Tag Archives: science

SpaceX Capsule Successfully Splashes Down In Gulf

CBS News reports: Crew Dragon astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken enjoyed wakeup messages from their young sons early Sunday before readying their ship for a fiery plunge back to Earth and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola to close out a 64-day test flight. Hurley and Behnken, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on May 30, …

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LIVE VIDEO: NASA Launches Mission To Mars

The New York Times reports: The final launch of the summer of Mars missions is nearly underway. On Thursday, NASA hopes to send a robotic rover and a small experimental helicopter on a journey of six and a half months to the red planet. It follows two earlier launches by the United Arab Emirates and China. NASA was originally scheduled …

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Biotech Firm Licenses At-Home COVID Saliva Test

Barron’s Daily reports: A small biotech called Sorrento Therapeutics announced Wednesday that it had licensed a Covid-19 test from Columbia University that, according to a small study, can provide highly accurate results in thirty minutes using only a person’s saliva. In an interview Monday, Sorrento CEO Dr. Henry Ji said that the test could eventually be used to test people …

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First US Phase Three COVID Vaccine Trial Begins

CNN reports: The first Phase 3 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States began Monday. The investigational vaccine was developed by the biotechnology company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The trial is to be conducted at nearly 100 US research sites, according to Moderna. The …

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Fauci’s First Pitch Socially Distances From Home Plate

Yahoo Sports reports: The most famous person on the field before Thursday opening night game between the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals wasn’t Aaron Judge, Max Scherzer or Gerrit Cole. It was Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who has been so prominent in America’s response to the coronavirus. During his time in the public eye, Fauci has …

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US Sets COVID Vax Price At $40, Similar To Flu Shot

Reuters reports: The U.S. government has set a benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine pricing in a $2 billion deal announced on Wednesday with Pfizer and German biotech BioNTech that will likely pressure other manufacturers to set similar prices, industry analysts told Reuters. The deal, which is contingent on an approvable product, secures enough vaccine to inoculate 50 million Americans for about …

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China Launches Uncrewed Mission To Mars [VIDEO]

CBS News reports: A powerful Long March 5 rocket blasted off Thursday carrying a Chinese orbiter, lander and rover on a seven-month voyage to Mars, the second of three high-stakes missions to the red planet and one that, if successful, will put China on the front lines of interplanetary exploration. China did not announce the launch date or time in …

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Oxford Vax Found Safe In Early Trial Results [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: A coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is safe and shows signs of inducing an immune response, according to early clinical trial results published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet. The trial did not look at whether the vaccine prevents coronavirus infection, however. That’s a question that will be answered in …

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Over 100,000 Volunteer For US COVID Vaccine Trial

USA Today reports: At a time when some Americans are concerned about the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine, tens of thousands have already volunteered to help bring one into existence. As of last week, more than 107,000 people had signed up to take part in testing. “That’s why we’re optimistic that we’re going to be able to get the trials …

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UK Pharma Claims Breakthrough On COVID Treatment

CNBC reports: British pharmaceutical company Synairgen has claimed that its new respiratory coronavirus treatment has reduced the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients needing intensive care in a clinical trial. The company said its nebulizer treatment produced a 79% lower risk of patients developing severe disease than those given a placebo in initial trials. Patients that received the treatment “were more …

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Researchers Focus On T Cells In COVID Vaccine Hunt

Reuters reports: As scientists question whether the presence, or absence, of antibodies to the novel coronavirus can reliably determine immunity, some are looking to a different component of the immune system, known as T cells, for their role in protecting people in the pandemic. Recent studies show that some recovered patients who tested negative for coronavirus antibodies did develop T …

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STUDY: Lockdowns Saved Up To 370,000 US Lives

Axios reports: As many as 250,000 to 370,000 deaths may have been averted between March and May 15 as a result of the statewide stay-at-home orders enacted to mitigate spread of the coronavirus, a study published Thursday in Health Affairs projects. Lockdown restrictions have largely been lifted, but the coronavirus pandemic keeps getting worse all across the country. New modeling …

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Scientists Warn Of COVID-Related Brain Disorders

The Guardian reports: Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients, scientists have warned. Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of more than 40 UK Covid-19 patients whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In some cases, the …

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Injectable Drug More Effective For PrEP Than Truvada

The Washington Post reports: A long-acting drug injected every two months is more effective at preventing HIV than the pills most commonly used by people at risk of acquiring the infection, according to research released Tuesday at an international AIDS conference. The drug cabotegravir was tested on more than 4,500 cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women …

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Study Shows COVID “Herd Immunity” May Be Unlikely

CNN reports: Spain’s large-scale study on the coronavirus indicates just 5% of its population has developed antibodies, strengthening evidence that a so-called herd immunity to Covid-19 is “unachievable,” the medical journal the Lancet reported on Monday. The findings show that 95% of Spain’s population remains susceptible to the virus. Herd immunity is achieved when enough of a population has become …

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Brain-Eating Amoeba Emerges In Florida Because 2020

The Daily Beast reports: Health officials in Florida have sounded the alarm over the discovery of a rare, brain-eating amoeba in the county that encompasses Tampa and several other cities. The Florida Department of Health announced the news Friday that a person in Hillsborough County had suffered a confirmed infection of naegleria fowleri, a single-celled living amoeba that can lead …

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Pfizer COVID Vaccine Shows Early Promise [VIDEO]

STAT News reports: An experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the drug giant Pfizer and the biotech firm BioNTech spurred immune responses in healthy patients, but also caused fever and other side effects, especially at higher doses. The first clinical data on the vaccine were disclosed Wednesday in a paper released on medRXiv, a preprint server, meaning it has not …

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Researchers Debate “Challenge Trials” For Vaccines

The New York Times reports: One way to quickly see if a coronavirus vaccine works would be to immunize healthy people and then deliberately expose them to the virus, some researchers are suggesting. Proponents say this strategy, called a human challenge trial, could save time because rather than conducting tests the usual way — by waiting for vaccinated people to …

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“Superspreader” Incidents Are Causing Most Infections

Scientific American reports: As scientists have learned more about COVID-19, it has become clear that so-called superspreader incidents—in which one person infects a disproportionate number of other individuals—have played an oversized role in the transmission of the virus that causes the disease. A Boston conference and the funeral in Georgia were among several superspreader events that played “a notable role …

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POLL: 87% Say They’ve Worn Masks In The Past Week

Just in from Ipsos Polling: Concern with potential coronavirus infection has rebounded in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll as the number of cases in the South and West surge, even as more Americans are leaving the home. This trend is connected to increases in protective actions and decreased willingness to engage in certain ‘routine’ activities. Americans are increasingly concerned with …

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