25 articles from SATURDAY 16.5.2020

For all its sophistication, AI isn't fit to make life-or-death decisions | Kenan Malik

‘Following the science’ is a disingenuous policy because mathematical reckoning and human judgments are very different things Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageArtificial intelligence is searching for the drugs to combat Covid-19. It enabled the pandemic to be tracked and information about it to be synthesised. It is diagnosing patients, triaging them, and...

When Did Coronavirus Arrive in the U.S.? Here's a Review of the Evidence.

SEATTLE -- In a county north of Seattle, two people who came down with respiratory illnesses in December now have antibodies for the coronavirus. In Florida, a public health official who got sick in January believes he had COVID-19.And in California, a surprising discovery that an early-February death in San Jose was linked to the coronavirus has triggered a broader search for how that person was...

The end of plastic? New plant-based bottles will degrade in a year

Carlsberg and Coca-Cola back pioneering project to make ‘all-plant’ drinks bottlesBeer and soft drinks could soon be sipped from “all-plant” bottles under new plans to turn sustainably grown crops into plastic in partnership with major beverage makers.A biochemicals company in the Netherlands hopes to kickstart investment in a pioneering project that hopes to make plastics from plant...

Government faces legal action over refusal to publish Sage minutes

Businessman Simon Dolan says ministers must disclose science behind ‘totalitarian’ lockdownCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA millionaire businessman is launching legal action against the government for refusing to disclose minutes of the Sage meetings that informed its decision to impose the coronavirus lockdown.Simon Dolan, who owns Jota Aviation, said he...

French boy dies from coronavirus-linked Kawasaki disease

Nine-year-old from Marseille had been ‘in contact with’ virus before dying in hospitalCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA nine-year-old boy from Marseille is reported to have died from Kawasaki disease, the mysterious inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus.The boy is believed to be the first victim of the disease in France and only the second in Europe after a...

Trump says US is developing a 'super duper' missile – video

Unveiling the flag for his new space force, Donald Trump said the US was developing a 'super-duper missile' to outpace its military adversaries. 'We have no choice, we have to do it with the adversaries we have out there. We have, I call it the super duper missile and I heard the other night [it’s] 17 times faster than what they have right now,' the US president said on...

Humpback Whales Have Made a Remarkable Recovery, Giving Us Hope for the Planet

In the depths of the ocean, and out of sight for most of us, there’s a quiet miracle happening. Many humpback whale populations, previously devastated by commercial whaling, are making a comeback. And no, before you ask, this has nothing to do with the coronavirus. A recent study on humpbacks that breed off the coast of Brazil and call Antarctic waters home during the summer has shown that...

Why contact tracing may be a mess in America

Dozens of states across the US are pinning their hopes on contact tracing to control the spread of the coronavirus and enable regions to reopen without sparking major resurgences of the outbreak. Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New York, and others are collectively hiring and training tens of thousands of people to interview infected patients, identify people they may have...

BAME women make up 55% of UK pregnancy hospitalisations with Covid-19

Study prompts experts to issue guidance for maternity workers about increased riskCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore than half of pregnant women who were admitted to hospital with coronavirus in the UK were from a black and minority ethnic background, a study has found, prompting experts to issue guidance for midwives to remain on high alert and lower the threshold...

'Cells-soldiers' turned to be more resistant than 'cells-combat medics'

Researchers from Sechenov University (Russia) and University of Pittsburgh (USA) discovered that the resistance of innate immune cells, macrophages, to ferroptosis -- a type of programmed cell death -- depends on the type of their activation. It turned out that cells helping tissues to recover from inflammation were more vulnerable. The researchers identified the mechanisms underlying the cells'...

Heart attack prevention lags for people with stroke, peripheral artery disease

Although all three conditions can lead to heart attack, people with stroke or peripheral artery disease were less likely to receive preventive treatments to prevent heart attack than people with coronary artery disease. Stroke survivors were more likely to report poor health care satisfaction and more emergency room visits.Patients with peripheral artery disease had the highest out-of-pocket...

'Star Trek, not Star Wars:' NASA releases basic principles for moon exploration pact

NASA on Friday set the stage for a global debate over the basic principles governing how humans will live and work on the moon, as it released the main tenets of an international pact for moon exploration called the Artemis Accords. The accords seek to establish 'safety zones' that would surround future moon bases to prevent what the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration called...

Using big data to design gas separation membranes, reduce CO2

Researchers have developed a method that combines big data and machine learning to selectively design gas-filtering polymer membranes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their study is the first to apply an experimentally validated machine learning method to rapidly design and develop advanced gas separation membranes.

Coronavirus live news: US deaths headed for 100,000 by June, Brazil health minister resigns

Beijing pressures Europe to stop Taiwan joining WHO; record increase in daily Brazil cases; Covid-19 spreads in Yemen. Follow the latest updatesTrump unveils ‘warp-speed’ effort to create vaccine by year’s endBrazil loses second health minister in less than a monthUS deaths projected to reach 100,000 by 1 June – CDCAustralia coronavirus updates – liveCoronavirus latest: at a glance...

UK researchers hope dogs can be trained to detect coronavirus

£500,000 government funding for project that ‘could revolutionise’ screeningCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDogs are to be trained to try to sniff out the coronavirus before symptoms appear in humans, under trials launched with £500,000 of government funding.Dogs have already been successfully trained to detect the odour of certain cancers, malaria and...