Science

The Associated Press reports: Russia will opt out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s newly appointed space chief said Tuesday. Yuri Borisov, who was appointed earlier this month to lead the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos, said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will fulfill its …

Via press release: The international NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the deepest, sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe so far. U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled the image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, during a White House event on Monday 11 July. The image – which focuses on a spot in the …

The Washington Post reports: America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas. The latest omicron offshoot, BA.5, has quickly become dominant in the United States, and thanks to its elusiveness when encountering the human immune system, is driving a wave of cases across the country. Many people now see the pandemic as part of the fabric …

New York City’s CBS affiliate reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says COVID is a concern in New York City. All five boroughs have a “high” community level and that’s prompting local health officials to recommend New Yorkers wear masks again. The city is up to a 15.4 percent positivity rate. But going back to wearing masks might …

The Washington Post reports: Former NFL star Demaryius Thomas was diagnosed with Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), his family said in a statement on Tuesday, after doctors at the Boston University CTE Center studied the former wide receiver’s brain. Thomas was found dead in December at his Roswell, Ga. home at the age of 33, and while the cause …

Ars Technica reports: Among adults vaccinated against COVID-19, the odds of developing long COVID amid the omicron wave were about 20 percent to 50 percent lower than during the delta period, with variability based on age and time since vaccination. The finding comes from a case-control observational study published this week in The Lancet by researchers at Kings College London. …

Changing America reports: Researchers have developed a new type of blood test to check for potential COVID-19 immunity. How the test works is explained in a study published this week in Nature Biotechnology. The test, called dqTACT, requires the mixture of a small blood sample with peptides, essentially a chain of proteins, from the COVID-19 virus. Once the mixture takes …

Via press release from NASA: NASA is commissioning a study team to start early in the fall to examine unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) – that is, observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena – from a scientific perspective. The study will focus on identifying available data, how best to collect future …

NBC News reports: The CDC is raising its alert level for monkeypox to level two, all at an abundance of caution. This means health officials are recommending that travelers wear masks on planes and other public transits. “The number of cases of monkeypox has continued to increase to almost 1,000 people now with confirmed or suspected cases in more than …

The Daily Beast reports: In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, a group of researchers led by neuroscientists at Yale University uncovered an experimental drug taken orally that appears to reverse brain damage in mice afflicted by Alzheimer’s, and could protect the brain from future damage for at least one month. If its success and remarkable …

Via press release from the World Health Organization: Since 13 May 2022, monkeypox has been reported to WHO from 23 Member States that are not endemic for monkeypox virus, across four WHO regions. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing. The vast majority of reported cases so far have no established travel links to an endemic area and have presented through primary care …

ABC News reports: Abbott Laboratories said Thursday that it is working to develop a test that it would then provide to partners of its Pandemic Defense Coalition, a spokesperson said. Abbott’s announcement comes one day after Roche announced it had developed three kits to detect the virus. Roche, which is based in Switzerland, said one test detects orthopoxviruses, which is …

CNBC reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday alerted gay and bisexual men that monkeypox appears to be spreading in the community globally, cautioning people to take precautions if they have been in close contact with someone who may have the virus and to be on the lookout for symptoms. Dr. John Brooks, a CDC official, emphasized …

Bloomberg News reports: The US Supreme Court turned away a challenge to New York’s requirement that schoolchildren be vaccinated against serious diseases, refusing to question the state’s 2019 repeal of its longstanding exemption for families with religious objections. The justices without comment left in place a state court ruling that said New York wasn’t targeting religion when it eliminated the …

CNN reports: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collaborating with Massachusetts health officials on an investigation into a case of monkeypox, the agency said Wednesday in a statement. The case of monkeypox was confirmed in a man in Massachusetts who had recently traveled to Canada, state health officials announced earlier in the day. The patient is hospitalized …

CBS News reports: A House panel held the first public congressional hearing on unidentified flying objects in more than half a century on Tuesday, with top Pentagon officials saying the number of “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) reported by pilots and service members had grown to about 400. Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director …

Space.com reports: The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has done it again. The scientists who in 2019 gave us our first-ever direct image of a black hole are back with results a little closer to home. During joint news conferences held around the world today (May 12), they unveiled our first view of the supermassive black hole at the heart of …

CTV News reports: A policy change years in the making, on Thursday Health Canada approved Canadian Blood Services’ submission to eliminate the three-month donor deferral period for gay and bisexual men as well as some other folks in the LGBTQ2S+ community. Moving away from a blanket ban, the national blood donor organization will be able to screen all donors regardless …

Bloomberg News reports: Researchers have identified five types of bacteria that are linked to aggressive prostate cancer. The bacteria was common in urine and tissue samples from men with the condition, a new study found. It is hoped the findings could help pave the way for treatments that could target this bacteria and slow or prevent the development of aggressive …

The Cornell Chronicle reports: Legalization of recreational marijuana reduces demand for costly prescription drugs through state Medicaid programs, according to an analysis by a Cornell researcher and a collaborator. When states legalize marijuana, the volume of prescriptions within the drug classes that align with the medical indications for pain, depression, anxiety, sleep, psychosis and seizures significantly decline, the researchers found. …