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Apr 16, 2020

Multiple scientific studies suggest smoking may PROTECT against coronavirus

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Another study, by America’s Centers for Disease Control of over 7,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus, found that just 1.3 per cent of them were smokers — against the 14 per cent of all Americans that the CDC says smoke.

The study also found that the smokers stood no greater chance of ending up in hospital or an ICU.

The reasons for this are unclear.

Apr 16, 2020

Scientists are recommending MDMA for treating mental health after lockdown

Posted by in category: neuroscience

The use of psilocybin is also being called for.

Apr 16, 2020

Report: Covid-19 patients recovering quickly after getting experimental drug

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported Thursday after it obtained a video of a conversation about the trial.

The patients taking part in a clinical trial of the drug have all had severe respiratory symptoms and fever, but were able to leave the hospital after less than a week of treatment, STAT quoted the doctor leading the trial as saying.

“The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish,” Dr. Kathleen Mullane, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago who is leading the clinical trial, said in the video.

Apr 16, 2020

Astronomers saw a star dancing around a black hole. And it proves Einstein’s theory was right

Posted by in category: cosmology

For the first time, astronomers have observed a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. And the star is dancing to the predicted tune of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

Apr 16, 2020

Moderna Snares $483 Million U.S. Funding for Covid Vaccine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

Moderna Inc. said the U.S. government has agreed to pay as much as $483 million for the company to develop and test its Covid-19 vaccine now in an initial clinical trial.

Apr 16, 2020

AR vision system for quiet supersonic X-59 plane gets put to the test

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, transportation

A key component of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is undergoing vibration tests at the space agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The eXternal Vision System (XVS) is a special camera system that the pilot of the X-plane will use to see forward while the experimental supersonic craft is in flight.

When the X-59 takes to the skies in 2021, the pilot will be faced with a problem not often encountered since the Concorde fleet of supersonic passenger jetliners was retired. The X-59 is meant to test new technologies to build a new generation of supersonic commercial aircraft and, while it promises to overcome some of the drawbacks of Concorde, it will still share some of its difficulties.

One is that the ideal design of a long-range supersonic liner is essentially that of a needle-nosed dart. The annoying thing is that, though this shape may be fine from an aerodynamic point of view, it makes it extremely difficult for the pilot to see forward without a lot of complex mechanics, like Concorde’s droop nose and special sliding windscreen.

Apr 16, 2020

Proteins may halt the severe cytokine storms seen in COVID-19 patients

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

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One of the defining features of Covid-19 is the excessive immune response that can occur in severe cases. This burst of immune overreaction, also called a cytokine storm, damages the lungs and can be fatal.

A team of MIT researchers has developed specialized proteins, similar in structure to antibodies, that they believe could soak up these excess cytokines.

Continue reading “Proteins may halt the severe cytokine storms seen in COVID-19 patients” »

Apr 16, 2020

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte orders police and military to kill citizens who defy coronavirus lockdown

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, military

“Do not challenge the government,” he warned the nation Wednesday. “You will lose.”

Apr 16, 2020

Australia’s Centre for Digestive Diseases cures Crohn’s disease in new study

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The Centre for Digestive Disease headed by Professor Thomas Borody has cured Crohn’s disease as reported today by Dr Gaurav Agrawal in Gut Pathogens.

Centre for Digestive Diseases.

Apr 16, 2020

Why the Big Bang Produced Something Rather Than Nothing

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

How did matter gain the edge over antimatter in the early universe? Maybe, just maybe, neutrinos.

The Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Observatory, located more than 3,000 feet below Mount Ikeno near the city of Hida, Japan. Credit… Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo.