Sarah Zhang

The Birdsong That Took Over North America

Since 2000, a strange new type of song in white-throated sparrows has spread across the continent at stunning speed.

• Sarah Zhang
• 12:35 PM ET

What a Negative COVID-19 Test Really Means

We know very little about how reliable tests are for people who don’t feel sick.

• Sarah Zhang
• June 21, 2020

The Pandemic Broke End-of-Life Care

In a Boston ICU, staff members orchestrate goodbyes over Zoom and comfort patients who would otherwise die alone.

• Sarah Zhang
• June 16, 2020

Rats Have Not Changed. We Have.

Sheltering in place produced a “natural experiment” for urban wildlife.

• Sarah Zhang
• June 8, 2020

America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

Inside the U.S. and Panama’s long-running collaboration to rid an entire continent of a deadly disease.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 26, 2020

We Don’t Even Have a COVID-19 Vaccine, and Yet the Conspiracies Are Here

Even as vaccines for the disease are being held up as the last hope for a return to normalcy, misinformation about them is spreading.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 24, 2020

Why the Coronavirus Hits Kids and Adults So Differently

COVID-19 is much less severe in children, and it could have to do with a child’s still-developing immune system.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 15, 2020

A Much-Hyped COVID-19 Drug Is Almost Identical to a Black-Market Cat Cure

Cat owners are resorting to China’s underground marketplace to buy antivirals for a feline coronavirus.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 8, 2020

The False Hope of Antibody Tests

The immunity tests were supposed to be a “game changer,” but they are instead revealing that the majority of Americans are still vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 28, 2020

What Life Is Like After Being Taken Off a Ventilator

A near-death experience in the ICU could have lasting effects on the brain—from PTSD to cognitive impairment on par with mild dementia.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 22, 2020

The People Who Risked Death for Immunity

When yellow fever swept through 19th-century New Orleans, immunity became so valuable, people were willing to go to extreme lengths for protection.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 16, 2020

The Best Hopes for a Coronavirus Drug

If there is a way to stop COVID-19, it will be by blocking its proteins from hijacking, suppressing, and evading humans’ cellular machinery.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 8, 2020

Chinese Americans Have Seen This Before

The lockdowns, equipment shortages, and overburdened hospitals feel all too familiar.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 3, 2020

America Needs Plasma From COVID-19 Survivors Now

People who have recovered from the disease have antibodies that might help those still suffering from it.

• Sarah Zhang
• March 28, 2020

America’s Hospitals Have Never Experienced Anything Like This

If they run out of space, where will all the sick people go?

• Sarah Zhang
• March 25, 2020

Why a Tiny Colorado County Can Offer COVID-19 Tests to Every Resident

There are advantages to having biotech executives as neighbors.

• Sarah Zhang
• March 23, 2020

What It Really Means to Cancel Elective Surgeries

To make room for coronavirus patients, hospitals are delaying procedures that would make major differences in people’s lives.

• Sarah Zhang
• March 17, 2020

Deep Clean, Then Clean Again

What exactly does it mean when schools and businesses close to “deep clean” because of the coronavirus?

• Sarah Zhang
• March 15, 2020

The Small Stresses of Keeping Coronavirus-Free

Why is it so, so hard to stop touching your face?

• Sarah Zhang
• March 4, 2020

A Bold and Controversial Idea for Making Breast Milk

The obsession with breastfeeding has inspired a start-up to make human milk outside the human body.

• Sarah Zhang
• February 27, 2020