27 articles from SATURDAY 12.6.2021

Drop Covid vaccine patent rules to save lives in world’s poorest countries, Britain and Germany told

G7 summit hears move would slash the cost of jabs and accelerate the rollout of programmes across the developing worldBritain and Germany were last night under intense pressure to drop their resistance to proposals that would slash the cost of Covid-19 vaccines, following accusations that an agreement at the G7 summit to fund a billon doses will give the world’s poorest countries “crumbs from...

David Eagleman: ‘The working of the brain resembles drug dealers in Albuquerque’

The neuroscientist, broadcaster and author on the evolution of the brain, the mystery of consciousnesss, and why the next generation will be much smarter than usDavid Eagleman, 50, is an American neuroscientist, bestselling author and presenter of the BBC series The Brain, as well as co-founder and chief executive officer of Neosensory, which develops devices for sensory substitution. His area of...

Boris Johnson hints at delay to England lockdown lifting

Prime minister stresses importance of being cautious, as cases of Delta variant continue to riseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson has dropped a heavy hint that the final lifting of lockdown restrictions in England will be delayed by up to a month, as the government prepares to make a final decision over the weekend.The prime minister, who is hosting the G7...

Delay lifting Covid restrictions in England, warn experts

Scientists advise four-week delay to June 21 reopening as cases of Delta variant and hospitalisations doubleExperts – including government scientific advisers – have urged against lifting England’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions on 21 June, warning: “We don’t want to go backwards”.It comes amid reports that lockdown easing will be delayed by four weeks. Continue...

Anti-vaxxers are weaponizing Yelp to punish bars that require vaccine proof

On the first hot weekend of the summer, Richard Knapp put up a sign outside Mother’s Ruin, a bar tucked in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. It had two arrows: one pointing vaccinated people indoors, another pointing unvaccinated people outdoors. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPsh43GtmgW/ The Instagram post showing the sign (above) quickly went viral among European anti-vaxxers on Reddit....

Nobel-winning Japanese chemist dies at 85

Japanese chemist Ei-ichi Negishi who won the Nobel prize for developing a method for creating complex chemicals necessary for manufacturing drugs and electronics has died aged 85, his US university said.

Rocket men: Bezos, Musk and Branson scramble for space supremacy

Experts say three billionaires have upended the traditional model for human spaceflight and are shaping a thriving new eraIt was a week in which two space-faring billionaires tussled again in their futuristic game of cosmic oneupmanship. And this time, for once, Elon Musk was not at the party.The declaration that Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and world’s richest man, was heading into space next...

Most people in UK initially opposed to Covid vaccine have had jab, study finds

Driving force behind change of heart was being able to travel and see family, researchers sayCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore than half of the people in the UK who were firmly against getting vaccinated at around the time the first dose was administered have had a jab, a study has suggested.Researchers at the University of Bristol and King’s College London also...

Radiotracer effective for detection and assessment of lung fibrosis

Positron emission tomography (PET) using a 68Ga-labeled fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) can noninvasively identify and monitor pulmonary fibrosis, according to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2021 Annual Meeting. By binding to activated fibroblasts present in affected lungs, FAPI-PET allows for direct imaging of the disease process.

RUDN University scientists in pharmaceutical technology proved effectiveness of new dosage form

RUDN University scientists together with colleagues from Switzerland proved in a clinical trial the effectiveness of a new dosage form -- amorphous solid dispersion. This is the first such study in humans to show the mechanism of action of this form of drug release. In the future, it will help to increase the effectiveness of drugs and use new active substances for the treatment