US capital starts to come back to life after virus shutdown

Life is slowly restarting in Washington as many major attractions, including the Washington Monument, begin to reopen after a six-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Testing drive unveiled as virus deaths pass one million

Coronavirus tests that deliver results in 15-30 minutes are to be rolled out across the United States and in scores of poorer countries, as health authorities worldwide try to get a handle on a disease that has now killed more than a million people.

New clampdowns for Montreal, Quebec City as Covid-19 cases soar

Quebec, the province hardest hit by the pandemic in Canada, on Monday reintroduced restrictions to limit the spread of the COVID-19 illness in three regions including Montreal and Quebec City.

Millions in Chile capital emerge from lockdown

Chile on Monday lifted strict coronavirus lockdown measures for millions of people in the capital Santiago, a month ahead of a key referendum to amend the dictatorship-era constitution.

Mexico ups COVID-19 'estimate' to 89,612 deaths

Mexico upped its "estimated" COVID-19 deaths to 89,612 on Monday, and boosted estimates of its total number of cases to 870,699, almost 137,000 more than it previously recognized.

Brazil revokes mangrove protections, triggering alarm

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government on Monday revoked regulations protecting mangroves and other fragile coastal ecosystems, in a measure environmentalists condemned as a "crime" that would lead to their destruction.

Google clamps down on apps dodging Play Store 30% cut

Google said Monday it plans to start enforcing a rule requiring Android apps in its Play store to use its payment system, which takes a 30 percent cut of transactions.

Weibo parent Sina to delist US stocks in $2.6 bn deal

Chinese internet giant Sina Corp, the parent company of the country's vast Twitter-like Weibo platform, plans to delist its US shares and go private, making it the latest mainland firm to withdraw from Wall Street as relations between Beijing and Washington sour.

A viral march across the planet, tracked by a map in motion

On a Thursday night in early January, the disease that would become known as COVID-19 claimed its first victim, a 61-year-old man who succumbed to the newly identified coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, in the People's Republic of China.

NYC elementary schools reopen in big back-to-school test

Hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms Tuesday as New York City enters a high-stakes stage of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic, which is keeping students at home in many other big U.S. school systems.

Purging water system of brain-eating microbe to take 60 days

A Houston-area official said Monday it will take 60 days to ensure a city drinking water system is purged of a deadly, microscopic parasite that doctors believed killed a boy and that led to warnings for others not to drink tap water.

United Arab Emirates to launch spacecraft to moon in 2024

A top official in the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday his country plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024.

500 years ago, another epidemic swept Mexico: smallpox

There were mass cremations of bodies; entire families died and the inhabitants of the city, afraid to pull their bodies out, simply collapsed their homes on top of them to bury them on the spot.

Dying winds give crews hope in Northern California fires

Firefighters say they hoped dying winds would enable them to bear down on a wildfire that exploded in the Northern California wine country, prompting tens of thousands of evacuations while a second blaze killed at least three people.

Cyberattack hobbles major hospital chain's US facilities

A computer outage at a major hospital chain thrust healthcare facilities across the U.S. into chaos Monday, with treatment impeded as doctors and nurses already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic were forced to rely on paper backup systems.

EPA ridicules California's proposed ban of new gas cars

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler on Monday ridiculed California Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, saying the proposal raises "significant questions of legality."

Preventing heart disease could keep more people employed and save billions for the economy

Preventing 10 years of coronary heart disease would save nearly USD $15 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) by keeping people gainfully employed. That's the finding of a study published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

China's air pollutant reduction success could make it tougher to control climate change

China's success in improving air quality by cutting polluting emissions may have a negative knock-on effect on climate change overall, a new study has found.

Plant droplets serve as nutrient-rich food for insects

Small watery droplets on the edges of blueberry bush leaves are loaded with nutrients for many insects, including bees, wasps and flies, according to a Rutgers-led study, the first of its kind.

Lung cancer screening a step closer to reality following combined study

Newly released study results present a strong case for lung cancer screening in New Zealand—particularly for Māori whose mortality rates are between three and four times higher than other ethnic groups.

New drug targeting DNA repair shows promise in range of advanced cancers

A new precision drug which stops cancer from repairing its DNA has shown promise in an early-stage clinical trial—highlighting the potential of a new class of drugs known as ATR inhibitors.

Understanding ghost particle interactions

Scientists often refer to the neutrino as the "ghost particle." Neutrinos were one of the most abundant particles at the origin of the universe and remain so today. Fusion reactions in the sun produce vast armies of them, which pour down on the Earth every day. Trillions pass through our bodies every second, then fly through the Earth as though it were not there.

Girls benefit from doing sports

Girls—but not boys—who participate actively in school sports activities in middle childhood show improved behavior and attentiveness in early adolescence, suggests a new Canadian study published in Preventative Medicine.

Justice Dept. expected to file antitrust action vs. Google

The Justice Department is expected to bring an antitrust action against Google in coming weeks, focusing on its dominance in online search and whether it was used to stifle competition and hurt consumers, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press Thursday.

BMW fined $18 mn in US over inflated sales data

US securities regulators charged BMW with inflating its retail sales volumes to investors, fining the luxury car company $18 million in a settlement announced Thursday.

Hacked software provider won't say if ransomware involved

A day after informing customers that it had been hacked by an unknown intruder, a major U.S. provider of software services to state and local governments —including posting election data online— said the impact appeared limited and there is no reason to believe its customers were affected.

House backs bill to boost 'clean energy,' enhance efficiency

The House has approved a modest bill to promote "clean energy" and increase energy efficiency while phasing out the use of coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators that are considered a major driver of global warming.

Moscow mayor orders elderly to stay home as virus rebounds

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Friday ordered the elderly to stay at home and recommended employers allow home working after the Russian capital saw a sharp rise in virus cases.

Whale rescuers face grim task in Australia mass stranding

After days wading through chilly waters, surrounded by the pained cries of hundreds of stranded whales on Australia's south coast, rescuers faced the grim task Friday of disposing of the carcasses.

US probe to touch down on asteroid Bennu on October 20

After a four-year journey, NASA's robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx will descend to asteroid Bennu's boulder-strewn surface on October 20, touching down for a few seconds to collect rock and dust samples, the agency said Thursday.

Google removes street view virtual tour of Australia's Uluru

Google has removed images from its Street View that allowed users to virtually walk on Australia's Uluru, a sacred Aboriginal site closed to tourists since last year, the company said Friday.

Ultrapotent compound may help treat C. diff, reduce recurrence

Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, is the leading cause of health care-associated infection in the U.S.

Heart rhythm in COVID-19 patients receiving short term treatment with hydroxychloroquine

Short-term hydroxychloroquine treatment is not associated with lethal heart rhythms in patients with COVID-19 who are risk assessed prior to receiving the drug. That's the finding of research published today in EP Europace, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

Tree rings show scale of Arctic pollution is worse than previously thought

The largest-ever study of tree rings from Norilsk in the Russian Arctic has shown that the direct and indirect effects of industrial pollution in the region and beyond are far worse than previously thought.

New vulnerability found in lung squamous cancer may facilitate drug targeting

New cancer research by scientists at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues, shows the potential for targeting a specific circular RNA, known as CDR1as, to attack lung squamous cell cancer. Lung squamous cell cancers comprise up to 30% of all lung cancers and are responsible for about 70,000 new cases and approximately 40,000 deaths each year in the U.S.

The male Y chromosome does more than we thought

New light is being shed on a little-known role of Y chromosome genes, specific to males, that could explain why men suffer differently than women from various diseases, including COVID-19.

3-D camera earns its stripes

Stripes are in fashion this season at a Rice University lab, where researchers use them to make images that plain cameras could never capture.

Simpler models may be better for determining some climate risk

Typically, computer models of climate become more and more complex as researchers strive to capture more details of our Earth's system, but according to a team of Penn State researchers, to assess risks, less complex models, with their ability to better sample uncertainties, may be a better choice.

Experts compare strategies for easing lockdown restrictions in Europe and Asia Pacific

Authors of a review of policies, based on the experiences of nine high-income countries and regions' easing of lockdown measures, published in The Lancet journal, are urging governments to consider five key factors in lockdown exit strategies.

Research challenges conventional wisdom about key autism trait

A new study into the causes of sensorimotor impairments prevalent among autistic people could pave the way for better treatment and management in the future, say psychologists.

How do Americans view the virus? Anthropology professor examines attitudes of COVID

In her ongoing research about Americans' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, Northern Arizona University anthropology professor Lisa Hardy and her collaborators have talked to dozens of people. A couple of them stand out to the researchers.

Historical racial and ethnic health inequities account for disproportionate COVID-19 impact

A new Viewpoint piece published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society examines the ways in which COVID-19 disproportionately impacts historically disadvantaged communities of color in the United States, and how baseline inequalities in our health system are amplified by the pandemic. The authors also discuss potential solutions.

Higher COVID-19 mortality in men could be explained by differences in circulating proteins and immune system cells

New research presented at the ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Diseases (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) suggests that the higher risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes in men could be explained by differences in circulating proteins and immune system cells compared with women. The study is by Gizem Kilic, Radbound University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues.

Study of UK key workers shows around half who had COVID-19 symptoms probably did not have the disease

New research from Public Health England (PHE) presented at this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) shows up to half of UK key workers from a cohort of just under 3,000 individuals recruited (including police, fire and healthcare workers) who had self-reported symptoms of COVID-19 did not test positive for antibodies to the disease. This suggests that their symptoms were due to other conditions. The study was presented by Ranya Mulchandani, PHE, Birmingham, UK in collaboration with PHE colleagues and academic partners across the UK.

Older Western Europeans could already have systemic 'profile' that makes them susceptible to severe COVID-19

New research presented the ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) shows that the severe COVID-19 immunological profile, represented by changes in cell populations and circulating inflammatory proteins, is already partly present in older healthy individuals.

Novel neuroimaging study on dissociative symptoms reveals wounds of childhood trauma

Being traumatized can cause what are known as dissociative symptoms—such as experiencing amnesia, an out-of-body experience, feeling emotionally numb—which may help people cope. Experiencing these symptoms intensely or for a long time, however, can negatively impact an individual's ability to function.

Inside the secret lives of synchronous fireflies

During typical summers in the southeastern U.S., streams of visitors travel to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to witness one of nature's most spectacular displays of light: thousands of male fireflies, all flashing together in near-perfect harmony.

COVID-19 opens a partisan gap on voting by mail

Before the pandemic, there wasn't any difference in the rates at which Democratic and Republican voters actually cast their ballots by mail or in-person. That may change now.

Researchers combine CAT scans and advanced computing to fight wildfires

As wildfires rage across much of the American West, researchers at Stanford have used CAT scanners, the same instruments used in medicine to peer inside the human body, to understand the process of smoldering—the state of burning without flame that often leads to fire. They then folded this deeper understanding of burning into computer models to predict where wildfires might strike next. These models could help firefighters allocate precious resources, reduce the loss of property and help save lives, the researchers say.

Psychologists investigate COVID-19's mental toll on teenagers

The COVID-19 crisis has taken a psychological toll on people of all ages, but one group especially affected is teenagers. School closures and enforced social distancing have cut off many teens from major means of psychological support, putting them at higher risk of developing anxiety and depression.