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The feds have ordered 300 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine from British drugmaker AstraZeneca, officials said Thursday.

The company will get up to $1.2 billion from the US Department of Health and Human Services to speed the development and production of the vaccine with the goal of delivering the first doses as early as October, according to officials.

The deal between AstraZeneca and HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority includes clinical studies that will start this summer with about 30,000 US volunteers, officials said.

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A research study in mice by investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) suggests it would be possible to repair the brain cell damage caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). The research was published in the journal Cell Reports.

The research, led by Steve Goldman, professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at URMC and co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, manipulated embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to create glia, a type of brain cell. Glial progenitor cells, a subtype of these cells, eventually form the primary support cells of the brain, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, which play essential roles in the health and signaling behavior of nerve cells.

MS is an autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system attacks oligodendrocytes. Oligodendrocytes manufacture myelin, which makes the insulation that allows nerve cells to communicate with each other. As myelin decreases in MS, the signaling between nerve cells is interrupted, which causes the loss of function that leads to problems with sensation, motor function and cognitive problems.

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But there’s just one problem, according to the magazine: Laser weapons basically don’t work underwater, where laser light scatters and gets absorbed almost immediately.

Top Secret

While public documents reveal certain details about the designs the Navy has been testing since at least 2011, the Navy has remained tight-lipped about the execution or purpose of such a system, PopMech reports. One theory, according to the magazine, is that the Navy plans to integrate the lasers into the submarines’ periscopes and use them as surface weapons.

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Samsung has a hardened version of the Galaxy S20, but don’t reach for your credit card — it’s not what you were expecting, and you probably can’t get one. The company has introduced a Galaxy S20 Tactical Edition that, as the name suggests, is designed to meet the needs of the US military and federal government. It touts two layers of encryption strong enough to handle top secret data and connects to tactical radios and mission systems out of the box.

There are combat-related conveniences, too. One mode can turn the display on and off while you’re wearing night vision goggles, while a stealth mode turns off LTE and and mutes all RF broadcasts to eliminate even the slightest chance of eavesdropping. It’s also easy to unlock the phone in landscape mode so that you can quickly launch an app while the device is mounted to your chest.

This is otherwise a run-of-the-mill Galaxy S20 with a 6.2-inch, 1440p display, a Snapdragon 865 processor, 12GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, a 4,000mAh battery and the usual arrays of front and rear cameras. Although Samsung shows the Tactical Edition in a rugged casing, there’s no mention of the phone itself being rugged.

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► Watch the GWR’s Favourites || http://bit.ly/GWR-Favs

From opening up bottles to extinguishing candles, these records are sure to leave you breathless!

At Guinness World Records we want to show that everyone in the world is the best at something, and we’re here to measure it! Whether you’ve got the stretchiest skin, know the world’s smallest dog or want to create the largest human dominoes chain we want to hear about it.

Here on the Guinness World Records YouTube channel we want to showcase incredible talent. If you’re looking for videos featuring the world’s tallest, shortest, fastest, longest, oldest and most incredible things on the planet, you’re in the right place.

Continue reading “The Most Intense Nunchaku Records — Guinness World Records” | >

The factors mediating fatal SARS-CoV-2 infections are poorly understood. Here, we show that cigarette smoke causes a dose-dependent upregulation of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, in rodent and human lungs. Using single-cell sequencing data, we demonstrate that ACE2 is expressed in a subset of secretory cells in the respiratory tract. Chronic smoke exposure triggers the expansion of this cell population and a concomitant increase in ACE2 expression. In contrast, quitting smoking decreases the abundance of these secretory cells and reduces ACE2 levels. Finally, we demonstrate that ACE2 expression is responsive to inflammatory signaling and can be upregulated by viral infections or interferon treatment. Taken together, these results may partially explain why smokers are particularly susceptible to severe SARS-CoV-2 infections. Furthermore, our work identifies ACE2 as an interferon-stimulated gene in lung cells, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 infections could create positive-feedback loops that increase ACE2 levels and facilitate viral dissemination.

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A group of scientists announced a rare find Wednesday – the fossilized remains of a giant bug that crawled around Utah during the time of the dinosaurs.

Called “Morrisonnepa jurassica,” the insect roamed the region 151 million years ago and was discovered in the same geological formation as Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.

It appears to be related to modern giant water bugs, or Belostomatidae, which prey on fish, amphibians, snakes and invertebrates. The bugs are also known for their excruciating bite.

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