You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

In the last few months, scientists have moved at an unprecedented speed to learn as much

as they can about the coronavirus.

And the good news is, new information has been coming out really fast.

But that also makes it tough to stay on top of.

It's truly incredible.

I mean, I'm talking to you now and every sentence is out of date before I start it, probably.

That's Atlantic Science reporter Ed Young, who these days is pretty busy.

I've been pretty much continuously reporting for the last 812 years.

Ed's been so busy precisely because there is so much to learn about this pandemic.

And in his latest story for the Atlantic, he writes about some clues scientists are beginning to uncover

that may suggest why this coronavirus has taken off.

And I think actually, even though there are a huge number of unknowns left,

it is astonishing how much we know about this virus,

considering that literally no one knew that it existed mere months ago.

This episode will break down what the early science suggests about why this virus has spread so much faster than similar viruses like SARS,

where it came from, and if it will slow down here in the US as the weather gets warmer.

I'm Maddie Safiah, and this is Shortwave, the Daily Science podcast from NPR.

As we say at the top of all of our coronavirus episodes, we are learning a lot about this virus really fast.

The information in this episode is what we have learned as of our recording on Monday, March 23rd,

and what we know will probably change.

Agreed.

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