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Mar 29, 2020
Comet Atlas could be the brightest comet in decades
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: space
C omet Atlas is racing toward the inner solar system, and it could become the brightest comet seen in the night sky in over two decades. The comet, discovered by an observatory designed to protect Earth from asteroids, may even be visible during the day just two months from now.
Also known as C/2019 Y4, this comet was discovered by astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii in December 2019. At the time, the comet was exceedingly dim — but the comet became 4,000 times brighter in just a month. This increase is far greater than astronomers predicted, and could potentially signal the comet may soon be exceptionally bright.
Mar 29, 2020
Coronavirus survivors’ blood plasma could be used to fight infection
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
Mar 29, 2020
Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus, Too
Posted by Brent Ellman in category: biotech/medical
The decision by the school’s president, Jerry Falwell Jr., to partly reopen his evangelical university enraged residents of Lynchburg, Va. Then students started getting sick.
Mar 29, 2020
China develops nanomaterial to combat coronavirus: Report
Posted by Brent Ellman in categories: biotech/medical, nanotechnology
Beijing, March 29 (IANS) A team of Chinese scientists has reportedly developed a novel way to combat the new coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease which has killed over 32,000 people globally.
According to Global Times, the new weapon is not a drug or a compound but some nanomaterial.
“Chinese scientists have developed a new weapon to combat the #coronavirus,” the news portal tweeted on Sunday.
Mar 29, 2020
Map shows how eight strains of coronavirus raced around the world
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
Scientists around the world are tracking at least eight strains of coronavirus around the world, using genetic detective work to show how the virus spreads.
Researchers say the virus appears to mutate very slowly, with only tiny differences between the different strains, and that none of the strains of the virus is more deadly than another.
Continue reading “Map shows how eight strains of coronavirus raced around the world” »
Mar 29, 2020
In Somalia, coronavirus goes from fairy tale to nightmare
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At first, the coronavirus was just a fairy tale, a rumor along the dusty lanes of the displaced persons’ camp that Habiba Ali calls home.
It seemed fantastical: an illness sweeping the world far beyond Somalia’s borders, killing thousands of people and sending some of the richest countries into panic.
Then Somalia’s first virus case was announced on March 16, and one of the world’s most fragile nations staggered even more. Nearly three decades of conflict, extremist attacks, drought, disease and a devastating outbreak of locusts have taken a vast toll.
Mar 29, 2020
Chuck Norris Warns of Rebellion, Martial Law if America’s COVID Strategy Doesn’t Change
Posted by Kelvin Dafiaghor in categories: biotech/medical, law
TRENDING: kathy griffin tried to cut in line for COVID test, turns out she had diarrhea after mexico trip
“And if even the smallest transgression of confinement restrictions ends up being a misdemeanor, how will officials handle tens of millions of them?”
Norris pointed out that if police are expected to enforce the curfews, they too could become stricken with coronavirus.
Mar 29, 2020
Newly developed laboratory model helps reveal how HIV infection affects the brain
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Though many negative repercussions of human immunodeficiency virus infection can be mitigated with the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART), one area where medical advances haven’t made as much progress is in the reduction of cognitive impacts. Half of HIV patients have HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), which can manifest in a variety of ways, from forgetfulness and confusion to behavior changes and motor deficiencies.
To better understand the mechanisms underlying HAND, researchers from Penn’s School of Dental Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine and from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) brought together their complementary expertise to create a laboratory model system using three of the types of brain cells thought to be involved. Led by doctoral student Sean Ryan, who was co-mentored by Kelly Jordan-Sciutto of Penn Dental Medicine and Stewart Anderson of CHOP and Penn Medicine, the model recapitulates important features of how HIV infection and ART affect the brain.
“Frankly the models we generally use in the HIV field have a lot of weaknesses,” says Jordan-Sciutto, co-corresponding author on the paper, which appears in the journal Stem Cell Reports. “The power of this system is it allows us to look at the interaction between different cell types of human origin in a way that is more relevant to patients than other models.”
Mar 29, 2020
AI Can Help Scientists Find a Covid-19 Vaccine
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI
Artificial intelligence has already played a vital role in the outbreak since day 1—a reminder for the first time in a while that it can be a tool for good.