Scientists and historians working at McMaster University, the Mütter Museum and the University of Sydney have pieced together the genomes of old viruses that were used as vaccination strains during and after the American Civil War ultimately leading to the eradication of smallpox.
Smallpox was one of the most devastating viral diseases ever to strike humankind, killing about three out of every 10 people who were infected. Those who survived were frequently disabled, blind or disfigured.
The World Health Organization recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most successful campaign ever attempted. As researchers around the world work feverishly to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, the success of the campaign and the findings of this paper, outlined the journal Genome Biology, point to the value of vaccination, say researchers. They suggest other vaccines are waiting to be discovered among the viral relatives of today’s influenza and coronaviruses.
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The first Arab space mission to Mars, an unmanned probe dubbed “Hope”, blasted off from Japan on Monday, in a bid to reveal more about the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
The Japanese rocket carrying the probe developed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan right on schedule at 6:58 am local time (2158 GMT Sunday).
The launch of the probe, known as “Al-Amal” in Arabic, had twice been delayed because of bad weather, but the Monday liftoff appeared smooth and successful.
Geneva (AFP)
Astrophysicists on Monday published the largest-ever 3D map of the Universe, the result of an analysis of more than four million galaxies and ultra-bright, energy-packed quasars.
The efforts of hundreds of scientists from around 30 institutions worldwide have yielded a “complete story of the expansion of the universe”, said Will Percival of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Corporate boards have been debating the need to invest in innovation as a driver of future growth for the better part of a decade.
And while many enterprises have demonstrated an organizational commitment to innovation through standing up dedicated teams, allocating budget, and developing bets for the future, innovation leaders now face a sizable challenge. As the world grapples with the current public health crisis and its long-tail impacts on society and the economy, many CEOs and their boards of directors are looking for reasons not to invest in innovation.
Update: The UAE’s Hope Mars orbiter has successfully launched toward the Red Planet on its H-IIA rocket.
The United Arab Emirates will launch its first mission to Mars on a Japanese rocket today, July 19, and you can watch it live online.
Japan boasts one of the longest life expectancies on earth, and it also a world leader in “healthy life expectancy”—the number of years of good health people can expect on average. Since diet is believed to play a key role in a population’s health and longevity, researchers around the world have been studying the benefits of the Japanese diet for some time now.
But what exactly is the Japanese diet? The people of Japan do not dine primarily on sushi, tempura, or other well-known Japanese specialties. Moreover, their eating habits have changed over the years. For our research, we used national surveys to compile weekly menus representative of the Japanese diet at various points in time over the past half century. In the following, we will take a look at the comparative health effects of these menus.
The health benefits of Japanese cooking are widely touted, but what exactly is a healthy Japanese diet? Food scientists in Japan have homed in on the nutritional keys to health and longevity, and their conclusions may bode ill for the younger generation.
