ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 96

‘We need to be alert’: Scientists fear second coronavirus wave as China’s lockdowns ease

By David Cyranoski For the first time in months, the Chinese province of Hubei, where the coronavirus first emerged, is getting attention for a good reason. COVID-19 cases there have dropped to practically zero, and last week authorities lifted travel restrictions in and out of the province, some 60 days after much of it was …

Scamvangelist Declares COVID-19 “Finished” After Commanding God to Destroy It

By Hemant Mehta Televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who said last week that God told him the coronavirus would “be over much sooner than you think” (but still wants you to tithe even if you’ve lost your job), offered up what I can only assume is a magic spell this morning in order to destroy COVID-19. And that’s why the pandemic is …

Evangelist who mocked coronavirus response as anti-Trump “mass hysteria” dies from COVID-19

By Bil Browning A Christian evangelist who mocked the response to the novel coronavirus pandemic has died after likely being infected while preaching on the streets of New Orleans. The city has been hard hit during the pandemic and the recent Mardi Gras celebrations have fueled transmission rates for both tourists and residents. Landon Spradlin, who …

Liberty University students report symptoms that suggest coronavirus: report

By John Bowden Around a dozen students at Virginia’s Liberty University have reported being sick with symptoms that are consistent with the coronavirus. The school’s director of student health services told The New York Times in an interview that nearly a dozen students had reported symptoms similar to those experienced in confirmed coronavirus cases, with three of those …

Australia’s Record Heat Means Another Blow to Great Barrier Reef

By Richard Pérez-Peña Record-breaking warm waters have bleached large parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef this year, as they did in 2016 and 2017, scientists reported on Thursday — the latest sign that global warming threatens the health of one of the world’s most important marine ecosystems. “We can confirm that the Great Barrier Reef …

There’s No Legal Reason For Churches To Receive Quarantine Exceptions

By Chrissy Stroop If you’d asked me even two months ago what the next issue or event to spark acrimonious church-state conflict was likely to be, I doubt global pandemic would have even crossed my mind. And yet, in retrospect, it seems all too predictable. America is a country, after all, in which megachurch leaders …

Tony Perkins Called Coronavirus Precautions ‘Irrational.’ Now He’s Changed His Tune

By Jared Holt Tony Perkins, president of the anti-LGBTQ religious-right group Family Research Council, has completely changed his tune on the ​COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Less than two weeks ago, Right Wing Watch reported that Perkins had told his radio listeners across the country that the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus ​outbreak had been “irrational” and that U.S. media …

Teen with lesbian moms forced to listen to anti-LGBTQ “sermons” before school basketball practice

By Alex Bollinger In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, two mothers in Tennessee allege that their son’s middle school basketball coach forced kids to attend his sermons in order to stay on the team. The lawsuit, filed by the mothers who identified themselves only as “K.K.” and “K.K.,” says that their son signed up …

How the Pandemic Will End

By Ed Young Three months ago, no one knew that SARS-CoV-2 existed. Now the virus has spread to almost every country, infecting at least 446,000 people whom we know about, and many more whom we do not. It has crashed economies and broken health-care systems, filled hospitals and emptied public spaces. It has separated people …

Scientists, under pressure, try to balance speed and safety on coronavirus vaccine research

By Denise Chow For researchers working on possible coronavirus treatments, time is short. More than 100 clinical trials of dozens of potential coronavirus treatments are already underway around the world, a mobilization of global medical resources rarely seen before in human history. But science can be slow and indirect. And despite the sheer number of scientists involved in these …