Links for you. Science:

Halting Progress and Happy Accidents: How mRNA Vaccines Were Made
Mild respiratory SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause multi-lineage cellular dysregulation and myelin loss in the brain
The Kunga Was a Status Symbol Long Before the Thoroughbred
An Explosion Felt Round the World: Volcanologist Jess Phoenix on the science behind the new eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai.
Sometimes, Life Stinks. So He Invented the Nasal Ranger.
The UGT2A1/UGT2A2 locus is associated with COVID-19-related loss of smell or taste

Other:

Living With Covid
An Anti-Vaccine Mandate Protest Is Coming To D.C. Here’s What We Know (ugh)
How a teenager got more women of color added to history lessons in one of the country’s largest school systems
How the Refrigerator Became an Agent of Climate Catastrophe
Chinatowns are struggling to survive. Grace Young is reminding Americans why they matter.
The Republicans’ Death Panel Finally Emerges!
‘Jim Crow relic’: A short history of the filibuster
Trump Administration Exerted ‘Unprecedented’ Census Engagement In Bid For Political Gain: Memo
With students remote, universities should put COVID-19 testing capacity to good use
Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged
Founder of Amsterdam Falafelshop Dies of COVID After Month in Hospital
Why doesn’t the government mandate an annual flu shot? The answer can be found in one word (though, hopefully, mRNA vaccines could change this–as long as they’re distributed to other countries)
The Supreme Court Just Made an Incredible Power Grab. The ruling striking down Biden’s vaccine mandate threatens decades of statutory authority to let agencies write important regulations.
Outdoor Cats Are Using $500 Starlink Satellite Dishes as Self-Heating Beds
Smithsonian announces new schedule, closures amid staff shortage
The problem with performative centrism
Got Quiet Didn’t They
I scrapped my original speech and spent the entire first half of it reading excerpts from a bunch of Dr. King’s speeches, but without telling anyone that I was doing so, leading the audience to think King’s words were mine.
The Silent, Vaccinated, Impatient Majority
We Got This
Having Achieved Their Goal, the Faithful Samurai Withdraw to Sengoku-ji Temple and Assemble There, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, ca. 1847-50
Lego tardigrade
The Real Roots of the Debate Over Schools During Covid
Biden Urged to Fire Covid Response Chief Jeff Zients Over ‘Damning’ Failures
Democrats call on Biden to step up virus response