181 articles from FRIDAY 20.3.2020
Researchers invent method to unlock potential of widely used drug
Sugars like polysaccharides are found everywhere in nature and are believed to be essential for life to arise. In humans, they cover the surface of all cells and the family of polysaccharides called GAGs (glycosaminoglycans) are particularly abundant and difficult to analyse.
Unprecedented preservation of fossil feces from the La Brea Tar Pits
While Rancho La Brea, commonly known as the La Brea Tar Pits, is famous for its thousands of bones of large extinct mammals, big insights are coming from small fossils, thanks to new excavation and chemical techniques.
What the massive locust swarm in Africa and the Middle East means to the US
Amid worldwide concerns over the new coronavirus, an age-old but now "extremely alarming" problem is developing in several countries that represents "an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods" as the start of growing season approaches for these parts of the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.New swarms of...
Fact check: No, hand sanitizer won't harm your pets if they lick your hand after you use it
A Facebook post states hand sanitizer contains the same ingredients as antifreeze and that pets can be harmed by licking sanitizer. This is...
A 44-year-old with the coronavirus said he's had colds and flus that are worse, but understands why it could be deadly
Todd Herman's symptoms are mild, but the shortness of breath COVID-19 has caused makes him worry for people with lung conditions like...
New brain disorder discovery
- ScienceDaily
- 20/3/20 15:16
A study has uncovered a new neurodegenerative disorder in which children experience developmental regression and severe epilepsy.
Unprecedented preservation of fossil feces from the La Brea Tar Pits
- ScienceDaily
- 20/3/20 15:16
Scientists have found the first coprolites -- or fossil feces -- ever discovered in an asphaltic -- or tar pit -- context.
Coronavirus SARS-CoV2: BESSY II data accelerate drug development
- ScienceDaily
- 20/3/20 15:16
A coronavirus is threatening human health. SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and can cause severe pneumonia (COVID-19). A team has now found a promising approach to understanding the virus. Using the high-intensity X-ray light from the Berlin synchrotron source BESSY II, they have decoded the 3D architecture of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. This protein plays a central role in the reproduction of...
Reanalysis of global amphibian crisis study finds important flaws
- ScienceDaily
- 20/3/20 15:16
Last year in the journal Science, a research review concluded that the chytrid fungus caused the decline of at least 501 amphibian species, of which 90 have gone extinct. A team has reanalyzed a study, finding that the paper's main conclusions lack evidence and are unreproducible. The authors argue that transparent data collection and analysis are crucial -- both for science and conservation...
Water-balloon physics is high-impact science
- ScienceDaily
- 20/3/20 15:16
Researchers have established the definitive physical rules governing capsule impact, a research area that had gone virtually unexplored until now. The results reveal a surprising relationship between the behavior of capsules and water droplets.
AI may help predict responses to non-small cell lung cancer systemic therapies
- ScienceDaily
- 20/3/20 15:16
Using standard-of-care computed tomography (CT) scans in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), researchers utilized artificial intelligence (AI) to train algorithms to predict tumor sensitivity to three systemic cancer therapies.
'We feel compelled': the doctors planning to return to NHS frontline
Doctors not currently practising respond to government ‘your NHS needs you’ pleaCoronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Doctors not currently practising have told the Guardian how they plan to return to the NHS frontline, in response to the government plea reminiscent of wartime Britain in which they were told: “Your NHS needs you.”They described the crisis as a...
After just half a day of home-schooling, I am officially in awe of all teachers | Emma Brockes
While the world outside panicked over coronavirus, I was to be the calm, efficient teacher to my child. It didn’t last long Coronavirus latest updates See all our coronavirus coverageWe are doing a writing exercise at the kitchen table, about 90 minutes into home-schooling. So far, it’s gone quite well. I’ve drawn a grid with alphabetised headers and I’m dictating words for my...
When Johnson says we'll turn the tide in 12 weeks, it's just another line for the side of a bus | Marina Hyde
There’s something unsettling in seeing the prime minister repurpose his Brexit media strategy for a deadly contagion Coronavirus latest updates See all our coronavirus coverageBritain. A nation of shopfighters, presided over at a time of mortal peril by a newspaper columnist, who has for three decades moonlighted as his generation’s leading liar. Still, as the words clawed into the side of the...
Dispensed: The pressures hitting the frontlines of the coronavirus response, all you need to know about a malaria pill Elon Musk and President Trump are touting, and more on coronavirus
Welcome to Dispensed. This week in COVID-19, we saw strains on the front lines and ups and downs in drug/vaccine...
Chinese inquiry exonerates coronavirus whistleblower doctor
Report on Li Wenliang’s death says he did not disrupt public order, but fought bravelyCoronavirus – latest updatesAll our coronavirus coverageThe Chinese doctor who was reprimanded for “spreading rumours” after he sought to warn colleagues about the emergence of Covid-19 has been officially exonerated by an investigation into his death.However the report has also been criticised for not...
NASA suspends work on its Moon and Mars spacecraft due to coronavirus pandemic
NASA has temporarily paused work on the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule that will be used for its forthcoming Artemis missions, which will ultimately return the next American man and the first American woman to the surface of the Moon. The rocket and spacecraft were undergoing production and testing activities ahead of the first Artemis mission, which had been planned for no earlier...
When will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?
Human trials will begin imminently – but even if they go well and a cure is found, there are many barriers before global immunisation is feasibleCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEven at their most effective – and draconian – containment strategies have only slowed the spread of the respiratory disease Covid-19. With the World Health Organization finally declaring...
A 39-year-old coronavirus patient, who could hardly breathe, posted a stark video from the ICU to warn people who think it won't happen to them
A 39-year-old woman, who is said to have been otherwise healthy, posted harrowing footage of what the coronavirus can do to even a young...
Coronavirus: Nasa's Moon plans take a hit
The US space agency is suspending production and testing of its Moon rocket and capsule systems.
A British man been arrested for refusing to quarantine himself under tough new laws designed to tackle the coronavirus
A 26-year-old British man was arrested after refusing to self-isolate himself after arriving on the Isle of...
States across the US are investigating thousands of reports of coronavirus price gouging, from a $50 bottle of Purell to $10 for a single toilet roll
Most states have laws that prohibit price gouging under a state of emergency. Hundreds of cases are reported every day, the Associated Press...
NASA suspends work on Moon rocket due to virus
NASA said it has suspended work on building and testing the rocket and capsule for its Artemis manned mission to the Moon due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the community.
I'm an ER doctor. Please take coronavirus seriously | Clayton Dalton
Most people don’t understand exponential growth. If they did, they’d be far more frightenedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageI’m an emergency room doctor in Boston. I can’t help but feel like Cassandra these days. A Trojan royal, Cassandra was cursed by Apollo after she rebuffed his advances – she could see into the future, but no one would ever believe what...
Harrowing video from a hospital at the center of Italy's coronavirus outbreak shows doctors overwhelmed by critical patients
More in Italy have died from the coronavirus than anywhere else, and Bergamo is the hardest-hit city. Some may find this video distressing to...