First reduce the amount of virus during typical infection.
It will be nearly impossible to eradicate the virus simultaneously all around the world. And when we do emerge from isolation, the virus could potentially re-establish itself. Our best chance to keep it in check in the future will be to develop a vaccine.
A vaccine must contain two components: the adjuvant, a molecule that acts as a "danger signal" to activate your immune system; the antigen, a unique molecule that acts as a "target" for the immune response to the virus.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses ribonucleic acid (RNA) as its genetic material. This is usually associated with high mutation rates, which can be a problem for vaccines, as viruses can mutate their antigens to evade the immune response. Fortunately, SARS-CoV-2 seems to have a moderate rate of mutation to date, meaning it should be susceptible to a vaccine.
There's a lot we still don't know. Importantly, for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, we don't yet know what type of immune response is needed. We know patients who recover from COVID-19 can produce antibodies, but we don't know what kind of antibodies. We know COVID-19 patients who develop severe disease have low numbers of T cells, but we don't have clear evidence of whether T cells can protect against COVID-19. We know some experimental vaccine designs for MERS and SARS can make disease symptoms worse in animals, but we don't know whether this would happen with SARS-CoV-2.
The first vaccine to make it into clinical trials in mid-March is a lipid-encapsulated mRNA vaccine. For this vaccine, a short piece of the genetic material from the virus (mRNA) is coated with an oily layer (lipid). This vaccine is now being given to volunteers in a phase I clinical trial in Seattle.
Study shows cells accumulate genetic variations. Cancer cells can turn on error-prone DNA copy pathways to adapt to cancer treatment in much the same way as bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.
A range of cancers, including melanoma, pancreatic cancer, sarcomas and breast cancer, have the ability to generate a high number of errors when they copy their DNA when exposed to cancer treatments.
This resulted in more genetic variation, ultimately fuelling resistance to treatment.
It's a question that's causing a crisis in astrophysics.
In the last few years, it's become clear that two of the methods previously considered to be the most precise and reliable ways to measure this have been pointing us toward different answers. In one method, we observe a large number of galaxies around us and measure how quickly they seem to be receding. The other is based on looking at the most distant light in the Universe - the cosmic microwave background - and carefully measuring the sizes of hotter and colder spots in that light to conclude something about the shape of space and the whole history of cosmic expansion.
Astronomers have always expected both methods to give us the same answer: a number called the Hubble Constant, named after the first astronomer to measure it. But as both sides get more precise data, it's becoming clear that the answers disagree. This is sometimes called the "Hubble tension"; other times it's called a "crisis in the cosmos".
One possibility is that both measurements are essentially correct, but they're not actually measuring the same thing, which would mean our big picture is incomplete, and the evolution of the cosmos is more complicated than we thought.
Batchelor's law, which helps explain how chemical concentrations and temperature variations distribute themselves in a fluid, can be seen at work in the variously sized swirls of mixing warm and cold ocean water.
Turbulence is seen as the ultimate example of chaos theory: the way a butterfly flaps its wings in Australia could be linked to whether a hurricane forms over the Caribbean Sea or not.
This would be a perpetual motion machine, if it was possible.
The very notion disregards all the energy sources and impacts between the butterfly's location and the hurricane's location, each of which is orders of magnitude greater.
Like the bow wave of a rowboat on the ocean, the energy is quickly diluted and dissipated. If it would be possible for a butterfly, it would be possible for an ocean-going rowboat; yet clearly it is not. QED
Artefacts suggest cultural interaction with Neanderthals.
Newly unearthed fossil remains offer the earliest clear evidence of Homo sapiens in Europe and suggest they had greater influence on Neanderthals than previously thought. They place humans in the mid-latitudes of Eurasia at least 45,000 years ago, three millennia before previous estimates and 8000 years before the dwindling Neanderthal populations disappeared into extinction.
More research is needed to understand human filtration of Europe and cultural impact on Neanderthals and how this may have impacted that species' disappearance.
Appreciating a good song, it turns out, is very much a whole-brain business, with research revealing specific regions in the left and right hemispheres decode words and music separately.
Processing words relies on temporal - time-based - stimuli.
Music is processed in relation to its "spectral" components - the range of fluctuating signals involved.
Words and music are processed in a region next to the left and right auditory cortices of the brain, specifically an area known as the lateral anterior superior temporal gyrus.
"Humans have developed two means of auditory communication: speech and music, [...] with a complementary specialization of two parallel neural systems."
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken piloted the first manned flight of the Falcon 9 on May 30. Each astronaut had previously been on on two space shuttle missions, and they spoke of their surprise at how comparatively smooth the SpaceX launch was.
"What I thought was really neat was how sensitive we were to the throttling of the Merlin engines."
Musk is still aiming to launch the first ships to Mars by 2022. These ships will hold cargo designed to support a future manned mission. That mission will come in 2024, the next time when the Earth and Mars are close again.
From these two initial missions, the plan would be to continue sending rockets to the red planet until there were enough resources to become a self-sustaining civilization. This, he suggested Thursday, would take "about a dozen transfer windows." Earth and Mars align approximately every 26 months, meaning this process could take around 25 years. That would mean that a self-sustaining Mars city could emerge before 2050.
Barring weather or other unforeseen problems, the 24-story-tall SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is due to lift off at 3:22 p.m. EDT today, propelling astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aloft on a 19-hour ride to the International Space Station.
Hurley and Behnken are scheduled to launch at 4:33 p.m. EDT from launch pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which was also used for the Apollo and space shuttle programs. The launch will be the first time a private company, rather than a national government, sends astronauts into orbit.
ESA: In an area stretching from Africa to South America, Earth's magnetic field is gradually weakening. Scientists are using data from @esa_swarm to improve our understanding of this area known as the 'South Atlantic Anomaly'. Since 1970, the anomaly has been growing in size, as well as moving westward at a pace of approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) per year.
In the last two centuries, Earth's magnetic field has lost about 9 percent of its strength on average.
NASA is inviting the public to help celebrate a historic milestone in human spaceflight as it prepares for #LaunchAmerica - the first flight into orbit of American astronauts on American rockets from American soil since the end of the space shuttle era in 2011.
NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 test flight, which is targeted for lift off at 4:33 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 27, this mission will send NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. Members of the public can attend the launch virtually, receiving mission updates and opportunities normally received by on-site guests.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will be first private spacecraft to carry astronauts into orbit.
The launch is the first time astronauts will launch into orbit aboard a spacecraft built by a private company.
This will be the first time American astronauts pilot an American-made spacecraft launched from U.S. soil since NASA's Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.
Two astronauts will travel to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon, although the spacecraft can carry up to seven passengers.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule cargo version first flew to the ISS in 2012. The photo below was taken of its arrival on Dec. 8, 2019. (NASA via AP)
An early trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate produced positive results. All 45 volunteers in the trial produced antibodies that may help protect them against COVID-19. The company hopes to soon start a mid-stage study of the vaccine candidate after the phase-one trial and move to a late-stage trial in July.
Moderna is aiming to have a vaccine ready for emergency use in the fall - a timeline that has never been seen for vaccine development.
100 days since there were any recorded sunspots. So far this year, the Sun has been blank 76 percent of the time. Last year, 2019, the Sun was blank 77 percent of the time. Two consecutive years of record-setting spotlessness adds up to a very deep solar minimum. This is called a solar minimum, and it is a regular part of the sunspot cycle.
The sun's magnetic field has become weak, allowing extra cosmic rays into the solar system. Excess cosmic rays pose a health hazard to astronauts and polar air travelers, affect the electro-chemistry of Earth's upper atmosphere and may help trigger lightning.
Ozone has been proven to kill 99.999 percent of pathogens in the air, including SARS Coronavirus and influenzas such as H5N1. In past studies, 99 percent of viruses have been destroyed and showed damage to their envelope proteins after 30 seconds of exposure to ozone. This can result in the virus's failure to attach to normal, healthy cells, and the breakdown of the single-stranded RNA can lead to the destruction of the virus.
Viruses are small particles made up of crystals. Ozone destroys viruses by attacking the nucleic acid core, thus damaging the viral RNA. After destroying these particles, ozone dissipates and leaves breathable oxygen as its only byproduct. COVID-19 is an enveloped virus.
Using ozonated water for handwashing kills bacteria and viruses on impact. Ozone is created by special generators that release it in the air for purification or infuse it into water for disinfecting surfaces. More information about ozone generators and how they work can be found here.
Antibiotics treat bacterial infections. Bacteria are cellular.
Unlike bacteria, viruses cannot replicate independently outside a host cell. There is a debate over whether they are really living organisms at all.
To replicate, viruses enter a host cell and hijack its machinery. Once inside, some viruses lie dormant, some replicate slowly and leak from cells over a prolonged period, and others make so many copies that the host cell bursts and dies. The newly replicated virus particles then disperse and infect new host cells.
Different viruses vary from each other much more than different bacteria do. There is extreme diversity between different viruses. Some have DNA genomes while others have RNA genomes, and some are single-stranded while others are double-stranded. This makes it practically impossible to create a broad spectrum antiviral drug that will work across different virus types...
The newly discovered black hole is dubbed HR 6819. The star system was only spotted after two companion stars provided researchers with information on its whereabouts. It can be seen on a clear night in the Southern Hemisphere without the use of a binocular or telescope, making it the first black hole to be seen without tools.
Though the black hole itself is invisible (as all black holes are) and does not have violent interactions with objects around it, the researchers are nonetheless certain it's there. "An invisible object with a mass at least 4 times that of the Sun can only be a black hole."
The artist's impression below shows the orbits of the objects in the HR 6819 triple system. This system is made up of an inner binary with one star (orbit in blue) and a newly discovered black hole (orbit in red), as well as a third object, another star, in a wider orbit (also in blue). (Credit: ESO)
Researchers have discovered a strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates from the novel coronavirus
Patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates, such as Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients in countries that were not as severely affected.
Pancreatic cancer does not respond to certain anticancer treatments that boost immune responses. A mechanism active in tumour cells that contributes to this evasion of immune targeting has been uncovered.
The aircraft will travel to Mars with NASA's Perseverance rover, scheduled to launch in July 2020. The aircraft will demonstrate the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on Mars.
President Trump announced Friday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the emergency use of Gilead Science's experimental antiviral drug remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients after early results of a clinical study indicated the drug helps speed recovery. Trump announced the news at the White House alongside Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, praised the drug Wednesday.
Seven possible vaccines had been given the green light for testing. One of the groups approved for clinical trials on humans is from the United States. Four are from China, one is from England and the last is made up of both Americans and Europeans.
Gilead Sciences said "positive data" emerging from a clinical trial studying one of its drugs as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' study of remdesivir, an experimental antiviral, has reached its primary endpoint, meaning the drug was found to be effective in the trial.
There is no proven COVID-19 treatment yet, though hundreds of clinical trials are ongoing all around the world to find one. Scientists have high hopes for remdesivir, which was originally developed as a potential treatment for Ebola.
Gilead said the findings were inconclusive because the study was terminated early
Gilead Sciences is responding to a World Health Organization report that its experimental antiviral drug failed to help patients with severe COVID-19 in a clinical trial conducted in China. Gilead coronavirus drug could still be promising despite leaked negative results.
"We believe the post included inappropriate characterizations of the study. The study was terminated early due to low enrollment and, as a result, it was underpowered to enable statistically meaningful conclusions," according to a Gilead statement. "As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in disease."
Health records from 5,700 patients hospitalized showed that 94 percent had a disease other than COVID-19
People with a serious chronic disease should take special precaution and seek medical attention early, should they start showing signs and symptoms of being infected, or know that they've been exposed to someone who has this virus.
The tool is basically for anyone who believes that they may have COVID-19 based on their symptoms (e.g., loss of smell, shortness of breath, fever).
It is designed, in part, to prevent a surge of patients at hospitals and healthcare facilities.
If you think you may have COVID-19, the website can answer questions to help you determine the best course of action (anything from stay at home and rest to get immediate medical attention).
Medical officials have vastly underestimated the overall ability of the virus to mutate, in finding that different strains have affected different parts of the world, leading to potential difficulties in finding an overall cure.
"The antibody binds to a spot on the novel coronavirus that is usually hidden, except for when [the] virus shapeshifts its structure in order to infect a cell."
More than 100 South Koreans who fully recovered from coronavirus have tested positive for a second time. Last week there were 51 cases of patients testing positive after being cleared of the virus. There have been no cases of the relapsed patients spreading the virus to anyone else.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Q: Is it useful to take common-cold remedies to help fight the virus?
A: Experts say remedies such as DayQuil are helpful for controlling the virus's symptoms. But they aren't a cure and won't prevent you from infecting others.
Two researchers from G?ttingen University claimed countries have only spotted six per cent of all COVID-19 cases, on average. Rates - which the researchers said were true up to March 31 - were staggeringly low in Britain (1.2 per cent), Italy (3.5 per cent), Spain (1.7 per cent) and the US (1.6 per cent). Because of the huge disparity, they described the official tallies trotted out by health ministers across the world each day as 'rather meaningless'.
Up to 15 per cent of people in hard-hit German town may already have immunity. If 15 per cent of people do have antibodies, then Germany's actual death rate could be as low as 0.37 per cent. This is five times lower than the current calculated level.
"This means a gradual relaxation of the lockdown is now possible."
With far more people infected than previously thought, Europe as a whole could be closer to herd immunity than expected.
"We've engineered neutralizing antibodies that go and block the virus. The coronavirus, if you were to zoom in on it, you would see a series, a ring of spikes, and it uses those spikes to invade human cells. We've identified a series of super potent antibodies that block those spikes and therefore make the virus no longer infectious."
These are the same army scientists who helped develop vaccines for anthrax, the plague and Ebola. Now, they have been working double shifts growing large amounts of the COVID-19 virus at this sprawling lab complex.
"We can test about 300 drugs or compounds in each plate."
They have used sneeze labs -- a technology the U.S. Army invented -- to test how the virus has spread through the air. "It would mimic you and I walking through someone's sneeze. There's a swirl of virus within droplets, so it doesn't exist just in air, but it's in fine droplets of many different sizes. Large droplets would land on your mouth and eyes, maybe on your hands, on surfaces, small droplets. You breathe them into your nostrils. Some of them make it past your projections, get deep into the lungs."
"We're going to find this vaccine and we're gonna win in the end."
The emergency-use authorization is for two oral prescription drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which are used primarily to treat malaria, but are now being investigated by federal agencies. 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate and one million doses of chloroquine phosphate have been donated. The FDA will allow the drugs to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate.
As of early Monday morning, the coronavirus has infected more than 143,000 people in the U.S. and at least 2,513 people have died from the respiratory illness.
As many as 10% of recovered coronavirus patients in China tested positive again after being discharged from the hospital, according to a report. So far there is no evidence to suggest that they are infectious. The five patients who tested positive again did not have any symptoms and none of their close contacts had been infected.
Surveillance of similar patients showed that 80 to 90% had no trace of the virus in their system one month after being discharged from the hospital.
Additionally, health officials around the world are testing the concept of taking plasma from someone who has been infected, processing it, and injecting the antibodies into a sick person to stimulate their immune system.
Keeping the Wuhan virus away - recommended practices from Johns Hopkins University:
The virus is not a living organism, but a protein molecule (DNA) covered by a protective layer of lipid (fat), which, when absorbed by the cells of the ocular, nasal or buccal mucosa, changes their genetic code. (mutation) and convert them into aggressors and multiplier cells.
Since the virus is not a living organism but a protein molecule, it is not killed but decays on its own. The disintegration time depends on the temperature, humidity and type of material where it lies.
The virus is very fragile; the only thing that protects it is a thin outer layer of fat. That is why any soap or detergent is the best remedy because the foam CUTS the FAT (that is why you have to rub so much: for 20 seconds or more, to make a lot of foam) By dissolving the fat layer, the protein molecule disperses and breaks down on its own.
HEAT melts fat; this is why it is so good to use water above 25C for washing hands, clothes and everything. In addition, hot water makes more foam and that makes it even more useful.
Alcohol or any mixture with alcohol over 65% DISSOLVES ANY FAT, especially the external lipid layer of the virus.
Any mix with 1 part bleach and 5 parts water directly dissolves the protein, breaks it down from the inside.
Oxygenated water helps long after soap, alcohol, and chlorine, because peroxide dissolves the virus protein, but you have to use it pure and it hurts your skin.
NO BACTERICIDE OR ANTIBIOTIC SERVES. The virus is not a living organism like bacteria; antibiotics cannot kill what is not alive.
NEVER shake used or unused clothing, sheets or cloth. While it is glued to a porous surface, it is very inert and disintegrates only after
- 3 hours (fabric and porous),
- 4 hours (copper and wood)
- 24 hours (cardboard),
- 42 hours (metal), and
- 72 hours (plastic).
But if you shake it or use a feather duster, the virus molecules float in the air for up to 3 hours and can lodge in your nose.
The virus molecules remain very stable in external cold, or artificial cold as produced by air conditioners in houses and cars.
They also need moisture to stay stable, and especially darkness. Therefore, dehumidified, dry, warm and bright environments will degrade it faster.
UV LIGHT on any object that may contain it breaks down the virus protein. For example, to disinfect and reuse a mask is perfect. Be careful, it also breaks down collagen (which is protein) in the skin.
The virus CANNOT go through healthy skin.
Vinegar is NOT useful because it does not break down the protective layer of fat.
Neither SPIRITS nor VODKA serve. The strongest vodka is 40% alcohol, and you need 65%.
there are a few alcohols more than 65%, and Vodka does come in 50%, but still not strong enough to kill the virus.
LISTERINE IF IT SERVES! It is 65% alcohol.
The more confined space, the more concentration of the virus there can be. The more open or naturally ventilated, the less.
You have to wash your hands before and after touching mucosa, food, locks, knobs, switches, remote control, cell phone, watches, computers, desks, TV, etc. And when using the bathroom.
You have to Moisturize dry hands from so much washing them, because the molecules can hide in the micro cracks. The thicker the moisturizer, the better.
Also keep your NAILS SHORT so that the virus does not hide there.
"Fear of Covid-19 is based on its high estimated case fatality rate-2% to 4% of people with confirmed Covid-19 have died, according to the World Health Organization and others. We believe that estimate is deeply flawed. The true fatality rate is the portion of those infected who die, not the deaths from identified positive cases."
The deaths from identified positive cases are "misleading? because of limited data.
"The real fatality rate could in fact be closer to 0.06%."
Protective N95 face masks, regular hand-washing, avoiding any contact with the infected person, coughing and sneezing hygiene, adequate isolation of the affected are the measures suggested.
Death does not happen inevitably with COVID-19 infection. The mortality rate is only 2%, much lesser than the similar strains causing illness like SARS or MERS in the past. Majority of cases are mild infections and the number of uncomplicated cases are on the rise. Death occurs due to pulmonary complications, mainly pneumonia and respiratory failure.
In any case, death is NOT imminent with this virus.
Fresh air, sunlight and improvised face masks seemed to work a century ago; and they might help us now. Open air therapy reduced deaths among hospital patients from 40 per cent to about 13 per cent.
Roughly 35 companies and academic institutions are rushing to create a vaccine and at least four have tested it on animals. Moderna, a biotech company in Massachusetts, has already shipped the first batches of its COVID-19 vaccine to the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It was said to be ready for human trials in April, but the first patient will receive an experimental dose today.
EPA publishes a list of potent ammunition against coronavirus
The Environmental Protection Agency has published a list of disinfecting chemicals and products that have been verified to be effective against the coronavirus.
Because viruses are unique kinds of microorganisms, not all antibacterial products will have the same degree of effectiveness; however, the soaps and cleaners on this list are known to dissolve the virus's "envelope," or outer coating.
In a spot of good news, the EPA states enveloped viruses like SARS-CoV2 are among the easiest to kill using the products on the list. This is partially because the virus envelopes are composed of lipids, which are fatty, oily types of compounds.
Just how you can wash grease from pans, you can scrub away the virus's shell with vigorous, soapy handwashing.
Notable names on the list include the following widely available cleaning products:
The discovery will simplify the control of individual atoms placed in nano electric devices, with implications for overhauling nuclear magnetic resonance - a technique used in a diverse range of fields such as modern physics, medicine, chemistry, and mining.
Homo erectus was possibly the most successful and longest surviving of any early human. They first popped into the fossil record some 2 million years ago and only went extinct in the last 50,000-100,000 years.
A tar-backed tool from the present-day North Sea reveals the use of complex technology by Neandertals. This article reports the discovery of a 50,000-year-old birch tar-hafted flint tool found off the present-day coastline of The Netherlands. The production of birch tar adhesives and multicomponent tools was a major technological development. It is considered complex technology and has a prominent place in discussions about the evolution of human behavior. This find provides evidence on the technological capabilities of Neandertals and illuminates the currently debated conditions under which these technologies could be maintained. The find demonstrates that birch tar was a routine part of the Neandertal technological repertoire. Dating the geological provenance of the artifact firmly associates it with a host of Middle Paleolithic stone tools and a Neandertal fossil.
The object is a piece of birch tar, encompassing one-third of a flint flake. This find demonstrates that Neandertals mastered complex adhesive production strategies and composite tool use. The discovery also shows that a large population size is not a necessary condition for complex behavior and technology.
In a related article, the author states that "Neandertals used artificial adhesives to haft, or better handle, stone tools across their entire geographic range and since at least 200,000 years ago." That is almost 130,000 years prior to H. Sapiens' final mental evolutionary change 70,000 years ago, and about 145,000 years before H. Sapiens made their way into the parts of Eurasia where H. Neanderthalis lived.
This is clear evidence that Neandertals possessed the ability for abstract conceptualization. Abstract conceptualization is the mental capability that makes possible reasoning and thinking, which replaces the instinctual behavior that is otherwise universal among animals. This discovery also makes clear that abstract conceptualization at some level preceded H. Sapiens.
Developments in a vaccine for coronavirus
There's a lot we still don't know. Importantly, for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, we don't yet know what type of immune response is needed. We know patients who recover from COVID-19 can produce antibodies, but we don't know what kind of antibodies. We know COVID-19 patients who develop severe disease have low numbers of T cells, but we don't have clear evidence of whether T cells can protect against COVID-19. We know some experimental vaccine designs for MERS and SARS can make disease symptoms worse in animals, but we don't know whether this would happen with SARS-CoV-2.
Explaining an uncertain law of physics
Early fossil evidence of humans in Europe
"The production of birch tar adhesives was a major technological development, demonstrating complex Neandertal technology and advanced cognitive ability."
The object is a piece of birch tar, encompassing one-third of a flint flake. This find demonstrates that Neandertals mastered complex adhesive production strategies and composite tool use. The discovery also shows that a large population size is not a necessary condition for complex behavior and technology.
