Editor's note
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Social distancing has become a mantra as society confronts the coronavirus pandemic, but social distancing isn’t an option for health care workers and first responders. Not everything medical workers do has to be hands-on, however. Robots are increasingly handling many routine hospital tasks, from delivering meals to sterilizing rooms. It’s a case of automation reducing drudgery and limiting danger.
Texas A&M roboticist Robin Murphy and her colleagues have catalogued two dozen ways robots are being used around the world to respond to the pandemic, in hospitals and beyond.
Also today:
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Eric Smalley
Science and Technology Editor
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Top story
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A nurse (left) operates a robot used to interact remotely with coronavirus patients while a physician looks on.
MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images
Robin R. Murphy, Texas A&M University ; Justin Adams, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering; Vignesh Babu Manjunath Gandudi, Texas A&M University
Robots are helping health care workers and public safety officials more safely and quickly treat coronavirus patients and contain the pandemic. They have something in common: They're tried and tested.
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Economy + Business
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Pamela Joshi, Brandeis University
Not all Americans can take paid leave, and some workers can't take any time off at all if they or their loved ones get sick. Those are big problems during pandemics.
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Health
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Laurie Archbald-Pannone, University of Virginia
While COVID-19 raises the risk for people with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and COPD, social distancing can make it harder to keep up diets and medication.
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Tuba Agartan, Providence College
Without massive change, the US health care system will continue to be disorganized and inefficient.
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Science + Technology
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Adam M. Brufsky, University of Pittsburgh
What does high blood sugar have to do with vulnerability to COVID-19? And is there a role for the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine in lowering blood sugar in COVID-19 patients?
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Catherine Bagwell, Emory University
Together the social and emotional 'jobs' of adolescence – developing intimate friendships and achieving autonomy – make teens uniquely resistant to calls for social distancing.
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Education
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Matthew J. Mayhew, The Ohio State University
Before you nag your college-age child to pull their own weight, consider the circumstances they face during the COVID-19 pandemic, advises the author of a book on college students.
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Politics + Society
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Bruno Dupeyron, University of Regina; Catarina Segatto, Universidade Federal do ABC
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been called the South American version of Donald Trump. His behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic shows why.
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Eldad Ben Aharon, Leiden University
As Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is marked around the globe, a historian examines the little-known players in the long-running fight in the US Congress to pass a bill acknowledging the Genocide.
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Ethics + Religion
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Katherine Marshall, Georgetown University
Given that some people look to religious authorities not health officials in times of crisis, faith leaders can promote hand-washing and social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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Environment + Energy
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Nicholas Rajkovich, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Climate change is making extreme weather events, both hot and cold, more frequent across the Great Lakes region. Weatherizing low-income residents' homes is an important way to prepare.
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Arts + Culture
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Joshua D. Pitts, Kennesaw State University
For nearly 50 years, teams have administered the controversial Wonderlic test to measure cognitive ability. Two researchers decided to study its effectiveness as an evaluation tool.
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Most read on site
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Kathryn McKinley, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Then – as now – the wealthy fled to the countryside, while the urban poor were forced to work on the front lines.
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Maura Chhun, Metropolitan State University
When the 1918 influenza pandemic struck India, the death toll was highest among the poor.
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Susan L. Sokolowski, University of Oregon; Karen L. LaBat, University of Minnesota
At-home mask makers should carefully consider fit and fabric variables when designing face coverings to help prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
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