WHO boss says vaccine IP waiver not a property 'snatch'

The World Health Organization on Wednesday sought to reassure pharmaceutical companies that a proposal to suspend patent rights on COVID-19 vaccines was not a bid to "snatch" their intellecutual property rights.

What is a COVID-19 vaccine 'breakthrough' case?

What is a COVID-19 vaccine "breakthrough" case?

NASA rover preparing to take first Mars rock samples

The Perseverance Mars rover is preparing to collect its first rock sample from the site of an ancient lake bed, as its mission to search for signs of past life begins in earnest, NASA said Wednesday.

Chinese city picks through the debris after record rains kill 33

Piles of cars were strewn across a central Chinese city Thursday as shocked residents picked through the debris of a historic deluge that claimed at least 33 lives, with rescue efforts ongoing as more heavy rain threatens surrounding regions.

More residents flee as fires ravage western Canada

Thousands of residents fled blazes in western Canada on Wednesday with several hundred soldiers scheduled to deploy to fight this year's virulent and early fires, which are wreaking havoc across portions of western North America.

California firm to bury 10,000 miles of power lines to stop wildfires

California's largest energy utility firm will bury 10,000 miles of power lines in a massive bid to prevent its equipment igniting more deadly wildfires, its CEO said Wednesday.

EXPLAINER: As wildlife smoke spreads, who's at risk?

Smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada is blanketing much of the continent, including thousands of miles away on the East Coast. And experts say the phenomenon is becoming more common as human-caused global warming stokes bigger and more intense blazes.

Western wildfires: California blaze crosses into Nevada

A Northern California wildfire crossed into Nevada, prompting new evacuations, but better weather has been helping crews battling the nation's largest blaze in southern Oregon.

Rare 'breakthrough' COVID cases are causing alarm, confusion

Reports of athletes, lawmakers and others getting the coronavirus despite vaccination may sound alarming but top health experts point to overwhelming evidence that the shots are doing exactly what they are supposed to: dramatically reducing severe illness and death.

Unvaccinated staff eyed in rising nursing home cases, deaths

Lagging vaccination rates among nursing home staff are being linked to a national increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths at senior facilities, and are at the center of a federal investigation in a hard-hit Colorado location where disease detectives found many workers were not inoculated.

As cases surge, New Orleans 'strongly recommends' masks

With the daily average of new COVID-19 cases surging to numbers not seen in months, New Orleans officials issued an advisory Wednesday "strongly recommending" people resume wearing masks indoors, hoping to avoid the kind of virus-related shutdowns that devastated the city's tourism economy in 2020.

Targeted removals and enhanced monitoring can help manage lionfish in the Mediterranean

Targeted removals can be effective in suppressing the number of invasive lionfish found within protected coastlines around the Mediterranean Sea.

New framework applies machine learning to atomistic modeling

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new framework using machine learning that improves the accuracy of interatomic potentials—the guiding rules describing how atoms interact—in new materials design. The findings could lead to more accurate predictions of how new materials transfer heat, deform, and fail at the atomic scale.

How does the structure of cytolysins influence their activity?

Although Enterococcus faecalis is usually an innocuous member of the bacterial community in the human gut, it can also cause several infections, including liver disorders. The bacteria produce cytolysins, which are molecules that destroy cells. In a new study, researchers have uncovered how they do so.

Exoskeletons have a problem: They can strain the brain

Exoskeletons—wearable devices used by workers on assembly lines or in warehouses to alleviate stress on their lower backs—may compete with valuable resources in the brain while people work, canceling out the physical benefits of wearing them, a new study suggests.

New study confirms relationship between toxic pollution, climate risks to human health

For more than 30 years, scientists on the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have focused on human-induced climate change. Their fifth assessment report led to the Paris Agreement in 2015 and, shortly after, a special report on the danger of global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The Nobel Prize-winning team stressed that mitigating global warming "would make it markedly easier to achieve many aspects of sustainable development, with greater potential to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities."

A history of African dust

In a recently published paper, a research team, led by University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Professor Emeritus Joseph M. Prospero, chronicles the history of African dust transport, including three independent "first" discoveries of African dust in the Caribbean Basin in the 1950s and 1960s.

Dynamic heart model mimics hemodynamic loads, advances engineered heart tissue technology

Efforts to understand cardiac disease progression and develop therapeutic tissues that can repair the human heart are just a few areas of focus for the Feinberg research group at Carnegie Mellon University. The group's latest dynamic model, created in partnership with collaborators in the Netherlands, mimics physiologic loads on engineering heart muscle tissues, yielding an unprecedented view of how genetics and mechanical forces contribute to heart muscle function.

New quantum research gives insights into how quantum light can be mastered

A team of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory propose that modulated quantum metasurfaces can control all properties of photonic qubits, a breakthrough that could impact the fields of quantum information, communications, sensing and imaging, as well as energy and momentum harvesting. The results of their study were released yesterday in the journal Physical Review Letters, published by the American Physical Society.

The Lancet: Experts call for urgent action to improve physical activity worldwide

Not enough progress has been made to address physical inactivity worldwide, with adolescents and people living with disabilities (PLWD) among the least likely populations to have the support needed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO)'s physical activity guidelines. Global efforts to improve physical activity have stalled, with overall deaths caused by physical activity remaining at more than 5 million people per year.

Smokeless tobacco used more by pregnant women in South East Asia than non-pregnant women

Pregnant women in South East Asia are more likely to use smokeless tobacco than non-pregnant women, despite the added risk of foetal harm during pregnancy.

Evidence of sustained benefits of pimavanserin for dementia-related psychosis

Evidence of the sustained benefits of an investigational antipsychotic treatment for people with dementia-related psychosis has been published.

Study shows cancer misinformation common on social media sites

A new study published online today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports that one third of the most popular cancer treatment articles on social media contain misinformation. Further, the vast majority of that misinformation has the potential to harm cancer patients by supporting approaches that could negatively impact the quality of their treatment and chances for survival. The study also showed that articles containing misinformation garner more attention and engagement than articles with evidence-based information.