A scientist from the U.S. space agency says what was thought to be a small asteroid heading towards Earth may actually be a 54-year-old section from a rocket coming back home. The head of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), Paul Chodas, told the Associated Press the object was first …
your ad hereFrance Says Further Restrictions Possible If Coronavirus Surge Continues
French Prime Minister Jean Castex warned Monday that France could impose further restrictions — including a lockdown — as the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, and the situation in hospitals is deteriorating there.In an interview with news broadcaster France Info on Monday, Castex said the country was facing a “strong” second …
your ad hereIcebreaker Returns From A-Year-Long Expedition to North Pole
An icebreaker belonging to Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) returned to Germany Monday with what the scientists on board say is proof of a dying Arctic Ocean and warnings of ice-free summers, after a more than yearlong expedition that included time at the North Pole. Expedition leader Markus Rex said the team collected a wealth of data that will be used to improve scientific models of global warming to predict climate change in the decades to come, especially in …
your ad hereStudy: Virus That Causes COVID-19 Can Survive for Up to a Month on Common Surfaces
Scientists in Australia have discovered that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can survive on solid common surfaces for as long as 28 days. In a study published Monday in Virology Journal, researchers at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), Australia’s national science agency, found the SARS-COV-2 virus was “extremely robust,” surviving …
your ad hereCOVID Vaccine Expected in January, Official Says, Countering Trump
A Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January 2021, despite statements from the president that inoculations could begin this month.And a growing, bipartisan chorus of lawmakers, experts and public health officials says the country is …
your ad herePublic Health Experts Urge Caution on China’s COVID-19 Vaccines
China said on Friday that it had joined a global COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan backed by the World Health Organization, becoming the biggest economy to date to pledge support to distribute the shots fairly.Meanwhile, the country is holding separate talks with the WHO to have its COVID-19 vaccines assessed, a …
your ad hereSpain Declares COVID-19 State of Emergency in Madrid
Spain’s government declared a state of emergency in Madrid Friday, taking control of efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 from local authorities after a regional court struck down restrictions as the region faces one of the most significant outbreaks in Europe. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government took the …
your ad hereSpread of Alien Plant, Animal Species Predicted to Rise Globally by 2050
Asian kudzu vines smothering the southern United States. Pacific lionfish devouring Caribbean sealife. South American cane toads killing their way across Australia. As bad as invasive species are today, a study says they will get worse. Researchers predict that non-native—or alien—species introductions will increase globally by around …
your ad hereChina Joins WHO Initiative to Distribute COVID Vaccine to Developing Countries
China said Friday it is joining a World Health Organization international initiative to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to the developing world. China, Russia and the U.S. had said they were not joining the alliance to help two-thirds of world’s population receive the vaccines by 2022.China’s reversal makes it the largest country to participate in what is known as the COVAX deal. “We …
your ad hereAnother Tennessee Titans Player Tests Positive
The National Football League reported Thursday yet another Tennessee Titans football player has tested positive for COVID-19, raising questions about their game scheduled for Sunday in Nashville.The latest positive test brings the total to 23 positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff for the Tennessee franchise, and 21 of those positive …
your ad hereNeurological, Cardiac Issues Linger in COVID-19 Youth
Young people have suffered less under the COVID-19 virus than older people medically, but experts say the gap has narrowed, and so-called superspreading among the young is a factor.“The FILE – A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 30, 2014.A …
your ad hereEU Contracts with Johnson & Johnson on Possible COVID-19 Vaccine
The European Union on Thursday concluded a deal with an American drugmaker to supply up to 400 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, bringing its total vaccine supply to 1.1 billion doses for the bloc’s 450 million people.To secure the vaccines, the EU made an undisclosed down payment to …
your ad hereEU to Buy Half-a-Million Remdesivir Doses
The executive branch of the European Union announced Thursday it has signed a deal with pharmaceutical company Gilead to buy 500,000 treatment courses of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug shown to be effective in treating symptoms of COVID-19.The European Commission, which has overseen joint purchases of vaccines for the European bloc, …
your ad hereGermany Sees ‘Worrying’ Jump in COVID-19 Cases
Germany’s health officials said Thursday new COVID-19 cases are spreading at the fastest rate since April.Health Minister Jens Spahn joined Robert Kock Institute for Disease Control President Lothar Wieler at a news conference in Berlin, where they said the number of new cases of the coronavirus has been rising steadily …
your ad here36 Million People Worldwide Infected with Coronavirus
The world now has more than 36 million cases of the coronavirus. According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracking program, 36,166,574 people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, including more than 1 million deaths. The United States leads in both categories with 7.5 million cases and nearly …
your ad hereSource: Iranian Dissident Contracts Coronavirus in Prison
An Iranian dissident has contracted the coronavirus at a prison in northern Iran, according to a knowledgeable source, highlighting what U.S. and U.N. officials say is a worsening pandemic threat facing Iran’s prisoners of conscience.In a message sent Tuesday to VOA Persian, an Iran-based source close to the family of …
your ad hereZimbabwe Teachers Refuse to Return to Schools Over Pay, Sanitation
Zimbabwe, like other African countries, is trying a phased re-opening of schools after closing in March due to COVID-19.But many teachers like 33-year-old Munyaradzi Masiyiwa are refusing to return to class, pointing to low pay and unsafe conditions.Masiyiwa said he makes more money selling brooms than teaching at Cranborne Boys Government High School …
your ad hereWisconsin Opens COVID-19 Field Hospital Amid Surging Cases
Wisconsin health officials opened a field hospital Wednesday at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee to cater to the swelling number of COVID-19 cases threatening to overwhelm hospitals.The 530-bed field clinic was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in April at the request of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration. …
your ad hereCOVID-19 Makes Science Harder as Britain Battles Over Best Strategy
Some top scientists in Britain are calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative government to shift strategy on the coronavirus pandemic and adopt a “herd immunity” approach, allowing people who are less likely to become seriously ill from the virus to return to normal life. “The most compassionate approach that …
your ad hereScientists Win Chemistry Nobel Prize for Gene Editing Development
Two scientists have won this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a method of gene editing. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences jointly awarded the $1.1 million prize to Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer Doudna of the United States. The academy recognized their work on a tool called the CRISP/Cas9 …
your ad hereRapid COVID-19 Tests Offer New Tools To Slow Pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic marches on, new, rapid tests offer hope for pumping the brakes on the virus’ spread. The United States is falling far short in its testing efforts. More than 4 million tests per day would be needed to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to an analysis by Brown University …
your ad hereChemical Weapons Watchdog Confirms Nerve Agent Used in Navalny Poisoning
Experts from a global chemical weapons watchdog confirmed Tuesday that the substance used to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was from the banned Soviet-style Novichok family of potent nerve agents. The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, his wife, Yulia, and son, Zahar, pose for a picture in Berlin, in this …
your ad hereFDA Discloses Vaccine Guidelines Blocked by White House
The Food and Drug Administration laid out updated safety standards Tuesday for makers of COVID-19 vaccines after the White House blocked their formal release, the latest political tug-of-war between the Trump administration and the government’s public health scientists.In briefing documents posted on its website, the FDA said vaccine makers should …
your ad hereSick and Chained: Plight of Countless Africans With Mental Health Conditions
For nearly a year, Benjamin Billal was chained to a rock.“I was taken to a faith healing center by my grandmother and my mother,” Billal told journalists by video link from Monrovia, Liberia on Tuesday. “There, I was shackled. I was chained to a rock, where I stayed for about …
your ad hereSpaceX Launches 60 Satellites From Kennedy Space Center
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying 60 Starlink satellites for the company’s internet satellite constellation system.The launch marks the 13th Starlink mission. The company says the goal of Starlink is to create a network that will help provide reliable and …
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