livescience--2020-09-04--Amazing images: The best science photos of the week

Each week at Live Science we find the most interesting and informative articles we can .
Along the way , we uncover some amazing and cool images .
Here you 'll discover the most incredible photos we found this week , and the remarkable stories behind them .
Popcorn starts popping round 400 degrees Fahrenheit , which means a kernel could n't come within a million miles of the sun before bursting .
Still , new images of our local star have a distinctly Orville Redenbacher vibe , thanks to a newly upgraded telescope called GREGOR .
GREGOR began its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the upgrade project began in 2018 .
The upgrades included work on the telescope 's optics and control systems , repainting the observatory to reflect less light and interfere less with observations , and implementing new scheduling policies to improve the scientific output of observations .
The new image , which shows a dark storm of magnetic field lines popping out of the sun 's corona , was taken to test the newly upgraded telescope 's capabilities .
The highest resolution image of the sun ever , taken a few months ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Striking new images show a close-up view of the novel coronavirus as it invades cells that line the human airway .
The images provide a glimpse of the staggering number of virus particles that are produced during an infection — indeed , infected cells can churn out virus particles by the thousands .
Camille Ehre , an assistant professor at University of North Carolina School of Medicine 's Marsico Lung Institute , captured the images with a scanning electron microscope .
To obtain the images , published Wednesday ( Sept. 2 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , researchers first infected human airway cells with SARS-CoV-2 — the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 — in lab dishes , and then examined the cells after four days .
The noodle-like projections in the images are , or hair-like structures on the surface of some airway cells .
The tips of the cilia are attached to strands of net-like mucus , which is naturally present in the airway .
The SARS-CoV-2 virus particles look like teensy balls .
At a high magnification , you can make out the spiky structures on the surfaces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uses those spikes to invade human cells .
Sept. 2 marked the 75th anniversary of 's end .
During the historic global conflict , hundreds of bloody skirmishes were waged on land , sea and air .
But one top-secret U.S. Army battalion fought not with bullets but with stagecraft , using inflatable life-size tanks , phony insignias , soundscapes and fake radio transmissions to deceive German soldiers on the battlefield .
The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops , also known as the `` Ghost Army , '' brought together artists , career military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unit devoted to the art of deception — `` the first mobile , multimedia , tactical deception unit in U.S. Army history , '' according to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans .
The museum features a number of Ghost Army artifacts in the special exhibit `` , '' on display until Jan. 3 , 2021 .
Using a combination of science and art , the Ghost Army staged nearly two dozen missions between May 1944 and 1945 with the sole purpose of tricking Nazi troops about the whereabouts of Allied forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their efforts saved the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers .
Its existence was kept secret for more than 40 years after the war 's end ; the Ghost Army remained officially classified until the mid-1990s , according to the WWII Museum .
Read more : 'Ghost Army ' in WWII used inflatable tanks to fool the Nazis and win the war Perched on the tip of Orion 's nose , there spins a solar system that could give — Luke Skywalker 's twin-sunned homeworld — a run for its money .
Known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and located about 1,300 from Earth , the system is a rare example of a triple-star , with two suns orbiting one another at the center , and a third star swirling around its siblings from several hundred million miles away .
Scientists previously identified the system by its three bright rings of planet-forming dust , nested inside one another like a massive orange bullseye in the sky .
Now , a closer analysis reveals that the rings may hold more than just dust ; according to two recent studies , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the makings of one , bulging up inside the rings and throwing off the whole system 's gravitational balance .
The presence of such a planet would not only help explain why the system 's inner ring appears to be wobbling around wildly like a broken gyroscope — but , if confirmed , the distant world would also become the first known example of a single planet orbiting three suns at once , the researchers said .
Read more : Rarest planet in the universe may be lurking in Orion 's nose Picking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a different meaning for parents .
In this photo , taken by India-based photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee , a male freshwater gharial shows us why .
Bobbing in the waters of northern India 's National Chambal Sanctuary , the croc waits as more than 100 of his month-old children clamber onto his back for safe passage .
`` Other crocs carry their young about in their mouths , '' Patrick Campbell , the senior curator of reptiles at London 's Natural History Museum , .
`` But for the gharial , the unusual morphology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible .
So the young have to cling to the head and back for that close connection and protection . ''
The papa croc mated with seven or eight different females to produce this brood , the Museum said — and hopefully they all reach adulthood ; gharials are critically endangered , with an estimated 650 adults left in the freshwaters of India and Nepal .
Read more : Endangered croc gives piggyback ride to 100 babies after mating with ' 7 or 8 females' If New York City were built 170 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Africa would have been a short boat ride away .
During the , the supercontinent — which formed tens of millions of years prior — would have been slowly splitting apart , the continents drifting toward their present-day positions , according to a .
The interactive map , designed by software engineer Ian Webster , visualizes how Earth 's continents evolved from about 750 million years ago to today , sweeping the user from a time when painted the planet white and an array of single-celled organisms such as green algae emerged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have become the globe 's biggest threat .
Read more : Visit NYC in 750 million B.C .
with this epic interactive map The huge standing stones in the outer circle of acted as an amplifier and gave reverberation to enhance speech and music in ceremonies held thousands of years before modern acoustics emerged , according to new research .
The dramatic sound effects — including the repeating echo of reverberation — would have been unfamiliar to most of the people who gathered there , the researchers said , although a few might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in canyons .
The new research is based on detailed examinations of a geometrically-accurate scale model one-twelfth the size of Stonehenge , as it probably looked and sounded during its prime , about 4,200 years ago .
By a curious coincidence , the model is exactly the same size as the miniature Stonehenge arch that appeared on stage in the 1984 movie `` This Is Spinal Tap . ''
Film buffs may recall that it came about after a confused member of the eponymous rock band specified the stones should be 18 inches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 18 feet ( 5.5 meters ) , which is about the height of one of the real Stonehenge arches .
Read more : 'Spinal Tap'-size Stonehenge reveals how the ancient monument really sounded In October 1961 , the Soviet Union dropped the most powerful nuclear bomb in history over a remote island north of the .
Though the bomb detonated nearly 2.5 miles ( 4 kilometers ) above ground , the resulting shockwave stripped the island as bare and flat as a skating rink .
Onlookers saw the flash more than 600 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and felt its incredible heat within 160 miles ( 250 km ) of Ground Zero .
The bomb 's gargantuan mushroom cloud climbed to just below the .
This was RDS-220 — also known as the Tsar Bomba .
Nearly 60 years after the bomb 's record-shattering detonation , no single explosive device has come close to matching its destructive power .
Last week , Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation ( Russia 's state atomic agency ) released 40 minutes of previously classified footage , showing the bomb 's journey from manufactor to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watch it all on YouTube .
( The countdown to detonation ) .
Read more : Russia declassifies footage of 'Tsar Bomba ' — the most powerful nuclear bomb in history Some 250 million years ago , a Seussian-looking beast with clawed digits , a turtle-like beak and two tusks may have survived Antarctica 's chilly winters not by fruitlessly foraging for food , but by curling up into a sleep-like state , meaning it may be the oldest animal on record to , a new study finds .
Analysis of this vertebrate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have spent part of the year hibernating , a strategy that is still used by modern animals to tough out long winters .
Like hibernators alive today , these ancient animals , who belong to the extinct genus Lystrosaurus , slowed down their metabolism and underwent periods of minimal activity when conditions got rough .
`` Animals that live at or near the poles have always had to cope with the more extreme environments present there , '' lead study author Megan Whitney , a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ According to Whitney , who conducted the research as a University of Washington doctoral student of biology at the University of Washington , `` these preliminary findings indicate that entering into a hibernation-like state is not a relatively new type of adaptation .
It is an ancient one.
” Read more : Seussian beast survived the Triassic by taking lots of naps The sun and its sister The most distant region of our , a sphere of dark , icy debris out beyond Neptune , is too crowded .
All that stuff out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ancient disk of gas and dust that formed the planets , doesn ’ t match with scientific models of how the solar system formed .
Now , a pair of researchers has offered a new take on this far-out mystery : Our sun has a long-lost twin .
And the two stars spent their childhoods collecting the passing debris from interstellar space , crowding the outer reaches of the solar system .
We ca n't see this twin .
Wherever it is — if it ever existed — it broke away from its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The two stars would have circled the Milky Way well over a dozen times since then , and may have ended up in totally different regions of space .
But a record of that lost twin 's influence on our solar system may remain in our Oort cloud — a mysterious neighborhood of comets and space rocks at the outer bounds of our sun 's influence .
Read more : The sun may have a long-lost twin • Earth from Above : 101 Stunning Images from Orbit • From Big Bang to Present @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Each week at Live Science we find the most interesting and informative articles we can. Along the way, we uncover some amazing and cool images. Here you'll discover the most incredible photos we found this week, and the remarkable stories behind them.
Gargantuan "growlers"
(Image credit: RAF)
In July 2017, a gargantuan iceberg spanning five times the area of New York's five boroughs snapped off the coast of Antarctica and began to drift northward.
Though its edges have crumbled considerably since then, the iceberg — named A-68a — is still the largest on Earth , and it's currently barreling toward an island wildlife refuge in the South Atlantic Ocean. New aerial footage taken by the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF) reveals just what that island might be up against.
For starters, the RAF footage really drives home how massive this ice giant is. (As of early April, A-68a measured about 2,000 square miles, or 5,100 square kilometers, in area, Live Science previously reported ). The berg's steep walls tower 100 feet (30 meters) above the sea, according to RAF News , and are gouged with tunnels, fissures and caves. Huge chunks of ice, or "growlers," are rapidly cracking off on all sides, leaving behind a trail of debris that could impede boat traffic in the future.
[Read more: World's largest iceberg still barreling toward penguin habitat, new footage confirms ]
Clear head, nine arms, can't lose
(Image credit: Kyodo News via Getty Images)
A nine-armed octopus caught off Japan's coast nearly ended up being dinner, until the family preparing it noticed its extra limb and sent it to a museum instead, according to news sources. While unusual, this extra appendage — which wasn't fully formed, but a small offshoot on a regular arm — isn't unheard of in octopuses, said Michael Vecchione, an invertebrate zoologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., who was not involved with this octopus's discovery.
Octopuses are capable of regenerating their arms, but "sometimes regeneration doesn't work quite right," Vecchione told Live Science. "If an arm gets damaged, it might regenerate wrong; it could wind up with extra tissue growing out, and that extra tissue could turn into an arm."
The nine-armed oddity was caught in a trap with three other octopuses on Nov. 13 in Shizugawa Bay, in the northeastern town of Minamisanriku, Japan, according to The Mainichi , a Japanese newspaper.
[Read more: Rare 9-armed octopus found off Japan coast ]
The sound of a supernova
(Image credit: NASA)
In space, nobody can hear you scream — or explode, or collapse, or slowly collide with a neighboring galaxy. But now, thanks to a new " data sonification " program at NASA, you can at least get a sense of what some of the most extreme phenomena in the universe might sound like when converted to sound played by Earthly instruments.
To hear what that sounds like, we turn to NASA's Chandra X-ray center — which has been imaging distant galaxies with its Chandra X-ray observatory for 20 years now. In their new initiative, Chandra researchers have taken three iconic images from their archives and translated different frequencies of light into different pitches of sound.
The first video shows the crab nebula (a supernova remnant powered by a windy neutron star , shown above). In NASA's data sonification of the nebula, X-ray light (blue and white) is represented by brass instruments; optical light (purple) is played by string instruments; and infrared light (pink) is represented by woodwinds. The sounds converge near the center of the nebula, where a rapidly swirling pulsar is blasting gas and radiation in all directions. Listen to this cosmic symphony (and two others) at the link below.
[Read more: This is what a supernova sounds like, according to NASA ]
Pterosaur's missing cousin
(Image credit: Rodolfo Nogueira)
Nearly nothing is known about the family tree of pterosaurs — iconic reptiles that flew alongside the dinosaurs . These now-extinct beasts appear in the fossil record with already developed wings and senses adapted for flying, with researchers having nary a clue about their immediate evolutionary history.
But now, the pterosaur's family tree has a new branch; an enigmatic group of small reptiles, known as lagerpetids, might be the closest-known pterosaur relatives on record, the researchers of a new study say.
Unlike pterosaurs, however, lagerpetids did not fly. "Now, we have an idea of what a flightless pterosaur relative would look like," study co-researcher Sterling Nesbitt, an associate professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, told Live Science.
[Read more: Missing link in pterosaur origins discovered ]
The changing face of ice
(Image credit: NOAA/Photo courtesy of Caitlin Bailey, GFOE, The Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands)
From vanishing sea ice to blistering air temperatures to zombie fires , climate change is reshaping the Arctic. And that transformation may be permanent, researchers said on Tuesday (Dec. 8) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
The Arctic has warmed and melted at an alarmingly accelerating pace over the last 15 years, and the impacts are accumulating so rapidly that "there's no reason to think that in 30 years anything will be as it is today," Rick Thoman, an Alaska climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), said at the conference, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Tuesday.
This year's news was not good: June snow cover across the Eurasian Arctic was at its lowest in 54 years; coastal permafrost erosion is increasing; and glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland continued a trend "of significant ice loss," according to the report.
[Read more: Dramatic transformation of the Arctic landscape may be permanent ]
Starship down
(Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX's Starship spaceflight system just took a big step on its path to Mars. The latest Starship prototype, a shiny silver vehicle known as SN8, launched on an epic high-altitude test flight on Dec. 9, taking off at 5:45 p.m. EST from SpaceX's facility near the South Texas village of Boca Chica.
The goal was to soar about 7.8 miles (12.5 kilometers) into the sky, perform some complex aerial maneuvers — including a "belly flop" like the one the final Starship will perform when coming back to Earth on operational flights — and then land safely near the launch stand. The 165-foot-tall (50 meters) SN8 appeared to notch all of these big milestones, except for the final one: The vehicle hit its landing mark but came in too fast, exploding in a dramatic fireball 6 minutes and 42 seconds after liftoff.
SN8's rapid unplanned disassembly did nothing to dampen the spirits of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who was thrilled by the results of today's flight.
[Read more: SpaceX's Starship SN8 prototype soars on epic test launch, with explosive landing ]
Amazonian universe
Billions of lasers shot from a helicopter flying over the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest have detected a vast network of long-abandoned circular and rectangular-shaped villages dating from 1300 to 1700, a new study finds.
The round villages all had remarkably similar layouts, with elongated mounds circling a central plaza, like marks on a clock. "These latter elongated mounds, when seen from above, look like the rays of the sun, which gives them the common name of 'Sóis,'" the Portuguese word for "suns," the researchers wrote in the study.
The discovery is part of a new archaeological focus on the pre-Columbian Amazon. Within the past 20 years, researchers have learned that the rainforest's southern rim was home to a great diversity of soil-sculpting cultures that engineered the landscape before the Europeans arrived. Within the past decade, scientists have uncovered the remnants of so-called "mound villages," which are shaped as circles or rectangles, and connected by road networks.
[Read more: Archaeologists find vast network of Amazon villages laid out like the cosmos ]
The sky is falling
(Image credit: ESA)
Have you ever seen 40,000 shooting stars blaze across the sky at the same time?
If you'd like to, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering you two options: Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our solar system drifts steadily through the Milky Way (some patience required) — or, watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing, courtesy of the ESA's Gaia space observatory.
In the new simulation, 40,000 stars — all located within 325 light-years of Earth's sun — whiz through space, leaving long trails of light behind them. Each point of light represents one real object in the Milky Way, and each shining trail shows that object's projected movement through the galaxy over the next 400,000 years. Brighter, faster streaks are located closer to our solar system, while dimmer, slower ones live much farther away.
[Read more: Epic time-lapse shows what the Milky Way will look like 400,000 years from now ]
Gold in the garden
(Image credit: © The Trustees of the British Museum)
A family in England was weeding their garden when they unearthed a valuable treasure — a buried hoard of gold coins dating back to the 1400s, depicting English monarchs from Edward IV to Henry VIII.
The hoard — a stash of 63 gold coins and one silver coin — contains money minted over a period of nearly 100 years, from the late 15th to the 16th centuries. Four of the coins feature Henry VIII and, curiously, one of the initials of three of his wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
Upon finding the cache, the family, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, a county in southeastern England, notified the British Museum, which runs the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). This program partners with local people who find historical artifacts in the United Kingdom, so the findings can be documented and studied, the British Museum said in a statement Thursday (Dec. 10).
[Read more: Gold coin stash from time of Henry VIII found in English garden ]
Enigma of the deep
(Image credit: Florian Huber/WWF)
Divers trying to remove old fishing nets from the Baltic sea have accidentally stumbled on a Nazi code-making machine. The Enigma machine, as it's called, looks a bit like a typewriter. In fact, the diver who found the device on the ocean floor initially thought that's what the artifact was, according to AFP . But the diving team, on assignment for the conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), quickly realized that they had something much stranger.
During World War II, Enigma machines were used to encode German military messages, in hopes of preventing Allied powers from learning about troop movements and other plans. The devices consisted of a keyboard and a series of rotors that did the encoding. The rotors substituted different letters for the ones typed in; different Enigma machines used between three and eight rotors, which moved independently after each keystroke so that the same initial letter typed into the machine would appear as multiple different letters in the final code.
The Enigma machine found by the WWF diving crew was at the bottom of the Bay of Gelting in northeast Germany. It had three rotors, making it the type used on warships, not U-boats. That suggests that the machine may have been tossed overboard in the final days of World War II, in an attempt to keep the technology out of enemy hands, historian Jann Witt of the German Naval Association told the DPA news agency.
[Read more: Nazi 'Enigma' machine found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea ]
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-04--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!


livescience--2020-09-04--Endangered croc gives piggyback ride to 100 babies after mating with '7 or 8 females'

Picking the kids up from school takes on a different meaning for parents .
In this photo , taken by India-based photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee , a male freshwater gharial shows us why .
Bobbing in the waters of northern India 's National Chambal Sanctuary , the croc waits as more than 100 of his month-old children clamber onto his back for safe passage .
`` Other crocs carry their young about in their mouths , '' Patrick Campbell , the senior curator of reptiles at London 's Natural History Museum , .
`` But for the gharial , the unusual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not possible .
So the young have to cling to the head and back for that close connection and protection . ''
Gharials can measure up to 15 feet ( 4.5 meters ) long and weigh more than 2,000 lbss .
( 900 kilograms ) .
They are named for the bulbous nobs that males sport on the ends of their snouts .
( These nobs are called gharas , which is the Hindi word for `` mud pot , '' ) .
Crocs use their gharas to amplify vocalizations and blow bubbles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seems to have served this particular croc well .
According to Mukherjee , the pictured papa mated with seven or eight different females to achieve this brood of 100-plus hatchlings .
Hopefully , all those kids grow into healthy adults and become parents themselves .
Gharials are critically endangered , with an estimated 650 adults left in the freshwaters of India and Nepal , according to the Natural History Museum .
India ’ s National Chambal Sanctuary , which Mukherjee patrolled for weeks to get this shot , contains 500 of those full-grown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 100 `` highly commended '' images in this year 's competition , hosted by the Natural History Museum of London .
Chosen from more than 50,000 entries , the image will join 99 others on the museum 's walls and eventually in a traveling exhibition , after the overall winners are announced on Oct. 13 .
One of last year 's winning entries showcased over a scrap of snack food .
Does Mukherjee 's Gharial Father of The Year have what it takes to dethrone them ?
Check back in October to @ @ @

Picking the kids up from school takes on a different meaning for crocodylian parents.
In this photo, taken by India-based photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, a male freshwater gharial shows us why. Bobbing in the waters of northern India's National Chambal Sanctuary, the croc waits as more than 100 of his month-old children clamber onto his back for safe passage.
"Other crocs carry their young about in their mouths," Patrick Campbell, the senior curator of reptiles at London's Natural History Museum, told BBC.com . "But for the gharial, the unusual morphology of the snout means this is not possible. So the young have to cling to the head and back for that close connection and protection."
Related: 20 Amazing animal tongues
Gharials can measure up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) long and weigh more than 2,000 lbss. (900 kilograms). They are named for the bulbous nobs that males sport on the ends of their snouts. (These nobs are called gharas, which is the Hindi word for "mud pot," according to National Geographic ). Crocs use their gharas to amplify vocalizations and blow bubbles during mating season — an adaptation that seems to have served this particular croc well. According to Mukherjee, the pictured papa mated with seven or eight different females to achieve this brood of 100-plus hatchlings.
Hopefully, all those kids grow into healthy adults and become parents themselves. Gharials are critically endangered, with an estimated 650 adults left in the freshwaters of India and Nepal, according to the Natural History Museum. India’s National Chambal Sanctuary, which Mukherjee patrolled for weeks to get this shot, contains 500 of those full-grown gharials.
Mukherjee's photo is one of 100 "highly commended" images in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum of London. Chosen from more than 50,000 entries, the image will join 99 others on the museum's walls and eventually in a traveling exhibition, after the overall winners are announced on Oct. 13.
One of last year's winning entries showcased two subway mice in a desperate struggle over a scrap of snack food. Does Mukherjee's Gharial Father of The Year have what it takes to dethrone them? Check back in October to find out.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-04--Russian coronavirus vaccine produces immune response in early trials

A vaccine candidate developed in Russia prompted an immune response and did n't cause serious adverse reactions in early trials , according to new data released today ( Sept. 4 ) .
This data was released weeks after Russia announced that it had approved its vaccine for the general population ( but had actually only approved it for a small group of people ) , , drawing criticism from public health experts who said there was not enough data to prove the vaccine was safe and effective .
Early results from the `` Sputnik V '' phase 1/phase 2 clinical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Between June 18 and Aug. 3 , the researchers enrolled 76 healthy participants between 18 and 60 years old to be given the candidate vaccine , developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology , in one of two Russian hospitals .
The researchers tested two different forms of the vaccine , made from weakened armed with genes that code for the coronavirus ' — which the virus uses to invade human cells .
This type of vaccine is called a vector-based vaccine because it uses a weakened virus ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the pathogen to the body to spur the immune response , .
Several other candidate vaccines , such as those developed by Johnson & Johnson , the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca , and CanSino Biologics are also made from weakened adenoviruses .
The trial did not include a control group , or a comparison group of people who received a placebo shot instead of the active vaccine , a limitation that the authors noted in the study .
A control group is usually a key component of clinical trials to help ensure that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vaccine itself , and not due to an outside factor .
In total , 18 volunteers received one formulation , another 18 received the other and 40 people received both .
`` Both vaccine formulations were safe and well tolerated , '' the researchers wrote in the paper .
The most common side effects were mild : pain at the injection site , an increase in body temperature , headache , asthenia ( physical weakness or lack of energy ) , and muscle and joint pain .
These mild effects were similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and there were no serious adverse effects , the researchers wrote .
The participants were monitored for 28 days ( and after 42 days for phase 2 participants ) and will be followed-up up to 180 days , according to the research .
The vaccine generated an immune response in all participants , prompting the immune systems to produce neutralizing antibodies ( molecules that can latch onto the virus and block it from infecting cells ) and other immune cells , such as T cells , against the coronavirus .
The researchers noted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were lower than those reported for the University of Oxford vaccine and other vaccines , such as Moderna 's based on messenger RNA ( mRNA ) technology .
But the level of neutralizing antibodies was comparable with the amount of neutralizing antibodies that the body develops naturally in patients who recover from COVID-19 .
Related : Here are the most promising coronavirus vaccine candidates out there Similar to the studies before it , these results are `` encouraging but small , '' Naor Bar-Zeev , an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the director of the Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health , wrote in an accompanying commentary also published Sept. 4 in .
`` The immunogenicity bodes well , although nothing can be inferred on immunogenicity in older age groups , and clinical efficacy for any COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been shown . ''
In other words , there 's no way to know whether the same immune response would happen in older adults , and we do n't yet know if the vaccine actually prevents infection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe will be `` crucial '' in order for the public to trust the vaccine and be willing to get it , they wrote .
`` Safety outcomes up to now are reassuring , but studies to date are too small to address less common or rare serious adverse events , '' the researchers wrote .
On Aug. 26 , researchers at the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology received approval to conduct a phase 3 trial , which tests the drug in a large group of people and is the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe and effective .
The trial is expected to enroll 40,000 people and include a placebo , .

A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed in Russia prompted an immune response and didn't cause serious adverse reactions in early trials, according to new data released today (Sept. 4).
This data was released weeks after Russia announced that it had approved its vaccine for the general population (but had actually only approved it for a small group of people), Live Science reported , drawing criticism from public health experts who said there was not enough data to prove the vaccine was safe and effective.
Early results from the "Sputnik V" phase 1/phase 2 clinical trials were published today in the journal The Lancet . Between June 18 and Aug. 3, the researchers enrolled 76 healthy participants between 18 and 60 years old to be given the candidate vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, in one of two Russian hospitals.
Related: Coronavirus live updates
The researchers tested two different forms of the vaccine, made from weakened adenoviruses armed with genes that code for the coronavirus' spike protein — which the virus uses to invade human cells. This type of vaccine is called a vector-based vaccine because it uses a weakened virus (a vector) to deliver genetic information from the pathogen to the body to spur the immune response, according to a Live Science vaccine roundup . Several other candidate vaccines, such as those developed by Johnson & Johnson, the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, and CanSino Biologics are also made from weakened adenoviruses.
The trial did not include a control group, or a comparison group of people who received a placebo shot instead of the active vaccine, a limitation that the authors noted in the study. A control group is usually a key component of clinical trials to help ensure that the effects seen are solely due to the vaccine itself, and not due to an outside factor.
In total, 18 volunteers received one formulation, another 18 received the other and 40 people received both. "Both vaccine formulations were safe and well tolerated," the researchers wrote in the paper. The most common side effects were mild: pain at the injection site, an increase in body temperature, headache, asthenia (physical weakness or lack of energy), and muscle and joint pain. These mild effects were similar to those elicited by other adenovirus vaccines and there were no serious adverse effects, the researchers wrote. The participants were monitored for 28 days (and after 42 days for phase 2 participants) and will be followed-up up to 180 days, according to the research.
The vaccine generated an immune response in all participants, prompting the immune systems to produce neutralizing antibodies (molecules that can latch onto the virus and block it from infecting cells) and other immune cells, such as T cells, against the coronavirus.
The researchers noted in the paper that neutralizing antibody levels were lower than those reported for the University of Oxford vaccine and other vaccines, such as Moderna's based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. But the level of neutralizing antibodies was comparable with the amount of neutralizing antibodies that the body develops naturally in patients who recover from COVID-19.
Related: Here are the most promising coronavirus vaccine candidates out there
Similar to the studies before it, these results are "encouraging but small," Naor Bar-Zeev, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Dr. Tom Inglesby, the director of the Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in an accompanying commentary also published Sept. 4 in The Lancet . "The immunogenicity bodes well, although nothing can be inferred on immunogenicity in older age groups, and clinical efficacy for any COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been shown."
In other words, there's no way to know whether the same immune response would happen in older adults, and we don't yet know if the vaccine actually prevents infection.
Showing that a COVID-19 vaccine is safe will be "crucial" in order for the public to trust the vaccine and be willing to get it, they wrote. "Safety outcomes up to now are reassuring, but studies to date are too small to address less common or rare serious adverse events," the researchers wrote.
On Aug. 26, researchers at the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology received approval to conduct a phase 3 trial, which tests the drug in a large group of people and is the only way to show a vaccine is both safe and effective. The trial is expected to enroll 40,000 people and include a placebo, according to clinicaltrials.gov .
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-05--Are carrots orange because of a Dutch revolutionary?

There 's a popular folklore that links orange carrots to the Dutch royal family .
But is it true ?
In the late 1500s , the Dutch low countries were a Spanish colony , ruled as the Spanish Netherlands by Habsburg monarchs in Madrid .
Then along came William , Prince of Orange , a bygone territory in what is now the south of France .
He was also one of the main leaders during the Dutch Revolt , which began in 1566 and led to the formal recognition of a self-governing Dutch Republic more than 80 years later .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spain was official , he is largely credited as the country 's founding father .
His descendants went on to occupy the Dutch throne when the republic was later abandoned in favor of a home-grown monarchy , which still reigns today .
According to the tale , Dutch farmers at the time began to develop and cultivate orange varieties of the carrot as a mark of respect for William 's House of Orange .
The carrots then grew in popularity and spread around the world to become the vegetable 's standard hue .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but unfortunately it 's just not true .
`` Though the development and stabilization of the orange carrot root does appear to date from around that period in the Netherlands , it is unlikely that honoring William of Orange had anything to do with it , '' said John Stolarczyk , curator of the World Carrot Museum .
`` There is no documentary evidence that the Dutch invented orange carrots to honor their royal family . ''
Wild carrots started off as either white or pale yellow , but changed to purple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vegetable almost 5,000 years ago in the Persian Plateau area , according to a 2011 report that Stolarczyk co-authored .
These domesticated carrots were later split into two main classes : the Asiatic group , which was cultivated around the Himalayas , and the Western group , which grew largely in the Middle East and Turkey .
Yellow carrots in the Western group probably mutated into more orange hues , which farmers then selectively planted .
There 's a school of thought , Stolarczyk told Live Science , that orange carrot seeds were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moving between the Ottoman Empire ’ s North African territories and the Iberian Peninsula some 200 years before William of Orange began stirring up political insurrection in the Netherlands .
There are documents in Spain that show the cultivation of orange and purple carrots as far back as the medieval period , in the 14th-century , Stolarczyk said .
Flash forward a couple of centuries and the Dutch were one of the main agricultural forces of 16th-century Europe .
This know-how allowed them to propagate orange carrots in large quantities , which seemed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , wet weather .
`` The orange variety grew very well in [ Dutch ] climates and environments , better than purple and yellow , and were more yielding , stable , uniform and reliable , '' Stolarczyk said .
Dutch merchants then spread the orange produce across the continent .
`` Places like France , Germany and England received orange carrots first , presumably liked them and they became the norm , '' Stolarczyk said .
Orange carrots were later used by the Dutch state to reinforce the burgeoning nation ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could explain where the rumored connection between William of Orange and the carrot comes from .
But it seems the carrot came first and the independent country , second .
`` I repeat , orange carrots were never developed solely to honor the royal family .
No matter how often the Dutch repeat this myth , '' Stolarczyk said .

There's a popular folklore that links orange carrots to the Dutch royal family. But is it true?
In the late 1500s, the Dutch low countries were a Spanish colony, ruled as the Spanish Netherlands by Habsburg monarchs in Madrid. Then along came William, Prince of Orange, a bygone territory in what is now the south of France. He was also one of the main leaders during the Dutch Revolt, which began in 1566 and led to the formal recognition of a self-governing Dutch Republic more than 80 years later.
Though William was assassinated before independence from Spain was official, he is largely credited as the country's founding father. His descendants went on to occupy the Dutch throne when the republic was later abandoned in favor of a home-grown monarchy, which still reigns today. According to the tale, Dutch farmers at the time began to develop and cultivate orange varieties of the carrot as a mark of respect for William's House of Orange. The carrots then grew in popularity and spread around the world to become the vegetable's standard hue.
This all makes for a quaint story, but unfortunately it's just not true.
Related: Can carrots give you night time vision?
"Though the development and stabilization of the orange carrot root does appear to date from around that period in the Netherlands, it is unlikely that honoring William of Orange had anything to do with it," said John Stolarczyk, curator of the World Carrot Museum. "There is no documentary evidence that the Dutch invented orange carrots to honor their royal family."
A portrait of William of Orange (Image credit: Shutterstock)
Wild carrots started off as either white or pale yellow, but changed to purple and yellow when people first domesticated the vegetable almost 5,000 years ago in the Persian Plateau area, according to a 2011 report that Stolarczyk co-authored. These domesticated carrots were later split into two main classes: the Asiatic group, which was cultivated around the Himalayas, and the Western group, which grew largely in the Middle East and Turkey. Yellow carrots in the Western group probably mutated into more orange hues, which farmers then selectively planted.
There's a school of thought, Stolarczyk told Live Science, that orange carrot seeds were first introduced to Europe by Islamic traders moving between the Ottoman Empire’s North African territories and the Iberian Peninsula some 200 years before William of Orange began stirring up political insurrection in the Netherlands. There are documents in Spain that show the cultivation of orange and purple carrots as far back as the medieval period, in the 14th-century, Stolarczyk said.
Flash forward a couple of centuries and the Dutch were one of the main agricultural forces of 16th-century Europe. This know-how allowed them to propagate orange carrots in large quantities, which seemed to thrive in the Netherlands' mild, wet weather. "The orange variety grew very well in [Dutch] climates and environments, better than purple and yellow, and were more yielding, stable, uniform and reliable," Stolarczyk said.
Dutch merchants then spread the orange produce across the continent. "Places like France, Germany and England received orange carrots first, presumably liked them and they became the norm," Stolarczyk said.
Orange carrots were later used by the Dutch state to reinforce the burgeoning nation’s national color, said Stolarczyk, which could explain where the rumored connection between William of Orange and the carrot comes from. But it seems the carrot came first and the independent country, second.
"I repeat, orange carrots were never developed solely to honor the royal family. No matter how often the Dutch repeat this myth," Stolarczyk said.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-05--Coronavirus news of the week (VIDEO)

Coronavirus news of the week (VIDEO)

Since the discovery of the virus that causes COVID-19 , the daily news cycle has become swamped with updates about how the pathogen spreads , what the bug does to the body and what solutions might finally bring an end to the pandemic .
But staying up-to-date on all the latest coronavirus news can be a challenge .
To help keep you informed , we at Live Science have compiled a short list of standout news stories from the week — these are the ones that really caught our attention .
Related : 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risk of death among critically ill COVID-19 patients , according to a new analysis published this week .
The analysis included data from seven randomized clinical trials , meaning that patients were randomly assigned to receive either or only standard care .
Overall , the patients given steroids had a 34 % reduced risk of death compared with those given standard care .
The three steroids tested in the trials — dexamethasone , hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone — all work by suppressing the body 's response and reducing .
They also cause blood vessels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or the development of thick scar tissue .
Based on these findings , the World Health Organization revised its and now recommends that the drugs be used as the standard of care for critically ill COVID-19 patients .
Those with mild infections should not take steroids because `` current data indicated they would not likely derive benefit and may derive harm '' from taking the drugs , the guidelines state .
A statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) on social media this week , one that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S. is lower than officially stated .
This claim is flat-out wrong .
The original CDC statistic stated that `` only 6 % '' of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. had no underlying conditions , such as , and did n't experience any medical complications during treatment , such as sepsis .
The other 94 % of people still died of COVID-19 , but their prognoses was likely worsened by their existing medical conditions , experts told Live Science .
The false claim on social media misstated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of the more than 180,000 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. were actually caused by the virus ; this is incorrect .
`` The numbers you 've been hearing — there are 180,000-plus deaths — are real deaths from COVID-19 .
Let there not be any confusion about that , '' Dr. Anthony Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , '' The point is that those people [ with underlying conditions ] would not have died except that they were carried away by COVID , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee , told Live Science .
In other words , having makes you more likely to die from COVID-19 .
COVID-19 vaccines before being thoroughly tested in advanced human trials , the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) announced this week .
Normally , vaccines must pass through phase 3 clinical trials , which include tens of thousands of people , to earn FDA approval .
Only these advanced trials can provide robust evidence that a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preventing disease ; but given the pressing need for a coronavirus vaccine , FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said that the agency may allow the emergency use of certain vaccine candidates before phase 3 trials are completed .
Emergency use authorization allows unapproved products to be used in an emergency to diagnose , treat or prevent serious or life-threatening conditions , `` when there are no adequate , approved and available alternatives , '' according to the FDA .
Hahn told The Financial Times that a vaccine cleared for emergency use would likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people .
Fauci argues that no vaccine should be authorized for emergency use without clear-cut evidence that it is both safe and effective .
`` One of the potential dangers if you prematurely let a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult , if not impossible , for the other vaccines to enroll people in their trial , '' Fauci previously told Reuters .

Since the discovery of the virus that causes COVID-19, the daily news cycle has become swamped with updates about how the pathogen spreads, what the bug does to the body and what solutions might finally bring an end to the pandemic.
But staying up-to-date on all the latest coronavirus news can be a challenge. To help keep you informed, we at Live Science have compiled a short list of standout news stories from the week — these are the ones that really caught our attention.
Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history
Steroids for critically ill patients
(Image credit: Getty)
Inexpensive steroids can reduce the risk of death among critically ill COVID-19 patients, according to a new analysis published this week.
The analysis included data from seven randomized clinical trials, meaning that patients were randomly assigned to receive either corticosteroids or only standard care. Overall, the patients given steroids had a 34% reduced risk of death compared with those given standard care. The three steroids tested in the trials — dexamethasone, hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone — all work by suppressing the body's immune response and reducing inflammation . They also cause blood vessels to constrict and help to reduce fibrosis, or the development of thick scar tissue.
Based on these findings, the World Health Organization revised its treatment guidelines for corticosteroids and now recommends that the drugs be used as the standard of care for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Those with mild infections should not take steroids because "current data indicated they would not likely derive benefit and may derive harm" from taking the drugs, the guidelines state.
That viral statistic, explained
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
A statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fueled a bogus viral claim on social media this week, one that purports that the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. is lower than officially stated. This claim is flat-out wrong.
The original CDC statistic stated that "only 6%" of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. had no underlying conditions, such as diabetes , and didn't experience any medical complications during treatment, such as sepsis. The other 94% of people still died of COVID-19, but their prognoses was likely worsened by their existing medical conditions, experts told Live Science.
The false claim on social media misstated these stats to suggest that only 6% of the more than 180,000 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. were actually caused by the virus; this is incorrect.
"The numbers you've been hearing — there are 180,000-plus deaths — are real deaths from COVID-19. Let there not be any confusion about that," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on "Good Morning America."
"The point is that those people [with underlying conditions] would not have died except that they were carried away by COVID," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, told Live Science. In other words, having underlying conditions makes you more likely to die from COVID-19.
Related: How are COVID-19 deaths counted?
Fast-tracked vaccines
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
COVID-19 vaccines could earn "emergency use authorization" before being thoroughly tested in advanced human trials, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week.
Normally, vaccines must pass through phase 3 clinical trials, which include tens of thousands of people, to earn FDA approval. Only these advanced trials can provide robust evidence that a vaccine is both safe and effective at preventing disease; but given the pressing need for a coronavirus vaccine, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said that the agency may allow the emergency use of certain vaccine candidates before phase 3 trials are completed.
Emergency use authorization allows unapproved products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat or prevent serious or life-threatening conditions, "when there are no adequate, approved and available alternatives," according to the FDA. Hahn told The Financial Times that a vaccine cleared for emergency use would likely be authorized for only a select group of people.
Fauci argues that no vaccine should be authorized for emergency use without clear-cut evidence that it is both safe and effective. "One of the potential dangers if you prematurely let a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the other vaccines to enroll people in their trial," Fauci previously told Reuters.
Originally published on Live Science.


Can diamonds burn?

Diamonds are forever , or so the slogan goes .
But with the proper application of heat and enough , a diamond can go up in smoke .
Diamonds are , just like coal .
It takes a bit more to get them burning and keep them burning than coal , but they will burn , will attest .
The trick is to create the right conditions so that a solid diamond can react with the oxygen required to fuel a .
`` You have to convert that solid [ carbon ] into a gas form , so it can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flame , '' said Rick Sachleben , a retired chemist and member of the American Chemical Society .
Related : Which is rarer : Gold or diamonds ?
The best way to do that ?
Heat — and lots of it .
In room temperature air , diamonds ignite at around 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit ( 900 degrees Celsius ) , according to West Texas A & M University physicist Christopher Baird .
For comparison , a high-volatile coal ( coal containing a relatively high amount of easily released gases ) ignites at about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whereas wood ignites at 572 F ( 300 C ) or less , depending on the type .
When first heated , a diamond will glow red , then white .
The heat enables a reaction between the surface of the diamond and the air , converting the carbon to the colorless and odorless gas carbon monoxide ( a carbon atom plus an oxygen atom ) .
`` The carbon plus the oxygen to make carbon monoxide generates heat ; the carbon monoxide reacting with the oxygen generates more heat ; the rising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ away , so more oxygen is brought in , '' he told Live Science .
That fire , however , will amount to only a glow .
Nurturing a flame on the surface of a diamond usually requires an extra boost : 100 % oxygen rather than room air , which is only 22 % oxygen .
This increase in concentration gives the reaction all that it needs to self-perpetuate .
The carbon monoxide rising from the diamond ignites in the presence of oxygen , creating a fire that seems to dance on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything burns incredibly in pure oxygen , '' Sachleben said .
Even without pure oxygen , diamonds can be damaged by flame , according to the Gemological Institute of America ( GIA ) .
Typically , a diamond caught in a house fire or by an overzealous jeweler 's torch will not go up in smoke , but instead will combust on the surface enough to look cloudy and white .
Cutting away the burnt portions will reveal a smaller , but once again crystal-clear , stone , according to the GIA .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaction produces carbon dioxide and water .
A pure carbon diamond could thus theoretically vanish entirely if burned for long enough ; however , most diamonds do have at least some impurities like nitrogen , so the reaction is unlikely to be quite that simple .

Diamonds are forever, or so the slogan goes. But with the proper application of heat and enough oxygen , a diamond can go up in smoke.
Diamonds are carbon , just like coal. It takes a bit more to get them burning and keep them burning than coal, but they will burn, as numerous YouTube demonstrations will attest. The trick is to create the right conditions so that a solid diamond can react with the oxygen required to fuel a fire .
"You have to convert that solid [carbon] into a gas form, so it can react with the air to make a flame," said Rick Sachleben, a retired chemist and member of the American Chemical Society.
Related: Which is rarer: Gold or diamonds?
The best way to do that? Heat — and lots of it. In room temperature air, diamonds ignite at around 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit (900 degrees Celsius), according to West Texas A&M University physicist Christopher Baird . For comparison, a high-volatile coal (coal containing a relatively high amount of easily released gases) ignites at about 1,233 F (667 C), whereas wood ignites at 572 F (300 C) or less, depending on the type.
When first heated, a diamond will glow red, then white. The heat enables a reaction between the surface of the diamond and the air, converting the carbon to the colorless and odorless gas carbon monoxide (a carbon atom plus an oxygen atom).
"The carbon plus the oxygen to make carbon monoxide generates heat; the carbon monoxide reacting with the oxygen generates more heat; the rising heat causes the carbon monoxide to move away, so more oxygen is brought in," he told Live Science.
That fire, however, will amount to only a glow. Nurturing a flame on the surface of a diamond usually requires an extra boost: 100% oxygen rather than room air, which is only 22% oxygen. This increase in concentration gives the reaction all that it needs to self-perpetuate. The carbon monoxide rising from the diamond ignites in the presence of oxygen, creating a fire that seems to dance on the stone's surface.
"Almost everything burns incredibly in pure oxygen," Sachleben said.
Even without pure oxygen, diamonds can be damaged by flame, according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Typically, a diamond caught in a house fire or by an overzealous jeweler's torch will not go up in smoke, but instead will combust on the surface enough to look cloudy and white. Cutting away the burnt portions will reveal a smaller, but once again crystal-clear, stone, according to the GIA .
When carbon burns in oxygen, that reaction produces carbon dioxide and water. A pure carbon diamond could thus theoretically vanish entirely if burned for long enough; however, most diamonds do have at least some impurities like nitrogen, so the reaction is unlikely to be quite that simple.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-07--Zombie wildfires are blazing through the Arctic, causing record burning

`` Zombie '' wildfires that were smoldering beneath the Arctic ice all winter suddenly flared to life this summer when the snow and ice above it melted , new monitoring data reveals .
And this year has been the worst for Arctic wildfires on record , since reliable monitoring began 17 years ago .
Arctic fires this summer released as much carbon in the first half of July than a nation the size of Cuba or Tunisia does in a year .
That 's according to monitoring by the , the European Union 's Earth-monitoring organization .
More than 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early June , according to Copernicus .
`` Obviously it 's concerning , '' Copernicus senior scientist Mark Parrington told the .
`` We really had n't expected to see these levels of wildfires yet . ''
Related : In photos : Devastating look at raging wildfires in Australia The `` zombie fires '' tracked by Copernicus were likely smoldering beneath the ice and snow in the carbon-rich peat of the Arctic tundra .
When the ice and snow melt , these hotspots can ignite new wildfires in the vegetation above .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troubling for so many reasons , '' Dorothy Peteet , a a senior research scientist at NASA 's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York , .
`` As the fires burn off the top layers of peat , the permafrost depth may deepen , further oxidizing the underlying peat . ''
The fires then release carbon and methane from the peat , both greenhouse gases that further contribute to the warming of the planet .
But zombie fires are n't the only cause for the rough wildfire season ; lightning strikes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Parrington and his colleagues had previously tracked the vicious wildfire season of 2019 , but were surprised at how the fires intensified this year over the course of July , Parrington told Earth Observatory .
Siberia was n't the only wildfire hotspot in the Arctic this summer .
Northern Alberta , Canada has also been particularly impacted .
The Chuckegg Creek Fire in northern Alberta , for example , burned more than 1,351 square miles ( 350,134 hectares ) and took three months to contain , according to .
The Arctic fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the worst fires usually occurring between July and August .
The 2019 fire season broke records for the number of fires and carbon released , with Copernicus reporting that in June alone , the fires released 50 megatonnes of carbon dioxide .
The 2020 fires are already outpacing 2019 's conflagrations .
All told , Copernicus estimates that between January and August , the fires released 244 megatonnes of carbon .
That 's more than the entire nation of Vietnam released in 2017 .
The fires also release other pollution that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Canada , according to Copernicus .
Earth scientists are expecting similar conditions for 2021 and beyond .
`` We know that temperatures in the Arctic have been increasing at a faster rate than the global average , and warmer/drier conditions will provide the right conditions for fires to grow when they have started , '' Parrington released by Copernicus , adding , `` Our monitoring is important in raising awareness of the wider scale impacts of wildfires and smoke emissions which can help organizations , businesses and individuals plan ahead against the @ @ @ @ @ @

A view from above of wildfires burning across Siberia this summer. This was the worst wildfire season on record for the Arctic.
"Zombie" wildfires that were smoldering beneath the Arctic ice all winter suddenly flared to life this summer when the snow and ice above it melted, new monitoring data reveals.
And this year has been the worst for Arctic wildfires on record, since reliable monitoring began 17 years ago. Arctic fires this summer released as much carbon in the first half of July than a nation the size of Cuba or Tunisia does in a year.
That's according to monitoring by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service , the European Union's Earth-monitoring organization. More than 100 fires have burned across the Arctic since early June, according to Copernicus. "Obviously it's concerning," Copernicus senior scientist Mark Parrington told the BBC . "We really hadn't expected to see these levels of wildfires yet."
Related: In photos: Devastating look at raging wildfires in Australia
Zombie fires
The "zombie fires" tracked by Copernicus were likely smoldering beneath the ice and snow in the carbon-rich peat of the Arctic tundra. When the ice and snow melt, these hotspots can ignite new wildfires in the vegetation above.
"The destruction of peat by fire is troubling for so many reasons," Dorothy Peteet, a a senior research scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, told Earth Observatory . "As the fires burn off the top layers of peat, the permafrost depth may deepen, further oxidizing the underlying peat."
The fires then release carbon and methane from the peat, both greenhouse gases that further contribute to the warming of the planet.
But zombie fires aren't the only cause for the rough wildfire season; lightning strikes and human behavior are also causing conflagrations.
Parrington and his colleagues had previously tracked the vicious wildfire season of 2019, but were surprised at how the fires intensified this year over the course of July, Parrington told Earth Observatory.
Siberia wasn't the only wildfire hotspot in the Arctic this summer. Northern Alberta, Canada has also been particularly impacted. The Chuckegg Creek Fire in northern Alberta, for example, burned more than 1,351 square miles (350,134 hectares) and took three months to contain, according to Global News Canada .
Fire season
The Arctic fire season runs from May to October, with the worst fires usually occurring between July and August. The 2019 fire season broke records for the number of fires and carbon released, with Copernicus reporting that in June alone, the fires released 50 megatonnes of carbon dioxide.
The 2020 fires are already outpacing 2019's conflagrations. All told, Copernicus estimates that between January and August, the fires released 244 megatonnes of carbon. That's more than the entire nation of Vietnam released in 2017. The fires also release other pollution that has worsened air quality in Europe, Russia and Canada, according to Copernicus. Earth scientists are expecting similar conditions for 2021 and beyond.
"We know that temperatures in the Arctic have been increasing at a faster rate than the global average, and warmer/drier conditions will provide the right conditions for fires to grow when they have started," Parrington said in a statement released by Copernicus, adding, "Our monitoring is important in raising awareness of the wider scale impacts of wildfires and smoke emissions which can help organizations, businesses and individuals plan ahead against the effects of air pollution."
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-07--400-year-old mummified goat found frozen in Alps by champion skier

A hairless , leathery horror found encrusted in Alpine ice is a chamois that died 400 years ago .
The long-dead -antelope was discovered in Val Aurina , South Tyrol , Italy by Italian alpinist and champion skier Hermann Oberlechner , who was on a 6-hour hike from civilization when he noticed something strange sticking out of the ice .
`` Only half of the animal 's body was exposed from the snow , '' Oberlechner `` The skin looked like leather , completely hairless ; I had never seen anything like it .
I immediately took a photo and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together we then notified the Department of Cultural Heritage . ''
The discovery is reminiscent of other ice mummies found at high altitudes , including the famous `` Iceman '' Ötzi , whose 5,300-year-old body was found by hikers in the Italian Alps in 1991 .
That similarity has scientists excited about the find : They now plan to use the rare chamois mummy to learn how to better preserve ancient for analysis in the lab , hoping to be prepared the next time a human mummy appears out of the ice .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ face for Ötzi the iceman mummy '' Our goal is to use scientific data to develop a globally valid conservation protocol for ice mummies , '' Albert Zink , director of the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research in Italy , said in the statement .
`` This is the first time an animal mummy has been used in this way . ''
To get that far , though , Eurac researchers had to get the mummy out of the mountains .
The goat 's final resting place was at 10,500 feet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been buried by a glacier and only recently become exposed due to the retreat of the ice .
To move the chamois , the researchers contacted the Alpine Army Corps , the mountain infantry of the Italian Army .
Eurac iceman conservationist Marco Samadelli designed and built a special case , which soldiers hooked below a helicopter piloted by aviationists trained to operate at high altitudes .
The chamois carcass was then taken to Eurac 's conservation lab in Bolzano , Italy , where it is being stored at 23 degrees Fahrenheit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As long as ice mummies are entombed in their glacial graves , their tissue — and thus , their DNA — is preserved .
But as soon as these mummies start to heat up , their tissue can degrade , and so can the genetic information in the mummies ' cells .
Samadelli and his team have done research on optimal preservation conditions to keep ice mummies intact .
The newly discovered chamois gives them the opportunity to study how those conditions affect the mummies ' DNA .
`` With repeated in-depth analysis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DNA undergoes when external conditions change , '' Samadelli said in the statement .
Researchers expect this information to come in handy .
As mountain glaciers melt around the world due to , they will likely disgorge more ancient corpses , each containing genetic keys to the past .

A hairless, leathery horror found encrusted in Alpine ice is a chamois that died 400 years ago.
The long-dead goat -antelope was discovered in Val Aurina, South Tyrol, Italy by Italian alpinist and champion skier Hermann Oberlechner, who was on a 6-hour hike from civilization when he noticed something strange sticking out of the ice.
"Only half of the animal's body was exposed from the snow," Oberlechner said in a statement. "The skin looked like leather, completely hairless; I had never seen anything like it. I immediately took a photo and sent it to the park ranger, together we then notified the Department of Cultural Heritage."
The discovery is reminiscent of other ice mummies found at high altitudes, including the famous "Iceman" Ötzi, whose 5,300-year-old mummified body was found by hikers in the Italian Alps in 1991. That similarity has scientists excited about the find: They now plan to use the rare chamois mummy to learn how to better preserve ancient DNA for analysis in the lab, hoping to be prepared the next time a human mummy appears out of the ice.
Related: In photos: A new face for Ötzi the iceman mummy
The mummified chamois is completely hairless, with skin like leather. Its preservation is identical to that of human ice mummies such as Ötzi, the "Iceman" whose mummified body was found in the Alps more than 5,000 years after he died. (Image credit: Esercito Italiano - Comando Truppe Alpine)
"Our goal is to use scientific data to develop a globally valid conservation protocol for ice mummies," Albert Zink, director of the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research in Italy, said in the statement. "This is the first time an animal mummy has been used in this way."
To get that far, though, Eurac researchers had to get the mummy out of the mountains. The goat's final resting place was at 10,500 feet (3,200 meters) elevation. It had been buried by a glacier and only recently become exposed due to the retreat of the ice. To move the chamois, the researchers contacted the Alpine Army Corps, the mountain infantry of the Italian Army. Eurac iceman conservationist Marco Samadelli designed and built a special case, which soldiers hooked below a helicopter piloted by aviationists trained to operate at high altitudes. The chamois carcass was then taken to Eurac's conservation lab in Bolzano, Italy, where it is being stored at 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 5 degrees Celsius).
As long as ice mummies are entombed in their glacial graves, their tissue — and thus, their DNA — is preserved. But as soon as these mummies start to heat up, their tissue can degrade, and so can the genetic information in the mummies' cells. Samadelli and his team have done research on optimal preservation conditions to keep ice mummies intact. The newly discovered chamois gives them the opportunity to study how those conditions affect the mummies' DNA.
The chamois was found at a spot reachable only by a 6-hour hike into the mountains. Scientists had to arrange a helicopter extraction by the Alpine Army Corps to get the animal down. (Image credit: Esercito Italiano - Comando Truppe Alpine)
"With repeated in-depth analysis, we will verify what alterations the DNA undergoes when external conditions change," Samadelli said in the statement.
Researchers expect this information to come in handy. As mountain glaciers melt around the world due to climate change , they will likely disgorge more ancient corpses, each containing genetic keys to the past.
Originally published in Live Science.


livescience--2020-09-07--These sea snails fly like butterflies, sink like hang-gliders (VIDEO)

Some marine snails soar through the water by flapping their squidgy appendages to and fro , similar to butterfly wings — now , scientists have discovered that the shape of the snails ' shells also helps them zip through the sea .
The new study , published Sep. 7 in the journal , shows that large snails with slim , elongated shells cut through the water more quickly than small snails with round , coiled shells .
The small snails swim slower , in part , due to their small wings , but their size and speed also make it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the surrounding water , study author David Murphy , an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of South Florida , told Live Science in an email .
`` The larger snails can easily overcome the effects of this viscosity , '' or the water 's resistance to flow , and those with streamlined shells cut through the water even more easily , he said .
The streamlined snails slip through water similar to how an airplane wing carves through air .
While large snails swim faster than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ species that the authors studied travel similar distances when searching for food , .
The snails , which measure about 0.03 to 0.5 inches ( 0.9 to 13.1 millimeters ) in length , each travel between 162 and 984 feet ( 50 to 300 meters ) per day , swimming skyward to feed at the surface at night and sinking down to rest during the day .
When swimming , the snails can cover between one and 24 body lengths per second , rising in a zig-zagging spiral ; when done for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slight angle , descending with similar speed .
The large snails gracefully glide through the water as they sink , thanks to their elongated shells .
Seven of the snail species included in the study are fondly known as `` sea butterflies '' for their fluttering wings ; in past research , Murphy and his colleagues found that sea butterflies flap their wings in a figure-eight pattern , similar to the movement of fruit flies , and called the creatures `` honorary insects , '' .
Murphy and his lab study animals that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ water , and they plan to design tiny aquatic and aerial vehicles inspired by different organisms , Murphy said .
The vehicles `` could be used in many different applications .
For example , they could take data under the water surface and then pop back into the air to transmit data , '' he said .

Some marine snails soar through the water by flapping their squidgy appendages to and fro, similar to butterfly wings — now, scientists have discovered that the shape of the snails' shells also helps them zip through the sea.
The new study, published Sep. 7 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science , shows that large snails with slim, elongated shells cut through the water more quickly than small snails with round, coiled shells. The small snails swim slower, in part, due to their small wings, but their size and speed also make it so they can't easily overcome resistance from the surrounding water, study author David Murphy, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of South Florida, told Live Science in an email. "The larger snails can easily overcome the effects of this viscosity," or the water's resistance to flow, and those with streamlined shells cut through the water even more easily, he said.
The streamlined snails slip through water similar to how an airplane wing carves through air.
Related: Sea science: 7 bizarre facts about the ocean
While large snails swim faster than the small ones, all nine snail species that the authors studied travel similar distances when searching for food, according to a statement . The snails, which measure about 0.03 to 0.5 inches (0.9 to 13.1 millimeters) in length, each travel between 162 and 984 feet (50 to 300 meters) per day, swimming skyward to feed at the surface at night and sinking down to rest during the day.
When swimming, the snails can cover between one and 24 body lengths per second, rising in a zig-zagging spiral; when done for the night, they sink down at a slight angle, descending with similar speed. The large snails gracefully glide through the water as they sink, thanks to their elongated shells.
Seven of the snail species included in the study are fondly known as "sea butterflies" for their fluttering wings; in past research, Murphy and his colleagues found that sea butterflies flap their wings in a figure-eight pattern, similar to the movement of fruit flies, and called the creatures "honorary insects," Live Science previously reported .
Murphy and his lab study animals that fly both in and out of the water, and they plan to design tiny aquatic and aerial vehicles inspired by different organisms, Murphy said. The vehicles "could be used in many different applications. For example, they could take data under the water surface and then pop back into the air to transmit data," he said.
Originally published on Live Science.