livescience--2020-10-03--Astrophysicists figure out the total amount of matter in the universe

The stuff that makes up our universe is tricky to measure , to put it mildly .
We know that most of the universe 's matter-energy density consists of dark energy , the mysterious unknown force that 's driving the universe 's expansion .
And we know that the rest is matter , both normal and dark .
Accurately figuring out the proportions of these three is a challenge , but researchers now say they 've performed one of the most precise measurements yet to determine the proportion of matter .
According to their calculations , normal matter and dark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the matter-energy density of the universe .
The remaining 68.5 percent is dark energy .
`` To put that amount of matter in context , if all the matter in the universe were spread out evenly across space , it would correspond to an average mass density equal to only about six hydrogen atoms per cubic meter , '' said astronomer Mohamed Abdullah of the University of California , Riverside and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics in Egypt .
`` However , since we know 80 percent of matter is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of this matter consists not of hydrogen atoms but rather of a type of matter which cosmologists do n't yet understand . ''
Understanding dark energy is actually crucial to our understanding of the Universe .
We do n't know what it is , exactly - the 'dark ' in the name refers to that mystery - but it appears to be the force that drives the expansion of the Universe , the velocity of which has proven incredibly difficult to narrow down past a certain point .
Once we have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that will improve our grasp of the evolution of the Universe as a whole .
Hence , constraining the properties of dark energy is a pretty important undertaking for cosmology in general , and there are a number of ways to do so .
Abdullah and his team employed a method based on the way things move around in galaxy clusters - groups of up to thousands of galaxies gravitationally bound together .
Generally , galaxy clusters are a good tool for measuring matter in the Universe .
That 's because they 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together over the lifetime of the Universe , about 13.8 billion years , under gravity .
The number of clusters we can observe in a volume of space is highly sensitive to the amount of matter , so counting them can give a reasonable measurement .
But , again , that 's not a simple task .
`` A higher percentage of matter would result in more clusters , '' Abdullah said .
`` The 'Goldilocks ' challenge for our team was to measure the number of clusters and then determine which answer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is difficult to measure the mass of any galaxy cluster accurately because most of the matter is dark so we ca n't see it with telescopes . ''
The team found a way around this problem with a technique called GalWeight .
It uses the orbits of galaxies in and around a cluster to determine which galaxies actually belong to any given cluster , and which do not , with over 98 percent accuracy .
This , they said , provides a more accurate census of that cluster , in turn leading to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A huge advantage of using our GalWeight galaxy orbit technique was that our team was able to determine a mass for each cluster individually rather than rely on more indirect , statistical methods , '' explained astronomer Anatoly Klypin of New Mexico State University .
The team applied their technique to observations collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey , and created a catalogue of galaxy clusters .
These clusters were then compared to numerical simulations of galaxies to calculate the total amount of matter in the Universe .
The team 's result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dark energy - is in close agreement with other measurements of the Universe 's matter-energy density .
`` We have succeeded in making one of the most precise measurements ever made using the galaxy cluster technique , '' said astronomer Gillian Wilson of UC Riverside .
`` Moreover , this is the first use of the galaxy orbit technique which has obtained a value in agreement with those obtained by teams who used noncluster techniques such as cosmic microwave background anisotropies , baryon acoustic oscillations , Type Ia supernovae , or gravitational lensing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , demonstrates that GalWeight could prove to be a very useful tool for continuing to probe and constrain the cosmological properties of the Universe .
The research has been published in The Astrophysical Journal .
This article was originally published by ScienceAlert .
Read the original article here .

The stuff that makes up our universe is tricky to measure, to put it mildly. We know that most of the universe's matter-energy density consists of dark energy, the mysterious unknown force that's driving the universe's expansion. And we know that the rest is matter, both normal and dark.
Accurately figuring out the proportions of these three is a challenge, but researchers now say they've performed one of the most precise measurements yet to determine the proportion of matter.
According to their calculations, normal matter and dark matter combined make up 31.5 percent of the matter-energy density of the universe. The remaining 68.5 percent is dark energy.
"To put that amount of matter in context, if all the matter in the universe were spread out evenly across space, it would correspond to an average mass density equal to only about six hydrogen atoms per cubic meter," said astronomer Mohamed Abdullah of the University of California, Riverside and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics in Egypt.
"However, since we know 80 percent of matter is actually dark matter, in reality, most of this matter consists not of hydrogen atoms but rather of a type of matter which cosmologists don't yet understand."
Understanding dark energy is actually crucial to our understanding of the Universe. We don't know what it is, exactly - the 'dark' in the name refers to that mystery - but it appears to be the force that drives the expansion of the Universe, the velocity of which has proven incredibly difficult to narrow down past a certain point.
Once we have a better understanding of the expansion rate, that will improve our grasp of the evolution of the Universe as a whole. Hence, constraining the properties of dark energy is a pretty important undertaking for cosmology in general, and there are a number of ways to do so.
Abdullah and his team employed a method based on the way things move around in galaxy clusters - groups of up to thousands of galaxies gravitationally bound together.
Generally, galaxy clusters are a good tool for measuring matter in the Universe. That's because they're made up of matter that has come together over the lifetime of the Universe, about 13.8 billion years, under gravity.
The number of clusters we can observe in a volume of space is highly sensitive to the amount of matter, so counting them can give a reasonable measurement. But, again, that's not a simple task.
"A higher percentage of matter would result in more clusters," Abdullah said.
"The 'Goldilocks' challenge for our team was to measure the number of clusters and then determine which answer was 'just right'. But it is difficult to measure the mass of any galaxy cluster accurately because most of the matter is dark so we can't see it with telescopes."
The team found a way around this problem with a technique called GalWeight. It uses the orbits of galaxies in and around a cluster to determine which galaxies actually belong to any given cluster, and which do not, with over 98 percent accuracy. This, they said, provides a more accurate census of that cluster, in turn leading to a more accurate mass calculation.
"A huge advantage of using our GalWeight galaxy orbit technique was that our team was able to determine a mass for each cluster individually rather than rely on more indirect, statistical methods," explained astronomer Anatoly Klypin of New Mexico State University.
The team applied their technique to observations collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and created a catalogue of galaxy clusters. These clusters were then compared to numerical simulations of galaxies to calculate the total amount of matter in the Universe.
The team's result - 31.5 percent matter and 68.5 percent dark energy - is in close agreement with other measurements of the Universe's matter-energy density.
"We have succeeded in making one of the most precise measurements ever made using the galaxy cluster technique," said astronomer Gillian Wilson of UC Riverside.
"Moreover, this is the first use of the galaxy orbit technique which has obtained a value in agreement with those obtained by teams who used noncluster techniques such as cosmic microwave background anisotropies, baryon acoustic oscillations, Type Ia supernovae, or gravitational lensing."
This result, the team says, demonstrates that GalWeight could prove to be a very useful tool for continuing to probe and constrain the cosmological properties of the Universe.
The research has been published in The Astrophysical Journal.
This article was originally published by ScienceAlert. Read the original article here.


livescience--2020-10-04--Are non-stick pans safe?

Are non-stick pans safe?

Spending each morning at the kitchen sink scraping at the charred remains of breakfast gets tedious after a while .
Non-stick cookware may seem like an appealing alternative — but is it safe ?
Usually when people inquire about the safety of their non-stick cookware , they 're talking about Teflon , said Suzanne Fenton , a reproductive endocrinologist at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina .
Also known as polytertrafluoroethylene ( PTFE ) , this clear plastic is used to coat metal pots and pans , giving them a waxy , easy-to-clean surface — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it 's safe for cooking .
Experts tend to agree that Teflon itself isn ’ t a problem .
The coating itself is considered non-toxic .
Even if you ingest small flakes of it , it passes right through you .
But some experts are concerned about what happens when Teflon gets too hot .
`` When pans are overheated , that PTFE coating begins to disintegrate , '' Fenton told Live Science .
As Teflon breaks down , it releases a host of toxic gases .
In rare instances , breathing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condition characterized by a high , shortness of breath and weakness .
These gases also deadly to birds — lightbulbs coated in Teflon have wiped out poultry houses .
Of particular concern is perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA ) , one of the chemicals released when Teflon pans heat up .
Long-term exposure to PFOA is linked to a host of conditions from cancer to disease , Fenton said .
Not all researchers think that people need to worry about their Teflon pans breaking down .
Some point out that no studies have specifically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on humans .
Instead , these studies focus on the health-effects of Teflon ’ s chemical byproducts , like PFOA .
Much of the data on these toxins come from cases of environmental exposure — such as drinking water or factory settings , where exposure levels are much higher than they would be from non-stick cookware .
`` Generally speaking , nonstick pans are not dangerous , '' said Kyle Steenland , a professor of environmental health at Emory University in Atlanta .
Steenland and other scientists also argue that people do n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chemical reactions to take place .
`` Now , if you burn your pans for an hour at high heat , it [ Teflon ] will break down , '' `` But that will be the least of your problems because your house will be on fire . ''
However , research suggests pans can easily reach a temperature hot enough to disintegrate Teflon .
One group of researchers in Canada published a 2001 study in the journal , in which Teflon broke down at 680 degrees Fahrenheit ( 360 degrees Celsius ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can reach 750 F ( 399 C ) if left for eight minutes at high heat on a stovetop , according to a 2017 article published in .
And at lower temperatures , Teflon coating still breaks down over time , according to a 1998 article published in the journal If you consistently heat your pan to 260 F ( 127 C ; the temperature at which we sear steak ) , the pan should last around 2.3 years , according to the 2001 Nature study .
Taking good care of non-stick pans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` It 's really important that you use the pans on low-to-medium heat , and you do n't use utensils that will scratch it , '' Fenton said .
But in some cases , it 's best to ditch Teflon pans altogether , Fenton added — especially if you 're pregnant , or have young children .
PFOA in particular is tied to problems with kids ' development .
That 's because this chemical is considered an endocrine disruptor , meaning it interferes with the body 's .
PFOA exposure causes elevated estrogen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in female mice , according to a 2012 article published in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology .
In humans , the chemical is linked to obesity , diabetes , low sperm quality and irregular menstrual cycles — potential signs of endocrine disruption .
Luckily , there 's a wealth of other options for those averse to scrubbing pans .
Cookware made of anodized ( a product that protects against corrosion and scratches ) and ceramic is non-stick and perfectly safe , Fenton said .
If cared for correctly , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ non-toxic , non-stick pan , while enriching food with blood-building .
`` Non-stick pans come in many forms , '' Fenton said , `` one can certainly safely cook healthy meals in them . ''

Spending each morning at the kitchen sink scraping at the charred remains of breakfast gets tedious after a while. Non-stick cookware may seem like an appealing alternative — but is it safe?
Usually when people inquire about the safety of their non-stick cookware, they're talking about the brand Teflon, said Suzanne Fenton, a reproductive endocrinologist at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina. Also known as polytertrafluoroethylene (PTFE), this clear plastic is used to coat metal pots and pans, giving them a waxy, easy-to-clean surface — and for decades, scientists have debated whether it's safe for cooking.
Experts tend to agree that Teflon itself isn’t a problem. The coating itself is considered non-toxic. Even if you ingest small flakes of it, it passes right through you. But some experts are concerned about what happens when Teflon gets too hot. "When pans are overheated, that PTFE coating begins to disintegrate," Fenton told Live Science. As Teflon breaks down, it releases a host of toxic gases. In rare instances, breathing in these chemical fumes can cause polymer fume fever , a condition characterized by a high fever , shortness of breath and weakness. These gases also deadly to birds — lightbulbs coated in Teflon have wiped out poultry houses. Of particular concern is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), one of the chemicals released when Teflon pans heat up. Long-term exposure to PFOA is linked to a host of conditions from cancer to thyroid disease, Fenton said.
Related: What makes something fireproof?
Not all researchers think that people need to worry about their Teflon pans breaking down. Some point out that no studies have specifically analyzed the long-term effects of Teflon pans on humans. Instead, these studies focus on the health-effects of Teflon’s chemical byproducts, like PFOA. Much of the data on these toxins come from cases of environmental exposure — such as drinking water or factory settings, where exposure levels are much higher than they would be from non-stick cookware. "Generally speaking, nonstick pans are not dangerous," said Kyle Steenland, a professor of environmental health at Emory University in Atlanta.
Steenland and other scientists also argue that people don't cook at high enough temperatures for these chemical reactions to take place. "Now, if you burn your pans for an hour at high heat, it [Teflon] will break down," "But that will be the least of your problems because your house will be on fire."
However, research suggests pans can easily reach a temperature hot enough to disintegrate Teflon. One group of researchers in Canada published a 2001 study in the journal Nature , in which Teflon broke down at 680 degrees Fahrenheit (360 degrees Celsius). For context: a Teflon-coated pan can reach 750 F (399 C) if left for eight minutes at high heat on a stovetop, according to a 2017 article published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research . And at lower temperatures, Teflon coating still breaks down over time, according to a 1998 article published in the journal Polymer Degradation and Stability. If you consistently heat your pan to 500 F (260 C; the temperature at which we sear steak), the pan should last around 2.3 years, according to the 2001 Nature study.
In 2015, PFOA was voluntarily phased out in the U.S., but the chemical is still widely used in China, according to Steenland and Fenton. However, it's possible that the clear plastic coating known as PTFE can still create PFOA when it breaks down, research finds.
Taking good care of non-stick pans can help keep your kitchen safe. "It's really important that you use the pans on low-to-medium heat, and you don't use utensils that will scratch it," Fenton said.
But in some cases, it's best to ditch Teflon pans altogether, Fenton added — especially if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or have young children. PFOA in particular is tied to problems with kids' development. That's because this chemical is considered an endocrine disruptor, meaning it interferes with the body's hormone system . PFOA exposure causes elevated estrogen in male rats and delayed mammary-gland development in female mice, according to a 2012 article published in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology . In humans, the chemical is linked to obesity, diabetes, low sperm quality and irregular menstrual cycles — potential signs of endocrine disruption.
Luckily, there's a wealth of other options for those averse to scrubbing pans. Cookware made of anodized aluminum (a product that protects against corrosion and scratches) and ceramic is non-stick and perfectly safe, Fenton said. If cared for correctly, a cast-iron skillet can also serve as another non-toxic, non-stick pan, while enriching food with blood-building iron .
"Non-stick pans come in many forms," Fenton said, "one can certainly safely cook healthy meals in them."
Editor's note: This story was updated on Oct. 7 to correct a temperature; steak isn't seared at 260 F (127 C) but at 500 F (260 C). It was updated on Oct. 13 to clarify that Teflon is a brand and to include that PFOA was voluntarily phased out of production in the U.S. in 2015.


livescience--2020-10-05--Fossils of Ice Age manatees discovered in Texas

Today 's often summer off the coast of Texas and Florida , heading farther south toward warmer waters in the winter .
Now , new fossils suggest that their Ice Age ancestors may have made the same migrations .
Eight Pleistocene manatee bones —— ribs , jaws and other fragments —— found along the Texas coast reveal that manatees either lived in the area or visited it regularly between 11,000 and 240,000 years ago .
This finding is surprising , because it indicates that either Texas coastal waters were warmer than expected during the Ice Age , or ancient manatees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ modern relatives .
Six of the fossils come from private collections donated to Sam Houston State University ( SHSU ) in Huntsville over 50 years .
The other two are in the collection of the The Jackson Museum of Earth History at the University of Texas , Austin .
Related : Photos : 50 of the most endangered species on the planet '' We have them from one decade to another , so we know it 's not from some old manatee that washed up , and we have them from different places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ William Godwin .
`` All these lines of evidence support that manatee bones were coming up in a constant way . ''
All but one of the bones come from Trichechus manatus , the same species that traverses Gulf Coast waters today , placidly grazing on sea grasses .
The last bone , an upper jawbone donated by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin ( R-Texas ) , belongs to an extinct subspecies , Trichechus manatus bakerorum .
The discovery of so many manatee specimens was a surprise , Godwin said , because the animals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ venture that far north during the last Ice Age , when glaciers covered upper North America and much of the Gulf Coast had a climate like today 's Siberia Taiga .
Manatees do n't have any insulating blubber , and their metabolic rate is low , so they can survive only in subtropical and tropical waters , according to .
The Ice Age manatees may have found refuge in shallow , warm inlets , allowing them to survive despite the colder temperatures of the time .
The Texas coast extended farther into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outlets were wider than today 's , University of Texas geologist David Mohrig , who was not part of the research team , said in the statement .
The results were published Oct. 1 in the journal .

Manatees lived in Texas during the last ice age, according to fossil evidence found along Texas beaches.
Today's manatees often summer off the coast of Texas and Florida, heading farther south toward warmer waters in the winter. Now, new fossils suggest that their ice age ancestors may have made the same migrations.
Eight Pleistocene manatee bones — ribs, jaws and other fragments — found along the Texas coast reveal that manatees either lived in the area or visited it regularly between 11,000 and 240,000 years ago. This finding is surprising, because it indicates that either Texas coastal waters were warmer than expected during the ice age, or ancient manatees were more tolerant of cold than their modern relatives.
Six of the fossils come from private collections donated to Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville over 50 years. The other two are in the collection of the Jackson Museum of Earth History at the University of Texas at Austin.
Related: Photos: 50 of the most endangered species on the planet
Image 1 of 3 A manatee lower jaw fossil. Its S-shaped curve is a distinctive manatee trait. (Scale bar is 0.8 inches, or 2 centimeters.) (Image credit: Bell et al.) A manatee rib fossil fragment. (Scale bar is 0.8 inches, or 2 centimeters.) (Image credit: Bell et al.) Manatees lived in Texas during the last ice age, according to fossil evidence found along Texas beaches. (Image credit: Robert Bonde / U.S. Geological Survey)
"We have them from one decade to another, so we know it's not from some old manatee that washed up, and we have them from different places," SHSU Natural History Collections curator William Godwin said in a statement . "All these lines of evidence support that manatee bones were coming up in a constant way."
All but one of the bones come from Trichechus manatus, the same species that traverses Gulf Coast waters today, placidly grazing on sea grasses. The last bone, an upper jawbone donated by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), belongs to an extinct subspecies, Trichechus manatus bakerorum.
The discovery of so many Pleistocene manatee specimens was a surprise, Godwin said, because the animals weren't thought to be able to venture that far north during the last ice age, when glaciers covered upper North America and much of the Gulf Coast had a climate like today's Siberia Taiga.
Manatees don't have any insulating blubber, and their metabolic rate is low, so they can survive only in subtropical and tropical waters, according to Animal Diversity Web .
The ice age manatees may have found refuge in shallow, warm inlets, allowing them to survive despite the colder temperatures of the time. The Texas coast extended farther into the Gulf of Mexico, and its river outlets were wider than today's, University of Texas geologist David Mohrig, who was not part of the research team, said in the statement.
The results were published Oct. 1 in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica .
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-05--Trump is taking the latest in COVID-19 treatments. Here's how those medicines work.

With for the coronavirus , what are the best proven treatments for them and other patients ?
We are both - at the University of Virginia .
We care for COVID-19 patients and conduct research to find better ways to diagnose and treat COVID-19 .
Here we are sharing what physicians have learned over the past eight months treating various stages of this disease .
Early in the year , there were few known treatments for people who showed severe COVID-19 symptoms apart from sustaining them on ventilators .
Now , several months later , there are a handful of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctors far better tools to heal patients , particularly very ill ones .
Who is at greatest risk for severe COVID-19 ?
more likely to die , and an of death than a 50-year-old .
In addition to age and male gender , obesity ; diabetes ; recent cancer diagnosis ; chronic heart , lung and liver disease ; stroke ; and dementia all are associated with an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 .
Based on these criteria , the president falls into a based on .
Is treatment different depending upon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to therapy differs depending on the stage of the illness .
It is therefore important to not only diagnose COVID-19 but to define whether the infection is or pre-symptomatic .
Also , how sick a person is — whether it 's a mild , moderate , severe or critical case — changes how a .
What treatment is there for asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection ?
Asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection is defined as having a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19 ( or ) without symptoms of infection .
There is currently no known effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection should so as not to expose others .
What are the symptoms of mild disease , and what treatments work ?
fever , cough , loss of taste or smell , muscle aches , headache , nausea , vomiting , diarrhea , congestion and runny nose .
Someone with mild COVID-19 does not have shortness of breath , chest pain or evidence of pneumonia during a chest X-ray .
The exception to this is children with mild disease who may still have an abnormal X-ray .
There are no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those with mild disease .
However , such patients should be well versed on the symptoms of moderate illness , so that they and others recognize if .
This is important because progression to more severe disease can be rapid — typically five to 10 days after initial symptoms .
Moderate illness is defined as shortness of breath , chest pain , or on a chest X-ray , evidence of pneumonia but without hypoxia ( low blood oxygen levels ) .
There currently is no known effective therapy for moderate illness .
Severe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rate ( greater than 30 breaths per minute ) or low oxygen levels in the blood , which is called hypoxia .
Also , evidence of pneumonia affecting more than half of the lungs , as diagnosed on a chest X-ray , is a sign of a severe case .
Controlled clinical trials have demonstrated that the antiviral drug remdesivir but not critical illness .
Critical illness occurs when the patient becomes so sick that vital organs begin to fail and they require medicines or other therapies to support these vital functions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough , physicians may put the patient on a mechanical ventilator or high quantities of oxygen .
There is no evidence that remdesivir treatment is beneficial during this critical phase .
for treatment because it has been shown to decrease mortality .
What therapies do n't work or are still being tested ?
Some treatments that have been shown to be .
Other potential treatments are still in the middle of clinical trials to test whether they are effective .
These include , which contains antibodies that should bind to the virus and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are also drugs to modulate the immune response , such as , which in some cases may prevent a harmful overreaction of the immune system , commonly referred to as .
Newer treatments , including one President Trump has been given Right now there is no approved treatment for outpatients with asymptomatic or mild to moderate COVID-19 .
But this appears to be changing , with Eli Lilly 's and on the use of laboratory-manufactured antibodies against the spike glycoprotein of the new coronavirus .
In this approach , , the antibodies work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it from entering cells and multiplying .
This could be particularly effective early on in infection before illness becomes severe .
[ Deep knowledge , daily .
Sign up for The Conversation 's newsletter . ]
In an early preview of data from an ongoing phase three clinical trial , subjects with COVID-19 who received an injection of a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein had symptoms that lasted only seven days rather than 13 .
The amount of virus remaining in the nasopharynx — the upper part of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reduced .
An in the afternoon of October 2 indicated that , as a precautionary measure , the president received an infusion of Regeneron 's antibody cocktail .
This approach and others like it are currently receiving high-priority testing from the National Institutes of Health to determine whether they are safe and effective .
This article was originally published at The Conversation .
The publication contributed the article to Live Science 's Expert Voices : Op-Ed & Insights .

With 74-year-old President Trump and 50-year-old first lady Melania Trump testing positive for the coronavirus, what are the best proven treatments for them and other patients?
We are both physician - scientists at the University of Virginia. We care for COVID-19 patients and conduct research to find better ways to diagnose and treat COVID-19.
Here we are sharing what physicians have learned over the past eight months treating various stages of this disease. Early in the year, there were few known treatments for people who showed severe COVID-19 symptoms apart from sustaining them on ventilators. Now, several months later, there are a handful of treatments, including drugs, that give doctors far better tools to heal patients, particularly very ill ones.
Who is at greatest risk for severe COVID-19?
Men are one-and-a-half times more likely to die, and an 80-year-old has a twentyfold greater risk of death than a 50-year-old. In addition to age and male gender, obesity; diabetes; recent cancer diagnosis; chronic heart, lung and liver disease; stroke; and dementia all are associated with an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 . Based on these criteria, the president falls into a higher-risk category based on male gender and age .
Is treatment different depending upon how sick one is?
The approach to therapy differs depending on the stage of the illness.
It is therefore important to not only diagnose COVID-19 but to define whether the infection is asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. Also, how sick a person is — whether it's a mild, moderate, severe or critical case — changes how a patient is treated .
What treatment is there for asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection?
Asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection is defined as having a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19 ( a PCR or antigen detection test ) without symptoms of infection.
There is currently no known effective treatment for this stage . Someone with asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection should isolate themself at home for 10 days so as not to expose others.
What are the symptoms of mild disease, and what treatments work?
Symptoms of mild COVID-19 infection can include fever, cough, loss of taste or smell, muscle aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, congestion and runny nose.
Someone with mild COVID-19 does not have shortness of breath, chest pain or evidence of pneumonia during a chest X-ray. The exception to this is children with mild disease who may still have an abnormal X-ray.
There are no treatments that have been demonstrated to benefit those with mild disease. However, such patients should be well versed on the symptoms of moderate illness, so that they and others recognize if they progress to moderate illness . This is important because progression to more severe disease can be rapid — typically five to 10 days after initial symptoms.
Moderate illness
Moderate illness is defined as shortness of breath, chest pain, or on a chest X-ray, evidence of pneumonia but without hypoxia (low blood oxygen levels).
There currently is no known effective therapy for moderate illness .
Severe illness
Severe illness is identified by a rapid breathing rate (greater than 30 breaths per minute) or low oxygen levels in the blood, which is called hypoxia. Also, evidence of pneumonia affecting more than half of the lungs, as diagnosed on a chest X-ray, is a sign of a severe case.
Controlled clinical trials have demonstrated that the antiviral drug remdesivir hastens recovery for patients with severe but not critical illness.
In addition the anti-inflammatory steroid medicine dexamethasone (a prednisonelike drug) decreases mortality.
Critical illness
Critical illness occurs when the patient becomes so sick that vital organs begin to fail and they require medicines or other therapies to support these vital functions.
If failure of the lungs is severe enough, physicians may put the patient on a mechanical ventilator or high quantities of oxygen. There is no evidence that remdesivir treatment is beneficial during this critical phase. Dexamethasone is still recommended for treatment because it has been shown to decrease mortality.
What therapies don't work or are still being tested?
Some treatments that have been shown to be ineffective include chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine .
Other potential treatments are still in the middle of clinical trials to test whether they are effective. These include human convalescent plasma , which contains antibodies that should bind to the virus and prevent it from entering cells.
There are also drugs to modulate the immune response, such as interferons and inhibitors of IL-6 , which in some cases may prevent a harmful overreaction of the immune system, commonly referred to as cytokine storm .
Newer treatments, including one President Trump has been given
Right now there is no approved treatment for outpatients with asymptomatic or mild to moderate COVID-19. But this appears to be changing, with Eli Lilly's and Regeneron's release of clinical trial data on the use of laboratory-manufactured antibodies against the spike glycoprotein of the new coronavirus.
In this approach, as with convalescent plasma , the antibodies work by binding to the virus and blocking it from entering cells and multiplying. This could be particularly effective early on in infection before illness becomes severe.
[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter .]
In an early preview of data from an ongoing phase three clinical trial, subjects with COVID-19 who received an injection of a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein had symptoms that lasted only seven days rather than 13. The amount of virus remaining in the nasopharynx — the upper part of the throat behind the nose — was also reduced.
An update from the president's physician in the afternoon of October 2 indicated that, as a precautionary measure, the president received an infusion of Regeneron's antibody cocktail. This approach and others like it are currently receiving high-priority testing from the National Institutes of Health to determine whether they are safe and effective.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.


livescience--2020-10-05--Astonishing AI restoration brings Apollo moon landing films up to speed

Astronauts on NASA 's Apollo missions to the captured astounding movies of the lunar surface , but recent enhancements with ( AI ) have really made the films out of this world .
In remastered movies by DutchSteamMachine , a YouTube channel run by a film restoration specialist in the Netherlands , details from lunar scenes are astonishingly crisp and vivid ; from mission commander Neil Armstrong 's first steps on the moon in 1969 to bumpy lunar rover drives during Apollo 15 and 16 in 1971 and 1972 , respectively .
The film restorer behind DutchSteamMachine , who also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AI to stabilize shaky footage and generate new frames in NASA moon landing films ; increasing the frame rate ( the number of frames that play per second ) smoothed the motion and made it look more like movement in high-definition ( HD ) video .
The launched 11 lunar spaceflight missions between 1968 and 1972 ; of those , four missions tested equipment and six landed on the moon , allowing 12 men to walk , drive and/or leap over the dusty , cratered lunar surface , .
During all of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , activities or experiments using 16-millimeter motion picture cameras that were usually advancing the film at 1 , 6 , or 12 frames per second , or fps — the film industry 's standard rate is 24 fps , and HD video cameras shoot 30 or 60 fps .
When old films shot at a lower frame rate are displayed at higher rates , the motion appears sped-up and jittery , `` which creates a disconnect between the past and the person watching it , '' Niels told Live Science in an email @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intelligence that has been 'trained ' with example footage to generate entirely new frames between real ones , '' Niels said .
`` It analyzes the difference between real frames , what changed , and is able to 'interpolate ' what kind of data would be there if it was shot at a higher frame rate . ''
The AI is called Depth-Aware video frame INterpolation ( DAIN ) , and is a free , downloadable app for Windows that is `` currently in alpha and development , '' according to DAIN 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for decades , but the recent addition of AI has taken results to a new level , Niels said .
`` Most remastering/enhancing of old footage has been the removal of dirt and scratches , stabilizing shaky camera work , sometimes even adding color .
But never generating entirely new frames based on data from two consecutive real frames , '' he explained .
One of the biggest challenges of creating these restorations is finding high-quality source footage ; grit , particles and excessive graininess in the film can confuse the algorithm and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Niels said .
NASA footage is especially rewarding for AI upgrades because the original frame rate is so low — 6 to 12 fps — that upping it to 24 , 50 or 60 fps makes a very dramatic difference .
And because movement in the films is so slow , the algorithm can generate more interpolating frames without digital artifacts .
Niels hopes that his videos will bring the moonwalks just a little bit closer to Earthbound viewers , and help them to see and appreciate these landmark events as the astronauts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ footage will inspire more interest in space agencies ' upcoming plans for launching crewed missions that fly beyond low- orbit — and even return to the lunar surface — while equipped with cameras capable of shooting in HD .
`` Footage actually taken with high-quality video cameras is going to be absolutely stunning , '' Niels told Live Science .
You can watch all of his AI-enhanced moon landing videos on the DutchSteamMachine , and you can find more of his projects on .

NASA astronaut Charles Duke filmed Commander John Young as Young drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle, in footage shot on April 21, 1972 during the fifth day of the Apollo 16 moon landing.
Astronauts on NASA's Apollo missions to the moon captured astounding movies of the lunar surface, but recent enhancements with artificial intelligence (AI) have really made the films out of this world.
In remastered movies shared online by by DutchSteamMachine, a YouTube channel run by a film restoration specialist in the Netherlands, details from lunar scenes are astonishingly crisp and vivid; from mission commander Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon in 1969 to bumpy lunar rover drives during Apollo 15 and 16 in 1971 and 1972, respectively.
The film restorer behind DutchSteamMachine, who also goes by "Niels," used AI to stabilize shaky footage and generate new frames in NASA moon landing films; increasing the frame rate (the number of frames that play per second) smoothed the motion and made it look more like movement in high-definition (HD) video.
Related: Can machines be creative? Meet 9 AI 'artists'
The Apollo program launched 11 lunar spaceflight missions between 1968 and 1972; of those, four missions tested equipment and six landed on the moon, allowing 12 men to walk, drive and/or leap over the dusty, cratered lunar surface, according to NASA . During all of those missions, astronauts captured details of orbits, activities or experiments using 16-millimeter motion picture cameras that were usually advancing the film at 1, 6, or 12 frames per second, or fps — the film industry's standard rate is 24 fps, and HD video cameras shoot 30 or 60 fps.
When old films shot at a lower frame rate are displayed at higher rates, the motion appears sped-up and jittery, "which creates a disconnect between the past and the person watching it," Niels told Live Science in an email.
"I use an open-source artificial intelligence that has been 'trained' with example footage to generate entirely new frames between real ones," Niels said. "It analyzes the difference between real frames, what changed, and is able to 'interpolate' what kind of data would be there if it was shot at a higher frame rate." The AI is called Depth-Aware video frame INterpolation (DAIN), and is a free, downloadable app for Windows that is "currently in alpha and development," according to DAIN's website .
Experts have been remastering old films for decades, but the recent addition of AI has taken results to a new level, Niels said.
"Most remastering/enhancing of old footage has been the removal of dirt and scratches, stabilizing shaky camera work, sometimes even adding color. But never generating entirely new frames based on data from two consecutive real frames," he explained.
One of the biggest challenges of creating these restorations is finding high-quality source footage; grit, particles and excessive graininess in the film can confuse the algorithm and interfere with AI's interpolation process, Niels said. NASA footage is especially rewarding for AI upgrades because the original frame rate is so low — 6 to 12 fps — that upping it to 24, 50 or 60 fps makes a very dramatic difference. And because movement in the films is so slow, the algorithm can generate more interpolating frames without digital artifacts.
Niels hopes that his videos will bring the moonwalks just a little bit closer to Earthbound viewers, and help them to see and appreciate these landmark events as the astronauts did. He also hopes the remastered footage will inspire more interest in space agencies' upcoming plans for launching crewed missions that fly beyond low- Earth orbit — and even return to the lunar surface — while equipped with cameras capable of shooting in HD.
"Footage actually taken with high-quality video cameras is going to be absolutely stunning," Niels told Live Science.
You can watch all of his AI-enhanced moon landing videos on the DutchSteamMachine YouTube channel , and you can find more of his projects on Patreon .
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-05--Americans really are drinking more during the pandemic

Americans really are drinking more during the COVID-19 pandemic .
New research suggests that alcohol consumption in the United States rose 14 % during shutdowns .
The most dramatic increase was in heavy drinking episodes in women , defined as four or more drinks within two hours .
Women reported a 41 % increase in episodes of heavy drinking in the spring of 2020 compared with their drinking level in the spring of 2019 .
`` We 've had anecdotal information about people buying and consuming more alcohol , but this is some of the first survey-based information that shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic , '' Michael Pollard , lead author of the study and a sociologist at RAND , a nonprofit research organization , .
Pollard and his colleagues reported their findings Sept. 29 in the journal .
The data came from a nationally representative survey of 1,540 Americans in the long-running RAND American Life Survey who were queried between May and June about their drinking habits .
The responses were then compared to survey data collected from the same people at the same time last year .
The comparison showed that the frequency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 5.48 drinking days per month in 2019 to an average of 6.22 drinking days per month in 2020 .
The increase was greatest for women , whose number of days of alcohol consumption went up 17 % , from 4.58 days , on average , to 5.36 days .
Overall , about 3 out of 4 Americans increased their drinking days by one day each month .
In 2019 , women reported drinking heavily less than once every other month , or 0.44 days out of every 30 .
In 2020 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days of heavy drinking out of every 30 .
That may seem small , but is the equivalent of one out of every five women adding a day of heavy drinking each month .
Women also reported a 39 % increase in problems related to drinking , such as taking foolish risks while drunk or damaging relationships due to drinking .
The increase in problems indicates that as many as 1 in 10 women may be experiencing real-life consequences as a result of the increase in consumption of alcohol , the researchers wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of negative physical health associations , excessive alcohol use may lead to or worsen existing mental health problems , such as anxiety or depression , which may themselves be increasing during COVID-19 , '' the authors noted .

Americans really are drinking more during the COVID-19 pandemic. New research suggests that alcohol consumption in the United States rose 14% during pandemic shutdowns.
The most dramatic increase was in heavy drinking episodes in women, defined as four or more drinks within two hours. Women reported a 41% increase in episodes of heavy drinking in the spring of 2020 compared with their drinking level in the spring of 2019.
"We've had anecdotal information about people buying and consuming more alcohol, but this is some of the first survey-based information that shows how much alcohol consumption has increased during the pandemic," Michael Pollard, lead author of the study and a sociologist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, said in a statement . Pollard and his colleagues reported their findings Sept. 29 in the journal JAMA Network Open .
Related: 14 coronavirus myths busted by science
The data came from a nationally representative survey of 1,540 Americans in the long-running RAND American Life Survey who were queried between May and June about their drinking habits. The responses were then compared to survey data collected from the same people at the same time last year.
The comparison showed that the frequency of alcohol consumption increased from an average of 5.48 drinking days per month in 2019 to an average of 6.22 drinking days per month in 2020. The increase was greatest for women, whose number of days of alcohol consumption went up 17%, from 4.58 days, on average, to 5.36 days. Overall, about 3 out of 4 Americans increased their drinking days by one day each month.
In 2019, women reported drinking heavily less than once every other month, or 0.44 days out of every 30. In 2020, that average rose 41% to 0.62 days of heavy drinking out of every 30. That may seem small, but is the equivalent of one out of every five women adding a day of heavy drinking each month. Women also reported a 39% increase in problems related to drinking, such as taking foolish risks while drunk or damaging relationships due to drinking. The increase in problems indicates that as many as 1 in 10 women may be experiencing real-life consequences as a result of the increase in consumption of alcohol, the researchers wrote.
"In addition to a range of negative physical health associations, excessive alcohol use may lead to or worsen existing mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression, which may themselves be increasing during COVID-19," the authors noted.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-05--What was the Black Panther Party?

What was the Black Panther Party?

The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary socialist organization formed in Oakland , California .
The party was created in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement , which began in the mid 1950s , according to the book `` Encyclopedia of Southern Culture '' ( University of North Carolina Press , 1989 ) .
Amid continued police brutality and oppression in Black neighborhoods , the Black Panther Party sought to defend and provide services to these communities .
The party is well-known for its signature uniform of a black beret and raised fist , as well as its ideology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accomplishments include hunger-relief programs , improving access to education and providing healthcare to Black communities .
In 1966 , Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale , the founders of the Black Panther Party , met as students at Merritt College in Oakland , according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration .
The 1964 Civil Rights Act had passed just two years earlier , outlawing discrimination based on race , color , religion , sex or national origin .
It was a landmark victory that activists had fought and died for , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adam Ewing , a professor of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University .
The Civil Rights Act meant that segregation in schools , workplaces and public facilities was prohibited ( although segregation continues to exist in American society today , including in schools , according to reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post ) .
But racism in numerous other forms still impacted Black communities .
`` There 's poverty ; there 's systemic and brutal police violence in Black communities ; there 's a lack of services .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not touch on some of those more entrenched problems , '' Ewing said .
It was in this historical context that the Black Panther Party emerged .
The party aimed for more than just desegregation , Ewing explained .
`` If the state refuses to honor demands that you feel are necessary for the survival of your community , what do you do ? ''
he said .
`` The Panthers said , 'Well , we have to then become a revolutionary party .
We have to make revolutionary changes to U.S .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Party 's overriding ideology and belief in a right to armed self-defense pushed them into the national spotlight .
Newton , a law student at the time of the Black Panther Party 's formation , was well versed in California 's open carry laws of the time .
`` Newton and Seale patrolled with law books in one hand and a gun in the other , '' said former Black Panther David Hilliard during a 2006 panel discussion at the University of Mexico .
Newton and Seale would drive around Oakland , tailing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizens .
`` They [ Newton and Seale ] would get out of their car ; they had shotguns , constitution and law books .
And they would be able to offer advice to the citizens about their rights , '' Ewing said .
In 1967 , the California State Legislature rushed to pass gun control laws in order to put a stop to `` Panther Patrol , '' Ewing said .
In response , on May 2 , 1967 , a small group of Black Panther Party members marched in protest , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California State Capitol building , wrote Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin , Jr. in the book `` Black Against Empire : The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party '' ( University of California Press , 2013 ) .
The protest at the California State Capitol building brought the Black Panthers enormous publicity , Bloom and Martin wrote .
`` After the Sacramento protest , the party exploded , '' said Ashley Farmer , a historian at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the book `` Remaking Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Era '' ( University of North Carolina Press , 2017 ) .
Thousands of college students began flocking to Black Panther rallies , Bloom and Martin wrote .
The same month , following coverage of the protests in the Washington Post and New York Magazine , the party published a set of demands , called the 10-Point Platform .
According to Bloom and Martin , it included the following statements : Armed self-defense was an important tenet of the Black Panther Party , but that was n't all the party stood for , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' brought essential services to otherwise neglected Black communities .
The most well-known of these programs was the free breakfast program for school children , Ewing said .
Other party services addressed education , transportation and health care .
For instance , the Oakland Community School , an elementary school built by the Panthers , provided education to children throughout the community .
Free bus services provided transportation to and from state prisons for family members of inmates .
Community-run health clinics provided free care to communities across the country .
Free ambulance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as city ambulances often took a long time to come to Black neighborhoods , or would refuse to provide treatment or transport , Farmer said .
Sickle cell testing programs raised awareness of the high prevalence of sickle cell anemia in Black populations and helped kick-start research in that field , according to a 2016 article published in the American Journal of Public Health .
`` The idea here was that we needed a revolution , but a full scale overturning of racial capitalism obviously was not going to happen tomorrow .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] a first aid tool kit — a way to triage problems that were facing the black community , '' Farmer said .
The Black Panther Party grew from a small , Oakland-based organization to one with chapters throughout the United States and with international support .
In 1970 , on a visit to China , Newton was met by crowds holding up signs supporting the Panthers and criticising U.S. imperialism , according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration .
Chapters of the organization were established in countries such as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As membership grew exponentially , new leaders emerged across the United States , and even internationally .
Many of the party 's most influential figures were women , Farmer said .
Estimates suggest that women made up around two-thirds of the party 's membership .
`` Many of the chapters that developed either were founded by women or co-founded by women , '' Farmer said .
`` There was n't a chapter that did not have a Black woman in rank and file , and often in high-ranking positions . ''
Among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Matthews , a resident of Denmark who served as the party 's international coordinator , developing organization efforts outside of the U.S .
There was also Ericka Huggins , who joined the Black Panther Party in its early years alongside her husband , John Huggins .
When John died in a 1969 shootout , Ericka helped establish what would become one of the most influential chapters of the Black Panther Party , in New Haven , Connecticut , Farmer said .
Later , Huggins would become a key figure in establishing the Oakland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kathleen Cleaver , now a retired law faculty member at Emory University in Atlanta , was the first woman to sit on the Black Panther Party 's Central Committee , the group 's highest organizing body , Farmer said .
The Black Panther Party 's revolutionary ethos led to law enforcement officials flagging the organization as a threat to national security .
According to the FBI , then-director J. Edgar Hoover called the Black Panther Party `` without question … the greatest threat to internal security of the country . ''
The FBI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to closely monitor the Black Panthers .
( COINTELPRO was created a decade earlier , when it subjected civil rights activists , such as Martin Luther King , Jr. to similar types of surveillance , according to Stanford University 's Martin Luther King , Jr. Research and Education Institute . )
COINTELPRO 's goal was to discredit party members and ultimately dismantle the organization .
At one point , Hoover expressed concern over the popularity of the free breakfast program , wrote Bobby Seale and Stephen Shames in their book `` Power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Black Panthers '' ( Harry N. Abrams , 2016 ) .
`` The BCP [ Breakfast for Children Program ] represents the best and most influential activity going on for the BPP and , as such , is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities … to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for , '' Hoover said , according to Seale and Shames .
Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s , COINTELPRO 's efforts chipped away at the stability and cohesiveness of the Black Panther Party .
Violent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the public 's perception of them as a fundamentally violent organization .
Some of these instances occurred as a direct result of COINTELPRO interference , Farmer said .
For example , a 1969 shoot-out at the University of California , Los Angeles that took place between members of the Black Panther Party and a rival organization , was revealed to be an event that happened as a result of letters forged by COINTELPRO agents posing as members of each party in order to stoke division , Farmer said .
FBI raids not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party members but also an atmosphere of suspicion and division among party members , according to the book `` Encyclopedia of the American Left '' ( Garland Publishing , 1990 ) .
With mounting charges pressed against the Black Panther Party by the FBI and local law enforcement , the party began to drown in legal fees , making it difficult for them to continue their work in Black communities .
`` This was a COINTELPRO strategy to try to mire members in court battles after lengthy jail sentences while they awaited a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Science in an email .
Related : The fury in U.S. cities is rooted in a long history of racist policing , violence and inequality In 1974 , Newton was tried for multiple offenses , included assault and murder , so he fled to Havana , Cuba , to escape prosecution for three years , leaving the party under the leadership of party member Elaine Brown .
When Newton returned , he resumed leadership .
At that point , the party had already been significantly weakened by in-fighting and external attack , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
The party began to lose its members , Farmer said .
Not only were police killing and jailing Panthers , but the group was `` also losing popular support because of this misinformation campaign branding them as a terrorist organization . ''
In 1980 , the last issue of the Party 's newspaper , The Black Panther , was published .
And in 1982 , the Oakland Community School closed , wrote Michael X. Delli Carpini in `` The Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America '' ( Sharpe Reference , 2000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and negative press , the school 's closing marked the Party 's official end .
Although the Black Panther Party ceased to exist , many of their survival programs lived on .
A few programs continued in their originally established forms .
For example , the Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center , a Seattle-based community clinic , was originally founded by the local Black Panther Party .
Other survival programs indirectly influenced the development of community services .
For example , the free breakfast program for school-children is likely what inspired the development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools provide free breakfast to students , Ewing said .
And the Black Panther Party 's Sickle Cell Anemia Research Foundation inspired the federal government 's initial funding of sickle cell research , Ewing said .
The Black Panthers ' legacy also lives on in social movements today .
For example , the Black Panther Party was an organization largely led and supported by women .
Gender politics within the Party were contentious , but the party 's emphasis on intersectionality — a term referring to the interconnectedness of different marginalized identities , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
More recent political and social movements in the U.S. have increasingly included women in leadership roles , thanks in part to the Black Panther Party having normalized gender equality in that way , Farmer said .
Finally , the Black Panthers were unapologetically Black .
`` This was expressed in their dress , in their approach , in their message .
They were not trying to persuade white people of their humanity .
They were claiming it , '' Ewing told Live Science in an email .
`` In this sense , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heart of the slogan , 'Black Lives Matter ' : The demand that Black humanity be recognized without compromise . ''
• Take a look at maps and timelines of the Black Panther Party 's main actions , from the University of Washington .
• See images of the Black Panther Party , from the Bob Fitch Photography Archive at Stanford Libraries .
• Watch a short film featuring interviews with former Black Panther Party members , from the Oakland Museum of California .

A woman sits on a bench outside the Black Panther office in Harlem circa 1970 in New York City, NY. Pictured in the window are Panther founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary socialist organization formed in Oakland, California. The party was created in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement, which began in the mid 1950s, according to the book "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture" (University of North Carolina Press, 1989).
Amid continued police brutality and oppression in Black neighborhoods, the Black Panther Party sought to defend and provide services to these communities. The party is well-known for its signature uniform of a black beret and raised fist, as well as its ideology of armed self-defense. But its lesser-known accomplishments include hunger-relief programs, improving access to education and providing healthcare to Black communities.
A tumultuous moment in history
In 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the founders of the Black Panther Party, met as students at Merritt College in Oakland, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The 1964 Civil Rights Act had passed just two years earlier, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It was a landmark victory that activists had fought and died for, but it had its limitations, said Adam Ewing, a professor of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Related: How racism persists: Unconscious bias may play a role
The Civil Rights Act meant that segregation in schools, workplaces and public facilities was prohibited (although segregation continues to exist in American society today, including in schools, according to reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post). But racism in numerous other forms still impacted Black communities. "There's poverty; there's systemic and brutal police violence in Black communities; there's a lack of services. And the legislation that was passed did not touch on some of those more entrenched problems," Ewing said.
It was in this historical context that the Black Panther Party emerged. The party aimed for more than just desegregation, Ewing explained. "If the state refuses to honor demands that you feel are necessary for the survival of your community, what do you do?" he said. "The Panthers said, 'Well, we have to then become a revolutionary party. We have to make revolutionary changes to U.S. society.'"
Armed self-defense
The Black Panther Party's overriding ideology and belief in a right to armed self-defense pushed them into the national spotlight.
Newton, a law student at the time of the Black Panther Party's formation, was well versed in California's open carry laws of the time. "Newton and Seale patrolled with law books in one hand and a gun in the other," said former Black Panther David Hilliard during a 2006 panel discussion at the University of Mexico.
Newton and Seale would drive around Oakland, tailing police cars and monitoring police-stops of Black citizens. "They [Newton and Seale] would get out of their car; they had shotguns, constitution and law books. And they would be able to offer advice to the citizens about their rights," Ewing said.
In 1967, the California State Legislature rushed to pass gun control laws in order to put a stop to "Panther Patrol," Ewing said. In response, on May 2, 1967, a small group of Black Panther Party members marched in protest, armed with loaded weapons, into the California State Capitol building, wrote Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr. in the book "Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party" (University of California Press, 2013).
Two members of the Black Panther Party are met on the steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento, May 2, 1967, by Police Lt. Ernest Holloway, who informs them they will be allowed to keep their weapons as long as they cause no trouble and do not disturb the peace. Earlier several members had invaded the Assembly chambers and had their guns taken away. (Image credit: Bettman/Getty)
The Party's 10-Point Platform
The protest at the California State Capitol building brought the Black Panthers enormous publicity, Bloom and Martin wrote.
"After the Sacramento protest, the party exploded," said Ashley Farmer, a historian at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the book "Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era" (University of North Carolina Press, 2017).
Thousands of college students began flocking to Black Panther rallies, Bloom and Martin wrote. The same month, following coverage of the protests in the Washington Post and New York Magazine, the party published a set of demands, called the 10-Point Platform. According to Bloom and Martin, it included the following statements:
Survival programs
Armed self-defense was an important tenet of the Black Panther Party, but that wasn't all the party stood for, Ewing said. Their "survival programs" brought essential services to otherwise neglected Black communities. The most well-known of these programs was the free breakfast program for school children, Ewing said. Other party services addressed education, transportation and health care.
For instance, the Oakland Community School, an elementary school built by the Panthers, provided education to children throughout the community. Free bus services provided transportation to and from state prisons for family members of inmates. Community-run health clinics provided free care to communities across the country. Free ambulance services transported Black patients to hospitals, as city ambulances often took a long time to come to Black neighborhoods, or would refuse to provide treatment or transport, Farmer said. Sickle cell testing programs raised awareness of the high prevalence of sickle cell anemia in Black populations and helped kick-start research in that field, according to a 2016 article published in the American Journal of Public Health.
"The idea here was that we needed a revolution, but a full scale overturning of racial capitalism obviously was not going to happen tomorrow. So, Huey called [the survival programs] a first aid tool kit — a way to triage problems that were facing the black community," Farmer said.
View of two young boys as they eat during a free breakfast for children program sponsored by the Black Panther Party, New York, New York, winter 1969. (Image credit: Bev Grant/Getty Images)
Rise of the Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party grew from a small, Oakland-based organization to one with chapters throughout the United States and with international support. In 1970, on a visit to China, Newton was met by crowds holding up signs supporting the Panthers and criticising U.S. imperialism, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Chapters of the organization were established in countries such as the United Kingdom and Algeria, Farmer said.
As membership grew exponentially, new leaders emerged across the United States, and even internationally. Many of the party's most influential figures were women, Farmer said. Estimates suggest that women made up around two-thirds of the party's membership.
Related: 7 reasons America still needs civil rights movements
"Many of the chapters that developed either were founded by women or co-founded by women," Farmer said. "There wasn't a chapter that did not have a Black woman in rank and file, and often in high-ranking positions."
Among the party's influential members was Connie Matthews, a resident of Denmark who served as the party's international coordinator, developing organization efforts outside of the U.S.
There was also Ericka Huggins, who joined the Black Panther Party in its early years alongside her husband, John Huggins. When John died in a 1969 shootout, Ericka helped establish what would become one of the most influential chapters of the Black Panther Party, in New Haven, Connecticut, Farmer said. Later, Huggins would become a key figure in establishing the Oakland Community school, she added.
And Kathleen Cleaver, now a retired law faculty member at Emory University in Atlanta, was the first woman to sit on the Black Panther Party's Central Committee, the group's highest organizing body, Farmer said.
View of a line of Black Panther Party members as they demonstrate, fists raised outside the New York City courthouse, New York, New York, April 11, 1969. (Image credit: David Fenton/Getty Images)
Government pushback
The Black Panther Party's revolutionary ethos led to law enforcement officials flagging the organization as a threat to national security. According to the FBI, then-director J. Edgar Hoover called the Black Panther Party "without question … the greatest threat to internal security of the country."
The FBI launched a counterintelligence program, called COINTELPRO, to closely monitor the Black Panthers. (COINTELPRO was created a decade earlier, when it subjected civil rights activists, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. to similar types of surveillance, according to Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute.) COINTELPRO's goal was to discredit party members and ultimately dismantle the organization.
At one point, Hoover expressed concern over the popularity of the free breakfast program, wrote Bobby Seale and Stephen Shames in their book "Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers" (Harry N. Abrams, 2016).
"The BCP [Breakfast for Children Program] represents the best and most influential activity going on for the BPP and, as such, is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities … to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for," Hoover said, according to Seale and Shames.
Dismantling the Black Panthers
Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, COINTELPRO's efforts chipped away at the stability and cohesiveness of the Black Panther Party. Violent altercations involving Black Panther Party members contributed to the public's perception of them as a fundamentally violent organization. Some of these instances occurred as a direct result of COINTELPRO interference, Farmer said.
For example, a 1969 shoot-out at the University of California, Los Angeles that took place between members of the Black Panther Party and a rival organization, was revealed to be an event that happened as a result of letters forged by COINTELPRO agents posing as members of each party in order to stoke division, Farmer said.
FBI raids not only led to the deaths of multiple party members but also an atmosphere of suspicion and division among party members, according to the book "Encyclopedia of the American Left" (Garland Publishing, 1990). With mounting charges pressed against the Black Panther Party by the FBI and local law enforcement, the party began to drown in legal fees, making it difficult for them to continue their work in Black communities. "This was a COINTELPRO strategy to try to mire members in court battles after lengthy jail sentences while they awaited a court date," Farmer told Live Science in an email.
Related: The fury in U.S. cities is rooted in a long history of racist policing, violence and inequality
In 1974, Newton was tried for multiple offenses, included assault and murder, so he fled to Havana, Cuba, to escape prosecution for three years, leaving the party under the leadership of party member Elaine Brown. When Newton returned, he resumed leadership. At that point, the party had already been significantly weakened by in-fighting and external attack, according to "Encyclopedia of the American Left."
The party began to lose its members, Farmer said. Not only were police killing and jailing Panthers, but the group was "also losing popular support because of this misinformation campaign branding them as a terrorist organization."
In 1980, the last issue of the Party's newspaper, The Black Panther, was published. And in 1982, the Oakland Community School closed, wrote Michael X. Delli Carpini in "The Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America" (Sharpe Reference, 2000). After years of declining membership and negative press, the school's closing marked the Party's official end.
Protesters marching in support of Black Lives Matter. (Image credit: Shutterstock)
Legacy of the Black Panthers
Although the Black Panther Party ceased to exist, many of their survival programs lived on. A few programs continued in their originally established forms. For example, the Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center, a Seattle-based community clinic, was originally founded by the local Black Panther Party.
Other survival programs indirectly influenced the development of community services. For example, the free breakfast program for school-children is likely what inspired the development of today’s mandate that public schools provide free breakfast to students, Ewing said. And the Black Panther Party's Sickle Cell Anemia Research Foundation inspired the federal government's initial funding of sickle cell research, Ewing said.
Related: #BlackBirdersWeek co-founders talk nature and race
The Black Panthers' legacy also lives on in social movements today. For example, the Black Panther Party was an organization largely led and supported by women. Gender politics within the Party were contentious, but the party's emphasis on intersectionality — a term referring to the interconnectedness of different marginalized identities, including race and gender — was pioneering. More recent political and social movements in the U.S. have increasingly included women in leadership roles, thanks in part to the Black Panther Party having normalized gender equality in that way, Farmer said.
Finally, the Black Panthers were unapologetically Black. "This was expressed in their dress, in their approach, in their message. They were not trying to persuade white people of their humanity. They were claiming it," Ewing told Live Science in an email. "In this sense, they were expressing the sentiment at the heart of the slogan, 'Black Lives Matter': The demand that Black humanity be recognized without compromise."
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livescience--2020-10-05--Beirut blast was one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever

On Aug. 4 , a series of massive explosions rocked the port of Beirut in Lebanon , and the biggest was one of the most powerful blasts in history that was not produced by , according to a new analysis .
Never before had such a large explosion been so well-documented .
Many witnesses recorded the moment of the detonation and the subsequent blast wave on video , sharing the terrifying scenes on social media .
Recently , engineers at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom analyzed 16 such videos that were captured from different locations around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the event and its aftermath .
From this visual evidence , the researchers were then able to estimate the strength of the explosion , they reported in a new study .
Related : 10 of the most powerful explosions ever The researchers collected 38 data points from the videos , pinpointing the arrival of the blast wave based on audio cues , frame-by-frame video analysis , and the size of the explosion 's fireball .
The engineers found that the cataclysm was equivalent to the detonation of 550 to 1,200 tons ( 500 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explosive chemical compound trinitrotoluene ( TNT ) — about 5 % the strength of the nuclear bomb that the U.S. dropped on on Aug. 6 , 1945 .
In a matter of milliseconds , the Beirut explosion released approximately 1 gigawatt hour ( GWh ) of energy , or as much energy as is produced in one hour by more than 3 million ; 412 wind turbines ; or 110 million , according to the .
That 's enough power to provide electricity to over 100 homes for about a year , university @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least 180 people and injured more than 6,000 , were caused by a fire that ignited a 2,750-ton ( 2,500-metric-ton ) stockpile of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port , .
A massive mushroom cloud that rose from the wreckage — made up of toxic nitrogen dioxide gas — formed after the solid ammonium nitrate decomposed into gases and water vapor .
The explosion damaged about half the buildings in Beirut , displacing more than 250,000 people ; and silos holding 85 % of the country 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so badly damaged that the grain was no longer edible , on Aug. 7 .
`` After seeing the events unfold , we wanted to use our expertise in blast engineering to help understand what had happened in Beirut and provide data that could be used to help prepare for , and save lives in such events should they ever happen again , '' lead study author Sam Rigby , a senior lecturer in Blast and Impact Engineering at the University of Sheffield , said in the statement .
`` By understanding more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the one that occurred in Beirut , we can develop more accurate predictions of how different buildings will be affected , and the types of injuries there are likely to be at different distances from the blast , '' Rigby said .
The findings were published online Sept. 22 in the journal .

Preliminary yield estimation of the 2020 Beirut explosion using video footage from social media. Numbers indicate filming locations of the 16 videos used to estimate the yield of the 2020 Beirut explosion. Satellite imagery from Google Earth (Jan. 2020).
On Aug. 4, a series of massive explosions rocked the port of Beirut in Lebanon, and the biggest was one of the most powerful blasts in history that was not produced by a nuclear bomb , according to a new analysis.
Never before had such a large explosion been so well-documented. Many witnesses recorded the moment of the detonation and the subsequent blast wave on video, sharing the terrifying scenes on social media.
Recently, engineers at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom analyzed 16 such videos that were captured from different locations around the explosion and had an unobstructed view of the event and its aftermath. From this visual evidence, the researchers were then able to estimate the strength of the explosion, they reported in a new study.
Related: 10 of the most powerful explosions ever
The researchers collected 38 data points from the videos, pinpointing the arrival of the blast wave based on audio cues, frame-by-frame video analysis, and the size of the explosion's fireball.
The engineers found that the cataclysm was equivalent to the detonation of 550 to 1,200 tons (500 to 1,100 metric tons) of the explosive chemical compound trinitrotoluene (TNT) — about 5% the strength of the nuclear bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. In a matter of milliseconds, the Beirut explosion released approximately 1 gigawatt hour (GWh) of energy, or as much energy as is produced in one hour by more than 3 million solar panels ; 412 wind turbines; or 110 million LEDs , according to the U.S. Department of Energy .
That's enough power to provide electricity to over 100 homes for about a year, university representatives said in a statement .
The blasts, which killed at least 180 people and injured more than 6,000, were caused by a fire that ignited a 2,750-ton (2,500-metric-ton) stockpile of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port, Live Science previously reported . A massive mushroom cloud that rose from the wreckage — made up of toxic nitrogen dioxide gas — formed after the solid ammonium nitrate decomposed into gases and water vapor.
The explosion damaged about half the buildings in Beirut, displacing more than 250,000 people; and silos holding 85% of the country's wheat stores were either destroyed or were so badly damaged that the grain was no longer edible, The New York Times reported on Aug. 7.
"After seeing the events unfold, we wanted to use our expertise in blast engineering to help understand what had happened in Beirut and provide data that could be used to help prepare for, and save lives in such events should they ever happen again," lead study author Sam Rigby, a senior lecturer in Blast and Impact Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said in the statement.
"By understanding more about the power of large-scale accidental explosions like the one that occurred in Beirut, we can develop more accurate predictions of how different buildings will be affected, and the types of injuries there are likely to be at different distances from the blast," Rigby said.
The findings were published online Sept. 22 in the journal Shock Waves .
Originally published on Live Science.