In 1945, after atomic bomb detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, several former Manhattan Project scientists founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Publishing continuously since 1945, its current deputy editor, science writer DanDrollette, is also a Slashdot reader, and shared one of the nonprofit magazine’s thought-provoking new interviews:
In 2012, author David Quammen wrote a book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next…
Tag: SARS
China, Scientists Dismiss Harvard Study Suggesting COVID-19 Was Spreading in Wuhan in August
Beijing dismissed as “ridiculous” a Harvard Medical School study of hospital traffic and search engine data that suggested the new coronavirus may already have been spreading in China last August, and scientists said it offered no convincing evidence of when the outbreak began. From a report: The research, which has not been peer-reviewed by other scientists, used satellite imagery of hospital…
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.”…
Antibody that inhibits the new coronavirus discovered in patient who had SARS 17 years ago
Researchers hope the findings could be used to create an “antibody cocktail” against the new coronavirus. Source: https://www.livescience.com/sars-antibody-inhibits-new-coronavirus.html
Vint Cerf on COVID-19’s Impact on the Future of Internet
Vint Cerf on the great many lessons that the coronavirus crises has taught us about infrastructure writ large: More directly associated with COVID-19 is the need for detecting exposure and tracking contacts to reduce the spread of the disease. Mobiles and the Internet appear to have roles to play for at least some tracking and tracing system designs. The application of…
Early Treatment of COVID-19 Patients With HCQ+AZ Shows Benefit, Study Finds
“Over at ScienceDirect, they report on a French ‘retrospective’ study of just over 1,000 patients across all age groups with very good results,” writes long-time Slashdot reader kenh. The analysis found that administration of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Azithromycin (AZ) before COVID-19 complications occur “is safe and associated with very low fatality rate in patients.” From the report: Background: In France, the…
Coronavirus found in infected men’s semen
The researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 in the semen of 16% of the study participants. Source: https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-found-in-semen.html
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…
Experts Are Puzzled Over Why the Coronavirus Lingers in Some Asymptomatic Patients For as Long as 40 Days
Shashank Bengali, reporting for Los Angeles Times: By his second day in the hospital with COVID-19, Charles Pignal’s mild cough and 102-degree fever had disappeared. Bored and “bouncing off the walls” of his room in the isolation ward at Singapore’s National Center for Infectious Diseases, he felt like he could go out and play a set of tennis. The 42-year-old footwear…
Scientists Create Antibody That Defeats Coronavirus in Lab
Scientists created a monoclonal antibody that can defeat the new coronavirus in the lab, an early but promising step in efforts to find treatments and curb the pandemic’s spread. From a report: The experimental antibody has neutralized the virus in cell cultures. While that’s early in the drug development process — before animal research and human trials — the antibody may…