Jun162021 by TechmanNo Comments

NASA, ESA Astronauts Take Space Walk to Install Solar Panels on ISS

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Astronauts from both the U.S. space agency, NASA, and the European Space Agency ((ESA)) left the International Space Station ((ISS)) Wednesday to begin a project to upgrade the floating laboratory’s solar panel power supply system.   NASA flight engineer Shane Kimbrough and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet worked for several hours to install the first two of six ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs)) to ultimately upgrade six of the station’s eight power channels.   NASA says the current solar arrays are functioning well but were designed for a 15-year service life and are in their 21st year of service. The new solar arrays will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to a maximum of 215 kilowatts.    …


Jun162021 by DmediaNo Comments

US Buys Another 200 Million Moderna COVID Vaccines

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The U.S.-based biotech firm Moderna said Wednesday the U.S. government has purchased another 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of Moderna doses it has committed to 500 million.   In a release Wednesday, the Massachusetts-based company said the U.S. government orders include 110 million doses expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 90 million expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2022. As of Monday, the company says it has supplied 217 million doses of the vaccine to the U.S. government.   In the statement, Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said the company appreciates the collaboration with the U.S. government on the additional doses, adding that it could be used for the continuing primary vaccination program or for…


Jun162021 by DmediaNo Comments

Delta COVID-19 Variant Most Worrisome Yet, But Vaccines Still Effective 

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The delta variant of the COVID-19 virus is more infectious and more virulent than the alpha variant first identified in the United Kingdom, according to new research.  The good news is that vaccines still work against it, though somewhat less well, the studies say. "Delta is a much more concerning variant globally, even than the other variants," said Bill Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics. As vaccine access moves at a snail's pace outside of wealthier countries, "much of the world remains extraordinarily vulnerable," said William Powderly, director of the  Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. FILE - People register their names to receive a coronavirus vaccine at a free camp in Kolkata, India, June 14, 2021.The…


Jun162021 by DmediaNo Comments

Nearly 25% of Patients in US Experience ‘Long COVID’ Symptoms, Study Finds

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A new study in the United States reveals that nearly 25% of COVID-19 patients experienced new health problems well after their initial diagnosis.The non-profit group FAIR Health analyzed the health insurance claims of nearly two million people between February 2020 and February of this year. The study found the most common new conditions among so-called “Long COVID” patients included pain, breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol and fatigue. The new ailments affected patients of all ages, including children, and even included patients who were asymptomatic, or experienced no symptoms whatsoever. The study found 19% of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients came down with Long COVID symptoms, increasing to 27% who had mild or moderate symptoms but were not hospitalized, and 50% of those who were hospitalized.Other ailments revealed in the…


Jun162021 by DmediaNo Comments

New Zealand Researchers Aim to Recycle COVID-19 Masks, Gowns

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Researchers in New Zealand are testing new techniques to find out whether masks and gowns used by health workers as protection against COVID-19 can be decontaminated and safely used again.   Researchers want to reduce the “mountain” of personal protective equipment, or PPE, that is discarded around the world daily. According to experts in New Zealand, estimates indicate that in China alone, hundreds of thousands of metric tons of PPE are going to the landfill each day.    FILE - Workers in protective suits walk past the Hankou railway station on the eve of its resuming outbound traffic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, April 7, 2020.Mark Staiger is an associate professor of materials engineering at the University of Canterbury.   “The amount of waste that is being produced by the pandemic is absolutely…


Jun162021 by DmediaNo Comments

China to Launch First Crew to New Permanent Space Station

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China will launch the first crew of its new permanent space station into orbit on Thursday.  An official with the China Manned Space Agency announced Wednesday that veteran astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming and rookie Tang Hongbo will blast off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China aboard the Shenzhou-12. At age 56,  Nie Haisheng will become China’s oldest astronaut to fly to space. The trio will spend three months aboard the first module of the station, dubbed Tianhe, which translates to “Heavenly Harmony.” The mission, China’s first manned space flight in five years, is the third of 11 needed to add more elements to the space station before it becomes fully operational in 2022. The new station is expected to remain operational for 10 years.   The station could outlast…


Jun162021 by DmediaNo Comments

Study: Half of US Cosmetics Contain Toxic Chemicals

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More than half the cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada are awash with a toxic industrial compound associated with serious health conditions, including cancer and reduced birth weight, according to a new study.  Researchers at the University of Notre Dame tested more than 230 commonly used cosmetics and found that 56% of foundations and eye products, 48% of lip products and 47% of mascaras contained fluorine — an indicator of PFAS, so-called "forever chemicals" that are used in nonstick frying pans, rugs and countless other consumer products.  Some of the highest PFAS levels were found in waterproof mascara (82%) and long-lasting lipstick (62%), according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. Twenty-nine products with higher fluorine concentrations were tested further and found…


Jun162021 by TechmanNo Comments

Biden, Putin Brace for Possible Fight Over Ransomware

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As President Joe Biden prepares for his first meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Geneva, the White House says the threat of ransomware will be a "significant topic" of conversation between the two leaders.Until just a couple of years ago, ransomware was viewed largely as a financial crime, hardly an issue that would dominate the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian and American leaders.But the issue was catapulted to the forefront of geopolitics last month after cybercriminals believed to be operating in Russia breached the networks of a major U.S. pipeline operator and a meat processor, demanding and receiving millions of dollars in ransom.Although U.S. officials have not accused the Russian government of direct involvement in the latest attacks, some lawmakers say Russia-based cybercriminals often work with the…


Jun152021 by TechmanNo Comments

MacKenzie Scott Donates $2.7 Billion to ‘Underfunded and Overlooked’ Causes

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Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday that she has donated $2.7 billion to communities "that have been historically underfunded and overlooked." "Because community-centered service is such a powerful catalyst and multiplier, we spent the first quarter of 2021 identifying and evaluating equity-oriented nonprofit teams working in areas that have been neglected," Scott wrote in a blog post. But Scott emphasized in the post that she struggled with headlines centering on her instead of the organizations and causes she hopes to uplift.  "Putting large donors at the center of stories on social progress is a distortion of their role," Scott wrote. She said that the headline she would wish for her post was "286 Teams Empowering Voices the World Needs to Hear." Among the "teams" Scott listed as the recipients of her donations were higher…


Jun152021 by DmediaNo Comments

US Surpasses 600,000 Deaths from COVID, Leading the World

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The United States has surpassed 600,000 dead from COVID-19, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported Tuesday. The count spans from the beginning of the pandemic 15 months ago. While the numbers of new COVID-19 cases and daily deaths in the United States have fallen steadily in recent weeks, the milestone is a harsh reminder of the toll the pandemic has taken and is still taking.  U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday acknowledged the approaching milestone, saying that while new cases and deaths are dropping dramatically in the U.S., "there's still too many lives being lost," and "now is not the time to let our guard down." In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced late Monday that the government would be pushing back by nearly four weeks its "road…


Jun152021 by DmediaNo Comments

New Study Suggests Coronavirus Was Present in US Earlier than First Believed

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The novel coronavirus was present in the U.S. in December 2019, weeks before health officials first identified infections, according to a new government study.   Conducted by a team that included researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the study analyzed 24,000 blood samples. The findings suggest that some Americans were infected as early as the middle of December 2019, weeks before the world recognized the spread of the new deadly virus that erupted in the Chinese city of Wuhan.   While the analysis is inconclusive, and some experts remain unconvinced, more federal health officials are accepting a scenario during which small numbers of people in the U.S. were infected with the virus before the world was aware of its spread.   The study, published Tuesday by the Clinical…


Jun152021 by DmediaNo Comments

Mexico Receives 1.35 Million COVID Vaccines from US

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Mexico has received 1.35 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson, single-dose COVID-19 vaccine donated by the United States.The doses will be given to those over 18 in four border towns, Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Juárez and Reynosa. The goal is to end essential travel restrictions on the border.The first vaccinations could be given as early as Wednesday, according to Mexican Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell. Mexico’s vaccination program has used a mix of vaccines and so far, has been focused on people 40 and older. It has administered about 26 million shots, according to the Associated Press.After an upsurge in December and January, cases have been declining across the country until a spike of 8% this week attributed to a breakout along the Caribbean coast.Earlier this month, the Biden administration…


Jun152021 by DmediaNo Comments

Blacks, Hispanics More Likely to Die of COVID-19 in US, Associated Press Finds

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As the United States approaches 600,000 COVID-19 related deaths, the Associated Press has uncovered data showing how the pandemic has exposed  the country’s wide racial inequalities. A story published Monday by the AP said where race is known, white Americans account for 61% of all COVID-19 deaths, followed by Hispanics with 19%, Blacks with 15%, and Asian Americans with 4% — figures that track with the groups’ share of the U.S. population as a whole.  But the news agency said an analysis of data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Native Americans, Latinos and Blacks are two or three times more likely than whites to die of the disease after adjusting for population age differences.  The AP also found Latinos are dying at much younger ages…


Jun152021 by DmediaNo Comments

Gunmen Kill 5 Polio Vaccinators in Afghanistan

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Officials in conflict-torn Afghanistan said Tuesday gunmen had shot dead at least five polio vaccinators and injured several others in separate attacks in eastern Nangarhar province.    Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where the crippling polio disease remains endemic.    Authorities said the early morning violence in parts of Jalalabad, the provincial capital, and nearby Khogyani district came on the second day of a four-day national campaign administering polio drops to children under five years of age.     Jan Mohammad, head of the provincial immunization department, told VOA they had suspended the vaccination campaign following the deadly attack. No one immediately took responsibility for what appeared to be a coordinated shooting spree.      In March, three female anti-polio workers were…


Jun152021 by TechmanNo Comments

Indian Government in Standoff with Twitter Over Online Speech

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The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a battle with U.S. tech firms over a new set of online speech rules that it has enacted for the nation of nearly 1.4 billion.  The rules require companies to restrict a range of topics on their services, comply with government takedown orders and identify the original source of information shared. If the companies fail to comply, tech firm employees can be held criminally liable.  The escalation of tensions between Modi’s government and tech firms, activists say, could result in the curtailment of Indians’ online speech.  “Absent a change in direction, the future of free speech in the world’s largest democracy is increasingly imperiled,” said Samir Jain, director of policy at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a digital rights advocacy group. “Users will have less freedom of expression and less access to news and entertainment that is unapproved by the government. The rules will thereby undermine Indian democracy,” Jain told VOA. At the center…


Jun152021 by TechmanNo Comments

India’s Government in Standoff with Twitter Over Online Speech

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The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a battle with U.S. tech firms over a new set of online speech rules that it has enacted for the nation of nearly 1.4 billion.  The rules require companies to restrict a range of topics on their services, comply with government takedown orders and identify the original source of information shared. If the companies fail to comply, tech firm employees can be held criminally liable.  The escalation of tensions between Modi’s government and tech firms, activists say, could result in the curtailment of Indians’ online speech.  “Absent a change in direction, the future of free speech in the world’s largest democracy is increasingly imperiled,” said Samir Jain, director of policy at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a digital rights advocacy group. “Users will have less freedom of expression and less access to news and entertainment that is unapproved by the government. The rules will thereby undermine Indian democracy,” Jain told VOA. At the center…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

Novavax Reports Vaccine 90% Effective; Supply Questions Remain

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Another highly effective vaccine is poised to join the fight against COVID-19.  But its impact may be blunted by supply issues. The manufacturer expected to produce the bulk of the doses is in India, where the government has banned vaccine exports.  FILE - A car drives past the sign for vaccine developer Novavax at the company's headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Nov. 30, 2020."Many of our first doses will go to … low- and middle-income countries, and that was the goal to begin with," Novavax CEO Stanley Erck told The Associated Press. The vaccine does not have the special cold storage requirements of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. That means low- and middle-income countries "can use the cold chain that they have already set up for routine childhood vaccines," said William Moss, executive…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

WHO Chief: New COVID-19 Cases Decline for 7 Weeks

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The World Health Organization said Monday that while the number of new COVID-19 cases has fallen steadily for seven straight weeks, the virus continues to spread and kill people in Africa, a region with little or no access to vaccines and treatments.Speaking from the agency's headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the overall decline in new cases, the longest since the pandemic began, was certainly welcome news. But he said deaths overall were not falling as quickly and declined only slightly last week.Tedros said the decline in cases also masks the fact that the virus continues to spread and kill in regions such as Africa, which has limited access to vaccines and treatments such as oxygen and diagnostic equipment.FILE - A medical team rolls a coronavirus patient…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

Cameroon Begs Civilians to Donate Blood on World Blood Donor Day

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Medical authorities in Cameroon marked World Blood Donor Day on Monday with continued pleas for blood donors, after a dramatic drop in donations over the past year. Donations fell by half in 2020, then by nearly half again so far this year, worsening the country's blood shortage.Officials in Cameroon point to 32-year-old Alphonse Suh Chia as a good example of a determined, voluntary blood donor.  Chia says he became a blood donor in February, after he watched as a 6-year-old boy died of severe anemia in the Central Hospital in Yaounde. He says the medical staff members on duty told him that the blood bank was dry and there was no one to donate blood to save the child's life. Chia says he was being treated for malaria at the hospital…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

Chinese Lab-Leak Investigators Demand Inquiry into Role Science Journals Played During Pandemic

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Scientists who have been challenging the theory that the coronavirus emerged naturally and couldn’t have leaked from a Chinese lab are calling for an inquiry into the role played during the pandemic by leading Western science and medical journals, including Nature and The Lancet. They say the editors of the influential journals rebuffed dozens of critical articles which raised at least the possibility of the coronavirus being engineered and that it might have subsequently leaked from a lab in Chinese city of Wuhan.  “The managers of these journals may have wanted to appease the Chinese Communist Party, as China is where an increasing proportion of their revenue comes from, and China has made it clear that those journals it supports must agree to adhere to its policy agendas,” Nikolai Petrovsky, a professor…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

Novavax Reports its COVID Vaccine is 90 Percent Effective

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U.S.-based biotech company Novavax announced Monday that Phase 3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine show it to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing the disease and provide good protection against variants. A release from the company said the study enrolled 29,960 participants across 119 sites in the United States and Mexico with an emphasis on recruiting a representative population of communities and demographic groups most impacted by the disease. While demand for COVID-19 shots in the U.S. has dropped off dramatically, the need for more vaccines around the world remains critical as many developing nations are just getting vaccine programs going or have yet to start. The Novavax vaccine, which is easy to store and transport, is expected to play an important role in boosting vaccine supplies…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

US TikToker Leads Global Campaign to Clean Up Oceans 

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Elizabeth Sherr had always had a passion for the ocean since she was young so trying to clean up the trash that litters beaches and the sea seemed a natural move. When she moved to live next to the sea in Barcelona, the native New Yorker posted some videos on TikTok encouraging others to help rid the beach of cigarette butts and plastic bottles but did not hold out much hope it would catch on. This undated handout photograph released on Jan. 14, 2021 by the University of Barcelona shows an underwater view of a Posidonia Oceanica seagrass meadow in the Mediterranean Sea. (AFP photo / University of Barcelona / Jordi Regas)To her surprise, after one video went viral, Sherr became the face of a global cleanup operation that removed almost 800,000…


Jun142021 by DmediaNo Comments

Australia Outlines Bold Moves to Ban Single-Use Plastic and Coffee Cups

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Conservationists have praised efforts by Australian authorities to drastically reduce the amount of plastic waste and eliminate some disposable coffee cups. The New South Wales state government wants to ban many common plastic items, including straws, drinks stirrers and cutlery, as well as polystyrene cups in a bid to protect the environment and reduce waste.    Lightweight plastic shopping bags could be eliminated within six months of new laws being passed.  The reforms could be approved by lawmakers this year. Other products will be phased out at different times depending on the availability of, for example, paper and bamboo alternatives.    Officials have estimated the measures will stop about 2.7 billion items of plastic from ending up in the environment and oceans over the next 20 years.    New South Wales Environment Minister Matt Kean has warned that the world is on track to have more plastic in the ocean than fish by…


Jun132021 by TechmanNo Comments

Trip to Space with Jeff Bezos Sells for $28 Million

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A mystery bidder paid $28 million at auction Saturday for a seat alongside Jeff Bezos on board the first crewed spaceflight of the billionaire's company Blue Origin next month.The Amazon founder revealed this week that both he and his brother Mark would take seats on board the company's New Shepard launch vehicle on July 20, to fly to the edge of space and back.The Bezos brothers will be joined by the winner of Saturday's charity auction, whose identity remains unknown, and by a fourth, as yet unnamed space tourist."The name of the auction winner will be released in the weeks following the auction's conclusion," tweeted Blue Origin following the sale."Then, the fourth and final crew member will be announced -- stay tuned."Saturday's successful bidder beat out some 20 rivals in…


Jun132021 by DmediaNo Comments

Saudi Arabia Limits Hajj to 60,000 in Kingdom

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Saudi Arabia announced Saturday this year's Hajj pilgrimage will be limited to no more than 60,000 people, all of them from within the kingdom, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.The announcement by the kingdom comes after it ran an incredibly pared-down pilgrimage last year over the virus, but still allowed a small number of the faithful to take part in the annual ceremony.A statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted the kingdom's Hajj and Umrah Ministry making the announcement. It said this year's Hajj, which will begin in mid-July, will be limited to those ages 18 to 65.Those taking part must be vaccinated as well, the ministry said."The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is honored to host pilgrims every year, confirms that this arrangement comes out of its constant…