Science
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

User Rating: 5 / 5

Star ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar Active

 XBB subvariant of Omicron

A new subvariant of the novel-coronavirus called XBB dramatically announced itself in Mid October, 2022, in Singapore. New COVID-19 cases more than doubled in a day, from 4,700 on Monday to 11,700 on Tuesday—and XBB is almost certainly why. The same subvariant just appeared in Hong Kong, too. A highly mutated descendant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that drove a record wave of infections starting around a year ago, XBB is in many ways the worst form of the virus so far. It’s more contagious than any previous variant or subvariant. It also evades the antibodies from monoclonal therapies, potentially rendering a whole category of drugs ineffective as COVID treatments.

User Rating: 5 / 5

Star ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar Active

EYE OF DIAMONDS 1

Known as the "Crystal Eye" to the Inuit, Pingualuit Crater was once the destination for diamond-seeking prospectors. But the real treasure is the stories its deep waters can tell. It was an exhilarating introduction to the far north of Quebec, in a region known as Nunavik. Comprising the top third of Canadian province (larger than the US state of California and twice the size of Great Britain) fringed by frayed edges of a peninsula known as Ungava, most people don't even know it exists. But that wasn't always the case.

User Rating: 5 / 5

Star ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar Active

 This Fight is Yours

They were two young Jewish men who grew up just a few years apart in the New York area during the Great Depression, and though they were both drawn to the study of medicine and did not know each other at the time, their names would, years later, be linked in a heroic struggle that played out on the front pages of newspapers around the world. In the end, both Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk could rightfully claim credit for one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments—the near-eradication of polio in the 20th century. And yet debate still echoes over whose method is best suited for the mass vaccination needed to finish the job: Salk’s injected, dead-virus vaccine or Sabin’s oral, live-virus version.

User Rating: 5 / 5

Star ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar Active

vaccines to tye world

A third dose has been shown to help in these cases. In one study, one-third of solid organ transplant patients who had a suboptimal response to two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were able to develop an antibody response with a third dose. Those who are immunocompromised may wonder if the vaccine they received is successfully generating immunity in their body. A preliminary study that has not yet been peer-reviewed did find that a test that specifically targets the anti-spike antibodies the vaccines trigger may be helpful in determining whether the vaccine worked. But for now, the FDA does not recommend antibody tests to assess immunity.

User Rating: 3 / 5

Star ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

 the Phoenix Reborn

The disappearance of the Mayan Empire is all the more mysterious because it happened not once, but twice. The earliest civilization that took root during the heart of antiquity prospered for hundreds upon hundreds of years, with innovations that rivaled those of Egypt. Unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, however, the Mayans grew their population on the back of corn, beans, squash, and chiles, rather than wheat. Even so, they began building the first of their grand temples before they would vanish, but what was the cause of the end of this empire?