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402 articles from Yahoo!

Trump-touted hydroxychloroquine shows no benefit in COVID-19 prevention: study

The study largely confirms results from a clinical trial in June that showed hydroxychloroquine was ineffective in preventing infection among people exposed to the new coronavirus. Trump began backing hydroxychloroquine early in the pandemic and told reporters in May he started taking the drug after two White House staffers tested positive for...

Trump-touted hydroxychloroquine shows no benefit in COVID-19 prevention: study

The study largely confirms results from a clinical trial in June that showed hydroxychloroquine was ineffective in preventing infection among people exposed to the new coronavirus. Trump began backing hydroxychloroquine early in the pandemic and told reporters in May he started taking the drug after two White House staffers tested positive for...

Study: Neanderthal genes may be liability for COVID patients

Scientists say genes that some people have inherited from their Neanderthal ancestors may increase their likelihood of suffering severe forms of COVID-19. A study by European scientists published Wednesday by the journal Nature examined a cluster of genes that have been linked to a higher risk of hospitalization and respiratory failure in patients who are infected with the new coronavirus....

Oxford to study anti-inflammatory drug Humira as potential COVID-19 treatment

Oxford University said on Wednesday it would study whether the world's best-selling prescription medicine, adalimumab, was an effective treatment for COVID-19 patients - the latest effort to repurpose existing drugs as potential coronavirus therapies. Adalimumab, which is sold under the brand name Humira by AbbVie, is a type of anti-inflammatory known as an anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF)...

How climate change affects wildfires, like those in the West, and makes them worse

California Gov. Gavin Newsom stood by a singed mountainside, blaming climate change for fueling the fires overtaking his state. The consequences climate scientists have long been warning about are coming to fruition in the increased intensity of natural disasters around the globe, recently in the form of devastating wildfires that ravaged the western states and enshrouded areas not plagued with...

Oxford to study anti-inflammatory drug Humira as potential COVID-19 treatment

Oxford University said on Wednesday it would study whether the world's best-selling prescription medicine, adalimumab, was an effective treatment for COVID-19 patients - the latest effort to repurpose existing drugs as potential coronavirus therapies. Adalimumab, which is sold under the brand name Humira by AbbVie, is a type of anti-inflammatory known as an anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF)...

David Attenborough leads call for world to invest $500 billion a year to protect nature

British broadcaster David Attenborough led a call from conservation groups on Wednesday for the world to invest $500 billion a year to halt the destruction of nature, warning that the future of the planet was in "grave jeopardy." Attenborough, whose new film "A Life on Our Planet" documents the dangers posed by climate change and the extinction of species, issued the call hours ahead of a U.N....

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears safe, shows signs of working in older adults - study

Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture of the vaccine's...


TUESDAY 29. SEPTEMBER 2020


Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears safe, shows signs of working in older adults: study

Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture of the...

Studies Begin to Untangle Obesity's Role in COVID-19

In early April, Edna McCloud woke up to find her hands tied to her hospital bed.She had spent the past four days on a ventilator in a hospital in St. Louis County, Missouri, thrashing and kicking under sedation as she battled a severe case of COVID-19."They told me, 'You were a real fighter down there,'" recalled McCloud, a 68-year-old African American retiree with a history of...

Space station air leak forces middle-of-night crew wakeup

A small air leak at the International Space Station finally has been traced to the Russian side, following a middle-of-the-night search by astronauts. NASA said Tuesday that the two Russians and one American on board were awakened late Monday to hurriedly seal hatches between compartments and search for the ongoing leak, which appeared to be getting worse. It turns out instead of the leak...

Which bacteria could be behind elephant deaths in Zimbabwe and Botswana?

Zimbabwe's parks agency said a bacterial disease known as haemorrhagic septicaemia could be behind the deaths of 34 elephants, a week after Botswana blamed toxins produced by another type of bacterium for killing more than 300 elephants. Officials are conducting more tests on samples from Zimbabwe's dead elephants to try to get conclusive results, and Botswana's chief vet said questions still...

How can I volunteer for a COVID-19 vaccine study?

Enthusiasm is high: More than 400,000 people have signed a registry of possible volunteers that’s part of a vaccine network set up by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Initial studies include only a few dozen young, healthy volunteers, since this is the first chance to see if a shot causes a risky reaction in people. The focus is on comparing how people's immune systems react to...

Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africa's low fatality rates from pandemic

Africa's overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when COVID-19 hit the continent in February. The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year. In...

Zimbabwe plans to send dead elephants' brain tissue to U.S. for toxin tests

Zimbabwe plans to send brain tissue samples from dead elephants to the United States to test for toxic micro-organisms blamed for hundreds of elephant deaths in neighbouring Botswana, the parks authority said. Thirty-four elephants have died in western Zimbabwe since Aug. 24, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director general Fulton Mangwanya told a parliamentary committee in a statement on...

Nine in ten recovered COVID-19 patients experience side-effects - study

Nine in ten coronavirus patients reported experiencing side-effects such as fatigue, psychological after-effects and loss of smell and taste after they recovered from the disease, according to a preliminary study by South Korea. In an online survey of 965 recovered COVID-19 patients, 879 people or 91.1% responded they were suffering at least one side-effect from the disease, the Korea Disease...

Nine in ten recovered COVID-19 patients experience side-effects, study shows

Nine in ten coronavirus patients reported experiencing side-effects such as fatigue, psychological after-effects and loss of smell and taste after they recovered from the disease, according to a preliminary study by South Korea. In an online survey of 965 recovered COVID-19 patients, 879 people or 91.1% responded they were suffering at least one side-effect from the disease, the Korea Disease...

United Arab Emirates to launch spacecraft to moon in 2024

The United Arab Emirates plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024, a top Emirati official said Tuesday, the latest gamble in the stars by the oil-rich nation that could see it become only the fourth nation on Earth to accomplish that goal. The announcement by Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who also serves as the vice president and prime minister of the...

Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africa's low fatality rates from pandemic

Africa's overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when COVID-19 hit the continent in February. The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year. In...

Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africa's low fatality rates from pandemic

Africa's overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when COVID-19 hit the continent in February. The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year. In...


MONDAY 28. SEPTEMBER 2020


Salty lake, ponds may be gurgling beneath South Pole on Mars

A network of salty ponds may be gurgling beneath Mars’ South Pole alongside a large underground lake, raising the prospect of tiny, swimming Martian life. In the latest study appearing in the journal Nature Astronomy, the scientists provide further evidence of this salty underground lake, estimated to be 12 miles to 18 miles (20 kilometers to 30 kilometers) across and buried 1 mile (1.5...

Illegal money flows from Africa near $90 billion, U.N. study says

Africa is losing nearly $89 billion a year in illicit financial flows such as tax evasion and theft, amounting to more than it receives in development aid, a U.N. study showed on Monday. The estimate, in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) 248-page report, is its most comprehensive to date for Africa. The report calls Africa a "net creditor to the world," echoing...

Germany confirms one more African swine fever case in wild boar

One more case of African swine fever (ASF) has been confirmed in a wild boar in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. There have been 36 confirmed cases since the first one on Sept. 10. All were in wild animals with no farm pigs affected, the ministry...

The joy of birdsong graces David Attenborough's lockdown

British naturalist David Attenborough has said he spent much of lockdown relishing the joy of the natural world by listening to the birds in his garden. Attenborough, the world’s most influential wildlife broadcaster, has become increasingly outspoken in recent years about the risks posed by climate change. Attenborough, who launched last week a film about lessons learned during his seven...