Does wearing a mask halve your chances of get...

On the 17th of May the World Health Organisation declared a new outbreak of Ebolavirus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an International Emergency. Ebola virus is an extremely nasty viral disease with a high death toll. But despite its severity, very little is known abo ...  Show more

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:Headlines have claimed that “healthy life expectancy” in the UK has fallen by two years. What does this actually mean?A new government report estimates that HS2 will cost almost double its original estimate. We a ...  Show more

Masks are crucial, but not all of them are created equal. The N95 respirator mask has been the gold standard from the beginning, and our need for its efficacy is only becoming clearer. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about the latest guidance on mask wearin ...  Show more

What do we actually know about virus transmissibility, the efficacy of face masks, and the implications of wearing a face covering? It turns out, it takes a lot of work to get to the bottom of what the data truly says. Articles circulating on social media are often misleading—omi ...  Show more

Face à la recrudescence des contaminations au virus de la Covid-19, due notamment à la propagation du variant Omicron, le port de masques de protection est plus que jamais d'actualité. Mais certains modèles, comme le masque FFP2, seraient-ils plus efficaces que d'autres ?

From the theatre mask and masquerade to the masked criminal and the rise of facial recognition software, masks have long performed as an instrument for the protection and concealment of identity. Even as they conceal and protect, masks – as faces – are an extension of the self. A ...  Show more