A Science and Technology Blog
That scientists who pioneered the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, the biggest game-changer in biology in recent years, will win the Nobel Prize was never in doubt; it was only a question of when and who would get recognised for the work done to develop the tool.
While black carbon has a large effect on snow darkening and resultant melting of snow, dust particles transported from as far as Saudi Arabia that gets deposited in the Western Himalayan Region has a large role to play in melting of snow, particularly at higher elevations.
While rapid antigen tests used repeatedly in the same population can be used for screening, RT-PCR tests are designed for use with symptomatic people and so need not be low-cost…
The world’s first human challenge trial for a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is set to begin in London in January. Human challenge trials for the SARS-CoV-2 virus have many challenges, including producing a strain that is less virulent, but Dr. Gagandeep Kang says such trials can provide information and help design better vaccines than we can do now with conventional trials.
While in-flight transmission of novel coronavirus among passengers is considered to be low, three studies have found instances where coronavirus transmission had probably taken place in-flight. The spread has probably become possible as mask wearing was not compulsory early in the pandemic. But thermal imaging, which has been in place since the beginning, has been found wanting.
Based on experiments and simulations, researchers have found that air emitted during plosive speech sounds — where a consonant (P, B, T, D, K and G) is produced by stopping the airflow using the lips, tongue tip or body followed by a sudden release of air — lead to significantly enhanced directed transport of the virus. When the speech contains a train of such puffs a continuous, turbulent, jet-like flow is formed and is capable of transporting air and droplets to over two metres in just 30 seconds.
Of the 1,140 pregnant women presenting at 15 hospitals in Maharashtra, 141 were found to be infected with novel coronavirus, translating to 12.3% prevalence. Pooled data of 141 pregnant women and 180 women from Nair Hospital in Mumbai revealed that only 11.5% of those infected showed symptoms, while the remaining 88.5% were asymptomatic.
A draft of the proposed changes to its recommendations, which was later withdrawn pending finalisation, the CDC confirmed that airborne particles can spread even by breathing, remain suspended in air and be inhaled and spread beyond six feet in certain enclosed settings.
