AstraZeneca and Oxford University have given conflicting accounts of how they came upon the most effective dosing pattern for their COVID-19 vaccine, a rare instance of public dissension between major institutions collaborating on a pivotal project. From a report: The discrepancy, reported for the first time by Reuters, centres on the regimen administered to a smaller group of volunteers in the…
Tag: University of Edinburgh
San Diego’s Police Are Using Video from ‘Smart’ Streetlights
Slashdot reader Tekla Perry is also senior editor at IEEE Spectrum, and brings a story about San Diego’s 3,300 “smart streetlights,” each one equipped with “an Intel Atom processor, half a terabyte of storage, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios, two 1080p video cameras, two acoustical sensors, and environmental sensors that monitor temperature, pressure, humidity, vibration, and magnetic fields.” San Diego’s smart streetlights…
These ancient crocodiles walked on 2 legs like dinosaurs
Researchers suggest 110–120 million year old fossil footprints were made by ancient crocodiles that walked on 2 hind legs about the same length as adult human legs. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ancient-crocodiles-walked-on-2-legs-fossil-footprints…
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 From a report: The research, which has not been peer-reviewed by other scientists, used satellite imagery of hospital…
One Woman Can Smell Parkinson’s Disease Before Symptoms Manifest
“For most of her life, Joy Milne had a superpower that she was totally oblivious to,” reports NPR. Long-time Slashdot reader doug141 explains what happened next:
Milne’s husband’s natural odor changed when he was 31. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 45. When Joy walked into a Parkinson’s support group, she smelled the same odor on everybody. A Parkinson’s researcher tested her…
Australian smoke plume sets records
The recent wildfires in Australia sent one of the largest plumes of smoke higher into the the stratosphere than satellites have ever before observed. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/australian-wildfires-smoke-plume-sets-records…
Scientists Could Use Aerogel Sheets To Make Mars Surface Fit For Farming
Scientists believe aerogel sheets could transform the cold, arid surface of Mars into land fit for farming. The Guardian reports: The “aerogel” sheets work by mimicking Earth’s greenhouse effect, where energy from the sun is trapped on the planet by carbon dioxide and other gases. Spread out in the right places on Mars, the sheets would warm the ground and melt…
Smoking Bans Have Saved 15,000 Children’s Lives in Brazil, Imperial Study Shows
Second-hand smoke kills over 880,000 people every year globally, and a quarter of those deaths are among children 14 years or younger. These sobering statistics have helped drive smoking bans in public places in many countries, but these bans still cover just 20% of the world’s population. A new study led by Dr. Thomas Hone […]
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2,500+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) Getting Started in May: Enroll Today
FYI. 2,500+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are getting underway in May, giving you the chance to take free courses from top flight universities. With the help of Class Central, we’ve pulled together a complete list of May MOOCS. And below we’ve highlighted several courses that piqued our interest. The trailer above comes from Music Psychology: Why Does “Bohemian […]
2,500+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)…
Bizarre New State of Matter Is Both Liquid and Solid
Everyone knows the three basic states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Most are probably aware that plasma is a word that means something. Yet there are other, more exotic states of matter that exist in extreme circumstances. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have recently confirmed the existence of a bizarre new state of… Continue reading Bizarre New State of Matter Is Both Liquid and Solid