After the simultaneous paralysis of society and numerous economies around the globe resulting from efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, opinions on the relationship between the virus and climate change — how the pandemic is causing a global drop of pollution levels  — have been manifold. In the longer term backdrop there is an additional school of thought that is associating global warming with the emergence of new viruses that could represent future threats akin to that of SARS-CoV-2. How is climate change affecting the virulence, emergence, and re-emergence of viral threats?

Scientific information, and many essential niche concepts to tackle it, have lept into the spotlight. Understanding certain key scientific concepts behind the battle against COVID-19 and how SARS-CoV-2’s biological mechanisms actually work will allow us to navigate in the sea of information to better gauge the scope of the problem and the prospects concerning the development of potential treatments.

Saving lives and preventing the collapse of intensive care units (ICUs). That is the priority for Spanish hospitals (and those around the world) during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report by the Gregorio Marañón University Hospital in Madrid, which analyzed one of the non-invasive ventilators from China (Yuwell 730), concludes that “its use is expected to delay or even prevent the need to transfer patients to the ICU, and therefore help to relieve their saturation.”

Noam Chomsky is one of the frequently cited intellectuals in history. Considered the founder of modern linguistics, he has written numerous essays that made their way around the world. In the field of linguistics, he introduced the ‘Chomsky hierarchy’, generative grammar and the ‘universal grammar’ theory.

BBVA Foundation recognizes the Estonian composer with the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Category of Music and Opera for cultivating an original language, which has led to the creation of a unique sound world. In its citation, the jury underscores that Arvo Pärt’s creations are “a fresh approach to spiritual music, especially in his choral oeuvre, that reduces the musical material to the essence.”

Matthieu grew up surrounded by ideas and figures from French intellectual circles. He first time traveling was to India in 1967. He obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology at the Instituto Pasteur under the sponsorship of Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine François Jacob.