is upside down and inside out,” says Jeffrey Katzenberg, 69, who debuted the short-form video company Quibi on April 6. Katzenberg is the co-founder of the app along with CEO Meg Whitman, and originally envisioned mobile-based Quibi to fill the “in-between” moments of life—waiting in line, taking the subway—with episodes that wrap in 10 minutes or less.
To reopen the economy safely, experts estimate the U.S. will need to administer millions of tests every month.From a Wall Street Journal article (April 18 2020)
A physical therapist based in Santa Barbara, Calif., Ms. Godges is used to seeing injuries that result when swimmers start training on land. “We are great at cardio, but we aren’t used to pounding our joints. Gravity is not forgiving. We need to give our bodies time to adapt.”
With pools closed over concerns about coronavirus transmission, Arlette Godges is adapting to being a fish on land.
The 55-year-old U.S. Masters swimmer was in the pool five days a week training for the UANA Pan American Masters Championships in Medellín, Colombia. The June competition has been postponed. “I was feeling so strong,” she says. “Now I have to challenge myself with other things so I don’t become a slug and lose motivation.”
Should anyone be able to dig up and sell dinosaur fossils? It’s a question that’s increasingly being asked as the commercial fossil market booms. WSJ met with fossil hunters and scientists to learn more about this niche market and the big bucks at stake.
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