The Food and Drug Administration said this week that vaccine developers would not need to conduct lengthy randomized controlled trials for vaccines that have been adapted to protect against concerning coronavirus variants. From a report: The recommendations, which call for small trials more like those required for annual flu vaccines, would greatly accelerate the review process at a time when scientists…
Tag: review
Ion-optics-based quantum microscope can image individual atoms
A team of researchers at Universität Stuttgart has developed an ion-optics-based quantum microscope that is capable of creating images of individual atoms. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group explains how they built their microscope and how well it worked when tested. …
The First Black Hole Ever Discovered is More Massive Than We Thought
Neel V. Patel, writing at MIT Technology Review: Einstein first predicted the existence of black holes when he published his theory of general relativity in 1916, describing how gravity shapes the fabric of spacetime. But astronomers didn’t spot one until 1964, some 6,070 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation. Geiger counters launched into space detected cosmic x-rays coming from a region…
A speed limit also applies in the quantum world
Even in the world of the smallest particles with their own special rules, things cannot proceed infinitely fast. Physicists at the University of Bonn have now shown what the speed limit is for complex quantum operations. The study also involved scientists from MIT, the universities of Hamburg, Cologne and Padua, and the Jülich Research Center. The results are important for the…
Research Linking Violent Entertainment To Aggression Retracted After Scrutiny
Science magazine: As Samuel West combed through a paper that found a link between watching cartoon violence and aggression in children, he noticed something odd about the study participants. There were more than 3000 — an unusually large number — and they were all 10 years old. “It was just too perfect,” says West, a Ph.D. student in social psychology at…
Biden To Order Review of US Reliance on Overseas Supply Chains For Semiconductors, Rare Earths
President Joe Biden will direct his administration to conduct a review of key U.S. supply chains including semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, medical supplies and rare earth metals. From a report: The assessment, which will be led by members of both Biden’s economic and national security teams, will analyze the “resiliency and capacity of the American manufacturing supply chains and defense industrial base…
Hundreds of fish species, including many we eat, are consuming plastic
As more and more plastic trash permeates the oceans, microplastics are making their way into fish and shellfish, and potentially into humans. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/hundreds-fish-species-consume-microplastics-including-human-food…
Unity review: A powerful debut sci-fi novel packed full of ideas
In Unity, Elly Bangs conjures a post-apocalyptic Earth where her protagonist, once part of a hive mind, faces a dangerous, fractured future. The novel is a powerful exploration of union, trauma and consent, says Bethan Ackerley Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933220-900-unity-review-a-powerful-debut-sci-fi-novel-packed-full-of-ideas/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Netflix’s Tribes of Europa review: Games of Thrones, but with Brexit
Just as technology is helping us to deal with prolonged periods at home, Netflix’s Tribes of Europa raises the nightmare prospect of a world in which the tech is broken Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267967-netflixs-tribes-of-europa-review-games-of-thrones-but-with-brexit/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Fake Amazon Reviews ‘Being Sold in Bulk’ Online
Fake reviews for products sold on Amazon’s Marketplace are being sold online “in bulk”, according to Which? The consumer group found 10 websites selling fake reviews from $7 each and incentivising positive reviews in exchange for payment or free products. From a report: It suggested the firm was facing an “uphill struggle” against a “widespread fake reviews industry”. An Amazon spokesman…