Science

The Independent reports: Scientists have managed to remove DNA of the HIV virus from living tissue for the first time in a breakthrough that could lead to an outright cure. At the moment, treating the disease involves the use of drugs that suppress levels of the virus so the body’s immune system can cope. Now researchers in the US have …

From the Associated Press: Three out of every 10 gay or bisexual men in several cities in the U.S. South have been diagnosed with the AIDS virus, three times the national rate, according to a study about how common HIV infections are in metro areas. The study echoes other research that reported higher rates of HIV diagnoses in the South, …

USA Today reports: Surgeons in Boston have performed the first penile transplant in the United States, a procedure that soon could help severely wounded soldiers, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital said Monday. Thomas Manning, 64, whose penis was removed in 2012 due to penile cancer, is recovering well and showing no signs of rejecting the transplant, his surgeons said. “Today …

Yahoo recaps: On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver debunked scientific studies that make outrageous claims. Oliver pointed to an example of an all too familiar subject of studies: Coffee. “In just the last few months, we’ve seen studies about coffee that claim it may reverse the effects of liver damage, help prevent colon cancer, decrease the risk of endometrial …

Patrick Strudwick reports at Buzzfeed: The NHS in England is to reconsider its controversial decision not to provide the drug that prevents HIV, BuzzFeed News can reveal. Faced with the threat of legal action by one of Britain’s leading HIV charities, NHS England’s lawyers have said that a dedicated committee will meet next month to look again at the pronouncement. …

STAT News reports: Men can contract Zika through unprotected sex with other men who are infected with the virus, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday, a finding that adds to experts’ understanding of how Zika can be transmitted. The CDC said a case of sexual transmission that occurred in Dallas in January — and was reported in …

Via Science Daily: Around half of all heterosexual men and women potentially carry so-called homosexuality genes that are passed on from one generation to the next. This has helped homosexuality to be present among humans throughout history and in all cultures, even though homosexual men normally do not have many descendants who can directly inherit their genes. This idea is …

From the Los Angeles Times: In a first that gives HIV-infected patients yet another chance for long lives, surgeons at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center have transplanted a kidney and a liver from a dead donor who was HIV-positive into two HIV-positive recipients. The transplant surgeries, which used organs donated by the family of an HIV-positive woman, ended a 25-year …

800K views overnight. Redshirts Always Die recaps: Perhaps Lt. Reginald Barclay was right all along and you should be afraid of the transporter! This hilarious, but informative video breaks down the problems with Star Trek’s transporters. It seems they may not be quite as safe as the Federation would have you believe. (I think Section 31 is behind this!)

Coming Soon sets up the trailer for Disney’s coming IMAX spectacular: A Beautiful Planet aims to offer a breathtaking portrait of Earth from space, providing a unique perspective and increased understanding of our planet and galaxy as never seen before. Made in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the film features stunning footage of our magnificent blue …

NBC News reports: After living for nearly a year aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is two inches taller than his identical twin brother Mark. One of the main goals of his groundbreaking mission is to study how well humans can endure — mind, body and spirit — on a long-duration spaceflight. Kelly, who has spent more …

From NASA: This ethereal scene captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft tells yet another story of Pluto’s diversity of geological and compositional features—this time in an enhanced color image of the north polar area. Long canyons run vertically across the polar area—part of the informally named Lowell Regio, named for Percival Lowell, who founded Lowell Observatory and initiated the search …

Some of the most ardent proponents of PrEP have warned that few medications are 100% effective. Today, sadly, comes proof. Poz.com reports: Researchers have for the first time documented a case of an individual contracting HIV, a multi-drug resistant strain, while apparently adhering well to the daily regimen of Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The scientists concluded that it …

A fascinating development via ArsTechnica: As long as there’s lingering HIV, patients must keep taking the drugs, which cause side-effects, make for high prescription bills, and raise the threat of drug resistance. At least, that’s the case for now. In a new study, scientists reveal a possible way to literally hack those lurking viruses out of a person’s DNA strands. …

Via the Washington Post: A group of scientists says it has now reconstructed the history of the planet’s sea levels arcing back over some 3,000 years — leading it to conclude that the rate of increase experienced in the 20th century was “extremely likely” to have been faster than during nearly the entire period. “We can say with 95 percent …

The Washington Post reports: Johns Hopkins announced this week that it had received approval from the nation’s organ-sharing authority to become the first hospital in the United States to conduct transplants involving HIV-positive donors and HIV-positive recipients. “This is an unbelievably exciting day for our hospital and our team, but more importantly for patients living with HIV and end-stage organ …

Karen Ocamb reports at Frontiers: AIDS ain’t over, and neither is the effort to find money and fame by charlatans promising a cure. Friday night, controversial libertarian Bill Maher gave a primetime spot on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher to an Australian doctor who claims he successfully treated HIV-positive actor Charlie Sheen through an alternative therapy. Maher …

The International Astronomical Union has announced the names of a slew of exoplanets and stars as chosen by worldwide public ballot. Enter exoplanet Poltergeist, as nominated by an Italian group. Also new to the nomenclature galaxy is the star Cervantes (Spain) and the exoplanet Galileo (Netherlands).  The IAU writes: The votes are in — the names of 19 ExoWorlds (14 …

Thirty years ago today the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. Today is NASA’s Day Of Remembrance, which also marks the losses of other US space teams. Watch below. Where were you that day?

Watch below. Here’s how they did it: The near-real-time operational GEOS-5 system ingests more than 5 million observations every six hours producing comprehensive analyses and forecasts of the atmosphere each day at 25-km global resolution. This experimental product uses the global mesoscale capabilities of GEOS-5 to downscale the operational product to 6-km global resolution. Subsequent forecasts are launched with this …