livescience--2020-09-24--Wee, single-celled creatures may chow down on viruses

Teeny , single-cell creatures floating in the ocean may be the first organisms ever confirmed to eat viruses .
Scientists scooped up the organisms , known as , from the surface waters of the Gulf of Maine and the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Catalonia , Spain .
They found a slew of viral associated with two diverse groups of protists , called choanozoans and picozoans ; the same DNA sequences cropped up in many members of the two groups , despite some of these single-cell organisms not being closely related .
`` It would be like organisms as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or even more distantly related than that , '' said lead author Julia Brown , a bioinformatician at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine .
`` It 's very , very unlikely that those are capable of infecting all the organisms we found them in . ''
After running a number of tests , Brown and her colleagues concluded that the protists likely consumed the viruses as food , rather than picking them up by chance or being infected by them .
The team says their findings , published online today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , could reshape how we think about the entire ocean food web , the network of who-eats-who that connects everything from tiny bacteria to plants to .
Related : 6 bizarre feeding tactics from the depths of our oceans However , one expert told Live Science that the study does n't conclusively prove that the protists actually ate the viruses .
`` The detection of viral sequences in ... cells alone can hardly answer the question of how these virus particles entered the cell , '' Christian Griebler , a freshwater microbial ecologist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not involved in the study , said in an email .
More work will be needed to show how and whether these protists gobble up viruses , and if so , how much nutrition they gain from these microscopic snacks , he said .
A new node in the food web ?
Protists that have a nucleus to hold their DNA , known as , have been shown to take up viral DNA in the past , Griebler noted .
However , scientists do n't know much about how the cells take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he said .
Protists that filter feed may suck in free-floating viruses from the surrounding water , or they may take up viruses that hitch a ride on other tiny particles of matter in the ocean .
In addition , viruses called bacteriophages infect , and protists that eat bacteria may inadvertently take in those viruses , he added .
But a big question remains as to how significant a food source viruses may be to the protists that can ingest them , Brown said .
The small number of past studies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in controlled laboratory settings , `` but these [ protist ] isolates did not represent what 's abundant in the ocean , and there were no conclusions made as to how relevant it is to what happens out in the real world , '' senior author Ramunas Stepanauskas , a senior research scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences , told Live Science .
To find real-world evidence of protists eating viruses , Stepanauskas and his team took to the open ocean .
In all , the team collected nearly 1,700 individual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Mediterranean Sea ; they captured cells belonging to more than 10 different groups of protists , although choanozoans and picozoans primarily appeared in water samples from the Gulf of Maine .
The team then sent the water samples through an instrument called a flow cytometer , which sorts any cells floating in the water based on their physical characteristics .
From there , they analyzed the DNA associated with each sorted cell ; that included the DNA of the cell itself , any microbes stuck to its surface and any organisms trapped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technique `` does not discriminate between genomic DNA and any other DNA that 's already in the cell , so that 's why we were also able to see viral DNA and any associated bacteria that might be there , '' Brown said .
Overall , viral DNA appeared in about 51 % of the protists from the Gulf of Maine and 35 % of those from the Mediterranean , with most of those viruses being bacteriophages , or viruses that infect bacteria .
But within the groups of choanozoans and picozoans , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DNA sequences , but little trace of bacterial DNA , by comparison .
This hints that the protists took in the viruses , in isolation , rather than by eating infected bacteria .
`` We see ... elevated levels of viruses in these two groups , and consistently across all the members of the groups , '' especially compared with other protists , Brown said .
Having also ruled out the possibility that all these protists were being directly infected by viruses , the team considered that the viruses could either be stuck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accidentally sorted with the cells while in the flow cytometer .
But they found that `` the levels of viruses that we see in those cells is above the number that would be sorted by accident , '' Brown said .
The varying levels of virus between different protist groups also makes it unlikely that the pathogens stuck to the protists at random , she added .
Despite these data , Griebler said that there are still alternate explanations as to how viral ended up in protists , including the possibility that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definitively rule out this possibility , the study authors would have to check whether the viral sequences found in protists also appear abundant in bacterial cells , and how often those bacterial cells appear in the protists ' cellular bellies , he said .
Moreover , if these viruses do represent a food source , the amount of nutrients viruses provide must still be calculated , Griebler added .
`` A back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals that a protozoan cell that eats virus particles instead of bacterial cells needs to take up 100 ( or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same amount of when eating one bacterial cell , '' he noted .
`` It seems very unlikely that protozoa '' — eukaryotic protists — `` can cover their carbon and nutrient demand from a virus diet . ''
That said , while choanozoans are known to consume bacteria , the diet of picozoans remains somewhat mysterious .
One report , published in 2007 in the journal , found that the picozoa feeding apparatus is too small to capture bacterial cells , but large enough to engulf particles less than 0.000006 inches ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could include viruses .
`` Picozoa are a really mysterious group of protists in the ocean , '' Stepanauskas noted .
They can make up to 15 % of a given protist community , especially those in coastal waters , so learning whether or not picozoans devour viruses could reshape our understanding of how nutrients flow through the ocean at large , he said .
`` If you combine the biomass of marine protists or marine viruses , that biomass is much greater than all the whales combined , '' Stepanauskas said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the naked eye … they totally depend on the microscopic organisms '' to send nutrients up through the food web .
Finding that viruses not only infect cells but could be viewed as a critical node in the food web represents `` a different way of thinking , '' he added .
By eating viruses , protists could send ripple effects through the entire marine ecosystem , both by limiting the number of viruses available to infect bacterial cells and by shuffling nutrients from viruses to higher levels of the food web @ @ @ @

Teeny, single-cell creatures floating in the ocean may be the first organisms ever confirmed to eat viruses.
Scientists scooped up the organisms, known as protists , from the surface waters of the Gulf of Maine and the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Catalonia, Spain. They found a slew of viral DNA associated with two diverse groups of protists, called choanozoans and picozoans; the same DNA sequences cropped up in many members of the two groups, despite some of these single-cell organisms not being closely related.
"It would be like organisms as distantly related as trees and humans, or even more distantly related than that," said lead author Julia Brown, a bioinformatician at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine. "It's very, very unlikely that those viruses are capable of infecting all the organisms we found them in." After running a number of tests, Brown and her colleagues concluded that the protists likely consumed the viruses as food, rather than picking them up by chance or being infected by them. The team says their findings, published online today (Sep. 24) in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology , could reshape how we think about the entire ocean food web, the network of who-eats-who that connects everything from tiny bacteria to plants to blue whales .
Related: 6 bizarre feeding tactics from the depths of our oceans
However, one expert told Live Science that the study doesn't conclusively prove that the protists actually ate the viruses.
"The detection of viral sequences in ... cells alone can hardly answer the question of how these virus particles entered the cell," Christian Griebler, a freshwater microbial ecologist at the University of Vienna, who was not involved in the study, said in an email. More work will be needed to show how and whether these protists gobble up viruses, and if so, how much nutrition they gain from these microscopic snacks, he said.
A new node in the food web?
Protists that have a nucleus to hold their DNA, known as eukaryotes , have been shown to take up viral DNA in the past, Griebler noted. However, scientists don't know much about how the cells take in the viruses in the first place, he said. Protists that filter feed may suck in free-floating viruses from the surrounding water, or they may take up viruses that hitch a ride on other tiny particles of matter in the ocean. In addition, viruses called bacteriophages infect bacterial cells , and protists that eat bacteria may inadvertently take in those viruses, he added.
But a big question remains as to how significant a food source viruses may be to the protists that can ingest them, Brown said.
The small number of past studies on protist consumption of viruses took place in controlled laboratory settings, "but these [protist] isolates did not represent what's abundant in the ocean, and there were no conclusions made as to how relevant it is to what happens out in the real world," senior author Ramunas Stepanauskas, a senior research scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, told Live Science. To find real-world evidence of protists eating viruses, Stepanauskas and his team took to the open ocean.
In all, the team collected nearly 1,700 individual protists from the Gulf of Maine and the Mediterranean Sea; they captured cells belonging to more than 10 different groups of protists, although choanozoans and picozoans primarily appeared in water samples from the Gulf of Maine. The team then sent the water samples through an instrument called a flow cytometer, which sorts any cells floating in the water based on their physical characteristics. From there, they analyzed the DNA associated with each sorted cell; that included the DNA of the cell itself, any microbes stuck to its surface and any organisms trapped within the organism.
Related: Sea science: 7 bizarre facts about the ocean
Example of a picozoan cell (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
This genome collection technique "does not discriminate between genomic DNA and any other DNA that's already in the cell, so that's why we were also able to see viral DNA and any associated bacteria that might be there," Brown said. Overall, viral DNA appeared in about 51% of the protists from the Gulf of Maine and 35% of those from the Mediterranean, with most of those viruses being bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria. But within the groups of choanozoans and picozoans, 100% of the samples contained viral DNA sequences, but little trace of bacterial DNA, by comparison. This hints that the protists took in the viruses, in isolation, rather than by eating infected bacteria.
"We see ... elevated levels of viruses in these two groups, and consistently across all the members of the groups," especially compared with other protists, Brown said. Having also ruled out the possibility that all these protists were being directly infected by viruses, the team considered that the viruses could either be stuck to the outside of the cells or accidentally sorted with the cells while in the flow cytometer. But they found that "the levels of viruses that we see in those cells is above the number that would be sorted by accident," Brown said. The varying levels of virus between different protist groups also makes it unlikely that the pathogens stuck to the protists at random, she added.
Still some unknowns
Despite these data, Griebler said that there are still alternate explanations as to how viral DNA ended up in protists, including the possibility that the protists consumed infected bacterial cells. To definitively rule out this possibility, the study authors would have to check whether the viral sequences found in protists also appear abundant in bacterial cells, and how often those bacterial cells appear in the protists' cellular bellies, he said. Moreover, if these viruses do represent a food source, the amount of nutrients viruses provide must still be calculated, Griebler added.
"A back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals that a protozoan cell that eats virus particles instead of bacterial cells needs to take up 100 (or more) virus particles to get the same amount of carbon when eating one bacterial cell," he noted. "It seems very unlikely that protozoa" — eukaryotic protists — "can cover their carbon and nutrient demand from a virus diet."
Related: Dangers in the deep: 10 scariest sea creatures
That said, while choanozoans are known to consume bacteria, the diet of picozoans remains somewhat mysterious. One report, published in 2007 in the journal PLOS ONE , found that the picozoa feeding apparatus is too small to capture bacterial cells, but large enough to engulf particles less than 0.000006 inches (150 nanometers) in diameter, which could include viruses. "Picozoa are a really mysterious group of protists in the ocean," Stepanauskas noted. They can make up to 15% of a given protist community, especially those in coastal waters, so learning whether or not picozoans devour viruses could reshape our understanding of how nutrients flow through the ocean at large, he said.
"If you combine the biomass of marine protists or marine viruses, that biomass is much greater than all the whales combined," Stepanauskas said. "The larger organisms that we see with the naked eye … they totally depend on the microscopic organisms" to send nutrients up through the food web.
Finding that viruses not only infect cells but could be viewed as a critical node in the food web represents "a different way of thinking," he added. By eating viruses, protists could send ripple effects through the entire marine ecosystem, both by limiting the number of viruses available to infect bacterial cells and by shuffling nutrients from viruses to higher levels of the food web, Brown said.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-24--Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Refresh
90-year-old woman in the UK receives first dose of Pfizer vaccine, FDA review confirms vaccine is safe and effective A 90-year-old woman (who will turn 91 next week) became the first in the world to be given Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials, according to the BBC. Margaret Keenan, who is originally from Northern Ireland, was given the vaccine at the University Hospital in Coventry, England. She received the first of 800,000 doses expected to be administered in the U.K. in the coming weeks, according to the BBC. "I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19," Keenan said, according to the BBC."It's the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year." "My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it. If I can have it at 90, then you can have it too," she added. Up to four million doses of Pfizer's vaccine is expected to be given to people in the U.K. by the end of the month. Meanwhile, a 53-page Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review published Tuesday (Dec. 8) confirmed that Pfizer's vaccine is safe and effective, according to The Washington Post.
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine starts to work just 10 days after 1st dose Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine starts to protect people from the novel coronavirus just 10 days after the first dose, according to new documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The documents were released on Tuesday (Dec. 8), two days before a meeting of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel, which will vote on whether to recommend authorization of the vaccine in the U.S, Live Science reported . The FDA analyzed data from Pfizer's phase 3 clinical trial, which included some 44,000 people in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Turkey, about half of whom received the vaccine while the other half received a placebo. Both groups received two shots, 21 days apart. About 10 days after the first dose, there was a noticeable drop-off in new COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group compared with the placebo group, indicating that even one dose provides some protection, the report said. However, scientists don't know how long the protection from a single dose will last, so it will still be important for people to receive two shots, according to The New York Times . Overall, the vaccine was 52% effective after the first dose and 95% effective after the second dose, the report said.
People with significant allergies should avoid Pfizer vaccine, UK warns The U.K.'s Regulatory Agency is advising people with a history of "significant" allergic reactions to avoid Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, after two National Health Service members developed severe allergic reactions to it on Tuesday (Dec. 8), Live Science reported. "As is common with new vaccines the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday," Stephen Powis, the national medical director for England's National Health Service said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 9). Both workers have a history of severe allergies and carry adrenaline auto injectors (such as EpiPens) around with them, according to The Guardian. Shortly after receiving the vaccine, both NHS workers developed anaphylaxis-like symptoms, or severe allergic reactions, but have recovered after receiving treatment. The MHRA will investigate further and Pfizer and BioNTech will support their investigation, according to Reuters. "Allergic reaction occurs with quite a number of vaccines, and perhaps even more frequently with drugs. So it is not unexpected," Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in remarks to journalists published by Britain's Science Media Center. “What would be wise, as the MHRA have already advised, would be for anyone who has known severe allergic reaction such that they need to carry an EpiPen, to delay having a vaccination until the reason for the allergic reaction has been clarified," he said. For the general population this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination, he added. "One has to remember that even things like marmite [a quintessential British food spread] can cause unexpected severe allergic reactions.”
Canada approves Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Canada has authorized Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine, with the first doses expected to be administered there as early as next week. Health Canada, the country's health regulatory agency, said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 9) that it had determined that the vaccine "meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada," according to CTV News . "We expect vaccines to arrive maybe as early as Monday [Dec. 14]. It takes time to prepare the vaccine," said Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the top military general leading the vaccine rollout for the Public Health Agency of Canada, according to CTV News. The first doses could be administered by the middle of next week, he said. Canada is the third country in the world to authorize the Pfizer vaccine, following the United Kingdom and Bahrain. The country should receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of December, and has purchased 20 million doses total, with the option to purchase more, CTV News reported.
Daily COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. reaches record-high, surpassed 9/11 On Wednesday (Dec. 9), the U.S. recorded 3,124 new COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily death toll to date, according to CNN . In comparison, 2,977 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. has now recorded 280,488 deaths related to the virus, according to The COVID Tracking Project . A forecast from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that the total death toll can increase to between 332,000 and 362,000 by January 2, according to CNN. There are currently 106,671 people hospitalized with the virus in the U.S.; 20,903 of them are currently in the ICU and 7,621 are currently on a ventilator, according to the COVID Tracking Project. On Thursday (Dec. 10), the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is set to meet to discuss an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
FDA panel recommends authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine A panel of experts for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that the agency authorize Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. On Thursday (Dec. 10), the panel voted 17 to 4 to recommend that the vaccine receive emergency use authorization (EUA) for people ages 16 and older, according to The New York Times . The FDA typically follows the advice of its panels, and so today's vote is an important step towards the vaccine's authorization. It is anticipated that the agency will officially authorize the vaccine on Saturday (Dec. 12), the Times reported. Several countries have already authorized Pfizer's vaccine, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
Vaccine approval could come this weekend, as U.S. continues to record high daily death tolls On Thursday (Dec. 10), the U.S. recorded another 2,902 COVID-19 deaths, a day after the country set a record of 3,253 deaths, according to Reuters . “Probably for the next 60 to 90 days, we’re going to have more deaths per day than we had on 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, according to Reuters. "The reality is the vaccine approval this week is not going to really impact that, I think, to any degree for the next 60 days." On Thursday, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee discussed, voted and recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved in the U.K. and in Canada, and FDA approval for use in the U.S. could come this weekend.
Australia abandons local COVID-19 vaccine after it caused false-positive HIV tests An Australian COVID-19 vaccine that had shown promising results in early trials is being abandoned after researchers found that the shot caused false-positive results on HIV tests. On Friday (Dec. 11), Australian officials said they had canceled an order for some 51 million doses of the vaccine, which was being developed by The University of Queensland and CSL Ltd., a local biotech company, according to The New York Times . In an early trial with 216 participants, the vaccine appeared to be safe and to produce a robust immune response against COVID-19, according to a statement from CSL . But some volunteers falsely tested positive for HIV, which officials feared would undermine trust in the vaccine, the Times reported. The vaccine contained small fragments of an HIV protein, which helped stabilize the vaccine. Some of the participants developed antibodies against these fragments, and these antibodies triggered false positive results on some HIV tests. It's important to note that there is no way for the vaccine to cause an HIV infection, because it contains harmless fragments of the virus.
ICU nurse in New York becomes first person in the US to receive a coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials New York, the worst-hit state at the start of the pandemic, just became the first to administer a coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials, kicking off a long, massive effort to vaccinate the American people, Live Science reported. Around 9 a.m. E.T. on Monday (Dec. 14), the very first dose of Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine was given to Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, according to The New York Times. This comes as the U.S. continues to battle a massive wave of the virus that has more than 109,000 people currently hospitalized, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Since the start of the pandemic, New York has recorded more than 780,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 35,100 deaths, according to The Times. "This vaccine is exciting because I believe this is the weapon that will end the war," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a live broadcast of the first vaccination. "It's the beginning of the last chapter of the book, but now we just have to do it."
FDA analysis confirms Moderna's vaccine is safe and effective, emergency authorization is likely to come Friday A new briefing document from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released on Tuesday (Dec. 15) confirmed that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, according to NPR . Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is 94% effective and has "a favorable safety profile," according to the document. A panel of experts is set to meet on Thursday (Dec. 17) to discuss the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine and vote on whether or not the FDA should grant emergency approval to the vaccine. Last week, the same panel voted that the FDA should grant emergency approval to Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine; the authorization came a day late and the first doses were given on Monday (Dec. 15). The FDA will likely approve Moderna's vaccine for emergency use on Friday (Dec. 18), according to The New York Times .
FDA authorizes first over-the-counter COVID-19 test The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the first over-the-counter COVID-19 test, which can be done at home and does not need a prescription. The test, made by the Australia-based company Ellume, provides results in as little as 20 minutes, according to a statement from the FDA . It is a "lateral flow antigen test," meaning it works in a similar way to a home pregnancy test, by running a "liquid sample along a surface with reactive molecules," the FDA said. The test works in conjunction with a smartphone app. Users take a nasal swab and place their sample in an analyzer, which communicates to the smartphone app via Bluetooth. The results are delivered through the app, and also reported to public health authorities (based on a user's zip code) through a secure cloud connection, the company said . Ellume is ramping up production of its test, and expects to produce three million tests in January 2021, and 20 million within the first half of 2021.
A wild mink tested positive for the coronavirus, it may be the first wild animal to have a confirmed case A wild mink in Utah may be the first "free-ranging, native wild animal" confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Live Science reported. The mink was found near a mink farm and likely picked up the infection from the farmed mink. There's no evidence that the virus spread to other minks or wild animals; but if the virus does begin circulating in wild animals, it could pick up mutations that COVID-19 vaccines may not protect well against if it spreads back to humans, according to the report. "If it does [establish a reservoir], then we've got a long-term issue here, where this virus has the potential to be with us for millennia," Sarah Olson, associate director of the health program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told Vox. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has screened other animal species for the virus near mink farms in Utah, Michigan and Wisconsin, but all of them have tested negative so far, according to a statement.
An FDA advisory panel will meet today to vote on whether to recommend Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval On Thursday (Dec. 17), a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee will meet to determine whether to recommend that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval, according to The New York Times . This panel, composed of independent experts, will vote on whether to recommend the vaccine after hearing from the company, FDA scientists and the public, according to The Times. Last week, the same panel of experts met to discuss Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine and voted to recommend emergency authorization; the authorization came the next day. There have now been more than 16.9 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 307,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard . There are currently 113,090 people hospitalized across the country with more than 21,900 of them in the ICU and 7,778 on a ventilator, according to The COVID Tracking Project .
California becomes new epicenter of COVID-19 in U.S. California, once praised for its early pandemic response, is now the new U.S. hotspot for COVID-19 infections. The state has reported an alarming surge in cases, breaking previous records for daily cases. On Thursday (Dec. 17), the state reported some 50,000 COVID-19 infections in 24 hours, and nearly 100,000 in 48 hours, according to The Washington Post . That's more than the daily cases reported in many countries, including India, Germany and Britain, the Post reported. The state also set a record for daily deaths on Thursday, with 379 fatalities reported, up from the previous high of 293. Capacity in intensive care units has also dropped dramatically, with hospitals in Southern California reporting zero percent capacity on Thursday. "I want to be very clear: Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight," said Christina Ghaly, director of Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services, the Post reported.
FDA expected to authorize Moderna's vaccine on Friday The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday (Dec. 18). Once authorized, it will be the second coronavirus vaccine to get the green light from the agency in just a week, with Pfizer's vaccine gaining authorization on Dec. 11. Moderna is expected to begin shipping 5.9 million doses of its vaccine on Sunday (Dec. 20), with the first deliveries arriving Monday (Dec. 21), according to The New York Times . Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna's vaccine does not require storage in extremely cold temperatures, and states are hoping to distribute the vaccine to rural hospitals and community health centers, the Times reported.
COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the U.S. There have now been more than 17 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 300,000 deaths, according to The COVID Tracking Project . There are currently 114,237 people hospitalized across the country and 21,900 people in the ICU. California is facing a massive surge in cases; the state reported 41,012 new COVID-19 cases and 300 new deaths on Thursday (Dec. 17), according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard . By comparison, at the start of November, California was reporting a seven-day average of 4,183 cases, compared to an average of 38,774 on Thursday, according to CNN . "We're experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Director said, according to CNN. Intensive care unit beds are rapidly filling up across the state; there are only 1,234 ICU beds left available in California, according to the dashboard. Current closures across California are impacting around 98% of the state's population, according to CNN.
London and southeast England are under an emergency lockdown Following concerns of a new version of the coronavirus that might be more transmissible, London and most of southeast England are now under an emergency lockdown, according to The New York Times . Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lockdown on Saturday (Dec. 19) citing concerns that the mutated virus — which was detected a couple of weeks ago in southeast England — may be as much as 70% more transmissible than previous versions, according to the Times. The new version of the coronavirus is detected in more than 60% of new infections in London and have also been detected in several other countries, according to the Times. But it's not yet clear if this coronavirus version is any more infectious than the last and thorough analyses will need to be conducted before conclusions are made, scientists cautioned. In South Africa, a similar version of the virus has been found in up to 90% of new cases detected since mid-November, according to The Times . It's common for viruses to mutate, and this particular coronavirus has mutated many times since the start of the pandemic. But experts told The Times that it would take years for the virus to mutate enough such that it would make the current vaccines developed to fight COVID-19 ineffective.
Biden gets Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine President-elect Joe Biden received a dose of Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine on Monday (Dec. 21), according to The New York Times . He received the shot on camera at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. "I'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. There's nothing to worry about," Biden said.
Antarctica has its 1st COVID-19 outbreak The first COVID-19 cases have been reported in Antarctica , meaning the disease has now spread to every continent in the world. On Tuesday (Dec. 22), Chilean officials reported an outbreak of 36 COVID-19 cases at the Chilean research base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the BBC . Of these, 26 cases were military personnel and 10 were maintenance workers, the BBC reported. All of these cases have been evacuated from Antarctica to Punta Arenas, Chile, according to The Guardian . Antarctica had been COVID-19 free up until the current outbreak. The continent has no permanent residents, but about 1,000 people, including scientists and other workers, stayed there this past winter, The Guardian reported.
Live updates will continue in 2021!


livescience--2020-09-24--SpaceX pops Starship tank on purpose in explosive pressure test

The Starship SN7.1 tank was destroyed on purpose Tuesday night ( Sept. 22 ) at SpaceX 's South Texas facilities , during a pressure test designed to take the stainless-steel hardware to its bursting point .
SpaceX has performed several other such tests , including one this past June that blew the top off the SN7 tank .
Such trials inform future iterations of Starship , the 100-passenger spacecraft Elon Musk 's company is developing to get people to Mars , the moon and other cosmic destinations .
SN7.1 's death clears the way for testing of the SN8 prototype @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this weekend .
If SN8 aces a series of checkouts and engine trials , it will attempt a 12-mile-high ( 20 kilometers ) flight into the South Texas skies , Musk has said .
Two full-size Starship prototypes have already gotten off the ground — SN5 and SN6 , each of which got about 500 feet ( 150 meters ) high during recent test flights .
( `` SN '' stands for `` serial number , '' in case you were wondering . )
The flights of both SN5 and SN6 were powered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SN8 will have three Raptors , as well as a nose cone and control-improving body flaps , further accoutrements that its predecessors lacked .
The final Starship will have six Raptors , which will make the 165-foot-tall ( 50 m ) vehicle powerful enough to launch itself off the moon and Mars , Musk has said .
But Starship will need help getting off our bulkier Earth , so it will launch from here atop a giant rocket called , which will be powered by about 30 Raptors of its own .
Starship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be fully and rapidly reusable .
Musk envisions the duo cutting the cost of spaceflight dramatically — so dramatically , in fact , that ambitious feats such as Mars colonization become economically feasible .
Mike Wall is the author of `` Out There '' ( Grand Central Publishing , 2018 ; illustrated by Karl Tate ) , a book about the search for alien life .
Follow him on Twitter @ michaeldwall .
Follow us on Twitter @ Spacedotcom or Facebook .

SpaceX just popped another Starship test tank.
The Starship SN7.1 tank was destroyed on purpose Tuesday night (Sept. 22) at SpaceX's South Texas facilities, during a pressure test designed to take the stainless-steel hardware to its bursting point.
SpaceX has performed several other such tests, including one this past June that blew the top off the SN7 tank . Such trials inform future iterations of Starship, the 100-passenger spacecraft Elon Musk's company is developing to get people to Mars, the moon and other cosmic destinations.
Related: SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy rocket in pictures
SN7.1's death clears the way for testing of the SN8 prototype, which could begin as soon as this weekend. If SN8 aces a series of checkouts and engine trials, it will attempt a 12-mile-high (20 kilometers) flight into the South Texas skies, Musk has said.
Two full-size Starship prototypes have already gotten off the ground — SN5 and SN6, each of which got about 500 feet (150 meters) high during recent test flights. ("SN" stands for "serial number," in case you were wondering.)
The flights of both SN5 and SN6 were powered by just a single Raptor engine. SN8 will have three Raptors, as well as a nose cone and control-improving body flaps, further accoutrements that its predecessors lacked.
The final Starship will have six Raptors, which will make the 165-foot-tall (50 m) vehicle powerful enough to launch itself off the moon and Mars, Musk has said. But Starship will need help getting off our bulkier Earth, so it will launch from here atop a giant rocket called Super Heavy , which will be powered by about 30 Raptors of its own.
Starship and Super Heavy are both designed to be fully and rapidly reusable. Musk envisions the duo cutting the cost of spaceflight dramatically — so dramatically, in fact, that ambitious feats such as Mars colonization become economically feasible.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.


livescience--2020-09-24--1st US airline offers rapid COVID-19 testing to some passengers

United Airlines has become the first U.S. airline to launch a pilot COVID-19 testing program for some of its passengers , the company announced on Thursday ( Sept. 24 ) .
The airline plans to offer rapid COVID-19 testing for United passengers traveling from San Francisco International Airport ( SFO ) to Hawaii , the company .
Beginning Oct. 15 , customers on these flights will have the option to take a COVID-19 test at the airport or to submit a self-collected mail-in test before their trip , according to the statement .
Customers who opt for the airport test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test , a nasal swab test that provides results in 15 minutes .
The tests will be administered by GoHealth Urgent Care , which will have a dedicated COVID-19 testing area at SFO .
Travelers who opt for a mail-in test will receive a nasal swab self-collection kit from the testing company Color , and are recommended to return their samples within 72 hours of their trip .
Color will provide test results via text or email within 24 to 48 hours .
Related : 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limited to flights from SFO to Hawaii , but United is looking to expand COVID-19 testing to other destinations and U.S. airports later this year , the statement said .
The news comes as airlines around the world are pushing for COVID-19 tests as an alternative to travel restrictions and lengthy quarantines for travelers .
Earlier this week , an industry group for the world 's airlines called for the use of rapid antigen tests — which looks for specific viral proteins — for all international passengers , according to .
German airline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offer COVID-19 antigen tests to its passengers beginning in October , starting with business and first-class passengers , according to .
And American Airlines is looking into options for rapid COVID-19 testing as well , according to .
United Airlines said it 's working closely with Hawaii to ensure that passengers who test negative do n't have to undergo a 14-day quarantine .
Hawaii currently has a 14-day quarantine requirement for those arriving into the state from anywhere else , but will lift the requirement on Oct. 15 for those who test negative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other words , a COVID-19 test is not required to travel to Hawaii , but those who do n't document a negative test will be subject to the quarantine .

United Airlines has become the first U.S. airline to launch a pilot COVID-19 testing program for some of its passengers, the company announced on Thursday (Sept. 24).
The airline plans to offer rapid COVID-19 testing for United passengers traveling from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Hawaii, the company said in a statement . Beginning Oct. 15, customers on these flights will have the option to take a COVID-19 test at the airport or to submit a self-collected mail-in test before their trip, according to the statement.
Customers who opt for the airport test will receive the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test, a nasal swab test that provides results in 15 minutes. The tests will be administered by GoHealth Urgent Care, which will have a dedicated COVID-19 testing area at SFO. Travelers who opt for a mail-in test will receive a nasal swab self-collection kit from the testing company Color, and are recommended to return their samples within 72 hours of their trip. Color will provide test results via text or email within 24 to 48 hours.
Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history
For now, the tests are limited to flights from SFO to Hawaii, but United is looking to expand COVID-19 testing to other destinations and U.S. airports later this year, the statement said.
The news comes as airlines around the world are pushing for COVID-19 tests as an alternative to travel restrictions and lengthy quarantines for travelers. Earlier this week, an industry group for the world's airlines called for the use of rapid antigen tests — which looks for specific viral proteins — for all international passengers, according to CNBC . German airline Lufthansa also announced that it plans to offer COVID-19 antigen tests to its passengers beginning in October, starting with business and first-class passengers, according to Reuters . And American Airlines is looking into options for rapid COVID-19 testing as well, according to Forbes .
United Airlines said it's working closely with Hawaii to ensure that passengers who test negative don't have to undergo a 14-day quarantine. Hawaii currently has a 14-day quarantine requirement for those arriving into the state from anywhere else, but will lift the requirement on Oct. 15 for those who test negative 72 hours before departure, CNBC reported . In other words, a COVID-19 test is not required to travel to Hawaii, but those who don't document a negative test will be subject to the quarantine.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-24--Climate scientists uncover new record-low temperature in Greenland

On the heels of the the Northern Hemisphere has ever seen , U.N. researchers digging through the climate record have reported a chilling discovery : On Dec. 22 , 1991 , a remote weather station atop the ice sheet recorded a temperature of minus 93.3 degrees Fahrenheit ( minus 69.6 degrees Celsius ) — the coldest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere .
The frigid new record , announced Wednesday ( Sept. 23 ) from the U.N. 's World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) , shivers past the previous record of minus 90.4 F ( minus 67.8 C ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Siberian Arctic , first in 1892 and the other in 1933 .
For comparison , all three of those extreme lows sneak past the average temperature on Mars , which is roughly minus 81 F ( minus 63 C ) , .
`` In the era of … this newly recognized cold record is an important reminder about the stark contrasts that exist on this planet , '' WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in the statement .
Contrasting those lows , of course , are extreme highs that continue to set scorching new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ global warming .
In Verkhoyansk , for example — one of the Siberian towns that witnessed the former record-low in 1892 — temperatures reached 100 F ( 38 C ) this June for the first time in recorded history , setting a new .
Meanwhile , — which still holds the world record for coldest temperature on Earth ( minus 128.6 F , or minus 89.2 C , recorded in 1983 ) — saw a new this February , when temperatures reached 69.35 F ( 20.75 C ) during the Southern Hemisphere 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was discovered by a team of so-called `` climate detectives '' working at the WMO 's Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes in Geneva .
The temperature was recorded by the Klinck automatic weather station , which was active from 1990 to 1992 near the highest peak of the Greenland ice sheet , .
The WMO detectives confirmed these results with the original Klinck researchers before making their announcement on Wednesday .
Formed in 2007 , the WMO Archive has uncovered a slew of similar meteorological records over the years .
In June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the — a 440-mile-long ( 700 kilometers ) bolt that stretched across Brazil and Argentina on Halloween , 2018 .
What could be spookier than that ?

On the heels of the hottest summer the Northern Hemisphere has ever seen, U.N. researchers digging through the climate record have reported a chilling discovery: On Dec. 22, 1991, a remote weather station atop the Greenland ice sheet recorded a temperature of minus 93.3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 69.6 degrees Celsius) — the coldest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.
The frigid new record, announced Wednesday (Sept. 23) in a statement from the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO), shivers past the previous record of minus 90.4 F (minus 67.8 C) set in two different towns in the Siberian Arctic, first in 1892 and the other in 1933. For comparison, all three of those extreme lows sneak past the average temperature on Mars, which is roughly minus 81 F (minus 63 C), according to NASA .
"In the era of climate change … this newly recognized cold record is an important reminder about the stark contrasts that exist on this planet," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in the statement.
Related: Photos: The 8 coldest places on Earth
Contrasting those lows, of course, are extreme highs that continue to set scorching new records year after year, thanks to global warming. In Verkhoyansk, for example — one of the Siberian towns that witnessed the former record-low in 1892 — temperatures reached 100 F (38 C) this June for the first time in recorded history, setting a new record-high temperature for the Arctic Circle .
Meanwhile, Antarctica — which still holds the world record for coldest temperature on Earth (minus 128.6 F, or minus 89.2 C, recorded in 1983) — saw a new all-time high this February, when temperatures reached 69.35 F (20.75 C) during the Southern Hemisphere's summer.
Greenland's new record low was discovered by a team of so-called "climate detectives" working at the WMO's Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes in Geneva. The temperature was recorded by the Klinck automatic weather station, which was active from 1990 to 1992 near the highest peak of the Greenland ice sheet, according to AP News . The WMO detectives confirmed these results with the original Klinck researchers before making their announcement on Wednesday. Formed in 2007, the WMO Archive has uncovered a slew of similar meteorological records over the years. In June 2020, Archive researchers announced the discovery of the longest lightning bolt ever recorded — a 440-mile-long (700 kilometers) bolt that stretched across Brazil and Argentina on Halloween, 2018. What could be spookier than that?
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-25--Bright 'red glob' washes ashore in Washington. It may be a 7-armed octopus.

A mysterious , many-armed sea creature — initially described as a large `` red glob '' — lying on a rocky shore in Washington has drawn in cephalopod experts across the country , each wondering what this gelatinous animal is .
The 3.5-foot-long ( 1 meter ) beast 's identity was at first elusive ; was it the shallow-water East Pacific red ( Octopus rubescens ) ?
Or perhaps it was a very lost deep-sea vampire squid ( Vampyroteuthis infernalis ) or a deep-sea dumbo octopus ( Grimpoteuthis ) ?
The likely answers ( no , no and no ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the seven-armed octopus ( Haliphron atlanticus ) , a deep-water creature that is rarely seen as far north as Washington , according to the Whidbey News-Times .
Ron Newberry , a resident of Whidbey Island , north of Seattle in Puget Sound , discovered the weird creature before going salmon fishing the morning of Aug. 29 .
The tide was low , exposing algae-covered rocks .
`` And there it was , this red glob of something with what appeared to be tentacles , '' Newberry told Live Science in an email .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ realized .
But Newberry still snapped a few photos and uploaded them to the and accounts of Whidbey Camano Land Trust , a nonprofit nature conservation organization , where Newberry serves as communications manager .
Later , the tide came in and carried the animal 's body back into Puget Sound .
The social media posts went viral , with the Facebook post reaching 21,000 people within days .
A series of experts from the Seattle Aquarium , University of Washington , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Smithsonian Institution in Washington , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the creature 's identity , but most agreed that it was a seven-armed octopus , Newberry said .
`` According to a college professor from Walla Walla University [ in eastern Washington ] , he did n't know of any records of such an octopus found in the Puget Sound area or Washington state , '' Newberry said .
The seven-armed octopus is an animal of `` least concern , '' meaning it 's not considered to be threatened , according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; and scientists know little about its habitat .
Submersibles have recorded the species swimming in the deep sea , and bottom trawl fishing vessels have taken in large adults , the IUCN reported .
However , scientists do know its dining preferences .
Remotely operated vehicles ( ROVs ) off the coasts of California and Hawaii have captured footage of giant , deep-sea H. atlanticus octopuses holding jellyfish , including the so-called egg-yolk jelly ( Phacellophora camtschatica ) , in their arms , and stomach-content analyses of these octopuses confirmed that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 2017 study in the journal .
H. atlanticus females are much larger than males , making the species one of the `` strongest examples of sexual size dimorphism among cephalopods , '' according to that study .
The male 's head ( known as the mantle ) is only about 4 inches ( 10 centimeters ) long , while the female 's is about 27 inches ( 69 cm ) long , the IUCN reported .
And , despite its intriguing name , the octopus does n't have just seven arms .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ positioned in a sac next to the right eye , and the male takes it out when transferring sperm to potential mates .
`` Therefore it appears to have only seven arms , giving it the common name of the seven-arm octopus , '' according to the Scientific Reports study .
While some experts wish that Newberry had taken a slice of the creature so its DNA could be analyzed , he demurred .
`` it 's not something I would do , '' he said .
`` I like to leave nature @ @ @

A mysterious, many-armed sea creature — initially described as a large "red glob" — lying on a rocky shore in Washington has drawn in cephalopod experts across the country, each wondering what this gelatinous animal is.
The 3.5-foot-long (1 meter) beast's identity was at first elusive; was it the shallow-water East Pacific red octopus (Octopus rubescens)? Or perhaps it was a very lost deep-sea vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) or a deep-sea dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis)?
The likely answers (no, no and no) led scientists to yet another species: the seven-armed octopus (Haliphron atlanticus), a deep-water creature that is rarely seen as far north as Washington, according to the Whidbey News-Times .
Related: In photos: Amazing 'octomom' protects eggs for 4.5 years
Ron Newberry, a resident of Whidbey Island, north of Seattle in Puget Sound, discovered the weird creature before going salmon fishing the morning of Aug. 29. The tide was low, exposing algae-covered rocks. "And there it was, this red glob of something with what appeared to be tentacles," Newberry told Live Science in an email. The red beast was dead, he realized. But Newberry still snapped a few photos and uploaded them to the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Whidbey Camano Land Trust, a nonprofit nature conservation organization, where Newberry serves as communications manager. Later, the tide came in and carried the animal's body back into Puget Sound.
Ron Newberry spotted the octopus at low tide. (Image credit: Ron Newberry/Whidbey Camano Land Trust)
The social media posts went viral, with the Facebook post reaching 21,000 people within days. A series of experts from the Seattle Aquarium, University of Washington, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. weighed in and offered ideas about the creature's identity, but most agreed that it was a seven-armed octopus, Newberry said.
"According to a college professor from Walla Walla University [in eastern Washington], he didn't know of any records of such an octopus found in the Puget Sound area or Washington state," Newberry said.
The bright red octopus measured about 3.5 feet (1 meter) long. (Image credit: Ron Newberry/Whidbey Camano Land Trust)
The seven-armed octopus is an animal of "least concern," meaning it's not considered to be threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, its population size is unknown; and scientists know little about its habitat. Submersibles have recorded the species swimming in the deep sea, and bottom trawl fishing vessels have taken in large adults, the IUCN reported.
However, scientists do know its dining preferences. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) off the coasts of California and Hawaii have captured footage of giant, deep-sea H. atlanticus octopuses holding jellyfish, including the so-called egg-yolk jelly (Phacellophora camtschatica), in their arms, and stomach-content analyses of these octopuses confirmed that they chowed down on jellyfish, according to a 2017 study in the journal Scientific Reports .
H. atlanticus females are much larger than males, making the species one of the "strongest examples of sexual size dimorphism among cephalopods," according to that study. The male's head (known as the mantle) is only about 4 inches (10 centimeters) long, while the female's is about 27 inches (69 cm) long, the IUCN reported.
Related: In photos: Spooky deep-sea creatures
And, despite its intriguing name, the octopus doesn't have just seven arms. In males, the eighth arm is positioned in a sac next to the right eye, and the male takes it out when transferring sperm to potential mates. "Therefore it appears to have only seven arms, giving it the common name of the seven-arm octopus," according to the Scientific Reports study.
While some experts wish that Newberry had taken a slice of the creature so its DNA could be analyzed, he demurred. "it's not something I would do," he said. "I like to leave nature be."
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-25--Dream-shaping tech from MIT channels suggestions into your dreams

MIT scientists have figured out how to manipulate your dreams by combining an app with a sleep-tracking device called Dormio .
In their new study , the researchers were able to insert certain topics into a person 's dreams , with some pretty bizarre outcomes .
To do so , the researchers at MIT Media Lab 's Fluid Interfaces — a group that develops wearable systems and interfaces to enhance cognitive skills — used a technique called targeted dream incubation ( TDI ) .
Prior studies have shown that during a rare dream state known , in which a sleeper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place , dreamers can use that awareness to consciously shape aspects of their dreams .
TDI takes advantage of an early sleep stage , known as hypnagogia , to achieve a similar result ( though not quite `` controlling '' dreams outright ) , researchers told Live Science .
During hypnagogia — a semi-lucid dream state that occurs during the onset of sleep — TDI introduced `` targeted information '' to a sleeper , `` enabling direct incorporation of this information into dream content , '' the scientists wrote in a new study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the journal .
They conducted dream experiments by performing `` serial awakenings '' during daytime napping sessions in 25 participants .
Subjects first recorded audio prompts in an app , such as , `` remember to think of a tree '' and `` remember to observe your thoughts , '' and then prepared for sleep , according to the study .
A hand-worn sleep tracker monitored the subject 's , electrical changes on the skin surface , and the amount their fingers were bent or relaxed , to detect when a sleeper entered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence from outside audio cues , '' said lead study author Adam Haar Horowitz , a doctoral candidate in MIT Media Lab 's Fluid Interfaces Group .
The Dormio sleep tracker communicated with the app , `` which delivers audio at the correct times , and records audio of dream reports '' when the subject is awake , Haar Horowitz told Live Science in an email .
Just as a subject drifted off to sleep and entered hypnagogia , Dormio would coordinate with the app to wake them up with the pre-recorded prompts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the sleeper also recording a brief `` dream journal '' entry into the app when they were awakened .
`` Simply put , people tell us whether the prompts appear in their dream , '' Haar Horowitz said .
`` Often , they are transformed — a 'tree ' prompt becomes a tree-shaped car — but direct incorporation is easily identified . ''
The scientists found that 67 % of the subjects ' dream reports mentioned dreams that incorporated a tree .
`` I was following the roots with someone and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' one participant recalled .
Another mentioned `` a tree from my childhood , from my backyard .
It never asked for anything . ''
The same subject , in later awakenings , described `` trees splitting into infinite pieces '' and `` a shaman , sitting under the tree with me , he tells me to go to South America . ''
`` Dream reports increased in bizarreness and immersion with each awakening , '' but the scientists did not develop a universal rating system for the bizarreness of the dreams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some dreaming takes place during hypnagogia , most dreaming happens during rapid eye movement ( REM ) sleep .
Before the brain achieves REM sleep , it passes through three stages of non-REM sleep .
First is the transition from wakefulness into sleep , when hypnagogia takes place .
This is followed by light sleep , and then , finally , deep sleep , according to the ( NIH ) .
Throughout the night , a sleeper will cycle through REM and non-REM sleep several times , the NIH says .
Dreams during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or intense , and most of the time , the dreamer will experience them passively .
However , sometimes a dreamer may find themselves in a lucid dream , in which they recognize that they 're dreaming .
In this unusual state of awareness , the sleeper might be able to manipulate events in their dream , according to the ( Elsevier Ltd. , 2009 ) .
Related : Daydreaming again ?
5 facts about the wandering mind Such experiences are rare .
In a given population , only about half of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the book `` `` ( Sixth Edition , 2017 ) .
Of those individuals , approximately 20 % have lucid dreams on a monthly basis , and around 1 % have lucid dreams several times a week .
But by interrupting hypnagogia , the study authors found an alternate route for providing sleepers with the ability to shape their dream content , said Tomás Vega , a former graduate student researcher with MIT 's Fluid Interfaces Group .
Vega is the co-founder at , a company building technologies that integrate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circuit board and software that TDI uses to record different biosignals .
Though Vega initially thought that sleep studies could be conducted only with expensive , bulky equipment in a lab setting , `` I realized that we can use really cool devices that are almost off the shelf , '' he told Live Science .
Vega had tested Dormio on his own dreaming brain , using the tech to plant a suggestion about a favorite movie , `` Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory , '' with an audio prompt of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oompa Loompas , singing their signature song .
Singing Oompa Loompas did indeed appear in Vega 's dream — but with a twist .
`` I started dreaming about being in a chocolate waterfall , surrounded by Oompa Loompas singing 'Oompa Loompa , doopity doo , ' '' he said .
However , Vega , who is lactose intolerant , also noted that the waterfall was made of dark chocolate .
`` It was a lactose-free waterfall , '' he said .
`` So , is my lactose-intolerance knowledge in my consciousness or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dream content , but there were still some constraints , like , 'You can not just dream about milk chocolate because that 's going to harm you , ' '' he said .
Creative brainstorming would likely be the most immediate application for targeted dreaming , Haar Horowitz said .
But as many of the mechanisms that control sleep and dreaming are not well understood , it 's too soon to say precisely how nudging a dream 's content or achieving a state of awareness while dreaming could directly benefit a sleeper in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Every benefit shown to be correlated to dreaming deserves an experiment on whether it can be causally shown to come from dreaming , '' Haar Horowitz said .
`` This ranges from past work on nightmares and PTSD to current work on language learning in sleep , or creativity and eureka moments in dreams . ''

MIT scientists have figured out how to manipulate your dreams by combining an app with a sleep-tracking device called Dormio. In their new study, the researchers were able to insert certain topics into a person's dreams, with some pretty bizarre outcomes.
To do so, the researchers at MIT Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces — a group that develops wearable systems and interfaces to enhance cognitive skills — used a technique called targeted dream incubation (TDI).
Prior studies have shown that during a rare dream state known lucid dreaming , in which a sleeper is aware that a dream is taking place, dreamers can use that awareness to consciously shape aspects of their dreams. TDI takes advantage of an early sleep stage, known as hypnagogia, to achieve a similar result (though not quite "controlling" dreams outright), researchers told Live Science.
Related: 7 mind-bending facts about dreams
During hypnagogia — a semi-lucid dream state that occurs during the onset of sleep — TDI introduced "targeted information" to a sleeper, "enabling direct incorporation of this information into dream content," the scientists wrote in a new study, published in the August issue of the journal Consciousness and Cognition . They conducted dream experiments by performing "serial awakenings" during daytime napping sessions in 25 participants.
Subjects first recorded audio prompts in an app, such as, "remember to think of a tree" and "remember to observe your thoughts," and then prepared for sleep, according to the study.
A hand-worn sleep tracker monitored the subject's heart rate , electrical changes on the skin surface, and the amount their fingers were bent or relaxed, to detect when a sleeper entered hypnagogia and was therefore "open to influence from outside audio cues," said lead study author Adam Haar Horowitz, a doctoral candidate in MIT Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group. The Dormio sleep tracker communicated with the app, "which delivers audio at the correct times, and records audio of dream reports" when the subject is awake, Haar Horowitz told Live Science in an email.
Just as a subject drifted off to sleep and entered hypnagogia, Dormio would coordinate with the app to wake them up with the pre-recorded prompts. This cycle repeated several times, with the sleeper also recording a brief "dream journal" entry into the app when they were awakened.
"Simply put, people tell us whether the prompts appear in their dream," Haar Horowitz said. "Often, they are transformed — a 'tree' prompt becomes a tree-shaped car — but direct incorporation is easily identified."
The scientists found that 67% of the subjects' dream reports mentioned dreams that incorporated a tree. "I was following the roots with someone and the roots were transporting me to different locations," one participant recalled. Another mentioned "a tree from my childhood, from my backyard. It never asked for anything." The same subject, in later awakenings, described "trees splitting into infinite pieces" and "a shaman, sitting under the tree with me, he tells me to go to South America."
"Dream reports increased in bizarreness and immersion with each awakening," but the scientists did not develop a universal rating system for the bizarreness of the dreams, the study authors reported.
When subjects used Dormio, their transition into stage two sleep was tracked and interrupted. This suspended the sleeper in a semi-lucid state, allowing the direction of dreams. (Image credit: Oscar Rosello/Fluid Interfaces group, MIT Media Lab)
Dream on
Though some dreaming takes place during hypnagogia, most dreaming happens during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Before the brain achieves REM sleep, it passes through three stages of non-REM sleep. First is the transition from wakefulness into sleep, when hypnagogia takes place. This is followed by light sleep, and then, finally, deep sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Throughout the night, a sleeper will cycle through REM and non-REM sleep several times, the NIH says.
Dreams during REM sleep can be vivid, bizarre or intense, and most of the time, the dreamer will experience them passively. However, sometimes a dreamer may find themselves in a lucid dream, in which they recognize that they're dreaming. In this unusual state of awareness, the sleeper might be able to manipulate events in their dream, according to the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (Elsevier Ltd., 2009).
Related: Daydreaming again? 5 facts about the wandering mind
Such experiences are rare. In a given population, only about half of the people will have ever experienced lucid dreaming, according to the book " Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine " (Sixth Edition, 2017). Of those individuals, approximately 20% have lucid dreams on a monthly basis, and around 1% have lucid dreams several times a week.
But by interrupting hypnagogia, the study authors found an alternate route for providing sleepers with the ability to shape their dream content, said Tomás Vega, a former graduate student researcher with MIT's Fluid Interfaces Group. Vega is the co-founder at Augmental Tech , a company building technologies that integrate with the human body , and he created the circuit board and software that TDI uses to record different biosignals.
Though Vega initially thought that sleep studies could be conducted only with expensive, bulky equipment in a lab setting, "I realized that we can use really cool devices that are almost off the shelf," he told Live Science.
In your wildest dreams
Vega had tested Dormio on his own dreaming brain, using the tech to plant a suggestion about a favorite movie, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," with an audio prompt of the film's chocolate factory workers, the Oompa Loompas, singing their signature song.
Singing Oompa Loompas did indeed appear in Vega's dream — but with a twist.
"I started dreaming about being in a chocolate waterfall, surrounded by Oompa Loompas singing 'Oompa Loompa, doopity doo,'" he said. However, Vega, who is lactose intolerant, also noted that the waterfall was made of dark chocolate.
"It was a lactose-free waterfall," he said. "So, is my lactose-intolerance knowledge in my consciousness or in my subconscious? I induced this dream content, but there were still some constraints, like, 'You cannot just dream about milk chocolate because that's going to harm you,'" he said.
Creative brainstorming would likely be the most immediate application for targeted dreaming, Haar Horowitz said. But as many of the mechanisms that control sleep and dreaming are not well understood, it's too soon to say precisely how nudging a dream's content or achieving a state of awareness while dreaming could directly benefit a sleeper in other ways, he added.
"Every benefit shown to be correlated to dreaming deserves an experiment on whether it can be causally shown to come from dreaming," Haar Horowitz said. "This ranges from past work on nightmares and PTSD to current work on language learning in sleep, or creativity and eureka moments in dreams."
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-25--Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates


livescience--2020-09-25--Zombie storms are rising from the dead thanks to climate change

Wildfires are burning the West Coast , hurricanes are flooding the Southeast — and some of those storms are rising from the dead .
`` Zombie storms , '' which regain strength after initially petering out , are the newest addition to the year 2020 .
And these undead weather anomalies are becoming more common thanks to .
`` Because 2020 , we now have Zombie Tropical Storms .
Welcome back to the land of the living , Tropical Storm # Paulette , '' the National Weather Service on Tuesday ( Sept. 22 ) .
Earlier this month , Tropical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and made landfall in Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane , .
It then strengthened over land into a Category 2 hurricane , before weakening and dying off five and half days later .
But then , Paulette opened her frightening eye once again .
She was n't gone .
Paulette regained strength and became a tropical storm once more about 300 miles ( 480 kilometers ) away from the Azores Islands on Monday ( Sept. 21 ) , according to CNN .
The term `` zombie storm '' is new , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it is thought to be rare .
But zombie storms are going to happen more often , said Donald Wuebbles , a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign .
And as with other natural disasters that have been intensifying in recent years , such as wildfires and hurricanes , and rapid global warming are to blame .
There has been an `` extreme amount of heating of the Gulf ( of Mexico ) , particularly in some of the ocean areas off of the Carribean , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Mexico , where many hurricanes gain strength before hitting the U.S. , is particularly vulnerable to global warming because the gulf waters are very shallow — and thus heat up easily , Wuebbles said .
Atlantic Ocean storms typically form in warmer parts of the ocean near Africa , due to a combination of atmospheric and ocean conditions .
They then `` race across '' the ocean toward the Americas , Wuebbles said .
Hurricanes need warm water and moist air to form , according to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continuous supply of energy from warm water and air , and they weaken when they move over cooler waters or over land .
`` If they 're not so strong , in the past , they would just die out , '' over the Atlantic , Wuebbles said .
But now , they reach warm water in the Carribean region and pick up energy again , he added .
This is also true for storms that have n't died out yet .
For instance , about a month ago , strengthened overnight from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4 storm because it picked up energy from warm water in the Gulf , Wuebbles said .
With a warming globe , `` storms are likely to become more intense , '' he added .
That means the idea of `` zombie storms '' may be here to stay .
Thankfully Paulette seems to have become a post-tropical cyclone once more and will die out soon , according to the National Hurricane Center .

Wildfires are burning the West Coast, hurricanes are flooding the Southeast — and some of those storms are rising from the dead.
"Zombie storms," which regain strength after initially petering out, are the newest addition to the year 2020. And these undead weather anomalies are becoming more common thanks to climate change .
"Because 2020, we now have Zombie Tropical Storms. Welcome back to the land of the living, Tropical Storm #Paulette," the National Weather Service wrote on Twitter on Tuesday (Sept. 22).
Earlier this month, Tropical storm Paulette formed in the Atlantic Ocean and made landfall in Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane, according to CNN . It then strengthened over land into a Category 2 hurricane, before weakening and dying off five and half days later.
Related: The reality of climate change: 10 myths busted
But then, Paulette opened her frightening eye once again. She wasn't gone.
Paulette regained strength and became a tropical storm once more about 300 miles (480 kilometers) away from the Azores Islands on Monday (Sept. 21), according to CNN. The term "zombie storm" is new, and though the phenomenon has been recorded before, it is thought to be rare.
But zombie storms are going to happen more often, said Donald Wuebbles, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. And as with other natural disasters that have been intensifying in recent years, such as wildfires and hurricanes, climate change and rapid global warming are to blame.
There has been an "extreme amount of heating of the Gulf (of Mexico), particularly in some of the ocean areas off of the Carribean," Wuebbles told Live Science. The Gulf of Mexico, where many hurricanes gain strength before hitting the U.S., is particularly vulnerable to global warming because the gulf waters are very shallow — and thus heat up easily, Wuebbles said.
Atlantic Ocean storms typically form in warmer parts of the ocean near Africa, due to a combination of atmospheric and ocean conditions. They then "race across" the ocean toward the Americas, Wuebbles said. Hurricanes need warm water and moist air to form, according to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research . Storms grow if there's a continuous supply of energy from warm water and air, and they weaken when they move over cooler waters or over land.
"If they're not so strong, in the past, they would just die out," over the Atlantic, Wuebbles said. But now, they reach warm water in the Carribean region and pick up energy again, he added. This is also true for storms that haven't died out yet. For instance, about a month ago, Hurricane Laura strengthened overnight from a Category 1 storm to a Category 4 storm because it picked up energy from warm water in the Gulf, Wuebbles said.
With a warming globe, "storms are likely to become more intense," he added. That means the idea of "zombie storms" may be here to stay.
Thankfully Paulette seems to have become a post-tropical cyclone once more and will die out soon, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Originally published on Live Science.