Scientists around the world are racing to create and test vaccines to help protect people from the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. The scientists are making progress, but it will still be quite a while before any vaccines are ready.
Published in “Europe”
Billions of people around the world are now on lockdown. That means there's a whole lot less action on the planet's surface. One result of that is that the earth is shaking less. And scientists can tell.
Among the more unusual news stories recently, Nicaragua is the only country in Central America not taking steps to control the coronavirus, Florida declares wrestling "essential", and a professional darts tournament begins - from players' homes.
The coronavirus is making life hard for people all over the world. But the difficult times have encouraged people to do what they can to make life better for others, and to give thanks to workers who are risking their lives to help out.
Ukraine reports that fire fighters have put out forest fires near the location of the world's worst nuclear accident. The forest fires threatened to spread dangerous radiation through the air, though the accident happened over 30 years ago.
Scientists have discovered a bit of hand-made string that's around 50,000 years old. The prehistoric string suggests that ancient Neanderthals had more knowledge and skills than scientists realized.
Scientists are warning that the world's supply of hazelnuts is being threatened by huge numbers of stink bugs invading Turkey. Scientists and farmers want to control the insects, but they may not be able to do so in time.
Around the world, the coronavirus is presenting massive challenges - so huge that governments are having a hard time keeping up. Seeing the need, ordinary citizens are volunteering - pitching in and doing what they can to help.
Worldwide, doctors, nurses, and other health care workers are struggling to find the special equipment they need to deal with the coronavirus. Now people around the world are moving quickly to tackle these problems.
Yesterday, millions of people around the world turned their lights off for "Earth Hour", an event meant to remind people of how important climate action is. Because of the coronavirus, this year's event was marked online.
It may seem strange to think about countries being "happy" when most of the world is struggling with the coronavirus, but last week, researchers released a yearly report which ranked the world's countries by how happy they are.