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Jan 15, 2020

Coronavirus Vaccine

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The current threat of avian influenza to the human population, the potential for the reemergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus, and the identification of multiple novel respiratory viruses underline the necessity for the development of therapeutic and preventive strategies to combat viral infection. Vaccine development is a key component in the prevention of widespread viral infection and in the reduction of morbidity and mortality associated with many viral infections. In this part, coronavirus vaccine, especially SARS-CoV vaccines are mainly discussed.

Coronavirus vaccines can be inactivated coronavirus, live attenuated coronavirus, or S protein-based. Besides, there are still vectored vaccines, DNA vaccines, and combination vaccines against coronaviruses. Vaccines targeting several animal CoVs have been developed, and some have been demonstrated to be efficacious in preventing viral infection. However, a phenomenon of enhanced disease following vaccination has been observed in cats upon infection with feline infectious peritonitis virus following previous infection, vaccination, or passive transfer of antibody. The phenomenon is not fully understood but is believed to be a result of enhanced uptake and spread of the virus through binding of virus-antibody immune complexes to Fc receptors on the surfaces of macrophages; low-titer (subneutralizing) antibodies directed against the S protein are mainly responsible. Although antibody enhancement appears to be limited to feline infectious peritonitis virus among CoVs, similar concerns have been raised with regard to SARS-CoV. Previously infected mice and hamsters are protected from subsequent infection with SARS-CoV in the absence of enhanced disease, and vaccine studies and passive immunoprophylaxis performed with mice and hamsters suggest that previous exposure and the presence of NAbs provide protection.

Jan 15, 2020

Creatures of the Mist

Posted by in categories: government, military

I experienced these creatures in my town they did not corporealize but as a psychic I can feel them and when you see irregular fog that moves like a wall or with fingers be careful as like I believe these creatures exist.


The creatures of the Mist are the inhabitants of an alternate reality. After a severe rainstorm from the night before, a thick, foggy, unusual mist crept into our world, bringing the creatures with it when a top secret government experiment involving many scientists called the “Arrowhead Project”, intended to peer into other dimensions, went terribly wrong. This allowed the creatures to cross over the spilled portal and into the human realm. The phenomenon first manifested in Bridgton, Maine, and spread across an unknown amount of the U.S., or possibly the entire planet. Due to the thickness of the mist making sight almost useless to them, all the creatures in the mist hunt on the basis of scent. In the novella by Stephen King, it is hinted that the mist plagued the entire world and thus the creatures nearly eliminated humanity; while in the film version, the creatures were only seen in a certain area of America and were exterminated by the military two or three days after the Arrowhead Project went wrong.

Jan 15, 2020

Human Trafficking Reaches ‘Horrific’ New Heights, Declares U.N. Report

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

U.N. Report: Human Trafficking Reaches ‘Horrific’ New Heights : Goats and Soda A new report from the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime finds that violent conflict is creating new opportunities for traffickers — and children and girls are increasingly targeted.

Jan 15, 2020

Gravity Anomaly Map

Posted by in category: futurism

Bouguer gravity anomaly map of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Red means higher than average anomalies, blue means lower than average ones.

Jan 15, 2020

Podcast #40: Scenarios for a Post-Aging Future, with Aubrey de Grey, Elizabeth Parrish, David Wood, and Keith Comito

Posted by in categories: futurism, life extension

“For me, the key to longevity – and immortality, in a sense – has to do with transformation.”–Marilyn Manson.

Jan 15, 2020

Study sheds light on link between cannabis, anxiety and stress

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A molecule produced by the brain that activates the same receptors as marijuana is protective against stress by reducing anxiety-causing connections between two brain regions, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers report.

This finding, published today in Neuron, could help explain why some people use marijuana when they’re anxious or under stress. It could also mean that pharmacologic treatments that increase levels of this molecule, known as “2-AG,” in the brain could regulate anxiety and depressive symptoms in people with stress-related anxiety disorders, potentially avoiding a reliance on medical marijuana or similar treatments.

When mice are exposed to acute stress, a break in an anxiety-producing connection between the amygdala and the frontal cortex caused by 2-AG temporarily disappears, causing the emergence of anxiety-related behaviors.

Jan 15, 2020

Video: Preview of dramatic Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test

Posted by in category: space travel

While NASA and Boeing engineers investigate the cause of a software error that cut short the first orbital test flight of the Starliner crew capsule last month, ground teams have returned the spaceship from its landing site in New Mexico back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Preliminary inspections indicate the reusable spacecraft weathered its first trip into orbit better than expected, and Boeing teams are confident the ship will need only “minimal refurbishment” before its next launch with astronauts.

While teams sort out the Starliner software problem, Boeing says the hardware performed as designed.

Jan 15, 2020

‘Giant, shape-shifting stars’ spotted near Milky Way’s black hole

Posted by in category: cosmology

Objects raise hopes of scientists managing to track ‘blobs’ being swallowed by black hole.

Jan 15, 2020

3D Systems and CollPlant Biotechnologies Join Forces to Accelerate Breakthroughs in Regenerative Medicine

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, bioprinting, biotech/medical, life extension

ROCK HILL, South Carolina and REHOVOT, Israel , January 13, 2020 – Today, 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) and CollPlant Biotechnologies (NASDAQ: CLGN), announced signing a joint development agreement intended to play a pivotal role in advancing and accelerating breakthroughs in the biomedical industry. The collaboration brings together two industry pioneers—3D Systems, renowned for its 3D printing technologies and healthcare expertise; and CollPlant, the developer of proprietary recombinant human collagen (rhCollagen) BioInk technology currently used for 3D bioprinting of tissues and organs. The two companies plan to jointly develop tissue and scaffold bioprinting processes for third party collaborators.

Jan 15, 2020

We are one step closer to 3D printing human organs in outer space

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, bioprinting, biotech/medical, space travel

You might call it a giant leap for 3D bioprinting: Human heart cells have been 3D printed on the International Space Station (ISS) and are making their way back to Earth this week inside a SpaceX capsule. The 3D BioFabrication Facility (BFF) was developed by Techshot Inc., a commercial operator of microgravity research and manufacturing equipment, in partnership with nScrypt, a manufacturer of industrial 3D bioprinters and electronics printers.

“Our BFF has the potential to transform human healthcare in ways not previously possible,” said Techshot President and CEO John Vellinger.” We’re laying the foundation for an entire industry in space.”

If you’re wondering why they don’t just print the cells here on Earth, the answer is gravity. When attempting to print with soft, easily flowing biomaterials on Earth, the tissues collapse under their own weight, resulting in little more than a puddle, explained Techshot in a press release. “But when these same materials are used in the microgravity environment of space, the 3D-printed structures maintain their shapes.” The bio-ink used in the space station, consequently, did not contain the scaffolding materials or thickening agents normally required to resist the Earth’s gravitational pull.