I got this letter the other day and it’s awesome! I thought I would try my best to answer these great COVID-19 questions. Thanks Alaina! 1. Where does the virus actually come from? Right now, the best answer is likely from one of these: Yup, a bat. But how it changed from a virus that infects bats to one that infects humans is still not really known. However, this sort of thing has happened before and the science word for it is zoonosis. This is where a disease which would normally only infect an animal (in this case a bat),…
in which, with respect to our name, we are as confused as you are
By David Ng
David (@ng_dave) is Faculty at the Michael Smith Labs. His writing has appeared in places such as McSweeney's, The Walrus, and also as an occasional blogger at boingboing.net. If you're looking for a graphic for your next science talk, he encourages you to check out his blog, popperfont.net.