Science

FDA Loosens Restrictions On Gay/Bisexual Blood Donors

The Associated Press reports: Gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can donate blood in the U.S. without abstaining from sex, under a federal policy finalized Thursday by health regulators. The Food and Drug Administration guidelines ease decades-old restrictions designed to protect the blood supply from HIV. The agency announced plans for the change in January and said this week …

Read More »

FDA Advisors Back OTC Sales Of Birth Control Pills

The New York Times reports: A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Wednesday that the benefits of making a birth control pill available without a prescription outweigh the risks, a significant step in the decades-long push to make oral contraception obtainable over the counter in the United States. If the F.D.A. approves nonprescription sales …

Read More »

WHO Declares End To Global Coronavirus Emergency

Reuters reports: COVID-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Friday, a major step towards the end of the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy and ravaged communities. “Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to …

Read More »

UK Study: HIV Drug Shows Promise Against Dementia

Fierce Biotech reports: An HIV drug from GSK or ones like it could have new therapeutic potential against neurodegenerative disease, findings in mice suggest. In a report published April 26 in Neuron, scientists from the University of Cambridge described how they established a link between microglia and autophagy in the etiology of dementia and Huntington’s disease. They also showed that …

Read More »

Consumer Reports Warns Peeps Might Cause Cancer

Gothamist reports: Consumer Reports is pushing for the removal of Red Dye No. 3 from multiple Peeps candies — saying the ingredient is a carcinogen — days ahead of Easter and peak Peep season. Several Peeps products — including Pink Marshmallow Chicks, Easter Marshmallow Pink Bunnies and Easter Marshmallow — contain the ingredient, which has been debated for decades over …

Read More »

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Files For Bankruptcy

The BBC reports: British billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s rocket company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy in the US after failing to secure new investment. The satellite launch company halted operations weeks ago but it hopes to find a buyer for the business. The company, based in California, announced last week that it would cut 85% of its 750-strong workforce. …

Read More »

NASA Intros Astronauts For Artemis II Lunar Mission

CBS News reports: A Canadian astronaut and three NASA veterans, including one of the world’s most experienced female spacewalkers, will fly around the moon next year in the first piloted voyage beyond Earth orbit since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago, the space agency announced Monday. NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover will join Canadian rookie Jeremy …

Read More »

Elon Musk Joins Letter Calling For Pause In AI Research

The Verge reports: A number of well-known AI researchers — and Elon Musk — have signed an open letter calling on AI labs around the world to pause development of large-scale AI systems, citing fears over the “profound risks to society and humanity” they claim this software poses. The letter, published by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, notes that …

Read More »

Pharma Claims Nasal ED Spray Works In Five Minutes

The New York Post reports: Viagra could soon be getting some very stiff competition. Researchers in Australia claim to have developed a nasal spray to combat erectile dysfunction — and it could be rolled out to American consumers within two years. The spray-to-play product reportedly works in as little as five minutes, meaning it could be a bedroom game changer …

Read More »

CDC Issues Warning On Drug-Resistant Fungus

NPR reports: The fungus Candida auris is becoming a more dangerous public health care threat, as the number of drug-resistant cases jumped in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The national public health agency is calling C. auris an urgent threat because of its resistance to medications. It can cause serious illness and death in people …

Read More »

Vaccine Makers Ready Bird Flu Shots For Humans

Reuters reports: Some of the world’s leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide. One current outbreak of avian flu known as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has killed record numbers of birds and infected mammals. Human …

Read More »

Study Points To “Raccoon Dogs” As Origin Of COVID

The Atlantic reports: Many scientists have stood by the notion that this outbreak—like most others—had purely natural roots. But that hypothesis has been missing a key piece of proof: genetic evidence from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, showing that the virus had infected creatures for sale there. This week, an international team of virologists, genomicists, and evolutionary …

Read More »

Study: Half Of Men Are Neither Grower Nor Show-er

The Daily Beast reports: Alonso Isa and a group of urologists from Spain set out to answer a question that few have asked scientifically: Is shower and grower even a thing? They concluded that these categories were real, but two extreme ends of a spectrum. Most men, the researchers found, fall into a middle gray area. By measuring flaccid and …

Read More »

Florida Man Dies From Brain-Eating Amoeba After Rinsing His Sinuses With County Tap Water [VIDEO]

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A Florida resident died after being infected by a rare amoeba last week, health officials say. According to a WFTX report, Charlotte County health officials said the unidentified male patient likely contracted Nagleria fowleri after rinsing out his sinuses with tap water. Eric Milbrandt, director of the marine laboratory at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, said the …

Read More »

FDA Rejected Musk’s Plan For Human Brain Implants

Reuters reports: On at least four occasions since 2019, Elon Musk has predicted that his medical device company, Neuralink, would soon start human trials of a revolutionary brain implant to treat intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness. Yet the company, founded in 2016, didn’t seek permission from the FDA until early 2022 – and the agency rejected the application, seven current …

Read More »

Energy Dept Has “Low Confidence” In Lab Leak Theory

Axios reports: A new U.S. government assessment that COVID-19 likely originated from a lab leak in China has ignited yet another round of political furor around the issue, adding to many Republicans’ anger over how the pandemic was handled even as many scientists remain convinced the virus most likely originated naturally. Department of Energy scientists concluded in a “low confidence” …

Read More »

Measles Outbreak Hits Christian Youth Revival Event

USA Today reports: Three measles cases have been identified in Kentucky and are linked to the large, two week-long revival on the campus of Asbury University, a Christian school in Wilmore. Thousands of people from all over the country and globe attended the religious service – which captured the attention of social media users worldwide as the revival went viral …

Read More »

Study: Penises Have Gotten 24% Larger In 30 Years

Stanford Medicine’s Scope Blog reports: According to trends in male reproductive health data, sperm quality and testosterone levels have declined over the last few decades, sounding alarm bells for Michael Eisenberg, MD, a professor of urology at Stanford Medicine. It’s made him wonder: Should we be concerned about other differences in men’s reproductive health? In a study published Feb. 14 …

Read More »

FDA To Ease Ban On Gay Men Donating Blood

The Associated Press reports: Gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships will no longer be forced to abstain from sex to donate blood under federal guidelines to be proposed in coming days, ending a vestige of the earliest days of the AIDS crisis. The planned relaxation of restrictions by the Food and Drug Administration follows years of pressure by blood …

Read More »

Laboratory-Grown Meat Could Go On Sale This Year

Reuters reports: Once the stuff of science fiction, lab-grown meat could become reality in some restaurants in the United States as early as this year. Executives at cultivated meat companies are optimistic that meat grown in massive steel vats could be on the menu within months after one company won the go-ahead from a key regulator. Cultivated meat is derived …

Read More »