What's it like being stuck inside your home from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.? Well, just ask one of the hosts of this show. Also, amongst the world's best-vaccinated countries, why are Chile and Uruguay seeing their coronavirus infections spike massively upwards?

Spectrum | Deutsche Welle

Germany's curfews, the Chile question & COVID-19

1 in 1,000 — those are the absurdly low odds you'll contract the coronavirus outside as opposed to inside. So with social distancing in place, does it make sense to require facemasks when people are outdoors? Or could such rules actually do more harm than good?

99.9% of COVID-19 infections happen indoors

What is going wrong in the minds of conspiracy theorists when they end up jumping to false conclusions? Also, why are people talking about a helicopter on Mars? And finally, when music makes us feel good, why does it do that?

Weekly roundup — Mental aerobics, Mars & music

Whenever we're confronted with new information (see: the internet), we tend to use cognitive shortcuts to try and make sense of it all. But as we reconfigure that information to fit our understanding of reality (or choose to dismiss it entirely), we can arrive at totally false conclusions.

We humans have a lot of cognitive biases — but only a few tend to correlate with COVID-19 conspiracies

Yes, there really is. Perched inside a crater on Mars, a boxy little drone-copter is set to become the first aircraft to ever fly on another planet. But how'd it get there? Who's controlling it? What are the odds it'll crash (or get blown away)? And if we've already got rovers, who needs drones?

Wait —there's a helicopter on Mars?

We all know that feeling when the right song hits at the right moment and it's just ... really, really good. No other form of art can quite match the feeling of music-induced pleasure. And brain scientists are getting closer to understanding what it's all about by delving deep into our reward system. But why is music so rewarding?

Why does music make us feel so good?

When we look back on this pandemic, 'Corona Easter, part 2' may very well mark the low point in people's moods (at least here in Germany). But all signs indicate that better days really are are just around the corner. See you next week!

A quiet Easter

Initial data (that has yet to be peer reviewed) suggests the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine may work even better for young teens than it does for adults — due to an even stronger antibody reaction. The announcement came a day after Germany halted the use of AstraZeneca for anyone under 60.

COVID-19: First data shows BioNTech-Pfizer '100% effective' in young teenagers

Can vaccines stop the mutations? According to a large-scale study out of Israel, it appears the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine can — for now. Also, an unexpected link between the flu vaccine and lower coronavirus numbers, and an expert's advice (together with new survey results) for burnt out parents.

Weekly COVID-19 roundup — vaccines, variants & very tired parents

Research suggests that people vaccinated against influenza are less likely to get COVID-19 — and if they do, it's less severe and for a shorter period of time. But is it real immunity, or is it just correlation?

Does the flu vaccine protect against COVID-19?

To the parents reading this: You probably don't need "science" or "data" to tell you that the COVID-19 lockdowns led to the most grueling, exhausting year you've ever experienced. Or that your relationships, professional life, and/or mental and physical health have all suffered. But it can help, somehow, to hear the raw numbers — and to get tips from a researcher who's gone through it herself.

Coronavirus: Parents are burned out. Is there a solution?

"The mistake was mine, and mine alone." Following an apology from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Easter lockdown is off the menu. But at what cost? Also, new research appears to contradict our earlier reporting on the "introverts vs. extroverts" debate ... until you look closer.

UPDATE: The Easter reversal & some good news (kind of?) for introverts

Here we go again. After months of lockdown and a few weeks of reprieve, Germany's heading right back into what might be the hardest lockdown yet. Also, if you've had blood clots in the past, should you be worried about COVID-19 vaccines? And could the common cold end up "reactivating" a coronavirus infection from months earlier?

Easter staycation, emails about blood clots and 'reactivated corona'

It's frustrating, and even depressing, to attend a small anti-corona rally on a cold, rainy night in March of 2021. But it's also important to find out what the people in those crowds are trying to change, where they're coming from as individuals, and which of their concerns are valid.

Inside the mind of a German anti-corona protester

Doctors from Germany and Austria say they've not only figured out the mechanism behind a rare form of thrombosis linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, but have also developed a diagnostic tool and a suggested therapy to "clear it up immediately."

'Breakthrough' could lead to therapies for rare blood clots linked to AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

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