Jon Hamilton

Dr. Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer listener questions about social distancing.

Dr. Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer more listener questions about proper social distancing.

NPR science and economics correspondents answer questions about the federal government's efforts to confront the virus.

Dr. Meilan Han, a pulmonologist at the University of Michigan hospital, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer more questions about how the coronavirus affects the respiratory system.

Dr. Meilan Han, a pulmonologist at the University of Michigan hospital, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer questions about ventilators and the way COVID-19 affects lungs.

NPR White House and science correspondents answer listener questions about the latest with federal and state governments' efforts to stop the coronavirus.

As the economy reels from record unemployment and states continue to increase their social distancing guidelines, the federal government is working to implement relief measures.

Ventilators can be lifesaving for some critically ill patients, but they're no panacea. The experience so far with COVID-19 is that the majority of patients put on ventilators don't survive.

Doctors say ventilators are no panacea for coronavirus patients. Research shows that most patients placed on the breathing machines still die — and ventilators themselves can cause fatal infections.

As the COVID-19 death toll climbs in the United States, an NPR science correspondent answers listener questions about surviving the virus.

"Case fatality rates have been very confusing," says Dr. Steven Lawrence, an infectious disease expert. Here's why.

Scientists are using genetic sequences of the coronavirus to learn where and how it is spreading. The approach relies on technology that didn't exist just a few years ago.

A hospital in Seattle has set up a drive-through coronavirus testing clinic in its garage. The idea is to quickly test workers who have symptoms without putting other staff or patients at risk.

Drive-through coronavirus testing has arrived in Seattle. It allows people to simply roll down the window, get a nasal swab, and head home to wait for results.

Scientists at the University of Washington's medical school began working on a test for coronavirus back in January. Now they're using it to fight an outbreak in their own backyard.

A lack of testing for coronavirus has hampered the U.S. public health response to the outbreak. But in Washington state, an outbreak hot spot, a university lab can now run 1,000 tests a day.

Canadian scientists have shown that brain scans of people listening to songs found that an area in the left hemisphere decoded words while one in the right hemisphere decoded the melody.

Brain scans show that when people listen to songs, an area in the left hemisphere decodes speech-like sounds while one on the right processes musical information.

Scientists say certain brain wave patterns can predict whether a person is likely to respond to a common antidepressant, or would do better with non-drug therapy.

Brains affected by autism appear to share a problem with cells that make myelin, the insulating coating surrounding nerve fibers that controls the speed at which the fibers convey electrical signals.