SpaceX expanded its constellation of low Earth orbit satellites on Saturday with the launch of 53 Starlink satellites from Florida, reports Phys.org. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:19 a.m. EST and deployed the satellites about 16 minutes after launch. The rocket's reusable first stage, which has been used for multiple launches, including the first crewed test flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, successfully returned and landed on...
Since 1971, when the U.S. government made defeating cancer a goal and put major funding behind it, death rates for many cancers have plummeted, but some are increasing, according to a new American Cancer Society report. Death rates for all cancers combined have declined since passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971, according to the report. For example, in 2019, deaths from lung cancer were down 44% from the 1993 peak. But death rates were higher than...
A team of researchers led by an Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) faculty member performed the first-ever simulation of baryons – fundamental quantum particles – on a quantum computer. With the results, the team has taken a step toward more complex quantum simulations that will allow scientists to study neutron stars, learn more about the earliest moments of the universe, and realize the revolutionary potential of quantum computers. "Instead of smashing particles in an...
Next-generation vaccines for COVID-19 should aim to induce an immune response against "replication proteins", essential for the very earliest stages of the viral cycle, concludes new research carried out by University College London scientists. By designing vaccines that activate immune memory cells, known as T cells, to attack infected cells expressing this part of the virus's internal machinery, it may be possible to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 at the very outset, thereby helping limit spread. Currently...
To better understand the impact of sewage on coastal ecosystems, Cascade Tuholske (affiliated with Columbia Climate School) and colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara, conducted a novel analysis in which they estimated and mapped nitrogen and pathogen inputs into the ocean from sewage for about 135,000 watersheds around the world at a resolution of 1 kilometre. The assessment employed newly available, high-resolution data on global human populations and modeled how wastewater plumes entering...
The United States will send a crewed mission to the Moon "no earlier than 2025," NASA chief Bill Nelson told reporters today, officially pushing back the launch by at least a year. A target of 2024 was set by the administration of former president Donald Trump when it launched the Artemis program. But the program has faced numerous development delays ranging from its vehicles to the space suits required, reports Phys.org. Last week, NASA...
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered how a common gene mutation robs people of natural cancer protection. Hao Jiang of the UVA Cancer Center and his collaborators have revealed why a mutation in the UTX gene disrupts cells' ability to suppress tumors. The gene product, they found, forms tiny droplets in cells that help prevent tumour formation. But the mutation throws a wrench in that important process, leaving affected people vulnerable. The new...
Currently available COVID vaccines require cold storage and sophisticated manufacturing capacity, which makes it difficult to produce and distribute them widely, especially in less developed countries. A new type of vaccine would potentially be much easier to produce and would not need refrigeration, report researchers at Boston Children's Hospital.The researchers, led by Hidde Ploegh and first authors Novalia Pishesha and Thibault Harmand, say their technology could help fill global vaccination gaps and that the...
A research group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has developed a method for making an ultra-high material efficient solar cell using semiconductor nanowires. If this is placed on top of a traditional silicon-based solar cell, it could potentially double the efficiency of today's Si solar cells at low cost. "We have a new method of using gallium arsenide (GaAs) material in a very effective way through nanostructuring, so we can...
Treatment with arginine, one of the amino-acid building blocks of proteins, enhanced the effectiveness of radiation therapy in cancer patients with brain metastases, in a proof-of-concept, randomized clinical trial from investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and Angel H. Roffo Cancer Institute. The study, published Nov. 5 in Science Advances, reported the results of administering arginine, which can be delivered in oral form, prior to standard radiation therapy in 31 patients who had brain metastases....
