Last year, scientists at Scripps Research and Toscana Life Sciences studied the blood of 14 COVID-19 survivors to find the most potent antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. One of the leading molecules that emerged – now in stage II/III trials in Italy – was an antibody dubbed J08, which seemed to be capable of both preventing and treating COVID-19.
Now, the same group – a collaboration between scientists at Scripps Research and in Italy and France –...
Bernard Bigot, a French scientist leading a vast international effort to demonstrate that nuclear fusion can be a viable source of energy, has died, Phys.org reports. He was 72.
The organization behind the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, said Bigot died Saturday from an unspecified illness. The organization's director general since March 2015, Bigot was approaching the midway point of his second term, due to end in 2025.
An ITER statement described his death as "a...
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned his Finnish counterpart that joining NATO and abandoning Finland's neutral status would be a "mistake".
He told Sauli Niinistö there was no threat to Finland's security, the BBC reports.
The exchange came during a phone call made by the Finnish president, ahead of a formal request that Finland is expected to announce soon. Sweden has also indicated its intention to join the western alliance, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Finland shares a...
North Korea today (Saturday) reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19, reports Medical Xpress.
The new deaths and cases, which were from Friday, increased total numbers to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses amid a rapid spread of fever since late April. North Korea said 243,630 people had recovered and 280,810 remained in quarantine. State media didn't specify how many of the...
A total lunar eclipse will grace the night skies this weekend, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America, Phys.org reports.
The celestial action unfolds Sunday night into early Monday morning, with the moon bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth's sunsets and sunrises for about 1.5 hours, one of the longest totalities of the decade. It will be the first so-called blood moon in a year.
Observers in...
Elon Musk has said his $44-billion deal to buy Twitter is on hold after he queried the number of fake or spam accounts on the social media platform.
He said he was waiting for information "supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users."
Musk has been vocal on cleaning up spam accounts. However, analysts speculated he could be seeking to renegotiate the price or even walk away from the takeover.
Musk added later that...
It's not every day that someone comes across a new state of matter in quantum physics, the scientific field devoted to describing the behaviour of atomic and subatomic particles in order to elucidate their properties.
Yet this is exactly what has been done by an international team of researchers that includes Andrea Bianchi, University of Montreal physics professor and researcher at the Regroupement québécois sur les matériaux de pointe, and his students Avner Fitterman and...
There has been a sustained cyber-conflict over Ukraine that could still escalate, a senior U.S. intelligence official has told the BBC.
Despite warnings, major cyber-attacks on the West have so far not materialized.
But Russia should not be underestimated, said Rob Joyce, director of cyber-security at the National Security Agency.
Meanwhile, independent hackers targeting Russia in support of Ukraine could also spark escalation, he warned.
"I'm still very worried about the threats emanating from around the Russia-Ukraine situation,"...
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has resigned amid mass protests at the government's handling of a deepening economic crisis.
The move came as the island was placed under curfew after violent clashes between Rajapaksa supporters and anti-government protesters in Colombo.
Five people have died, including a ruling party MP, and more than 190 were injured in violence in the capital.
There have been protests over soaring prices and power cuts since last month.
Sri Lanka is facing...
The value of Bitcoin has dropped to less than half of what it was at its peak last November. At the time of publishing, Bitcoin was down 7.6% in today's trading to US$31,443.30.
The fall of the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value comes as stock markets around the world have tumbled in recent days, the BBC reports.
On Monday, key European, Asian and US indexes slid lower again. Japan's Nikkei index dropped 2.5%, while London's FTSE 100...
