Science

Via press release from the CDC: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test that detects chemical compounds in breath samples associated with a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The test can be performed in environments where the patient specimen is both collected and analyzed, such as doctor’s offices, hospitals and mobile …

UPI reports: COVID-19 causes loss of sense of smell in some of those infected by not only damaging the tissue in the nasal cavity, but also the area of the brain responsible for controlling the senses, a study published Monday by JAMA Neurology found. The white matter region of the brain plays a key role in communication between cells in …

The New York Times reports: At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, precisely 72 years after enumerators began knocking on the doors of some 46 million American houses and apartments, the federal government made public what they learned: the ages, incomes, addresses, ancestry and a trove of other facts about the 150.7 million people who were counted in the 1950 census. Those …

Courthouse News Service reports: Brain injuries that result from Covid-19 infections, such as small bleeds and intense inflammation, are present in primates who have been infected, even when the infections were mild, according to a new study published Friday. This new finding from researchers at Tulane University was published in an article in the science journal, Nature Communications. It is …

The New York Times reports: The anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which has surged in popularity as an alternative treatment for Covid-19 despite a lack of strong research to back it up, showed no sign of alleviating the disease, according to results of a large clinical trial published on Wednesday. The study, which compared more than 1,300 people infected with the coronavirus …

Mediaite reports: Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested he may retire soon in a recent interview with ABC News. Fauci joined Brad Mielke on the podcast Start Here on Friday, during which he addressed an impending increase in Covid-19 cases from the BA.2 variant. “I have said that I would stay in what I’m doing until we get out of the pandemic …

USA Today reports: The study, published Monday in Nature, used before-and-after brain images of 785 British people, ages 51 to 81, to look for any changes. About half the participants contracted COVID-19 between the scans – mostly when the alpha variant was circulating – which left many people at least temporarily without a sense of smell. Analysis of the “before” …

Salon reports: A new study conducted by Tulane National Primate Research Center has collected data pointing towards evidence that the coronavirus has a negative impact on four different areas of the male genital tract. The 500-acre primate center where the study was conducted is located in Covington, Louisiana and houses upwards of 4,800 primates. Results concluded that three male rhesus …

Changing America reports: As the U.S. experiences more and more severe weather events, a special satellite was launched into space today that aims to help scientists on Earth predict when hurricanes will hit, lightning might strike and fires break out. NASA successfully launched a third satellite in a series of next-generation weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration …

The New York Times reports: Scientists released a pair of extensive studies on Saturday that point to a market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Analyzing data from a variety of sources, they concluded that the coronavirus was very likely present in live mammals sold in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019 and suggested …

CBS News reports: Americans in parts of the country deemed to have “low” levels of the disease — currently about 29.5% of the population — no longer need to wear masks indoors, according to the CDC’s new framework. Residents of counties at “medium” risk — around 42.2% of the country’s population – should wear masks if they are at heightened …

Via press release from the FDA: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of the first condoms specifically indicated to help reduce transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during anal intercourse. The condoms, which will be marketed as the One Male Condom, are also indicated as a contraceptive to help reduce the risk of pregnancy and the …

Vice News reports: Varying doses of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, were intranasally delivered to hamsters—only some of which were vaccinated against the virus. What researchers found was an “acute decrease” in sperm count and testosterone levels four to seven days post-infection in unvaccinated hamsters. Meanwhile, “damage” to the testicular tissue—including inflammation, degeneration, and necrosis—was observed as early as …

France 24 reports: French researcher Luc Montagnier, who has died at 89, shared the Nobel medicine prize for his vital early discoveries on AIDS, but was later dismissed by the scientific community for his increasingly outlandish theories, notably on Covid-19. Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi shared the Nobel in 2008 for their work at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in isolating …

The Guardian reports: The International Space Station (ISS) will continue its operations until 2030 before heading for a watery grave at the most remote point in the Pacific, Nasa confirmed in a new transition plan this week. More than 30 years after its 1998 launch, the ISS will be “de-orbited” in January 2031, according to the space agency’s budget estimates. …

Reuters reports: Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Tuesday they started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has eluded some of the protection provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen. Banking on volunteers in the United States, the companies plan to test the immune response …

Space.com reports: After traveling almost a million miles, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reached its final destination today (Jan. 24). The most powerful observatory ever to launch to space, the James Webb Space Telescope lifted off on Dec. 25, 2021 to explore the cosmos and our universe’s earliest milestones. Since its successful takeoff, the $10 billion telescope has been busy …

Salon reports: Approximately 500,000 Americans are now diagnosed with Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease, annually — double the number of cases reported in the 1990s. A group of researchers at Yale University is trying to revive a Lyme vaccine. By using messenger RNA — the same technology that Pfizer and Moderna used in their COVID-19 vaccines — the researchers were …

The Associated Press reports: Get ready to learn more Greek letters. Scientists warn that omicron’s whirlwind advance practically ensures it won’t be the last version of the coronavirus to worry the world. Every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate, and omicron has an edge over its predecessors: It spreads way faster despite emerging on a planet with …

City News Service reports: A UCLA-led team of researchers believe they may have found a way to kill HIV-infected cells inside infected individuals, opening a “new paradigm for a possible HIV cure in the future,” the study’s lead author said Monday. The breakthrough could potentially reduce, if not eliminate, the virus from the currently 38-million people around the world who …