Now that the world has successfully completed history’s fastest development of a new vaccine, you might be wondering why we don’t always just make one this fast. If the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are safe and effective and the process to produce them didn’t cut any corners … well, why does it normally take around a decade to do something we just did in less than a year? The answer to that question is inextricably tied up with another question floating around: Once you get the vaccine, can you just go back to your normal life full of hugging people and not wearing a mask? If only we knew...…Now that the world has successfully completed history’s fastest development of a new vaccine, you might be wondering why we don’t always just make one this fast. If the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are safe and effective and the process to produce them didn’t cut any corners … well, why does it normally take around a decade to do something we just did in less than a year? The answer to that question is inextricably tied up with another question floating around: Once you get the vaccine, can you just go back to your normal life full of hugging people and not wearing a mask? If only we knew...WW…

Polls show that Republican voters prioritize gun rights over gun control but aren’t universally opposed to restrictions on firearms. In fact, most Republicans support expanding background checks. Most back “red flag” provisions allowing the police to take guns away from people deemed dangerous by a judge. A majority support requiring a license to purchase a gun. So with Democrats calling on the GOP-controlled Senate to take action on gun control in the wake of last weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio — in particular, to pass a bill adopted in February by the...…Polls show that Republican voters prioritize gun rights over gun control but aren’t universally opposed to restrictions on firearms. In fact, most Republicans support expanding background checks. Most back “red flag” provisions allowing the police to take guns away from people deemed dangerous by a judge. A majority support requiring a license to purchase a gun. So with Democrats calling on the GOP-controlled Senate to take action on gun control in the wake of last weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio — in particular, to pass a bill adopted in February by the...WW…

Back in 2017, the Boston Celtics secured the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft thanks to a pick swap acquired in the famed Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett blockbuster trade. Just about everyone thought that University of Washington guard Markelle Fultz was the top available prospect, but Celtics general manager Danny Ainge saw things differently. Rather than standing pat and selecting the player nearly everyone viewed as the best prospect, Ainge traded down and almost immediately declared that he expected to get the same player at No. 3 that he would have taken at No. 1. The twists and...…Back in 2017, the Boston Celtics secured the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft thanks to a pick swap acquired in the famed Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett blockbuster trade. Just about everyone thought that University of Washington guard Markelle Fultz was the top available prospect, but Celtics general manager Danny Ainge saw things differently. Rather than standing pat and selecting the player nearly everyone viewed as the best prospect, Ainge traded down and almost immediately declared that he expected to get the same player at No. 3 that he would have taken at No. 1. The twists and...WW…

Models predicting the potential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have become a fixture of American life. Yet each model tells a different story about the loss of life to come, making it hard to know which one is “right.” But COVID-19 models aren’t made to be unquestioned oracles. They’re not trying to tell us one precise future, but rather the range of possibilities given the facts on the ground. One of their more sober tasks is predicting the number of Americans who will die due to COVID-19. FiveThirtyEight — with the help of data compiled by the COVID-19 Forecast Hub — has assembled 15...…Models predicting the potential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have become a fixture of American life. Yet each model tells a different story about the loss of life to come, making it hard to know which one is “right.” But COVID-19 models aren’t made to be unquestioned oracles. They’re not trying to tell us one precise future, but rather the range of possibilities given the facts on the ground. One of their more sober tasks is predicting the number of Americans who will die due to COVID-19. FiveThirtyEight — with the help of data compiled by the COVID-19 Forecast Hub — has assembled 15...WW…

By and We right now, but we can revisit the greatest games in history — at least those that are up on YouTube. We used statistics and expert opinions to look for some of the all-time greatest upsets, comebacks, matchups and most memorable games, then we collected video of those games in this archive. To relive those moments, filter to see the games in each category — and scroll down to see the criteria we used to find these particular games — or just hit the “random” button and let us pick a perfect game for you.Watch a random game 🎲showing   older games more recent games showing How did we...…By and We right now, but we can revisit the greatest games in history — at least those that are up on YouTube. We used statistics and expert opinions to look for some of the all-time greatest upsets, comebacks, matchups and most memorable games, then we collected video of those games in this archive. To relive those moments, filter to see the games in each category — and scroll down to see the criteria we used to find these particular games — or just hit the “random” button and let us pick a perfect game for you.Watch a random game 🎲showing   older games more recent games showing How did we...WW…

No NFL team believes in the power of first-round draft picks more than the Atlanta Falcons. Before they even make their choice with the in this year’s draft, set for April 23 to 25, the Falcons are lousy with the best of the draft’s best. They’re set to open the 2020 season with at least boasting first-round pedigrees — and they could go a perfect 11 for 11 depending on how the shakes out.Of course, starters in April aren’t always starters in September, let alone December. But if Atlanta’s projected offensive starters can stay healthy, for draft talent on one side of the ball. In fact, it’s...…No NFL team believes in the power of first-round draft picks more than the Atlanta Falcons. Before they even make their choice with the in this year’s draft, set for April 23 to 25, the Falcons are lousy with the best of the draft’s best. They’re set to open the 2020 season with at least boasting first-round pedigrees — and they could go a perfect 11 for 11 depending on how the shakes out.Of course, starters in April aren’t always starters in September, let alone December. But if Atlanta’s projected offensive starters can stay healthy, for draft talent on one side of the ball. In fact, it’s...WW…

Nathaniel Rakich is FiveThirtyEight’s elections analyst.Filed underYou are now subscribed!Sign me up…Nathaniel Rakich is FiveThirtyEight’s elections analyst.Filed underYou are now subscribed!Sign me upWW…

Primary season began back on Feb. 3 in Iowa with a competitive, multicandidate race for the Democratic presidential nomination, and some reasonable chance that the process would end with at the national convention in Milwaukee. However, after a string of primary losses in March and April, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden is now the presumptive Democratic nominee.But that doesn’t mean that delegate counting is over. There are still 24 delayed and reconfigured contests with a combined 1,555 delegates at stake. Sure, Biden has already amassed 1,293 delegates and is very...…Primary season began back on Feb. 3 in Iowa with a competitive, multicandidate race for the Democratic presidential nomination, and some reasonable chance that the process would end with at the national convention in Milwaukee. However, after a string of primary losses in March and April, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden is now the presumptive Democratic nominee.But that doesn’t mean that delegate counting is over. There are still 24 delayed and reconfigured contests with a combined 1,555 delegates at stake. Sure, Biden has already amassed 1,293 delegates and is very...WW…

Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are among the oldest candidates to ever vie for the presidency. And we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. This might be morbid, but what happens if one of them is, er, incapacitated before the general election? Elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley explains.Geoffrey Skelley is an elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight.Tony Chow is a video producer for FiveThirtyEight.Filed underYou are now subscribed!Sign me up…Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are among the oldest candidates to ever vie for the presidency. And we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. This might be morbid, but what happens if one of them is, er, incapacitated before the general election? Elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley explains.Geoffrey Skelley is an elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight.Tony Chow is a video producer for FiveThirtyEight.Filed underYou are now subscribed!Sign me upWW…