Began – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

Many Americans felt socially isolated during the pandemic, cut off from friends and family while crouching and keeping their distance to protect themselves from infection.

However, new research released Thursday suggests that even as the United States’ public health crisis subsided, communities opened up, and the economy improved, many people’s feelings of isolation have increased.

While the level of social isolation decreased in the spring of the pandemic after the initial shock of the crisis subsided, according to researchers from Harvard, Northeastern, Northwestern and Rutgers universities, it increased sharply in the summer months of last year before turning during the year autumn leveled off again.

People began to feel less disconnected from December to April this year, but the levels of social isolation measured by the researchers increased again this June.

The results suggest that recovery from the pandemic could take a long time and could affect people’s view of their relationships over time. “There were cumulative effects of social isolation,” said David Lazer, professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern and one of the study authors.

To determine social isolation, the researchers asked each person how many people they could count on to care for them when they were sick, to lend them money, to talk to them about a problem when they were depressed, or to help them with the Searching for a job. Someone who said they had only one person or no one to turn to in a certain category was considered socially isolated.

The researchers interviewed a total of 185,223 people in 12 different surveys from April 2020 to June 2021.

Even now, with many more people vaccinated against the coronavirus and becoming much more active in their communities, people may think differently about those they previously relied on. “This break in life can lead to a lot of overwork in our relationships,” said Dr. Lazer, who pointed out the unusual number of people who decided to leave their jobs when the pandemic ends. “It takes a while for the social fabric to heal.”

The increase in the feeling of isolation even when the most severe restrictions were lifted was “noticeable,” said Mario L. Small, a professor of sociology at Harvard University who was not involved in the study. People may have felt they had fewer people to lean on because they physically distanced themselves from a wide network of acquaintances and friends, he said, even as the locks eased.

The researchers found that last summer, despite seeing more people, people’s isolation increased. “Our results show that it is difficult to recover from social isolation and is not just due to increased social contact,” the researchers concluded.

The researchers also point to a strong association between social isolation, particularly among people who said they lacked people to turn to for emotional support, and moderate or severe depression.

Many of the lower-income and less-educated people hardest hit by the pandemic appear to be improving more slowly, said Dr. Lazer. “We are definitely seeing a segregation of fates in terms of socioeconomic status,” he said, with some groups experiencing longer and more uneven recovery.

In response to the sabotage of an Israeli-affiliated Iranian nuclear site last weekend, Iran began enriching its uranium supply to 60 percent purity – the level the country has ever reached for a weapon.

Iran’s move, reported in state media on Friday, made good the threats Iranian officials announced following the sabotage that threw a new cloud over the talks to save the 2015 deal that broke the nuclear Limits Iran’s ability to trade in exchange for the relief of sanctions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani went further and, when those talks resumed in Vienna, boasted that his scientists could easily enrich uranium to 90 percent purity – weapons grade fuel – despite the fact that, as Iranian leaders have repeatedly stressed, he did insisted that Iran “never aspires to make an atomic bomb. “

What is the significance of uranium purity, which is at the heart of the deal the negotiators are trying to save? And why is Iran making these claims? Some basic questions and answers:

What is the goal of uranium enrichment?

Uranium contains a rare radioactive isotope called U-235, which can power nuclear reactors with low enrichment and atom bombs with much higher propulsion. The goal of uranium enrichment is to increase the percentage of U-235, which is often achieved through the use of centrifuges – machines that spin some form of unrefined uranium at high speed.

Under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran was allowed to keep up to 300 kilograms of uranium, which was enriched to 3.67 percent for civilian nuclear power. Iran also agreed to stop enriching uranium above 5 percent and shut down hundreds of centrifuges. The uranium supply fell well below the amount needed to make a single bomb.

Why does Iran have more enriched uranium now?

After President Donald J. Trump rejected the Iran deal in 2018, imposed economic sanctions on Iran, and imposed further penalties, Iran took a tiered series of steps from complying with the deal to retaliation – increasing its uranium supply by 3.67 percent , Adding centrifuges and increasing uranium purity in part of the supply to 20 percent and restricting international inspectors’ access to some nuclear sites. Meanwhile, the country said these were easily reversible acts.

What makes the 60 percent enrichment level particularly threatening is that the difficult enrichment process becomes much easier and requires fewer centrifuges when it gets to the higher purities. In other words, a purity of 90 percent is much easier from 20 percent and even easier from 60 percent.

How much enriched uranium does Iran have now?

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear surveillance arm, Iran had amassed 2,967.8 kilograms of uranium in February – roughly 14 times the nuclear deal limit and theoretically enough to power about three atomic bombs if refined to weapon quality. The stock contains 17.6 kilograms, enriched to 20 percent – also banned until 2030.

Did last weekend’s sabotage affect Iran’s ability to enrich uranium?

Almost certainly yes. While Iranian officials have come up with conflicting reports about the extent of centrifuge damage at Natanz, the sabotaged enrichment complex, at least one has claimed that several thousand machines have been destroyed. But Iran also has a second well-known enrichment site, an underground facility called Fordow, which houses around 1,000 centrifuges. Some were used earlier this year to enrich uranium to 20 percent.

Nuclear experts estimate that Iran would have to use around 500 centrifuges for this task in order to enrich uranium with a purity level of 20 percent to 60 percent. Around 100 more spinning machines would be needed to further increase the degree of cleaning to 90 percent.

In an interview, Olli Heinonen, a former chief inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran could theoretically enrich from 60 percent to 90 percent in a week, compared to a month or so if it went up from 20 percent.

“It’s not a big difference. At this point, this is a demonstration, ”he said of Iran’s 60 percent risk of enrichment. “They want to show that they can.”

Does that mean Iran could be producing a bomb in a week?

No. Dr. Heinonen and others said it was far more difficult to turn 90 percent enriched uranium into the core of an atomic bomb. It could take months. And such an estimate does not include the technology, testing, and time required to mount the weapon on a missile warhead, which could take much longer.

Why should Iran point out such capabilities?

The danger of militarizing its nuclear capabilities has always been a negotiating tool for Iran – both in the talks that led to the 2015 agreement and in the ongoing negotiations. At the same time, Tehran has made it clear that it wants to reach an agreement that will end the onerous American sanctions that are severely hampering Iranian oil sales and international financial transactions. This partly explains Iran’s reluctance to take military revenge on attacks on its nuclear sites.

“Iran sees itself as a boxer in the ring,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iran expert, professor and director of the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. “People hit left and right without damaging the other side.”

With the 60 percent gain, Boroujerdi said, “Iranian leaders are trying to fall back on their aces.”