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May 3, 2020

Fact check: COVID-19 UV light treatment is being studied — not yet in use — in Los Angeles

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Researchers are working on a medical device that uses UV-A as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients. But a study is in early stages.

May 3, 2020

‘Murder Hornets’ Have Officially Been Spotted in The US. Here’s What You Need to Know

Posted by in category: futurism

As if 2020 wasn’t already bad enough, the US now has another problem to deal with: a terrifying monster insect nicknamed the “murder hornet”.

Officially called the Asian giant hornet, or Vespa mandarinia, the huge insects have been spotted in the US for the first time in recent months, appearing in Washington state, the state’s Department of Agriculture says.

The hornets, which are over two inches long, were first spotted in the state in December last year, and generally become active in the spring, researchers from Washington State University said in a post published in early April.

May 3, 2020

Luzon taken by the astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) last May 09, 2010

Posted by in category: space

Altitude: 346 km.

Philippines at International Space Station 🛰 🇵🇭 NASA Photo ID: ISS023-E-35961 © NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) 🇺🇸.

May 3, 2020

Deforestation and fires in the Amazon rainforest could bring about the next pandemic

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, swept the world fast and furiously — and we’re barely starting to experience the first wave of the pandemic. However, to biologists and virologists, the sudden appearance of the coronavirus wasn’t surprising. It is simply a natural consequence of humans disturbing ecosystems in equilibrium and wildlife trade, something that we’ve done at an increasing rate with each passing decade.

Pandemics such as COVID-19 might become increasingly frequent as humans continue unabated on their course to expand their range at the expense of wildlife.

High rates of deforestation in Asia over the last four decades have prompted many scientists to sound the alarm, warning the world of the risk of dangerous microorganisms migrating to humans.

May 3, 2020

Cyber-spies seek coronavirus vaccine secrets

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

An expert warns there is “nothing more valuable” in the world today than a way to prevent the disease.

May 3, 2020

Virus vaccine ‘could be ready by end of the year’

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

AstraZeneca will make and distribute Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine if it proves effective.

May 3, 2020

Chinese firm ‘ready to mass produce’ experimental coronavirus vaccine

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A Chinese pharmaceutical company carrying out human trials for a coronavirus vaccine says it’s ready to start producing its product on a mass scale.

May 3, 2020

DARPA Is Creating a Travel Adapter That Will Be Implanted in Soldiers’ Bodies

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, food, military

‘Through advances in medical devices and synthetic biology, DARPA’s new Advanced Acclimation and Protection Tool for Environmental Readiness (ADAPTER) program aims to develop a travel adapter for the human body, an implantable or ingestible bioelectronic carrier that can provide warfighters control over their own physiology. The integrated system will be designed to entrain the sleep cycle – either to a new time zone or back to a normal sleep pattern after night missions – and eliminate bacteria that cause traveler’s diarrhea after ingestion of contaminated food and water,’ reads a DARPA statement on the new device.”


The adapter is meant to regulate sleep patterns and protect against diarrhea.

May 3, 2020

That Unusually Large Ozone Hole Over The Arctic Has Closed Up Again

Posted by in categories: climatology, surveillance

Earlier this year, the layer of ozone over the Arctic thinned out enough to be considered a serious sized hole. It wasn’t exactly impressive compared with its southern cousin, but it was certainly a lot bigger than we’d ever seen it before.

Now, according to surveillance by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), we can breathe a sigh of relief. It’s healed up again.

That’s great news for ecosystems below, which rely on concentrations of ozone gas high up in the stratosphere to act as a planetary-scale sunscreen against damaging showers of UV radiation.

May 3, 2020

Picotechnology in the center of new research partnership

Posted by in category: nanotechnology

North­eastern Uni­ver­sity and Wen­zhou Med­ical Uni­ver­sity in China have part­nered to com­bine their exper­tise in nan­otech­nology and med­i­cine, respec­tively, to col­lab­o­rate on research focusing on reducing eye infections caused by contact lenses and intraocular devices.

Through this part­ner­ship, the researchers will explore the emerging field of picotech­nology, which involves the manip­u­la­tion of matter on an even smaller scale than is used in nanotechnology.


Nanotechnology researchers at Northeastern are joining forces with Wenzhou Medical University in China to collaborate in the new field of picotechnology—and combat eye infections.

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