Nature Briefing

Hello Nature readers, Today we hear that dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to reduce deaths among people seriously ill with COVID-19. Plus, we ponder the super-eruption that once rocked Yellowstone.

Castle Geyser erupting in Yellowstone National Park. (Getty)

Yellowstone had even more explosive past Almost nine million years ago, the Yellowstone volcanic hotspot, which stretches over areas of the western United States, experienced one of the largest eruptions ever known. An array of analyses has revealed that rocks once thought to have formed in several distinct eruptions came from a single ‘super-eruption’. The event scattered 2,800 cubic kilometres of rock and ash over an area of tens of thousands of square kilometres. “When you get your maps out and measure the scale, you think, ‘That can’t be right,’” says geochemist Thomas Knott. “‘They can’t possibly be that far apart and be from the same volcanic eruption.’” Scientific American | 4 min read Source: Geology paper

Twitter’s saddest weeks ever Researchers aiming to quantify global happiness on social media have called the period starting on 26 May “the saddest two weeks” on Twitter. Since 2008, a pair of applied mathematicians have been gauging the positivity and negativity of randomly sampled tweets. Their happiness index had been gradually recovering from the bleak beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic, but dropped sharply following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota late last month. The lowest point, in May, was far below the previous record, hit after a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2017. But sadness can galvanize people into action. “It’s one thing to tell the world ‘this is the saddest week’,” says social scientist Desmond Patton. “But also in the saddest week, you have thousands and thousands of people who are now activated and moving towards equality and social justice.” Nature | 3 min read

Sharpiegate panel condemns NOAA head The head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) violated the agency’s ethics code last year when he backed up US President Donald Trump’s claims that a hurricane could hit Alabama, finds a NOAA panel. The panel concluded that acting administrator Neil Jacobs “engaged in the misconduct intentionally, knowingly, or in reckless disregard” of the agency’s scientific-integrity policy by censoring its office in Birmingham, Alabama, which had tweeted that the state would not see a major impact from Hurricane Dorian. The controversy was dubbed ‘sharpiegate’ after Trump showed a NOAA map that had been altered with a black marker during a press conference last September. New York Times | 3 min read

COVID-19 coronavirus update The steroid dexamethasone was given to thousands of people critically ill with the coronavirus in a randomized, controlled trial. ((Dr P. Marazzi/SPL)) Dexamethasone shown to save lives A cheap and widely available steroid called dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to reduce deaths among people seriously ill with COVID-19. Researchers working with the Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial, which is assessing the capacity of six medications to treat the disease, announced the findings in a press release. The results have not yet been peer reviewed. The study enrolled 2,100 participants who received dexamethasone and tracked how they fared in comparison with about 4,300 people who received standard care. For people on ventilators, it reduced deaths by about one-third. For patients needing oxygen, it cut the risk of death by one-fifth. The drug seems to reduce the damage from a hyperactive immune reaction called cytokine storm. Nature | 5 min read Scientists close in on fatality rate One of the most crucial questions about an emerging infectious disease such as the new coronavirus is how deadly it is — the infection fatality rate (IFR). This is the proportion of infected people who will die as a result, including those who don’t get tested or show symptoms. Now, numerous studies — using a range of methods — estimate that 0.5-1% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 will die. There are many caveats: the IFR is particularly hard to pin down for COVID-19 because there are many infected people who don’t show symptoms, and many countries are struggling to count all their virus-related deaths. Nature | 7 min read We were warned A ranking of the world’s health-care systems, drawn up before the pandemic by iconoclastic health researcher Ezekiel Emanuel, “presciently marks the United States among the worst in class”, writes reviewer Eric Topol. Emanuel dug deep into 22 dimensions on topics including health-insurance coverage, financing, payment, delivery, pharmacy prices and workforce. Nowhere is crowned outright winner, but four strong contenders — Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Taiwan — have so far been among the most successful in managing COVID-19. Nature | 6 min read Coronapod: The Surgisphere scandal A questionable data set from a mysterious company has forced high-profile retractions and thrown doubt on drug trials and public-health policies. The Nature news team explores the fallout for research and for public trust. Nature Coronapod podcast | 33 min listen Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

Notable quotable “I eat, breathe, sleep science.” In 2018, biologist Lynika Strozier told the Chicago Reader about her passion for science. On Wednesday, the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, where she worked, announced that Strozier had died owing to complications from COVID-19, aged 35. Strozier, who had a disadvantaged childhood and a learning disability, established an enviable scientific career. Her family and colleagues plan to establish a scholarship fund for aspiring scientists in her honour.

Features & opinion

Study animals are often STRANGE Are your turtles tired, your spiders jaded or your fish oddly bold? Ten years to the day after the call to widen the pool of human participants in psychology studies beyond those from WEIRD societies (that’s Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic), animal-behaviour researchers Michael Webster and Christian Rutz write that “mounting evidence suggests that there could be similar sampling problems in research on animals”. They propose a framework with a fitting acronym — STRANGE — that researchers can use to design studies, and to declare and discuss potential biases. Nature | 10 min read

Quote of the day “It’s a startling result. It will clearly have a massive global impact.” Intensive-care physician Kenneth Baillie, who serves on the steering committee of the RECOVERY coronavirus-drug trial, responds to results suggesting that dexamethasone reduces deaths among seriously ill people with COVID-19. (Nature | x min read)

Astronomy Picture of the Day — that’s APOD to fans — celebrates 25 years of stunning space photography today. This delightful oral history of the site from 2015 tells the story of its birth and explains why it still looks basically like it did in 1995. Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing With contributions by David Cyranoski and Davide Castelvecchi

13 Conditions That Damage Your Lungs

COVID-19 may be the first thing you think of these days, but it's far from the only ailment that can damage your lungs. See how these other common conditions can make it hard for you to breathe. Read More

15 Health Benefits of Sex Sex can be good for your heart, keep your brain sharp, and make you happier, among other things. Read More   Surprising Signs of Thyroid Problems You may know the classic signs of trouble with your thyroid. But there are other, less obvious signs you should be aware of. Read More   Things That Make Your Teeth Hurt Your pain may be coming from somewhere other than your choppers. See what else could explain the discomfort. Read More   Help for Middle-of-the-Night Insomnia About 20% of people wake up in the middle of the night, then struggle to get back to sleep. These tips may help. Read More   Are You Spending Too Much Time Indoors? Thanks to the lockdown, many of us are spending far more time at home than we used to. But there are some important reasons to make sure you get outside. Read More   Signs You're Aging Faster Than Normal See when you might expect memory problems, drier skin, and other signs of aging. Read More

COVID-19 Updates Is It Safe to Go to the Pool? USDOT Providing Travelers 100 Million Face Masks As Summer Begins, CDC Updates Social Guidelines

Expert Insights

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Special

CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING

As COVID-19-afflicted areas continue the process of reopening – some hesitantly, some with great fanfare – fears about a second wave are emerging, never mind that the first one hasn’t exactly been crushed. That said, it’s nice to walk outside in the late-afternoon sun, masked or otherwise. It’s nice to see individuals with whom you haven’t been hunkered down for the last 100-odd days, even if you spend the entirety of your time together mentally measuring the physical distance that separates you. Consider this a wish, then, that we’re all as smart and respectful as possible about resuming life as we used to know it – that we identify the caught-on-camera-partying-like-it’s-1999 merrymakers as outliers and do everything in our power to treat each other with decency. Say “please” and “thank you.” Wave. Make as much eye contact and smile as broadly as your facial covering will allow. It’s not hard. This week’s Haymarket Media Coronavirus Briefing is 1,163 words and will take you six minutes to read.

The science

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In March, we heard a lot of mangled sports comparisons about where we were in our struggle to understand the science underlying the new coronavirus (such as “the third half of the second inning”). To extend that didactic metaphor, it now feels like we’re approaching extra time in the first quarter. That’s progress. I think?

Scientists at the University of Oxford in the U.K. announced that dexamethasone, an inexpensive and readily available steroid, reduced deaths among the sickest COVID-19 patients. But neither the data nor the study itself have yet been peer reviewed or published. Infectious Disease Advisor notes that the behavior of COVID-19 “seems consistent” with that of other seasonal respiratory viruses. The publication also details the impact of the virus on individuals in correctional and detention facilities. Cancer Therapy Advisor’s Andrea Blevins Primeau summarizes research on the effect of cancer and its treatment on the outcomes of COVID-19 patients. There is growing consensus on the most likely means of coronavirus transmission, per The Wall Street Journal. Extended person-to-person interaction trumps most others, not surprisingly. According to STAT, the coronavirus has slowed but not stopped clinical trials involving cancer patients. The Washington Post reports on new CDC data revealing that COVID-19 has been 12 times more deadly for individuals with underlying health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

The Takeaway:

We write the same thing here every week: We’re smarter than we were yesterday, but not as smart as we’ll be tomorrow. If that momentum stalls, well, then we’ll probably babble something about hitting potholes on the superhighway to scientific and medical enlightenment. Stay tuned.

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The numbers

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It sure seems we’ve entered the quantify-everything phase of our COVID-19 recovery, doesn’t it? Numbers are everywhere. Some have even been reported in their proper context! Good thing there’s nothing else happening this year to keep pollsters and researchers on their toes. Oh, wait.

FiveThirtyEight analyzes a new American Enterprise Institute poll that revealed, among other things, that black Americans are less ready than white Americans to reopen the economy post-pandemic. The poll also found 58% of Americans don’t know anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, found Americans are the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years, the Associated Press reports. CivicScience’s ongoing tracking of sentiments around vaccines revealed an increase over the last month in the reluctance to receive a coronavirus vaccine. Currently, 64% of the general adult population would opt to receive a vaccine, down from around 70% a month ago.

The Takeaway:

Not all of the numbers are positive, especially the ones detailing COVID-19’s continued spread in any number of North American locales. But at least some of them are trending in the right direction. We’ll take it.

The economics

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Just-reported data showed a retail rebound in May and the most recent monthly jobs report was, improbably, vaguely non-catastrophic. But many, many people and businesses are still hurting, and the pain isn’t likely to dissipate any time soon.

McKnight’s Senior Living’s Amy Novotney reports on a document jointly released by the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, which claimed the nursing home industry is on the verge of financial implosion. It certainly won’t help, as Kimberly Bonvissuto notes in McKnight’s Senior Living, if New York state lawmakers succeed in repealing a blanket immunity law shielding care facilities from legal action. Writing in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Danielle Brown summarizes the recent House testimony of public health expert David Grabowski. He believes the U.S. federal government “needs to own” the coronavirus response and provide better support for nursing homes. Sebastian Guth, Bayer’s president of pharmaceuticals, Americas Region, joined the MM&M podcast to discuss the importance – for the bottom line and otherwise – of preserving corporate culture and employee engagement during the pandemic. In People Management, Graham Muir and Andrew Quayle analyze the effect COVID-19 has had on employee benefits. In PRWeek, the sheriff of Los Angeles county defended the $1.9 million it spent with two PR agencies on COVID-19-related public relations.

The Takeaway:

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We don’t yet know if this recovery is going to resemble a V, or a teacup, or [insert your choice of high-low-high shape, contour or silhouette here].

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The (relative) frivolities

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People of the world don’t need sports or entertainment, at least not in the sense that they need oxygen and some basic degrees of nourishment and companionship. But it’s sure fun to have some games and non-Netflix pastimes back, ain’t it?

As usual, Major League Baseball can’t get out of its own way. By comparison, European soccer leagues and NASCAR have already returned and the NBA, WNBA and NHL are close behind. In advance of today’s return of the Premier League, four sports-marketing experts tell PRWeek UK’s Arvind Hickman that football clubs should “show empathy” over the coronavirus-related concerns of their players. Virtual comic-cons continue to proliferate like superhero franchises, with DC FanDome set to join San Diego Comic-Con at Home and castoffs from E3 during the weeks ahead.

The Takeaway:

Here’s hoping the price to pay for the resumed events isn’t athlete or performer wellbeing. Sorry to be a killjoy.

The rest

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In PRWeek, Bevel CEO Jessica Schaefer asks whether the coronavirus will eliminate “sexist schmoozing.” Campaign US’ Lindsay Stein reports on new brand-safety guidance offered by marketing services holding company WPP’s media buying giant GroupM. “Flushing the Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over,” according to a New York Times headline writer who cuts right to the friggin’ chase. My local library is preparing to reopen and that makes me happy.

…and some songs

How to Be Dumb, Elvis Costello Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing, James Brown Cult of Personality, Living Colour

Thanks, as always, for reading. Look for the next Haymarket Media Coronavirus Briefing on Wednesday, June 24. Wishing you and yours continued health and safety.