Think about the phrase “air pollution.” Are you picturing black plumes curling out of factory smokestacks and the tailpipes of idling vehicles? Something to worry about outdoors, that is, not inside your home? Not so fast: Air pollutants could be within your own walls too, seeping from your furnace, your basement, even that new couch, …
A.A. to Zoom, Substance Abuse Treatment Goes Online
Until the coronavirus pandemic, their meetings took place quietly, every day, discreet gatherings in the basements of churches, a spare room at the YMCA, the back of a cafe. But members of Alcoholics Anonymous and other groups of recovering substance abusers found the doors quickly shut this spring, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. What …
Pandemic Pets Are Giving Times Journalists a Boost
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. Judging from their appearances together during work videoconferences, Andrea Zagata and her puppy, Rosalie, can seem inseparable. Ms. Zagata, a staff editor for the Print Hub, which produces the print edition of The New York …
Weekly Health Quiz: Better Masks, a Sleep Benefit and Another Coronavirus Vaccine
1 of 7 For better protection against coronavirus, experts recommend all of the following measures for masks except: Having multiple layers of material Using soft materials rather than stiff ones Having ties rather than ear loops Wearing a face shield rather than a mask 2 of 7 Over the past week, this state has had …
Modern Love: Junk Food Was Our Love Language
It’s autumn again, the eighth since my father died, and I’m craving chicken nuggets. When the pandemic began, I craved foods that happened to feel more virtuous. I was a frequent takeout customer at local San Francisco restaurants in economic peril: beef noodle soup from a mom-and-pop on Irving, refried beans from a taqueria on …
What We’re Thankful for This Year
Health, family and the internet.
Why Is My Uncle So Mad About Student Debt Forgiveness?
A reader wonders how to talk to a salty boomer about progress.
Travel Insurance During Coronavirus Pandemic: What To Know
When the pandemic struck, many travel insurance policies failed to cover Covid-19-related trip interruptions and cancellations, often because they excluded pandemics. But in the intervening months, the travel insurance industry has introduced a spate of new policies covering the disease just as many foreign destinations begin to require them. “We’ve seen progress in that many …
Their Teeth Fell Out. Was It Another Covid-19 Consequence?
Earlier this month, Farah Khemili popped a wintergreen breath mint in her mouth and noticed a strange sensation: a bottom tooth wiggling against her tongue. Ms. Khemili, 43, of Voorheesville, N.Y., had never lost an adult tooth. She touched the tooth to confirm it was loose, initially thinking the problem might be the mint. The …
What You Need to Know Now About Travel Insurance
When the pandemic struck, many travel insurance policies failed to cover Covid-19-related trip interruptions and cancellations, often because they excluded pandemics. But in the intervening months, the travel insurance industry has introduced a spate of new policies covering the disease just as many foreign destinations begin to require them. “We’ve seen progress in that many …
For Parents, Every Day Is Bird School
Me, my wife, our teenager and our 5-year old, we knew nothing about birds before the lockdown sent us inside in March. Our cramped home was suburban-convenient before the pandemic hit, nestled a few blocks from a school we don’t go in and a train downtown we won’t ride, and now it is just small. …
The Weekend of Personal Leftovers
Welcome. The weekend after Thanksgiving is, for many of us, time for leftovers, when the turkey and sides are summoned for their encore: as sandwich fixings, as stuffing croutons, as turkey pho. Of course, Thanksgiving was likely a smaller affair this year, so leftovers might be in short supply in the kitchen. But even if …
How to Deep Clean Your Home
There’s no way around it: The pandemic means that you’re leaving home less often, so things are getting dirty faster.
Doctors and Nurses Are Running on Empty
About 2 a.m. on a sweltering summer night, Dr. Orlando Garner awoke to the sound of a thud next to his baby daughter’s crib. He leapt out of bed to find his wife, Gabriela, passed out, her forehead hot with the same fever that had stricken him and his son, Orlando Jr., then 3, just …
After Kid’s Minor Bike Accident, Major Bill Sets Legal Wheels in Motion
Adam Woodrum was out for a bike ride with his wife and kids on July 19 when his then 9-year-old son, Robert, crashed. “He cut himself pretty bad, and I could tell right away he needed stitches,” said Woodrum. Because they were on bikes, he called the fire department in Carson City, Nevada. “They were …
It’s Time for a Digital Detox. (You Know You Need It.)
When is enough enough? Even though the presidential election is over, we’re still doomscrolling through gloomy news about the coronavirus surge. The rest of your daily routine is probably something like mine while stuck at home in the pandemic: Divided among streaming movies on Netflix, watching home improvement videos on YouTube and playing video games. …
Why Employers Find It So Hard to Test for COVID
Brandon Hudgins works the main floor at Fleet Feet, a running-shoe store chain, for more than 30 hours a week. He chats with customers, measuring their feet and dashing in and out of the storage area to locate right-sized shoes. Sometimes, clients drag their masks down while speaking. Others refuse to wear masks at all. …
How Exercise Changes Our Blood
While we exercise, we raise and lower the levels of hundreds of molecules in our bloodstreams that are related to our metabolic health, even if we work out for only a few minutes, according to a complex and encouraging new study of the molecular effects of being active. The study, which involved more than 1,000 …
California Businesses Go From Simmer to Boil Over Newsom’s Fine Dining
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s maskless dinner with medical industry lobbyists and others at a Napa County restaurant where meals cost a minimum of $350 per head was just about the last straw for some beleaguered California small-business owners. With their livelihoods on the line, a growing number of them are openly defying the latest orders …
How to Stay Safe in the Kitchen With Kids
How to Stay Safe in the Kitchen With Kids Alice CallahanReporting from Eugene, Ore. 🥣 Handle raw meat and poultry safely. Always thaw and marinate meat in the fridge, not on the countertop. Don’t rinse raw poultry such as turkey or chicken before cooking. You’re more likely to splatter harmful germs around your sink and …
Tiny Love Stories: ‘We Could Only See Each Other’s Eyes’
A Mint Lifesaver After the funeral, I tidied the guest room for my mother, who was moving in temporarily while adjusting to life without my father. I was restless, believing I should have convinced him to see a doctor sooner. When I pulled a cloth along the closet shelf, a shower of mint Lifesavers rained …
Masks Offer Covid Protection, Provided You Wear Them Right
Is it time to upgrade your mask? By now most of us have settled on a preferred cloth mask to protect ourselves and others from coronavirus. But new research shows that a few simple upgrades in fabric, filters and fit are likely to provide even more protection. Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering …
Masks Offer Covid Protection, Provided You Wear Them Right
Is it time to upgrade your mask? By now most of us have settled on a preferred cloth mask to protect ourselves and others from coronavirus. But new research shows that a few simple upgrades in fabric, filters and fit are likely to provide even more protection. Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering …
6 Steps to a Great Thanksgiving Nap
Scientists have debunked the theory that Thanksgiving naps are caused solely by a rush of tryptophan, an amino acid in turkey and other poultry. Most agree that the towering heaps of carbohydrates eaten with the turkey are more likely to induce sleep. But what if we’ve been looking at the question the wrong way? What …
This Thanksgiving, It’s Time to Stop Nap-Shaming
Like many Americans, the chef Nicole Pederson enjoys stretching out on the couch after the turkey and stuffing have been cleared, closing her eyes and losing consciousness for a short time. But 2012 was when she proved she was no ordinary Thanksgiving napper. She had opened a new restaurant that fall in Evanston, Ill. By …