Herd immunity
Two separate calculations suggest that the estimated ‘herd immunity threshold’ of 60 to 70% is too high for the pandemic. This threshold is crossed when enough people in a population are immune to a disease, after infection or vaccination, to provide indirect protection to those who are not immune.
Nature-inspired cooling
Climate change is causing cities around the world to become uncomfortably hot. Researchers are increasingly looking to nature for answers, with several cool new materials in the pipeline, reports Jasmin Fox-Skelly
Not so soft soap
As the novel coronavirus grips the world in fear, demand for soaps, sanitisers and disinfectants has soared. But could over-washing lead to other problems of skin sensitisation and increased microbial resistance? XiaoZhi Lim reports