“Coca-Cola is to test a paper bottle as part of a longer-term bid to eliminate plastic from its packaging entirely,” reports the BBC: The prototype is made by a Danish company from an extra-strong paper shell that still contains a thin plastic liner. But the goal is to create a 100% recyclable, plastic-free bottle capable of preventing gas escaping from carbonated…
Tag: trial
Diabetes drug led to dramatic weight loss in large trial
A diabetes drug may also be a promising treatment for obesity — in a new study, people taking the drug lost a stunning 15% of their body weight, which is more than has been seen with any other obesity drug on the market. Source: https://www.livescience.com/diabetes-drug-caused-dramatic-weight-loss-trial.html
Feeding your cat a very meaty diet may mean it kills less wildlife
In a small trial in the UK, pet cats fed on an unusually meaty diet brought home 36 per cent fewer prey animals than cats given a typical diet Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267539-feeding-your-cat-a-very-meaty-diet-may-mean-it-kills-less-wildlife/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Is it OK to mix and match COVID-19 vaccines? Oxford researchers begin trial.
Amid a shortage of vaccine supplies and the threat of emerging coronavirus variants, such an approach might provide an answer for both. Source: https://www.livescience.com/oxford-testing-mixture-different-coronavirus-vaccines.html
Are Experts Underselling the Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccines?
David Leonhardt won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2011. This week in a New York Times newsletter, he argues that early in the pandemic experts around the world mistakenly discouraged mask use because of “a concern that people would rush to buy high-grade medical masks, leaving too few for doctors and nurses. The experts were also [at the time] unsure…
China’s Chang’e 5 moon craft on a new mission: the sun
China’s Chang’e 5 moon mission – which successfully returned moon rocks to Earth in December, 2020 for the first time in 44 years – is now headed toward the Earth-sun Lagrange point, for the goal of making sun observations. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/china-change-5-moon-mission-extended-to-l1-sun…
Cancer vaccine helped keep melanoma under control for years in small study
Scientists tested a vaccine for melanoma in a small trial. Source: https://www.livescience.com/melanoma-vaccine-small-trial.html
House Votes To Impeach President Trump a Historic Second Time
A House majority, including several Republicans, on Wednesday voted to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” The New York Times reports: The House had enough votes on Wednesday to impeach President Trump for inciting a violent insurrection against the United States government, as more than a half-dozen members of the president’s party joined Democrats to charge him with high crimes…
Plaid Pulled Plug on Visa Deal Over Price, Not Antitrust Concerns
Visa will no longer be buying fintech upstart Plaid, as the companies on Tuesday announced the “mutual termination” of the $5.3 billion agreement that was signed one year ago and opposed by U.S. antitrust regulators. From a report: This is more about the rising value of fintech companies than it is about the U.S. Justice Department. It also turns Plaid into…
Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Appears To Work Against New Coronavirus Strains, Study Finds
A new study provides early evidence that a Covid-19 vaccine might be effective against two new coronavirus strains first identified in South Africa and the UK, despite a concerning mutation. CNN reports: The two strains share a mutation known as N501Y that scientists worry could allow the virus to evade the immune protection generated by a vaccine. In research posted online…