Today in Science: The pandemic enters its fifth year. Yes, fifth.

Discovery, insight, inspiration SPONSORED BY February 6, 2024: COVID is still very much a thing, more precise measurements of consciousness and why we need to protect satellites from cyberattacks.  —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TOP STORIES COVID Going on Five The pandemic isn't over. The World Health Organization has emphasized that COVID has just entered an endemic phase, which means that the virus will continue to circulate indefinitely. According to wastewater estimates, the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 is somewhere between two and 20 times higher than what's actually being reported by countries, Maria Van Kerkhove, interim director of the WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, told Scientific American. The challenges: Increasing vaccination rates around the world is tantamount, says Van Kerkhove, who adds that misinformation and disinformation about the vaccine hamper progress. The WHO continues to encourage people to stay home when sick, test before they see elderly people, and wear masks in public. Plus, governments, she says, should provide free tests and treatment for whoever needs them. What the experts say: The WHO is not suggesting that the world needs to entirely focus on COVID again, says Van Kerkhove. "We're saying, 'Please don't drop the ball,'" she says. "The virus is here. It's evolving. It's killing. It's causing post-COVID conditions [also called long COVID]. And we don't know the long-term effects. It's a virus that is here to stay." Breathe Squeeze Humans have multiple types of consciousness. "Connected consciousness" is our awake consciousness that is connected to the environment through our senses and behavior. "Unconnected consciousness" is detached from our environment, as in when we're asleep and dreaming. To chart the precise divide between these states, a team of anesthesiologists had patients squeeze a dynamometer (a grip-strength tool) whenever they inhaled while being administered a sedative. The team found that patients lost connected consciousness using this tracking method sooner than if they'd been asked to count backwards--a common technique anesthesiologists use to determine consciousness. Why this matters: The researchers speculate that auditory commands rouse people as they're going under. Using the squeeze method, the exact moments when patients lose or gain consciousness are more distinctive. Pairing the timing data with other tests–like EEGs or MRIs–could help consciousness researchers learn more about the transition between our conscious states. What the experts say: "Consciousness, this and other research reveals, is not simply a binary—on or off, conscious or unconscious—but instead something that can encompass a continuum of different states that involve different kinds of brain functioning," write Christian Guay and Emery Brown, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who conducted the experiments. TODAY'S NEWS • Is bisexuality genetic? A controversial new study has experts debating what we can truly learn from large genome studies. | 7 min read • Tianeptine, an addictive drug at high doses, is being sold as a dietary supplement in gas stations and convenience stores. Such products could be contaminated with metals, microorganisms or other undisclosed drugs. | 5 min read • Dozens of conservative organizations have banded together to provide Donald Trump a road map—known as Project 2025—to boost fossil fuels and limit government research on the climate if he is elected president. | 4 min read • A trio of students used machine learning to decipher the text of a 2,000-year-old scroll burned at Pompeii. | 6 min read Text from the Herculaneum scroll, which has been unseen for 2,000 years. Credit: Vesuvius Challenge More News SPONSORED CONTENT BY Novavax Novavax is a global leader in vaccine development and research The company's vaccine technology is built on a protein-based platform and combines the power of a well-understood approach with an innovative nanoparticle technology. It is intended to help protect against some of the world's most pressing viral diseases. Learn more. EXPERT PERSPECTIVES • The satellites that orbit Earth are essential to our daily activities, such as GPS and the Internet. This also makes them prime targets for cyberattacks, writes Sylvester Kaczmarek, chief technology officer at OrbiSky Systems. "We need immediate, fortified satellite cybersecurity—not as a distant aspiration but as an urgent imperative right now," he says. | 4 min read More Opinion At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, I never could have imagined what the world would be like after four years in a pandemic (or that it would last for YEARS!). We've learned some hard lessons, grieved fiercely and adapted to new daily norms. To be sure, there are positive developments, too--that vaccines work, that long COVID may be on the decline and that certain populations like infants have strong inborn immunity to the virus. The story is far from over.   Thanks for joining me and other science-curious readers, here on the forefront of discovery. Reach out any time with suggestions for how to improve Today in Science: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here. Scientific American One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004   Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American here   Unsubscribe Email Preferences