Calls grow for US to rely on rapid tests to fight pandemic

When a Halloween party sparked a COVID-19 outbreak at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, school officials conducted rapid screening on more than 1,000 students in a week, including many who didn't have symptoms.

Unwilling to wait, poorer countries seek their own vaccines

With coronavirus cases still climbing, Honduras got tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations program, so the small Central American country struck out on its own, securing the shots through a private deal.

Hive thinking: Beekeeping makes a buzz in Ivory Coast

Night has just fallen in central Ivory Coast and the hour has come for two men, venturing forth in protective suits, veils and gloves, to steal honey from their bees.

Samsung eyes Texas for chip-making plant

Electronics giant Samsung is considering the US state of Texas as a possible location for a new $17 billion chip-making plant, according to filings with state officials.

China's space probe sends back its first image of Mars

China's Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars, the national space agency said, as the mission prepares to touch down on the Red Planet later this year.

Firefighters contain Australian blaze with rain forecast

Australian firefighters have managed to contain a bushfire burning near Perth, authorities said Saturday, allowing them to downgrade the blaze which has destroyed 86 homes.

Romania limits use of AstraZeneca vaccine to under 55s

Romania on Saturday received a first batch of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, which which the authorities say will be administered only to those between 18 and 55 years old.

Los Angeles limits new vaccinations amid tight supplies

California is adding mass inoculation sites even as the shortage of coronavirus vaccine has local officials restricting who gets shots, with Los Angeles County saying it will limit new vaccinations to ensure second doses are available to those already in line for them.

Harvard astronomer argues that alien vessel paid us a visit

Discovering there's intelligent life beyond our planet could be the most transformative event in human history— but what if scientists decided to collectively ignore evidence suggesting it already happened?

China approves second domestic COVID-19 vaccine

China's drug authorities have given "conditional" approval for a second COVID-19 vaccine, Sinovac's CoronaVac jab, the pharmaceutical company said Saturday.

Music to my fears: Man swallows earbud while sleeping

A man is warning people against using headphones while falling asleep after health care workers had to remove a wireless earbud from his esophagus.

Amazon warehouse workers unionization vote to move ahead

Amazon workers at a large US distribution center will begin voting Monday on whether to unionize after labor regulators rejected a request by the e-commerce giant to delay the process.

New research sheds light on vision loss in Batten disease

Progressive vision loss, and eventually blindness, are the hallmarks of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) or CLN3-Batten disease. New research shows how the mutation associated with the disease could potentially lead to degeneration of light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina, and subsequent vision loss.

Physical discipline and cognitive deprivation associated with specific types of developmental delay

A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) reports that in a diverse, cross-national sample of youth, physical discipline and cognitive deprivation had distinct associations with specific domains of developmental delay. The findings are based on the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, which is an ongoing, international household survey initiative coordinated and assisted by the United Nations agency, UNICEF.

Fungi in the gut prime immunity against infection

Common fungi, often present in the gut, teach the immune system how to respond to their more dangerous relatives, according to new research from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. Breakdowns in this process can leave people susceptible to deadly fungal infections.

Researchers create virtual reality cognitive assessment

Virtual reality isn't just for gaming. Researchers can use virtual reality, or VR, to assess participants' attention, memory and problem-solving abilities in real world settings. By using VR technology to examine how folks complete daily tasks, like making a grocery list, researchers can better help clinical populations that struggle with executive functioning to manage their everyday lives.

Survey taken after France's first COVID-19 wave indicates almost one-third of working-age people could reject a vaccine

Nearly one in three working-age adults in France (29%) surveyed in July 2020—when lockdown restrictions had been eased—were outright opposed to being vaccinated against the virus, according to new research published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

Peginterferon-lambda shows strong antiviral action to accelerate clearance of COVID-19

A clinical study led by Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network (UHN), showed an experimental antiviral drug can significantly speed up recovery for COVID-19 outpatients—patients who do not need to be hospitalized.

COVID-19: Schools urgently need guidelines on improving ventilation in classrooms

There is an urgent need for guidelines on how schools can use ventilation to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the classroom, according to doctors at Imperial College London and the headteacher of a secondary school in Pinner, Middlesex. In a commentary published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the authors say that improving air quality in classroom spaces should be as important as following government advice regarding social distancing, mask-wearing and hand washing.

Critical flaw found in lab models of the human blood-brain barrier

Cells used to study the human blood brain barrier in the lab aren't what they seem, throwing nearly a decade's worth of research into question, a new study from scientists at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine suggests.

Arctic stew: Understanding how high-latitude lakes respond to and affect climate change

To arrive at Nunavut, turn left at the Dakotas and head north. You can't miss it—the vast tundra territory covers almost a million square miles of northern Canada. Relatively few people call this lake-scattered landscape home, but the region plays a crucial role in understanding global climate change. New research from Soren Brothers, assistant professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center, details how lakes in Nunavut could have a big impact on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and it's not all bad news—at least for now. Brothers examined 23 years of data from lakes near Rankin Inlet. He noted a peculiarity—as the lakes warmed, their carbon dioxide concentrations fell. Most lakes are natural sources of carbon dioxide, but these lakes were now mostly near equilibrium with the atmosphere.

Drug 'breakthrough' gives longest-ever survival in nonresectable liver cancer patients

The IMbrave150 trial found median overall survival was 19.2 months in patients treated with atezo+bev vs 13.4 months for those treated with sorafenib alone, the current standard treatment (HR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.52-0.85]; P=0.0009). Survival at 18 months was 52% with atezo+bev and 40% in patients treated with sorafenib.

Study identifies 'Achilles heel' of bacteria linked to Crohn's disease

The discovery of an "Achilles heel" in a type of gut bacteria that causes intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease may lead to more targeted therapies for the difficult to treat disease, according to Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.