More than a third of Americans live in areas where hospitals are running critically short of intensive care beds. / The New York Times

Another Trump lawyer tests positive for the coronavirus, stirring fears of an additional White House superspreader event after she attended a party without a mask. / Axios

More than thirty percent of African Americans know an individual that died from Covid-19. / Newsweek

Related: “Is there mistrust for vaccines and for the healthcare system in Black communities? Yes. But that mistrust is very well earned.” / The Los Angeles Times

A Black physician explains why she joined a vaccine trial after her scientist father died from Covid. / Democracy Now!

David Wallace-Wells: Moderna's vaccine was designed in early January (!). Perhaps scientists in the future can be less cautious and roll out vaccines sooner. / New York Magazine

President-elect Biden aims to get at least 100 million Americans vaccinated in his first 100 days in office. / CNN

Helen Branswell: The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine appears to have moderate efficacy in preventing symptomatic illness, and may significantly reduce hospitalization. / STAT

The success of the polio vaccine was threatened in the 1950s by “vaccine hesitancy.” Elvis Presley became the answer. / The Morning News

New restrictions in California aren't being obeyed partly due to a failure in health messaging, not to mention arbitrary, confusing rules. / The Los Angeles Times

Blame Facebook, Twitter, and Trump for disinformation, but don’t forget your fellow Americans. / BuzzFeed News

Related: “Nothing made sense this year—unless you were on the internet.” / Vulture

Four billion miles from the sun, scientists find empty space to be twice as bright as expected, suggesting background light. / The New York Times

Artist Reuben Wu’s nature photographs are lit by flying drones. / Colossal

The latest drone technology, enabling police to track vehicles and people automatically, is raising civil liberties concerns. / The New York Times

A new telescope in the Australian outback has led astronomers to discover "odd radio circles." / BBC News

Fifty of the nation’s largest police departments use or have mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs) to hack civilians’ phones. / Lawfare

Can you figure out what’s missing in a map of 41 contiguous states? We'll be honest, it took us a minute. / xkcd

Hawaii's beaches have become a battleground for sandbags, wealthy surfers, and "unauthorized burritos" (not what you think). / ProPublica

One of our favorite indie magazines, The Desert Oracle, is now available in book form. / The Guardian

This year’s “bad sex in fiction” awards have been cancelled because the judges felt “the public had been subjected to too many bad things this year to justify exposing it to bad sex as well.” / Vulture