COVID-19: Life in the shadow of death
I am not an expert on the phenomenon of death. But like all of us, I have to live in its shadow, and watch the restlessness and greed it causes. The same gloomy reports that circle the planet also reach me. I feel especially conscious of this as COVID-19 claims its first victims in my country.
COVID-19: Beyond coincidence and bad luck: causes of animal to human virus transmission
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are specialists who are not surprised by this crisis, and believe that in the future we could be facing other pandemics if we fail to fix the mistakes that led to an increase of animal to human pathogen transmission.
COVID-19: Hope overcomes the fear of the unknown
In the spring of 1936, the members of the Lykov family made a decision that would change their lives forever: they disappeared into the Siberian taiga, completely isolating themselves from the world for the next 40 years.
No laughing matter
We’ve all been guilty of memory lapses at times—forgetting a birthday or anniversary, that needed ingredient we were supposed to pick up at the grocery store, where we put our car keys, even where we parked the car. And mostly we just joke about these memory lapses and tease each other about them. However, for some 50 million people around the world who...
Does “natural” automatically mean healthy?
The term “natural” is not always regulated and does not guarantee that a product is healthy.
COVID-19: Second thoughts on Doomsday
Although they are constantly improving their preparedness for crises and disasters, modern societies find themselves powerless in the face of a growing threat: transnational crises.
Vitamin D — another disappointment?
If we had to choose a star among vitamins, a star similar to the celebrities that electrify the world of people, vitamin D would have a very high chance of occupying the podium.
Hope in the storm
This coronavirus crisis has, for me, some perplexing parallels with a well-known incident narrated in the Gospel of Matthew (14:22-33). The disciples are confined in a little boat in the middle of a terrible storm, almost as we are confined at home today by the emergency laws of our countries.
VIDEO: I talked to 10 people who are sick with COVID-19
They live in five European countries and could not be more different in age, interest or inclination. However, that made no difference. They were all infected. Some were not scared. Others were terrified. They have all gone through an experience that, without exception, has marked their lives.
Protect yourself from the infodemic. Which doctors give us reliable information about COVID-19?
In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the coronavirus, an "infodemia" is spreading, as described by the World Health Organization (WHO). The overabundance of information, some false or incomplete, about the virus, about its origin and effects, as well as the measures taken by the authorities to combat the pandemic reduce people’s chances of finding reliable information about COVID-19 and the advice...
COVID-19: Which end is The End?
As the crisis caused by the new coronavirus deepened and spread, it was to be expected that the phenomenon would be framed in apocalyptic terms. It is something that tends to occur in such contexts.
What could console our terrible fear of death?
Along with the rising death toll due to coronavirus complications, a usually latent aspect of our fear becomes harder to ignore. Despite the fact that it is the only certainty we all share, realising that our own end is a reality we might need to confront sooner than we had thought leaves many of us fervently searching for consolation.
The wonder pill
It was terrifying. They kept trying to comfort me by telling me they had the best surgeons. But they also said that I needed a new liver and that my body might reject it. – Christopher Herrera
Our daily E-numbers: an epidemic of suspicion (Part II)
The first part of this discussion essentially highlighted that, despite the alarming and catastrophic claims surrounding E-numbers, these substances are generally far less harmful than many believe. In the following section, we will examine some of the most criticised and controversial E-numbers in Romanian public discourse. Let’s begin with the one often described as “the most TOXIC/CARCINOGENIC additive”: E330.
Sexual abstinence: absurd, an option, or a necessity?
It was 1984 when hospitals in southern China were besieged by young people in a state of extreme agitation. Thousands of people, of both sexes, were suffering from panic attacks accompanied by fear of death because of the overwhelming belief that their sexual organs were retracting and disappearing, or that their nipples were retracting into their breasts.


























