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Photograph of a man wearing a surgical mask standing on a sidewalk — he is staring at the door of a store called “Sensationally Sweet.” The windows and glass of the door are covered on the inside with paper. There is a large “Store for rent” sign in the window.

Will small businesses recover from Covid?

They play an outsize role in the economy, and in strengthening communities. Their prospects for surviving the pandemic may seem dim, but there are some encouraging signs, experts say — and emerging winners and losers.

Health & Disease

How has the pandemic influenced public attitudes toward science?

VIDEO: Watch our conversation about how understanding and trust in science have changed in the past year, science’s evolving role in society and how group identities shape people’s views.

Health & Disease

Covid job loss: The cause of the next epidemic?

OPINION: Being out of work — even for a just a few months — may be bad for your health

Photo shows Utah high school students returning to in-person learning in August 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students are seated far apart and wear face masks.

Society

A year of missing tests

Standardized tests for K-12 students were largely dropped during Covid, leaving a gaping hole in our understanding of students’ progress.

Illustration shows a man in a suit holding a briefcase on a busy city sidewalk. He is looking at his own reflection.

The Mind

The psychopathic path to success

Psychopathic tendencies may be present to some extent in all of us. New research is reframing this often sensationalized and maligned set of traits and finding some positive twists.

Abstract illustration representing rising student debt, showing graduates in cap-and-gown attire, a laptop and dollar signs.

Society

The knotty economics of student loan debt

People in the US owe a whopping $1.7 trillion for higher education. An economist weighs in on how to deal with the ballooning college tab.

Illustration combines images of forest fires, a going-out-of-business sign, Black Lives Matter protestors holding a sign, riot police defending the US Capitol, people wearing face masks to protect themselves from Covid-19, and an empty city street during the pandemic lockdowns.

Society

It’s time for a government reset — and the ideas are flourishing

It started with thinking about sustainability. But after the many traumas of 2020, a lot of people are determined to make some fundamental changes in the machinery of governance.

Illustration shows a networked globe with coronavirus particles.

Health & Disease

Building an immune system for the planet could prevent the next pandemic

OPINION: We need a global information network that spans borders so we can spot — and stop — new pathogens before they threaten world health

Elementary school students wear face masks while they sit at their own desks in a classroom in Los Angeles in April 2021. Their masked teacher walks amongst them, with a Welcome Back sign on the wall behind.

Health & Disease

Covid’s main lesson? For this journalist, it’s unpredictability

VIDEO: New York Times science reporter Apoorva Mandavilli chronicles the rise of the delta variant, the latest of many twists in the pandemic that she’s covered since it began. Delta has left parents in an especially tough spot, with schools opening but young children still vulnerable.