If you watched the video that I published on Wednesday you can hear me beginning to lose my voice. That’s because like everyone else in my house and seemingly everyone in my neighborhood, I had a cold last week. Thankfully, none of us had COVID-19. But it was a reminder that the common cold is still around and can still make you feel crummy for a few days. 

Almost as if they were looking into our house, the producers of TED-Ed released a new video on Friday titled Why Is It So Hard to Cure the Common Cold? The video provides a concise explanation of the type of virus that causes common colds, what makes it different from COVID-19, and what makes it so hard to cure or create a vaccine against. 

Why Is It So Hard to Cure the Common Cold? is the latest addition to TED-Ed’s playlist titled Humans vs. Viruses in which you can find another nineteen lessons about things like how vaccines work, how the human immune system works, and how often you should get a flu shot. 

On a related note, Colds, the Flu, and You is a video from SciShow Kids that explains the differences between common colds and influenza.