After Wednesday’s invasion by protesters, America’s Capitol building is now grappling with “the process of securing the offices and digital systems after hundreds of people had unprecedented access to them,” writes Wired. Long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike shares their report: Rioters could have bugged congressional offices, exfiltrated data from unlocked computers, or installed malware on exposed devices. In the rush to evacuate…
Tag: hygiene
Some Scientists ‘Uneasy’ About the Race For a Covid-19 Vaccine
The Guardian ran an article by the author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World looking at problems with our own race for a vaccine in 2020: On 2 August, Steven Salzberg, a computational biologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, suggested in Forbes magazine that a promising vaccine be rolled out to…
How covid-19 spawned a plastic pandemic – and what we can do about it
Hygiene fears and the demand for masks have unleashed a plastic pollution pandemic, while industry lobbyists are pushing to roll back bans on single-use plastics Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251045-how-covid-19-spawned-a-plastic-pandemic-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
A Virus-Hunter Falls Prey To a Virus He Underestimated
Peter Piot, 71, one of the giants of Ebola and AIDS research, is still battling a coronavirus infection that hit him “like a bus” in March. From a report:”This is the revenge of the viruses,” said Dr. Peter Piot, the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “I’ve made their lives difficult. Now they’re trying to get me.”…
MIT Develops a Way To Use Wireless Signals From In-Home Appliances To Better Understand Your Health
[R]esearchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have developed a new system (PDF) that can figure out when and where in-home appliances like hair dryers, stoves, microwaves and washing machines are being used, and they believe that info could help inform healthcare practitioners about the habits and challenges of people under their care. TechCrunch reports: The researchers devised…
What are zoonotic diseases and what can we do about them?
Infectious diseases that leap from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases. Covid-19 is an example of a zoonotic disease caused by a coronavirus. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/what-are-zoonotic-diseases-coronavirus-covid19…
Dogs Are Now Being Trained To Sniff Out Coronavirus
New Slashdot submitter Joe2020 shares a report from the BBC: Firefighters in Corsica, France, are aiming to teach canines how to sniff out coronavirus, as they can other conditions. It’s hoped that detection dogs could be used to identify people with the virus at public places like airports. Their trial is one of several experiments being undertaken in countries including the…
Researchers To Doctors: Stop Putting COVID-19 Patients On Invasive Ventilators
Rei writes: A paper recently published by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene adds further support to recent CDC guidelines for minimizing the use of invasive ventilators. As physicians had been voicing concern that doctors were being too eager to put patients on invasive ventilation and may be doing more harm than good, the investigators looked into outcomes of…
Why are men more likely to get worse symptoms and die from covid-19?
More men die of covid-19 than women. Reasons for this may include differences in smoking, general health, immune defences, hormones and even hygiene Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2240898-why-are-men-more-likely-to-get-worse-symptoms-and-die-from-covid-19/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Amazon Halts Activity At French Warehouses After Court Order
Amazon said it will stop activity at its fulfillment centers in France for five days after a court order banned the sale of non-essential goods. Bloomberg reports: The world’s largest online retailer is “temporarily” suspending sales from April 16 through April 20, a spokeswoman for the company said. The court concluded the retailer isn’t doing enough to protect staff from the…