Science

Major US-Backed HIV Vaccine Trial Ends In Failure

NBC News reports: The only HIV vaccine in a late-stage trial has failed, researchers announced Wednesday, dealing a significant blow to the effort to control the global HIV epidemic and adding to a decadeslong roster of failed attempts. Known as Mosaico, the trial was the product of a public-private partnership including the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical giant Janssen. It …

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Robotics Outfit Displays Future Construction Workers

The Verge reports: Is Boston Dynamics slowly preparing to put its bipedal robots to work? In a glossy new video, the company has shown off its prototype Atlas robot tossing planks and tool bags around in a fake construction site. It’s a notable change in messaging from the Hyundai-owned company, which has never previously emphasized how its bipedal machines could …

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Ohio Measles Outbreak Blamed On Anti-Vax Parents

The Washington Post reports: A rapidly growing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio — largely involving unvaccinated children — is fueling concerns among health officials that more parent resistance to routine childhood immunizations will intensify a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. More than a third of parents with children under 18 — and 28 percent of all adults — now say parents …

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FL Supreme Court Empanels Jury On Vaccine Probe

Florida Politics reports: Contending that its role in whether to empanel a statewide grand jury is largely “ministerial,” the Florida Supreme Court has given the go-ahead for a statewide investigation into whether vaccine manufacturers committed any wrongdoing in the development, marketing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose administration has been increasing its skepticism of the vaccines …

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NASA “Retires” Mars Lander After Batteries Finally Die

Via press release from NASA: NASA’s InSight mission has ended after more than four years of collecting unique science on Mars. Mission controllers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California were unable to contact the lander after two consecutive attempts, leading them to conclude the spacecraft’s solar-powered batteries have run out of energy – a state engineers …

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Updated Booster Prevents Majority Of Hospitalizations

The Hill reports: New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the bivalent COVID-19 booster shot was effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and emergency room visits. Reports released by the CDC Friday offer some of the first evidence of the booster’s effectiveness against hospitalizations and medical encounters. The boosters were especially effective in adults …

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Study Shows Long COVID Can Be Cause Of Death

The Washington Post reports: A study released Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics found that more than 3,500 Americans died of long-covid-related illness in the first 2½ years of the pandemic. While those deaths represent a small fraction of the 1 million deaths from the coronavirus, they reinforce the danger of ignoring the lingering symptoms that many patients …

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Energy Dept Announces Fusion Research Breakthrough

Yahoo News reports: The U.S. Department of Energy announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion on Tuesday that puts the world one step closer to harnessing an abundant energy source free from carbon emissions and long-lived radioactive waste. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirmed that scientists achieved a reaction that created more energy than was used — known as a net …

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STUDY: Coronavirus Vaccines Averted 3M US Deaths

STAT News reports: This Wednesday will mark two years since nurse Sandra Lindsay became the first person in the U.S. to receive a Covid-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial. A study released Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund shows that in those two years, the Covid vaccines have averted over 3 million deaths in the U.S. The CDC estimates that …

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REPORT: US To Unveil Breakthrough In Fusion Research

CBS News reports: The U.S. Department of Energy said Sunday it would announce a “major scientific breakthrough” this week, after media reported a federal laboratory had recently achieved a major milestone in nuclear fusion research. The Financial Times reported Sunday that scientists in the California-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) had achieved a “net energy gain” from an experimental fusion …

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NASA’s Orion Capsule Splashes Down In Pacific [Video]

Space.com reports: NASA’s Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft returned to Earth on Sunday after nearly a month in space. Artemis 1’s uncrewed Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California Sunday around 12:40 p.m. Orion launched atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on Nov. 16, kicking off the highly anticipated Artemis 1 mission. The …

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FDA To Ease Rules For Blood Donation By Gay Men

Axios reports: The Food and Drug Administration is weighing a series of moves to make it easier for gay and bisexual men and other individuals to donate blood amid a nationwide blood shortage. The FDA is considering easing blood donor screening restrictions for men who have sex with men that originated during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. An option …

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Researchers Announce Potential Fentanyl “Vaccine”

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: After five years of testing and research, the University of Houston is announcing a breakthrough that could be a powerful, life-saving tool against the opioid epidemic. It’s a vaccine that stops fentanyl from getting into the brain. If the drug does not get into the brain, there are no effects. There are no euphoric effects, and …

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NASA’s Artemis Rocket Successfully Launches [VIDEO]

The New York Times reports: NASA’s majestic new rocket soared into space for the first time in the early hours of Wednesday, lighting up the night sky and accelerating on a journey that will take an astronaut-less capsule around the moon and back. This flight, evoking the bygone Apollo era, is a crucial test for NASA’s Artemis program that aims …

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COVID Outbreak Halts Research Travel To Antarctica

NBC News reports: Covid outbreak at an American scientific research station in Antarctica has forced U.S. officials to temporarily halt all travel to the remote outpost. The National Science Foundation, which operates McMurdo Station on the southern tip of Antarctica’s Ross Island, announced new measures over the weekend to help control the outbreak. The agency confirmed that 10% of the …

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Unshocking Study: Right Wing Policies Cost US Lives

From the study’s abstract: The rise in working-age mortality rates in the United States in recent decades largely reflects stalled declines in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality alongside rising mortality from alcohol-induced causes, suicide, and drug poisoning; and it has been especially severe in some U.S. states. Building on recent work, this study examined whether U.S. state policy contexts may be …

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NASA: Asteroid Deflection Test Was Successful [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: A spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away succeeded in shifting its orbit, NASA said Tuesday in announcing the results of its save-the-world test. The Dart spacecraft carved a crater into the asteroid Dimorphos on Sept. 26, hurling debris out into space and creating a cometlike trail of dust and rubble …

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CDC Study: Long COVID Is Still Disabling Millions

ABC News reports: Most people suffering from long COVID are experiencing some trouble performing day-to-day activities, new federal data shows. As of Sept. 26, 81% of adults with ongoing symptoms of COVID lasting three months or longer — or four out of five adults — are experiencing limitations in their daily activities compared to before they had the virus. Patients …

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CDC Warns That Flu Season May Be Worst In Years

Via press release from the CDC: With a potentially severe respiratory season ahead, about half of all US adults remain vulnerable to influenza (flu), according to new data released today by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). The new NFID survey of US adults found that only 49% plan to get a flu vaccine during the 2022-2023 flu season. …

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Study: New Alzheimer’s Drug Slows Cognitive Decline

The Washington Post reports: An experimental Alzheimer’s drug slowed cognitive and functional decline by 27 percent in a closely watched clinical trial, the sponsors of the medication said Tuesday, increasing the therapy’s chance for approval as soon as early next year. Japanese drugmaker Eisai and its American partner, Biogen, in a news release said the slowing of deterioration, compared with …

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