livescience--2020-10-20--Without gravity, the fluid around an astronaut's brain moves in weird ways

Fluid around the brain redistributes in the skull during spaceflight , scientists found in a new study of 11 cosmonauts who visited the International Space Station ( ISS ) .
The study , which confirms previous findings about the effects of microgravity on the human brain , was led by Steven Jillings , a doctoral student at the Lab for Equilibrium Investigations and Aerospace ( LEIA ) at the University of Antwerp in Belgium .
Previously , Jillings co-authored two studies that examined the effect of spaceflight on the brains of Russian cosmonauts , and recently Jillings took the analytical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jillings and the team studied the brains of 11 cosmonauts before their spaceflights , then again nine days after landing , and then again six to seven months after their return to Earth .
Jillings participated in previous work on spaceflyer brains that used a standard type of magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI ) , and this new work used a particular type of MRI scan that involved a series of diffusion MRI ( dMRI ) images .
This allowed for a more in-depth look at the brain landscape to see how spaceflight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel can seriously change your brain Jillings became interested in the effects of spaceflight on the human brain with the help of his supervisor , Floris Wuyts , who has a background in studying the vestibular system — a set of sensory organs in the inner ear that are responsible for balance and spatial orientation .
In 2009 , Wuyts wrote a proposal to do MRI scans on 11 cosmonauts from the Russian space agency Roscosmos to study brain neuroplasticity , or the capacity of the brain to adjust to new environments .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ joined in 2016 .
The new analyses were based on observations of the cosmonauts ' brains which began in 2017 , by which time the researchers had enough data to do a formal statistical test .
Jillings primarily analyzed and interpreted the data for this study .
The human body is designed to function under Earth 's gravity , and many of its parts have evolved to respond to this downward pull .
These biological systems change when humans ( and other mammals ) spend an extended period of time in orbit , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of weightlessness .
On Earth 's surface , liquid and gel-like material in our body responds to gravity in ways that are important for our day-to-day functioning .
One place where this happens is in the otolith organ , a part of the vestibular system .
The otolith , found inside the inner ear , helps the brain to receive information that tells it how the head is oriented .
It is made up of tiny , crystal structures called otoconia , which lie flat on top of a gel in the inner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement like tilting down to one shoulder , gravity pulls the otoconia crystals down across hairs within the inner ear , sending a signal to the brain that the head has tilted .
But in microgravity there is not enough gravitational pull to tell the brain that the head has changed position .
The first several days in space are disorienting for space crew members , and prolonged exposure to microgravity means they need a period of readjustment to gravity when they come back down to Earth .
Jillings and his team found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the brain and spine does n't move the way it does on Earth .
This new work found that cosmonauts who had served six-month missions on the ISS experienced upward shifting of their brains , and that the fluid found around the brain and spine redistributed as a result of being in microgravity .
`` The cerebrospinal fluid is all the fluid that goes around your brain and spinal cord ; it surrounds it , '' Jillings told Space.com .
`` [ The fluid ] has multiple functions , but the fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helps [ when you ] bump your head .
It acts as a buffer space [ so ] you do n't immediately hit your brain tissue . ''
In addition to cushioning the brain , the cerebrospinal fluid also helps to clear waste products from the mind 's organ .
And in the bodies of the cosmonauts monitored in this study , this fluid seemed to pool near the lower part of the brain after they returned from space .
This suggests that the brain has lifted .
However this is temporary and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the brains had almost fully returned to what they looked like in pre-flight scans .
The study confirmed what earlier studies also detected , which was that the open structures found deep inside the brain where cerebrospinal fluid is produced , called ventricles , become dilated in space .
And this new work found that , although the ventricles did shrink between post-flight exams and the 7-month follow-up exams , there was still more cerebrospinal fluid inside cosmonaut ventricles than before they went to space .
The researchers saw that there is indeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this fluid .
And , although it does n't seem to have an effect on the pressure inside the skull , this disruption to the normal circulation of craniospinal fluid could be the reason that generally , some crewmembers experience blurry vision during and after spaceflight .
Jillings told Space.com that using different MRI techniques in future related research could help scientists glean even more information about the brain in space , like whether or not spaceflight causes any structural change to the brain itself .
Jillings ' study was funded by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collaboration with the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Science .
The research is detailed in a paper published Sept. 4 in the journal Science Advances .
Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @ salazar_elin .
Follow us on Twitter @ Spacedotcom and on Facebook .

Fluid around the brain redistributes in the skull during spaceflight, scientists found in a new study of 11 cosmonauts who visited the International Space Station (ISS).
The study, which confirms previous findings about the effects of microgravity on the human brain, was led by Steven Jillings, a doctoral student at the Lab for Equilibrium Investigations and Aerospace (LEIA) at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Previously, Jillings co-authored two studies that examined the effect of spaceflight on the brains of Russian cosmonauts, and recently Jillings took the analytical helm to further explore the topic.
Jillings and the team studied the brains of 11 cosmonauts before their spaceflights, then again nine days after landing, and then again six to seven months after their return to Earth. Jillings participated in previous work on spaceflyer brains that used a standard type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and this new work used a particular type of MRI scan that involved a series of diffusion MRI (dMRI) images. This allowed for a more in-depth look at the brain landscape to see how spaceflight has changed it.
Related: Space travel can seriously change your brain
This illustration comes from the cosmonaut brain study performed by Steven Jillings of the University of Antwerp. In September 2020, Jillings and his team published findings that confirm earlier findings about the effect of spaceflight on the distribution of craniospinal fluid around the brain. The lower region of the brain was surrounded by more of this fluid than the top region of the brain. This is likely a sign that spaceflight caused the brain to shift upwards in the skull. (Image credit: Steven Jillings/Ben Jeurissen/MRtrix3)
Jillings became interested in the effects of spaceflight on the human brain with the help of his supervisor, Floris Wuyts, who has a background in studying the vestibular system — a set of sensory organs in the inner ear that are responsible for balance and spatial orientation.
In 2009, Wuyts wrote a proposal to do MRI scans on 11 cosmonauts from the Russian space agency Roscosmos to study brain neuroplasticity, or the capacity of the brain to adjust to new environments. That work began in 2013 and Jillings joined in 2016. The new analyses were based on observations of the cosmonauts' brains which began in 2017, by which time the researchers had enough data to do a formal statistical test. Jillings primarily analyzed and interpreted the data for this study.
The human body is designed to function under Earth's gravity, and many of its parts have evolved to respond to this downward pull. These biological systems change when humans (and other mammals) spend an extended period of time in orbit, where a microgravity environment causes a sensation of weightlessness.
On Earth's surface, liquid and gel-like material in our body responds to gravity in ways that are important for our day-to-day functioning. One place where this happens is in the otolith organ, a part of the vestibular system.
The otolith, found inside the inner ear, helps the brain to receive information that tells it how the head is oriented. It is made up of tiny, crystal structures called otoconia, which lie flat on top of a gel in the inner ear.
When the head makes a movement like tilting down to one shoulder, gravity pulls the otoconia crystals down across hairs within the inner ear, sending a signal to the brain that the head has tilted. But in microgravity there is not enough gravitational pull to tell the brain that the head has changed position. The first several days in space are disorienting for space crew members, and prolonged exposure to microgravity means they need a period of readjustment to gravity when they come back down to Earth.
Related: Landmark NASA Twins Study reveals space travel's effects on the human body
Jillings and his team found that, during spaceflight, the fluid around the brain and spine doesn't move the way it does on Earth. This new work found that cosmonauts who had served six-month missions on the ISS experienced upward shifting of their brains, and that the fluid found around the brain and spine redistributed as a result of being in microgravity.
"The cerebrospinal fluid is all the fluid that goes around your brain and spinal cord; it surrounds it," Jillings told Space.com. "[The fluid] has multiple functions, but the fact that it's around your brain also helps [when you] bump your head. It acts as a buffer space [so] you don't immediately hit your brain tissue."
In addition to cushioning the brain, the cerebrospinal fluid also helps to clear waste products from the mind's organ. And in the bodies of the cosmonauts monitored in this study, this fluid seemed to pool near the lower part of the brain after they returned from space. This suggests that the brain has lifted. However this is temporary and reversible, as follow-up scans showed that the brains had almost fully returned to what they looked like in pre-flight scans.
The study confirmed what earlier studies also detected, which was that the open structures found deep inside the brain where cerebrospinal fluid is produced, called ventricles, become dilated in space. And this new work found that, although the ventricles did shrink between post-flight exams and the 7-month follow-up exams, there was still more cerebrospinal fluid inside cosmonaut ventricles than before they went to space.
The researchers saw that there is indeed a hampering of the normal circulation of this fluid. And, although it doesn't seem to have an effect on the pressure inside the skull, this disruption to the normal circulation of craniospinal fluid could be the reason that generally, some crewmembers experience blurry vision during and after spaceflight.
Jillings told Space.com that using different MRI techniques in future related research could help scientists glean even more information about the brain in space, like whether or not spaceflight causes any structural change to the brain itself.
Jillings' study was funded by the European Space Agency and it is a collaboration with the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Science. The research is detailed in a paper published Sept. 4 in the journal Science Advances.
Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.


livescience--2020-10-20--Young women may be likelier to die after heart attacks than men

Younger women may be more likely to die in the decade following a heart attack than men of the same age , a new study suggests .
In general , women under age 50 experience fewer than men in the same age range .
The new study , published Oct. 13 in the , also reflects this trend ; of 2,100 heart attack patients treated at the Brigham and Women 's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston between 2000 and 2016 , only about 400 were women .
The average age of all the patients in the study was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long-term , these young women were more likely to die than young men .
The study authors followed the patients for a median of 11 years , and found that women were 1.6 times more likely to die from any cause than men during that time .
Related : 9 new ways to keep your heart healthy '' Notably , the differences in mortality in our study were primarily driven by non-cardiovascular death , '' meaning deaths not caused by a condition , study author Dr. Ersilia DeFilippis , a cardiology fellow at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , told Live Science in an email .
Examples of these non-cardiovascular causes of death included cancer and , a kind of overblown immune response to an infection .
Unfortunately , `` there were no clear explanations as to why women had lower survival , '' DeFilippis noted , though the study revealed a number of factors that may be at play .
`` The risk factors for disease of other organs overlap with risk factors for heart disease , '' Dr. Marysia Tweet , an assistant professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the study , told Live Science in an email .
`` A heart attack and the ramifications of a heart attack may affect the health of other organs .
Long-term mortality is likely due to a combination of multiple factors . ''
For instance , women in the study had higher rates of than the men , as well as higher rates of diseases such , where joint pain and inflammation are often triggered by an immune system attack .
This persistent inflammation may drive the formation of fatty plaques in blood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead to a heart attack , according to a 2012 report in the journal .
That same inflammation may also affect how patients recover .
In addition , the women showed higher rates of depression than men in the study .
`` Depression impacts adherence to healthy lifestyle recommendations and medications , '' which could impact women 's long-term survival after a heart attack , Tweet wrote in a also published in the European Heart Journal about the research .
But it 's also possible that the physiological changes that coincide with depression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elevated levels of stress hormones and inflammatory molecules called cytokines could worsen a patient 's prognosis , she wrote .
In general , women are about twice as likely as men to experience stress-induced reduction in blood flow to organs after a heart attack , according to a 2018 report published in the journal .
Related : Beyond vegetables and exercise : 5 surprising ways to be heart healthy Beyond these risk factors , women also received different care from men when being treated for their heart attacks .
Women in the study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronary angiography , an exam in which dye is injected into the blood vessels so doctors can view those vessels and possible blockages on .
They were also less likely to receive coronary revascularization , in which blood flow is restored through surgery or placement of a stent into the obstructed artery .
When discharged from the hospital , women were less likely to be given medications like aspirin , beta-blockers , ACE inhibitors and statins , which are often prescribed after a heart attack to protect the organ from further damage .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` persistent sex or gender disparities in clinical care and decision-making , '' or they may reflect clinical differences in how the men and women 's heart attacks unfolded , Tweet wrote .
For example , more women than men developed a spontaneous tear in an artery in the heart , which would deter doctors from performing an invasive procedure like coronary revascularization .
Women were also less likely to have severe blockages in their coronary arteries as compared with men , which would also reduce the need for coronary revascularization , Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Harvard Medical School and a preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women 's Hospital , .
Socioeconomic status may be another critical factor in women 's long-term survival rates , the authors wrote .
`` In our study , we found that women had lower median incomes than men and were more likely to have public insurance , '' DeFilippis said .
`` Therefore , there are likely differences in access to care which are playing a role . ''
Further studies will be needed to tease out how these factors affect women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the authors noted .
In the meantime , cardiologists `` need to educate women regarding the risks of cardiovascular disease and potential worrisome symptoms , '' DeFilippis said .
In the study , chest pain was the most commonly reported symptom among both men and women , but a higher proportion of women reported symptoms like shortness of breath , heart palpitations and fatigue .
Doctors can improve women 's care by recruiting more women into clinical trials , actively including sex-based data in studies of heart attacks and better addressing sex-specific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote in her commentary .
For instance , and — severely high blood pressure during pregnancy — can place women at higher risk for heart attacks , she wrote .
Ovary removal has also been associated with a higher risk of heart attacks , potentially because ovaries produce the sex hormone , which is thought to protect against heart disease , .
Furthermore , suggests that women face greater cardiovascular risks from smoking than men do ; all these risk factors warrant further study , especially in terms of whether the risk they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and leaves women more prone to heart attacks , the authors wrote .

Younger women may be more likely to die in the decade following a heart attack than men of the same age, a new study suggests.
In general, women under age 50 experience fewer heart attacks than men in the same age range. The new study, published Oct. 13 in the European Heart Journal , also reflects this trend; of 2,100 heart attack patients treated at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston between 2000 and 2016, only about 400 were women. The average age of all the patients in the study was 44 years old.
But over the long-term, these young women were more likely to die than young men. The study authors followed the patients for a median of 11 years, and found that women were 1.6 times more likely to die from any cause than men during that time.
Related: 9 new ways to keep your heart healthy
"Notably, the differences in mortality in our study were primarily driven by non-cardiovascular death," meaning deaths not caused by a heart condition, study author Dr. Ersilia DeFilippis, a cardiology fellow at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Live Science in an email. Examples of these non-cardiovascular causes of death included cancer and sepsis , a kind of overblown immune response to an infection.
Unfortunately, "there were no clear explanations as to why women had lower survival," DeFilippis noted, though the study revealed a number of factors that may be at play.
"The risk factors for disease of other organs overlap with risk factors for heart disease," Dr. Marysia Tweet, an assistant professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email. "A heart attack and the ramifications of a heart attack may affect the health of other organs. Long-term mortality is likely due to a combination of multiple factors."
Related: Why Are More Young People Having Heart Attacks?
For instance, women in the study had higher rates of diabetes than the men, as well as higher rates of diseases such rheumatoid arthritis , where joint pain and inflammation are often triggered by an immune system attack. This persistent inflammation may drive the formation of fatty plaques in blood vessels, which can block arteries and lead to a heart attack, according to a 2012 report in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology . That same inflammation may also affect how patients recover.
In addition, the women showed higher rates of depression than men in the study. "Depression impacts adherence to healthy lifestyle recommendations and medications," which could impact women's long-term survival after a heart attack, Tweet wrote in a commentary also published in the European Heart Journal about the research. But it's also possible that the physiological changes that coincide with depression independently worsen outcomes; for instance, elevated levels of stress hormones and inflammatory molecules called cytokines could worsen a patient's prognosis, she wrote.
In general, women are about twice as likely as men to experience stress-induced reduction in blood flow to organs after a heart attack, according to a 2018 report published in the journal Circulation .
Related: Beyond vegetables and exercise: 5 surprising ways to be heart healthy
Beyond these risk factors, women also received different care from men when being treated for their heart attacks.
Women in the study were less likely than men to undergo coronary angiography, an exam in which dye is injected into the blood vessels so doctors can view those vessels and possible blockages on X-ray . They were also less likely to receive coronary revascularization, in which blood flow is restored through surgery or placement of a stent into the obstructed artery. When discharged from the hospital, women were less likely to be given medications like aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and statins, which are often prescribed after a heart attack to protect the organ from further damage.
These differences in medical care may reflect "persistent sex or gender disparities in clinical care and decision-making," or they may reflect clinical differences in how the men and women's heart attacks unfolded, Tweet wrote. For example, more women than men developed a spontaneous tear in an artery in the heart, which would deter doctors from performing an invasive procedure like coronary revascularization.
Women were also less likely to have severe blockages in their coronary arteries as compared with men, which would also reduce the need for coronary revascularization, Dr. Ron Blankstein, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, wrote in a statement .
Related: 7 foods your heart will hate
Socioeconomic status may be another critical factor in women's long-term survival rates, the authors wrote. "In our study, we found that women had lower median incomes than men and were more likely to have public insurance," DeFilippis said. "Therefore, there are likely differences in access to care which are playing a role."
Further studies will be needed to tease out how these factors affect women's long-term survival after a heart attack, the authors noted. In the meantime, cardiologists "need to educate women regarding the risks of cardiovascular disease and potential worrisome symptoms," DeFilippis said. In the study, chest pain was the most commonly reported symptom among both men and women, but a higher proportion of women reported symptoms like shortness of breath, heart palpitations and fatigue.
Doctors can improve women's care by recruiting more women into clinical trials, actively including sex-based data in studies of heart attacks and better addressing sex-specific risk factors when educating patients, Tweet wrote in her commentary. For instance, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia — severely high blood pressure during pregnancy — can place women at higher risk for heart attacks, she wrote. Ovary removal has also been associated with a higher risk of heart attacks, potentially because ovaries produce the sex hormone estrogen , which is thought to protect against heart disease, according to Harvard Health .
Furthermore, some research suggests that women face greater cardiovascular risks from smoking than men do; all these risk factors warrant further study, especially in terms of whether the risk they present outmatches the protective power of estrogen and leaves women more prone to heart attacks, the authors wrote.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-20--Higgs boson possibly caught in act of never-before-seen transformation

Scientists may have observed the doing a new trick : creating pairs of muons .
When the Higgs boson was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider ( LHC ) in 2012 , it was the final piece of Standard Model of particle physics puzzle , a particle that had been— long theorized to exist alongside quarks , electrons , , muons , gluons , photons and the other known particles , but never before seen .
Its role : the physical manifestation of the Higgs field , a feature of the universe that physicists believe endows particles with mass .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ if it were super-thick molasses , have greater mass than those that zip through more easily .
Another way to look at it : The greater the mass , the more strongly that elementary particle interacts , or couples , with the Higgs boson ( and its field ) .
One way to prove a coupling between Higgs and other particles is to look at its decay products .
The existence of the Higgs boson is fleeting — once it pops up , the particle `` lives '' for just 15.6 thousand-billion-billions ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately breaking apart into other particles .
Every time physicists spot a new Higgs-decay particle , that proves a `` coupling '' between the Higgs and the particles that come out of its decay , physicists say .
And that coupling proves that the Higgs field does indeed imbue the emergent particle with mass .
That 's why since the Higgs ' discovery , researchers have been searching for hints of these decay products .
Related : Strange Quarks and Muons , Oh My !
Nature 's Tiniest Particles Explained ( Infographic ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massive particles , like pairs of bottom quarks .
But create enough Higgs bosons in the LHC and some of them should decay into the more lightweight particles to which it couples , like muons .
If the Higgs is decaying into two muons at the LHC , it 's one of the rarest decays we could detect for the so-called `` God particle . ''
And it would prove muon-Higgs coupling for the first time — demonstrating once again that an gets its mass from the Higgs field .
Right now , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence that the Higgs is decaying into muon pairs in the LHC .
Researchers working on data from the Compact Muon Solenoid ( CMS ) , one of the LHC 's several particle detectors , found an `` excess '' of muons flying around the LHC .
The LHC , an environment full of intense , colliding protons , has lots of ways of accidentally producing muons .
Proving that the Higgs is decaying into muon pairs means finding a subtle signal of extra muons against lots of background noise .
The excess @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told Live Science .
Looking at the raw data , even with a trained eye , you might not think anything of it .
But with the aid of machine-learning algorithms , the researchers showed that this tiny crop of unexplained muons has just a 0.27 % of emerging by random chance .
Physicists call that level of certainty that they 've found a signal and not just noise `` three sigma . ''
Related : The 12 strangest objects in the universe Typically , a discovery is n't considered proven until it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a 0.00006 % chance of being an artifact of background noise .
So Spiropulu was careful to say that a Higgs-muon coupling has n't been proven yet .
Researchers working on ATLAS , a related LHC experiment , , but at just two sigma .
That amounts to a 4.5 % chance their signal was just background noise .
Still , the CMS discovery —— posted July 29 to —— is reason to start getting excited .
If more data pushes the confidence level to five sigma , Spiropulu said , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mass of a Higgs decay product and how often the boson decays into that particle .
Physicists believe that the frequency of the Higgs boson 's decay into each particle it couples with can be predicted by the square of that particle 's mass , so heavier particles turn up much more often .
This finding could help prove that if the frequency matches the prediction .
Spiropulu said that the LHC is now probably pushing the limits of its sensitivity in terms of detecting lighter Higgs decay products .
The collider @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to produce enough Higgs-electron decays for anyone to measure , for example .
And it 's nowhere near the level of equipment needed to measure coupling between the Higgs and ultralight neutrinos .
Future detectors will have an advantage over the LHC , she said .
The collider was built big and blunt , blasting protons at each other and covering a wide energy range , because physicists did n't yet know the mass of the Higgs — a critical detail for producing the particle .
Future colliders might be fine-tuned to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to turn up even rarer couplings .
And as the detectors get more sensitive , she said , they may turn up discrepancies with the Standard Model , leading the way toward new physics ideas .

Scientists may have observed the Higgs boson doing a new trick: creating pairs of muons.
When the Higgs boson was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012, it was the final piece of Standard Model of particle physics puzzle, a particle that had been— long theorized to exist alongside quarks, electrons, neutrinos , muons, gluons, photons and the other known particles, but never before seen. Its role: the physical manifestation of the Higgs field, a feature of the universe that physicists believe endows particles with mass. Particles that wade through the field as if it were super-thick molasses, have greater mass than those that zip through more easily.
Another way to look at it: The greater the mass, the more strongly that elementary particle interacts, or couples, with the Higgs boson (and its field).
One way to prove a coupling between Higgs and other particles is to look at its decay products. The existence of the Higgs boson is fleeting — once it pops up, the particle "lives" for just 15.6 thousand-billion-billions (1.56x10^-22) of a second — almost immediately breaking apart into other particles.
Every time physicists spot a new Higgs-decay particle, that proves a "coupling" between the Higgs and the particles that come out of its decay, physicists say. And that coupling proves that the Higgs field does indeed imbue the emergent particle with mass.
That's why since the Higgs' discovery, researchers have been searching for hints of these decay products.
Related: Strange Quarks and Muons, Oh My! Nature's Tiniest Particles Explained (Infographic)
Usually, the Higgs decays into more massive particles, like pairs of bottom quarks. But create enough Higgs bosons in the LHC and some of them should decay into the more lightweight particles to which it couples, like muons.
If the Higgs is decaying into two muons at the LHC, it's one of the rarest decays we could detect for the so-called "God particle." And it would prove muon-Higgs coupling for the first time — demonstrating once again that an elementary particle gets its mass from the Higgs field.
Right now, there's compelling but not yet overwhelming evidence that the Higgs is decaying into muon pairs in the LHC. Researchers working on data from the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), one of the LHC's several particle detectors, found an "excess" of muons flying around the LHC.
The LHC, an environment full of intense, colliding protons, has lots of ways of accidentally producing muons. Proving that the Higgs is decaying into muon pairs means finding a subtle signal of extra muons against lots of background noise.
The excess doesn't amount to much, Spiropulu told Live Science. Looking at the raw data, even with a trained eye, you might not think anything of it.
This figure rounds up the muon data that lead to the apparent detection. A tiny spike around 126 GeV on the x axis (the mass of a Higgs boson), hard to spot even with a trained eye, suggests that Higgs bosons were decaying into muon pairs in the detector. (Image credit: CMS/CERN)
But with the aid of machine-learning algorithms, the researchers showed that this tiny crop of unexplained muons has just a 0.27% of emerging by random chance. Physicists call that level of certainty that they've found a signal and not just noise "three sigma."
Related: The 12 strangest objects in the universe
Typically, a discovery isn't considered proven until it reaches "five sigma," equivalent to a 0.00006% chance of being an artifact of background noise. So Spiropulu was careful to say that a Higgs-muon coupling hasn't been proven yet.
Researchers working on ATLAS, a related LHC experiment, also found evidence for Higgs-muon coupling , but at just two sigma. That amounts to a 4.5% chance their signal was just background noise.
Still, the CMS discovery —— posted July 29 to the CMS website —— is reason to start getting excited. If more data pushes the confidence level to five sigma, Spiropulu said, it could help confirm an exponential relationship between the mass of a Higgs decay product and how often the boson decays into that particle. Physicists believe that the frequency of the Higgs boson's decay into each particle it couples with can be predicted by the square of that particle's mass, so heavier particles turn up much more often. This finding could help prove that if the frequency matches the prediction.
Spiropulu said that the LHC is now probably pushing the limits of its sensitivity in terms of detecting lighter Higgs decay products. The collider certainly isn't powerful or sensitive enough to produce enough Higgs-electron decays for anyone to measure, for example. And it's nowhere near the level of equipment needed to measure coupling between the Higgs and ultralight neutrinos.
Future detectors will have an advantage over the LHC, she said. The collider was built big and blunt, blasting protons at each other and covering a wide energy range, because physicists didn't yet know the mass of the Higgs — a critical detail for producing the particle.
Future colliders might be fine-tuned to the Higgs mass, and produce enough events to turn up even rarer couplings. And as the detectors get more sensitive, she said, they may turn up discrepancies with the Standard Model, leading the way toward new physics ideas.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-20--COVID-19 is at least 5 times deadlier than flu for hospitalized patients

COVID-19 truly is more deadly than the flu — patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were five times more likely to die than those with the flu , according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) .
What 's more , the study found COVID-19 patients were at higher risk for 17 additional , serious health complications , including , respiratory failure and blood clots , compared with flu patients .
However , because the study only looked at hospitalized patients , it ca n't directly compare overall mortality rates between the two diseases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discovered in early January , people have compared it with the flu .
As recently as this month , President Donald Trump drew criticism when he posted on Twitter that COVID-19 is `` far less lethal '' than the flu ; the post was quickly flagged for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 , according to .
Mounting evidence shows that COVID-19 is more severe than flu .
In the new study , published Tuesday ( Oct. 20 ) in the CDC journal , the researchers compared complications from COVID-19 and flu using data from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authors analyzed information from nearly 4,000 patients — with an average age of 70 — hospitalized with COVID-19 from March 1 through May 31 2020 , and more than 5,400 patients — average age of 69 — hospitalized with flu from Oct. 1 , 2018 through Feb. 1 , 2020 .
Overall , 21 % of COVID-19 patients died while hospitalized , compared with only 4 % of flu patients — a more than five-fold difference .
In addition , COVID-19 patients had more than double the risk of being admitted to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and their length of stay was nearly three times as long .
But these numbers take into account only those who were hospitalized .
But evidence suggests a greater fraction of people who are infected with COVID-19 will need hospitalization than those who contract the flu , so COVID-19 is likelier more than five times deadlier than flu in the population overall .
According to , about 1 % of people who got sick with the flu were hospitalized during the 2019-2020 season .
In contrast , up to 20 % of COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early estimates from the .
Related : 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history COVID-19 patients were also at higher risk for dozens of complications .
For example , compared with flu patients , COVID-19 patients were nearly 19 times more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome ( ARDS ) , a serious lung condition that causes low blood oxygen levels .
COVID-19 patients were also more than twice as likely to develop myocarditis ( inflammation of the heart muscle ) , deep vein thrombosis ( a blood clot typically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( a blood clot in the lungs ) and intracranial hemorrhage ( a brain bleed ) , than flu patients .
The study also found that minority groups , including Black and Hispanic patients , were at higher risk for many complications , such as respiratory , neurologic , and kidney complications , compared with white patients , even after the researchers took into account patients ' age and underlying medical conditions .
The finding adds to a growing body of evidence showing that minority groups have been , which may be due @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and structural inequities , '' the report said .
Overall , the findings `` illustrate the increased risk for complications involving multiple organ systems among patients with COVID-19 compared with those with influenza , '' the authors wrote .
`` Clinicians should be vigilant for symptoms and signs of a spectrum of complications among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 so that interventions can be instituted to improve outcomes and reduce long-term disability . ''

COVID-19 truly is more deadly than the flu — patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were five times more likely to die than those with the flu, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
What's more, the study found COVID-19 patients were at higher risk for 17 additional, serious health complications, including pneumonia , respiratory failure and blood clots, compared with flu patients. However, because the study only looked at hospitalized patients, it can't directly compare overall mortality rates between the two diseases.
Ever since the new coronavirus was discovered in early January, people have compared it with the flu . As recently as this month, President Donald Trump drew criticism when he posted on Twitter that COVID-19 is "far less lethal" than the flu; the post was quickly flagged for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, according to NBC News .
Mounting evidence shows that COVID-19 is more severe than flu.
In the new study, published Tuesday (Oct. 20) in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , the researchers compared complications from COVID-19 and flu using data from Veterans Health Administration hospitals nationwide. The authors analyzed information from nearly 4,000 patients — with an average age of 70 — hospitalized with COVID-19 from March 1 through May 31 2020, and more than 5,400 patients — average age of 69 — hospitalized with flu from Oct. 1, 2018 through Feb. 1, 2020.
Overall, 21% of COVID-19 patients died while hospitalized, compared with only 4% of flu patients — a more than five-fold difference. In addition, COVID-19 patients had more than double the risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and their length of stay was nearly three times as long. But these numbers take into account only those who were hospitalized.
But evidence suggests a greater fraction of people who are infected with COVID-19 will need hospitalization than those who contract the flu, so COVID-19 is likelier more than five times deadlier than flu in the population overall. According to estimates from the CDC , about 1% of people who got sick with the flu were hospitalized during the 2019-2020 season. In contrast, up to 20% of COVID-19 patients may require hospitalization, according to early estimates from the World Health Organization .
Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history
COVID-19 patients were also at higher risk for dozens of complications. For example, compared with flu patients, COVID-19 patients were nearly 19 times more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a serious lung condition that causes low blood oxygen levels. COVID-19 patients were also more than twice as likely to develop myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot typically in the legs), pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs) and intracranial hemorrhage (a brain bleed), than flu patients.
The study also found that minority groups, including Black and Hispanic patients, were at higher risk for many complications, such as respiratory, neurologic, and kidney complications, compared with white patients, even after the researchers took into account patients' age and underlying medical conditions. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence showing that minority groups have been hit hard by COVID-19 , which may be due to "social, environmental, economic and structural inequities," the report said.
Overall, the findings "illustrate the increased risk for complications involving multiple organ systems among patients with COVID-19 compared with those with influenza," the authors wrote. "Clinicians should be vigilant for symptoms and signs of a spectrum of complications among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 so that interventions can be instituted to improve outcomes and reduce long-term disability."
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-20--Scientists discover new organ in the throat

Scientists have discovered a new organ : a set of salivary glands set deep in the upper part of the throat .
This nasopharynx region — behind the — was not thought to host anything but microscopic , diffuse , salivary glands ; but the newly discovered set are about 1.5 inches ( 3.9 centimeters ) in length on average .
Because of their location over a piece of cartilage called the torus tubarius , the discoverers of these new glands have dubbed them the tubarial salivary glands .
The glands probably lubricate and moisten the upper throat behind the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online Sept. 23 in the journal .
The discovery was accidental .
Researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute were using a combination of and positron emission tomography ( PET ) scans called PSMA PET-CT to study .
In PSMA PET-CT scanning , doctors inject a radioactive `` tracer '' into the patient .
This tracer binds well to the protein PSMA , which is elevated in prostate cancer cells .
that PSMA PET-CT scanning is better than conventional imaging at detecting metastasized prostate cancer .
Related : 10 things we learned about humans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be very good at detecting salivary gland tissue , which is also high in PSMA .
Until now , there were three known large salivary glands in humans : one under the tongue , one under the jaw and one at the back of the jaw , behind the cheek .
Beyond those , perhaps a thousand microscopic salivary glands are scattered throughout the mucosal tissue of the throat and mouth , study co-author and Netherlands Cancer Institute radiation oncologist Wouter Vogel .
`` So , imagine our surprise when we found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirm the discovery , Vogel and his colleagues imaged 100 patients ( 99 of them men due to the focus on prostate cancer ) and found that all of them had the newly discovered glands .
They also dissected that nasopharynx region from two cadavers from a donation program and found that the newfound region consisted of mucosal gland tissue and ducts draining into the nasopharynx .
The discovery could be important for cancer treatment .
Doctors using radiation on the head and neck to treat cancer try to avoid irradiating the salivary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to these glands can impact quality of life .
`` Patients may have trouble eating , swallowing or speaking , which can be a real burden , '' he said .
But because no one knew about the tubarial salivary glands , no one tried to avoid radiation in that region .
The researchers examined records from more than 700 cancer patients treated at the University Medical Center Groningen and found that the more radiation the patients had received in the area of the unknown glands , the more side effects they reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could thus translate to fewer side effects for cancer patients .
`` Our next step is to find out how we can best spare these new glands and in which patients , '' Vogel said .
`` If we can do this , patients may experience less side effects , which will benefit their overall quality of life after treatment . ''

Scientists have discovered a new organ: a set of salivary glands set deep in the upper part of the throat.
This nasopharynx region — behind the nose — was not thought to host anything but microscopic, diffuse, salivary glands; but the newly discovered set are about 1.5 inches (3.9 centimeters) in length on average. Because of their location over a piece of cartilage called the torus tubarius, the discoverers of these new glands have dubbed them the tubarial salivary glands. The glands probably lubricate and moisten the upper throat behind the nose and mouth, the researchers wrote online Sept. 23 in the journal Radiotherapy and Oncology .
The discovery was accidental. Researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute were using a combination of CT scans and positron emission tomography (PET) scans called PSMA PET-CT to study prostate cancer . In PSMA PET-CT scanning, doctors inject a radioactive "tracer" into the patient. This tracer binds well to the protein PSMA, which is elevated in prostate cancer cells. Clinical trials have found that PSMA PET-CT scanning is better than conventional imaging at detecting metastasized prostate cancer.
Related: The 7 biggest mysteries of the human body
PSMA PET-CT scanning also happens to be very good at detecting salivary gland tissue, which is also high in PSMA. Until now, there were three known large salivary glands in humans: one under the tongue, one under the jaw and one at the back of the jaw, behind the cheek. Beyond those, perhaps a thousand microscopic salivary glands are scattered throughout the mucosal tissue of the throat and mouth, study co-author and Netherlands Cancer Institute radiation oncologist Wouter Vogel said in a statement .
"So, imagine our surprise when we found these," Vogel said.
To confirm the discovery, Vogel and his colleagues imaged 100 patients (99 of them men due to the focus on prostate cancer) and found that all of them had the newly discovered glands. They also dissected that nasopharynx region from two cadavers from a human body donation program and found that the newfound region consisted of mucosal gland tissue and ducts draining into the nasopharynx.
The discovery could be important for cancer treatment. Doctors using radiation on the head and neck to treat cancer try to avoid irradiating the salivary glands, Vogel said, because damage to these glands can impact quality of life.
"Patients may have trouble eating, swallowing or speaking, which can be a real burden," he said.
But because no one knew about the tubarial salivary glands, no one tried to avoid radiation in that region. The researchers examined records from more than 700 cancer patients treated at the University Medical Center Groningen and found that the more radiation the patients had received in the area of the unknown glands, the more side effects they reported from their treatment. The new discovery could thus translate to fewer side effects for cancer patients.
"Our next step is to find out how we can best spare these new glands and in which patients," Vogel said. "If we can do this, patients may experience less side effects, which will benefit their overall quality of life after treatment."
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-20--1st-ever footage of giant pandas mating in the wild is not 'cute and cuddly'

A pair of aggressive male roar ferociously on the ground beneath a female perched in a tree , in the first-ever footage of panda courtship and mating in the wild .
For nearly three years , nature filmmakers Yuanqi Wu and Jacky Poon followed pandas in China 's Qinling Mountains , hoping to capture evidence of elusive behavior that was unseen in captive animals , which are mated under controlled conditions that do not include competitions between males .
Their patience paid off during breeding season , when they spied two bristling males squaring off at the foot of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the branches above .
This and other remarkable scenes of panda life — including a young cub learning critical survival skills — are part of the new PBS Nature documentary `` , '' premiering Wednesday ( Oct. 21 ) .
Related : In photos : The life of a giant panda Pandas ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) are popular for their comically round body shape and adorable antics , and videos of captive pandas ; like giant balls ; using their heads to climb ; or even accidentally , are undeniably enchanting .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ natural habitat , `` there 's nothing cute and cuddly about them , '' Jacky Poon , `` Born to be Wild '' filmmaker , said in the documentary .
Adult male pandas can weigh as much as 300 lbs .
( 136 kilograms ) and are nearly 7 feet ( 2 meters ) tall when standing upright on their hind legs , according to the .
Pandas are highly territorial , and males usually interact with females only during mating season between March and May , WWF says .
In the tense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ panda and an eager rival , the younger male eventually retreated , but when the female came down from her perch , she fought with the victor and escaped .
For weeks , the two males trailed her , their growling challenges becoming more frequent and culminating in another tense confrontation .
But a week later , when the female was finally ready to mate , just one suitor remained — the younger male .
Male pandas ' bellowing , scent marking and female `` hostage '' -holding are mating behaviors that may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could explain why pandas are so difficult to breed in captivity , in the absence of this male competition .
Another star of `` Born to be Wild '' is a young male cub born through artificial insemination at the Wolong Panda Center and raised there in a special enclosure .
Most of the reserve 's cubs grow up around other pandas and human caretakers , and so they are more social than is typical for wild , solitary bears .
However , to prepare this young panda for life in the wild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep him for three years only with his mother , separated from other pandas and with very limited interaction with people .
But caretakers still need to regularly check the cub 's health and development ; to do that , they dress in panda suits , and they further disguise their human scent by dousing themselves with panda urine .
Though these costumes may not seem terribly realistic , they are close enough to the real thing to fool a young panda ; vision in these youngsters is known to be very poor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
`` airs Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. ( check local listings ) , and the PBS Video app

A pair of aggressive male giant pandas roar ferociously on the ground beneath a female perched in a tree, in the first-ever footage of panda courtship and mating in the wild.
For nearly three years, nature filmmakers Yuanqi Wu and Jacky Poon followed pandas in China's Qinling Mountains, hoping to capture evidence of elusive behavior that was unseen in captive animals, which are mated under controlled conditions that do not include competitions between males.
Their patience paid off during breeding season, when they spied two bristling males squaring off at the foot of a tree, with a fertile female in the branches above. This and other remarkable scenes of panda life — including a young cub learning critical survival skills — are part of the new PBS Nature documentary " Pandas: Born to be Wild ," premiering Wednesday (Oct. 21).
Related: In photos: The life of a giant panda
Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are popular for their comically round body shape and adorable antics, and videos of captive pandas playing in snow ; rolling around like giant balls; using their heads to climb ; or even accidentally face-planting , are undeniably enchanting. But when these bears are seen in their natural habitat, "there's nothing cute and cuddly about them," Jacky Poon, "Born to be Wild" filmmaker, said in the documentary.
Adult male pandas can weigh as much as 300 lbs. (136 kilograms) and are nearly 7 feet (2 meters) tall when standing upright on their hind legs, according to the World Wildlife Fund . Pandas are highly territorial, and males usually interact with females only during mating season between March and May, WWF says.
In the tense standoff between the dominant, older male panda and an eager rival, the younger male eventually retreated, but when the female came down from her perch, she fought with the victor and escaped. For weeks, the two males trailed her, their growling challenges becoming more frequent and culminating in another tense confrontation. But a week later, when the female was finally ready to mate, just one suitor remained — the younger male.
Male pandas' bellowing, scent marking and female "hostage"-holding are mating behaviors that may trigger ovulation in female pandas. That could explain why pandas are so difficult to breed in captivity, in the absence of this male competition.
Giant panda mother and her one-month-old cub. (Image credit: Photo by Jacky Poon/Copyright Terra Mater Factual Studios and Mark Fletcher Productions)
Another star of "Born to be Wild" is a young male cub born through artificial insemination at the Wolong Panda Center and raised there in a special enclosure. Most of the reserve's cubs grow up around other pandas and human caretakers, and so they are more social than is typical for wild, solitary bears. However, to prepare this young panda for life in the wild as an adult, the caretakers will keep him for three years only with his mother, separated from other pandas and with very limited interaction with people.
But caretakers still need to regularly check the cub's health and development; to do that, they dress in panda suits, and they further disguise their human scent by dousing themselves with panda urine. Though these costumes may not seem terribly realistic, they are close enough to the real thing to fool a young panda; vision in these youngsters is known to be very poor, PBS Nature representatives said in a statement .
Wolong Panda Center keeper disguised as a panda. The keepers dress as pandas to visit youngsters that are candidates for the reintroduction program. Human contact is kept to a minimum. (Image credit: Photo by Jacky Poon/Copyright Terra Mater Factual Studios and Mark Fletcher Productions)
" Nature — Pandas: Born to be Wild " airs Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. (check local listings), pbs.org/nature and the PBS Video app
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-20--Astronomers claimed galaxy was 98% dark matter. They were wrong.

Back in 2016 , researchers claimed to have found a galaxy made almost completely of and almost no stars .
Now , on closer examination , that claim has fallen apart .
The galaxy , Dragonfly 44 ( DF44 ) , belongs to a class of mysterious objects known as ultra-diffuse galaxies or UDGs .
Researchers have debated since the 1980s whether these vast , dim objects have a low mass , like dwarf galaxies smeared across huge reaches of space , or more like that seem dim for two reasons : because they have almost no stars , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is dark matter found in the outer fringes of the galaxy , in so-called dark matter haloes that emit no light .
In a paper published in 2016 in , scientists argued that DF44 was one of these galaxies with a big dark matter halo and few stars .
They estimated its mass and found it was at least 98 % dark matter .
But a new analysis , published Oct. 8 in the journal , suggests the earlier study got it wrong .
Researchers in the 2016 study assumed a bunch of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ halo ; but actually , the new study showed a much lower total mass , indicating DF44 is one of those low-mass dwarf galaxies spread across space with normal percentages of dark matter .
Related : 8 ways you can see Einstein 's theory of relativity in real life DF44 is about 360 million light-years from , so astronomers ca n't directly measure its mass .
Instead , they rely on proxies .
Features like the speed at which objects circle a galaxy can indicate how massive it really is , as more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In 2016 , researchers claimed DF44 had a huge halo because of how fast its globular clusters ( the few that call the galaxy home ) seemed to be whirling around its center .
( Globular clusters are blobby groups of stars that accumulate around galaxies . )
But those velocity measurements turned out in 2019 to be incorrect However , that wasn ’ t the end of the argument that DF44 had a huge amount of dark matter .
That ’ s because the galaxy did seem to host a relatively high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , researchers have noticed a general relationship between the number of globular clusters in a galaxy and that galaxy ’ s mass , said the new study 's lead author Teymoor Saifollahi , a doctoral candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands .
And DF44 did seem to have a more globular clusters than you ’ d expect for a galaxy with so few stars .
Early observations estimated about 100 of these clusters , which was later narrowed down to 80 in a 2017 paper in the .
That would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Milky Way territory — a jarring result , with huge implications for how cosmologists understand the history of galaxy formation across .
Galaxies , in the new model , would be primarily dark matter objects , able to form without many stars or other luminous matter at all .
All those bright dots in space would just be optional accessories .
Saifollahi and his colleagues did their own count , however , and they landed on a much lower number : 20 .
That would indicate that DF44 has a normal , dwarf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result .
It 's not surprising that the two research teams ended up with such different counts , he said .
Why such a stark difference in estimates ?
`` It is not as easy as just looking and counting , '' Saifollahi told Live Science .
`` In the images , there are all sort [ s ] of astronomical objects , and not all of them are globular clusters .
Some are just stars in the middle of the way from us to the galaxy , and some are very far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's always some level of uncertainty in figuring out what those objects are , he said .
That ’ s especially true when you take into account that researchers assume globular clusters too small and dim to see from our vantage point always exist around any galaxy .
The key difference between the 2017 analysis and the 2020 analysis , Saifollahi said , has to do with where they assumed most globular clusters inDF44 were located .
The 2017 team made a rough guess as to how far the clusters would orbit from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on standard numbers associated with dwarf galaxies , and then looked for candidates in that area .
For the 2020 paper , the researchers actually measured how far the clusters extended from the center of the galaxy , and found that the stellar globs clustered much closer to DF44 's center than expected .
Counting possible clusters only in that smaller area produced a smaller number '' This is also an interesting finding on the side , '' he said .
In future studies of UDGs , he said , scientists will have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on standard assumptions about globular clusters .
He and his colleagues plan to more closely examine other UDGs that have high estimated numbers of globular clusters , and see if those estimates hold up .

The Dragonfly 44 galaxy looks like a smear across space. Physicists used to think it was hiding an enormous dark matter halo, but a new paper refutes that idea.
Back in 2016, researchers claimed to have found a galaxy made almost completely of dark matter and almost no stars. Now, on closer examination, that claim has fallen apart.
The galaxy, Dragonfly 44 (DF44), belongs to a class of mysterious objects known as ultra-diffuse galaxies or UDGs. Researchers have debated since the 1980s whether these vast, dim objects have a low mass, like dwarf galaxies smeared across huge reaches of space, or more like heavy, Milky Way-style galaxies that seem dim for two reasons: because they have almost no stars, and because a huge fraction of their mass is dark matter found in the outer fringes of the galaxy, in so-called dark matter haloes that emit no light. In a paper published in 2016 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters , scientists argued that DF44 was one of these galaxies with a big dark matter halo and few stars. They estimated its mass and found it was at least 98% dark matter.
But a new analysis, published Oct. 8 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , suggests the earlier study got it wrong. Researchers in the 2016 study assumed a bunch of mass was globbed into the dark matter halo; but actually, the new study showed a much lower total mass, indicating DF44 is one of those low-mass dwarf galaxies spread across space with normal percentages of dark matter.
Related: 8 ways you can see Einstein's theory of relativity in real life
DF44 is about 360 million light-years from Earth , so astronomers can't directly measure its mass. Instead, they rely on proxies. Features like the speed at which objects circle a galaxy can indicate how massive it really is, as more gravity would cause objects to whirl faster.
In 2016, researchers claimed DF44 had a huge halo because of how fast its globular clusters (the few that call the galaxy home) seemed to be whirling around its center. (Globular clusters are blobby groups of stars that accumulate around galaxies.) But those velocity measurements turned out in 2019 to be incorrect
However, that wasn’t the end of the argument that DF44 had a huge amount of dark matter. That’s because the galaxy did seem to host a relatively high number of globular clusters.
Over time, researchers have noticed a general relationship between the number of globular clusters in a galaxy and that galaxy’s mass, said the new study's lead author Teymoor Saifollahi, a doctoral candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
And DF44 did seem to have a more globular clusters than you’d expect for a galaxy with so few stars. Early observations estimated about 100 of these clusters, which was later narrowed down to 80 in a 2017 paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters . That would put the mass of DF44 squarely in Milky Way territory — a jarring result, with huge implications for how cosmologists understand the history of galaxy formation across space-time . Galaxies, in the new model, would be primarily dark matter objects, able to form without many stars or other luminous matter at all. All those bright dots in space would just be optional accessories.
Saifollahi and his colleagues did their own count, however, and they landed on a much lower number: 20. That would indicate that DF44 has a normal, dwarf galaxy mass — a much less exciting result.
It's not surprising that the two research teams ended up with such different counts, he said.
Why such a stark difference in estimates?
"It is not as easy as just looking and counting," Saifollahi told Live Science. "In the images, there are all sort[s] of astronomical objects, and not all of them are globular clusters. Some are just stars in the middle of the way from us to the galaxy, and some are very far objects which look small."
There's always some level of uncertainty in figuring out what those objects are, he said. That’s especially true when you take into account that researchers assume globular clusters too small and dim to see from our vantage point always exist around any galaxy.
The key difference between the 2017 analysis and the 2020 analysis, Saifollahi said, has to do with where they assumed most globular clusters inDF44 were located. The 2017 team made a rough guess as to how far the clusters would orbit from the center of the galaxy, based on standard numbers associated with dwarf galaxies, and then looked for candidates in that area. For the 2020 paper, the researchers actually measured how far the clusters extended from the center of the galaxy, and found that the stellar globs clustered much closer to DF44's center than expected. Counting possible clusters only in that smaller area produced a smaller number
"This is also an interesting finding on the side," he said.
In future studies of UDGs, he said, scientists will have to be more careful not to rely on standard assumptions about globular clusters. He and his colleagues plan to more closely examine other UDGs that have high estimated numbers of globular clusters, and see if those estimates hold up.
Originally published on Live Science


livescience--2020-10-20--Teen wins $25k for finding molecule that may disarm coronavirus

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging , a 14-year-old from Texas has won a national science competition for identifying a molecule that can bind to the virus and potentially disable it .
Anika Chebrolu , who hails from Frisco , used computer modeling to search for a compound that binds tightly to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein — a structure that juts off the surface and plugs into human cells to trigger infection .
In theory , such a compound should prevent the from infecting cells .
When designing new antiviral drugs , scientists often perform computational studies , just like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ step .
For her impressive work , Chebrolu earned first prize in the , a U.S.-based science competition for middle-school students .
Chebrolu signed up for the contest months ago while still in middle school , with the initial intention of studying , according to a video interview with , a CBS-affiliate .
Related : 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history '' Because of the immense severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic impact it had made on the world in such a short time , I , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directions to target the SARS-CoV-2 virus , '' she told .
`` Her work was comprehensive and examined numerous databases , '' Cindy Moss , a judge for the 3M Young Scientist Challenge , told CNN .
`` She also developed an understanding of the innovation process and is a masterful communicator .
Her willingness to use her time and talent to help make the world a better place gives us all hope , '' added Moss , who is the senior director of global STEM initiatives for Discovery Education , which runs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a $ 25,000 prize for winning this year 's competition .
Identifying a molecule that binds to SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19 , took tremendous work .
`` I started with a database of over 698 million compounds , '' Chebrolu told KTVT .
She ran these many compounds through iterative screenings on the computer , to assess their binding ability , molecular structure and drug-like characteristics , such as how they would break down in the and whether they could be toxic to cells .
Each screening narrowed her search @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead compound that could bind to the coronavirus and keep it from infecting cells .
In addition to her prize-winning coronavirus study , Chebrolu also completed an influenza study that she initially submitted to the competition .
`` I was drawn towards finding effective cures for influenza disease after a severe bout of the infection last year , '' she said in a .
`` From the initial 3 million compounds , I was able to narrow down to one potential drug candidate '' that selectively binds to and inhibits the influenza virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the competition .
Chebrolu told CNN that she aims to work alongside scientists to develop her drug candidates into full-fledged medicines that help tame these viral infections .
`` My effort to find a lead compound to bind to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus this summer may appear to be a drop in the ocean , but still adds to all these efforts , '' she told CNN .
`` How I develop this molecule further with the help of virologists and drug development specialists will determine the success of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Chebrolu said she hopes to be a medical researcher and professor , according to the competition website .
In her spare time , she sketches and studies Bharatanatyam , a style of Indian classical dance .
`` I describe myself as a person who aspires to be a lot of things , '' Chebrolu told KTVT .

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, a 14-year-old from Texas has won a national science competition for identifying a molecule that can bind to the virus and potentially disable it.
Anika Chebrolu, who hails from Frisco, used computer modeling to search for a compound that binds tightly to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein — a structure that juts off the coronavirus surface and plugs into human cells to trigger infection. In theory, such a compound should prevent the virus from infecting cells. When designing new antiviral drugs, scientists often perform computational studies, just like Chebrolu's, as a critical first step.
For her impressive work, Chebrolu earned first prize in the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge , a U.S.-based science competition for middle-school students. Chebrolu signed up for the contest months ago while still in middle school, with the initial intention of studying influenza , according to a video interview with KTVT , a CBS-affiliate.
Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history
3M Young Scientist Challenge winner, Anika Chebrolu, featured on CNN’s homepage! Congratulations to Anika! It was an incredible year—hat’s off to all of the finalists! #3MYSC #YoungScientist @3M @DiscoveryEd pic.twitter.com/knX5H6RNTSOctober 19, 2020 See more
"Because of the immense severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic impact it had made on the world in such a short time, I, with the help of my mentor, changed directions to target the SARS-CoV-2 virus," she told CNN .
"Her work was comprehensive and examined numerous databases," Cindy Moss, a judge for the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, told CNN. "She also developed an understanding of the innovation process and is a masterful communicator. Her willingness to use her time and talent to help make the world a better place gives us all hope," added Moss, who is the senior director of global STEM initiatives for Discovery Education, which runs the competition with 3M. Chebrolu received a $25,000 prize for winning this year's competition.
Identifying a molecule that binds to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, took tremendous work.
"I started with a database of over 698 million compounds," Chebrolu told KTVT. She ran these many compounds through iterative screenings on the computer, to assess their binding ability, molecular structure and drug-like characteristics, such as how they would break down in the human body and whether they could be toxic to cells. Each screening narrowed her search, until she was left with one lead compound that could bind to the coronavirus and keep it from infecting cells.
Related: Medicine's journey through the body: 4 stages
In addition to her prize-winning coronavirus study, Chebrolu also completed an influenza study that she initially submitted to the competition. "I was drawn towards finding effective cures for influenza disease after a severe bout of the infection last year," she said in a statement on the competition website .
"From the initial 3 million compounds, I was able to narrow down to one potential drug candidate" that selectively binds to and inhibits the influenza virus, she said in her video entry for the competition. Chebrolu told CNN that she aims to work alongside scientists to develop her drug candidates into full-fledged medicines that help tame these viral infections.
"My effort to find a lead compound to bind to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus this summer may appear to be a drop in the ocean, but still adds to all these efforts," she told CNN. "How I develop this molecule further with the help of virologists and drug development specialists will determine the success of these efforts."
In 15 years, Chebrolu said she hopes to be a medical researcher and professor, according to the competition website. In her spare time, she sketches and studies Bharatanatyam, a style of Indian classical dance. "I describe myself as a person who aspires to be a lot of things," Chebrolu told KTVT.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-20--Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

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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!