--- description: Finally a cure for the common cold, stop drinking diet soda and more. title: Finally A Cure for the Common Cold image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Five Best Ideas](/tag/five-best-ideas/) ## Five Best Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Finally A Cure for the Common Cold by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 20, 2017 5:15 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 20, 2017 5:15 PM CUT **1\.** [**No, really this time, a cure for the common cold.**](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/health/common-cold-duration-is-shortened-similarly-by-zinc-acetate-and-zinc-gluconate-lozenges "undefined") By Päivi Lehtinen at the _University of Helsinki_ **2\.** [**Stop drinking diet soda.**](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/health/diet-sodas-stroke-dementia-study/index.html "undefined") By Jacqueline Howard at _CNN_ **3\.** [**Unlocking the secrets of ‘aha moments’ to discover better ways of learning.**](https://news.osu.edu/news/2017/04/17/aha-moment/ "undefined") By Jeff Grabmeier at the _Ohio State University_ **4\.** [**Why Americans are leaving the cities again.**](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/why-is-everyone-leaving-the-city/521844/ "undefined") By Derek Thompson in the _Atlantic_ **5\.** [**Here’s how to make sure you’ll actually go to the gym.**](https://www.thecut.com/2017/03/how-to-choose-a-gym-so-that-youll-actually-go-to-the-gym.html "undefined") By Cari Romm in the _Cut_  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5073623/finally-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5073623/finally-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/"},"headline":"Finally A Cure for the Common Cold","datePublished":"2017-12-20T17:15:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:16.035Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/5073623/finally-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/","keywords":["Five Best Ideas","Innovation","Exercise","Soda","cities","health","learning"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/five-best-ideas/","name":"Five Best Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5073623/finally-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/","name":"Finally A Cure for the Common Cold"}}]}] ```