Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 8113

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Underwater quantum links are possible across 30 meters (100 feet) of turbulent water, scientists have shown. Such findings could help to one day secure quantum communications for submarines.

Quantum cryptography exploits the quantum properties of particles such as photons to help encrypt and decrypt messages in a theoretically unhackable way. Scientists worldwide are now endeavoring to develop satellite-based quantum communications networks for a global real-time quantum Internet.

In addition to beaming quantum communications signals across the air, through a vacuum, and within fiber optic cables, researchers have investigated establishing quantum communications links through water. Such work could lead to secure quantum communications between submarines and surface vessels, and with other subs, aircraft, or even satellites.

Continue reading “Scientists Explore Underwater Quantum Links for Submarines” | >

Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma said on Friday in a virtual interview with China Media Group that under the current situation of COVID-19, the internet economy is supporting the world and the internet is the technology of the future.

“No country or enterprises can be isolated from the internet,” Ma said, adding that every one of us must grasp the future and improve the country’s economic system through future technologies and ideas.

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April 17, 2020.

SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that newly emerged in China in late 2019 and spread rapidly worldwide, caused the first witnessed pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. As the pandemic progresses, information about the modes of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among humans is critical to apply appropriate infection control measures and to slow its spread. Here we show that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted efficiently via direct contact and via the air (via respiratory droplets and/or aerosols) between ferrets. Intranasal inoculation of donor ferrets resulted in a productive upper respiratory tract infection and long-term shedding, up to 11 to 19 days post-inoculation. SARS-CoV-2 transmitted to four out of four direct contact ferrets between 1 and 3 days after exposure and via the air to three out of four independent indirect recipient ferrets between 3 and 7 days after exposure. The pattern of virus shedding in the direct contact and indirect recipient ferrets was similar to that of the inoculated ferrets and infectious virus was isolated from all positive animals, showing that ferrets were productively infected via either route. This study provides experimental evidence of robust transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via the air, supporting the implementation of community-level social distancing measures currently applied in many countries in the world and informing decisions on infection control measures in healthcare settings.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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April 19, 2020.

The sudden outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally with more than 1,300,000 patients diagnosed and a death toll of 70,000. Current genomic survey data suggest that single nucleotide variants (SNVs) are abundant. However, no mutation has been directly linked with functional changes in viral pathogenicity. Here we report functional characterizations of 11 patient-derived viral isolates, all of which have at least one mutation. Importantly, these viral isolates show significant variation in cytopathic effects and viral load, up to 270-fold differences, when infecting Vero-E6 cells. We observed intrapersonal variation and 6 different mutations in the spike glycoprotein (S protein), including 2 different SNVs that led to the same missense mutation. Therefore, we provide direct evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 has acquired mutations capable of substantially changing its pathogenicity.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by funds from Major Project of Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Department #2020C03123, National Science and Technology Major Project for the Control and Prevention of Major Infectious Diseases in China (2018ZX10711001, 2018ZX10102001, 2018ZX10302206), and start-up funds from Life Sciences Institute at Zhejiang University;

Continue reading “Patient-derived mutations impact pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2” | >

An interesting cautionary note on the well-intentioned effort to supply personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, via 3D printing. I’ll confess that I have not thought through all the implications.

“One of the hospitals calls it ‘the garage PPE,’” said Sarah Boisvert, founder of 3D-printing school Fab Lab Hub, who works with hospitals to 3D-print materials. “This is a far more complicated problem than just making Christmas ornaments for your family.”

Lovett readily admits that he is not an expert. But he and others who want to help are stymied in part by a lack of clear government regulation around simple designs.

Most citizen manufacturers are producing face shields, simple transparent visors that cover the face and project doctors from airborne pathogens. So long as they stop droplets entering the mouth, nose, and eyes, manufacturers of face shields can essentially build whatever they want, up to a point. But if they get things wrong, they “can really do damage, not to mention waste time and energy and resources,” said Boisvert. Some popular designs are too flimsy to “withstand constant daily use,” said Lin, while others “sit too close to the face,” making them unsafe for doctors who wear glasses.

Continue reading “Why DIY 3D-Printed Face Masks and Shields Are So Risky” | >

Essentially, the study found that some immune systems are less capable of recognizing the infection. This diminished ability to recognize the coronavirus can make a person more susceptible to developing symptoms in general, as well as more likely to experience severe symptoms that require hospitalization.

Getting down to the scientific specifics of the findings, the study focused on the immune system genes known as human leukocyte antigen genes. These genes are highly involved in the immune system’s ability to recognize pathogens, but they come in a variety of forms and vary from person to person.

The research team, from Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Research Foundation, believe that HLA gene variations may make certain people more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

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The study was carried out by Professor Li Lanjuan and colleagues from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China and published in a non-peer reviewed paper released on website medRxiv.org on Sunday.

Li’s team analyzed the strains from 11 randomly chosen coronavirus patients from Hangzhou, where there have been 1,264 reported cases, and then tested how efficiently they could infect and kill cells.

More than 30 different mutations were detected, of which 19 were previously undiscovered.

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