Science & Technology News

[SailOar]

Scientists used a 3D printer to create the world's smallest boat


A boat has been 3D-printed by Leiden physicists Rachel Doherty, Daniela Kraft and colleagues.
From prow to stern it measures 30 micrometers, about a third of the thickness of a hair.

Using an electron microscope and a high resolution 3D printer a team from Leiden University imaged and then constructed the vessel as part of research into potential designs for vehicles that could travel inside the human body, for example to administer medical treatments. It is a tiny copy of the "Benchy" boat, a test structure often used to test the effectiveness of 3D printers.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SailOar

Scientists used a 3D printer to create the world's smallest boat


A boat has been 3D-printed by Leiden physicists Rachel Doherty, Daniela Kraft and colleagues.
From prow to stern it measures 30 micrometers, about a third of the thickness of a hair.

I've always said, go with the smallest boat you require, but this might be taking things too far .

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I've always said, go with the smallest boat you require, but this might be taking things too far .

This is actually the boat the covid-19 took to get across the Atlantic

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by DeValency

This is actually the boat the covid-19 took to get across the Atlantic

Badda-Bing!

[GordMay]

“Scientists pinpoint possible reasons for successful cross-species viral spread” ~ University of Glasgow
Infectious disease emergence is often the result of a pathogen entering a new host species, as highlighted by COVID-19. However, most cross-species transmissions fail to establish in the newly- infected species.
In a new study – led by a team of researchers at the University of Glasgow and published today in PNAS – scientists found disease progression was accelerated, which reduced the chances of onwards transmission, when the original host and the new host were physiologically or genetically more dissimilar.
For diseases to emerge, pathogens not only need to infect a novel host, but also be subsequently transmitted from one individual to another – a critical step. Why some pathogens succeed at this point while others fail is not well understood...
More ➥ https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_759726_en.html

“Virulence mismatches in index hosts shape the outcomes of cross-species transmission” ~ by Nardus Mollentze et al
➥ https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2.../27/2006778117

[Singularity]

The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End
In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information, which seems impossible by definition. The work appears to resolve a paradox that Stephen Hawking first described five decades ago.

...these effects come to dominate when the black hole gets to be extremely old. The hole transforms from a hermit kingdom to a vigorously open system. Not only does information spill out, anything new that falls in is regurgitated almost immediately.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-b...-end-20201029/

[GordMay]

Fast Healers
Study uncovers COVID-19 patients who recover quickly, and sustain protective antibodies
How long does protective immunity last after COVID-19? This has been one of the most pressing questions about the disease, that has fueled a raging pandemic, and affected millions across the globe.
A new study, led by Harvard Medical School investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, sheds new light on this critical question.
The team’s results, published in Cell, indicate that while antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 declined in most individuals after disease resolution, a subset of patients sustained antivirus antibody production for several months following infection.
These antibody “sustainers” had a shorter course of symptoms, suggesting that some individuals who recover from COVID-19 quickly may be mounting a more effective and durable immune response to the virus.
The team found that IgG levels against the virus tended to decline substantially in most individuals over the course of three to four months. However, in about 20 percent of individuals, antibody production remained stable or enhanced over the same period.
The team found that these “sustainers” had symptoms for a significantly shorter period of time, compared with “decayers” (average of 10 days versus 16 days).
Sustainers also had differences in memory T cell and B cell populations, two types of immune cells that play important roles in immune memory and protection.
Understanding just why and how these efficient responders sustain more robust antibody production, and experience swifter disease resolution, may help illuminate new therapies, that modulate the immune system, to help it clear the infection, and sustain its protective arsenal.


“Quick COVID-19 Healers Sustain Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Production” ~ by Yuezhou Chen et al
➥ https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/s...F9DB78042A16D0

[Singularity]

Not new news, and this 2017 study really just re-discovered an older finding, but this study of Dengue describes the "sour-spot" range of antibodies that one does not want to have on board when entering a second infection. With re-infection, if a person has too few or too many antibodies, then the person fairs better....having the low-middle ~evil Goldilocks number of antibodies makes a worse course of disease. In that specific antibody range, the antibodies mechanistically provide more harm than good.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...se-than-first/
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6365/929

Commentary: while the linked article describes this finding as counter-intuitive, I'd suggest it noteworthy how even scientists can be biased against looking for smoking guns somewhere in the middle of a left/right distribution (and that this kind of stuff has to be re-discovered). It's been the case for countless disease processes that "extremes of distribution" discoveries accounting for disease has been overly simplistic, where treatments are developed, then modified later after it was determined that the initial finding was overly relied on "extreme of distribution" contributions to the disease process. In many of these instances the treatments/countermeasures have put a too-high % of people into greater danger than they were without treatment (e.g. aspirin).

How this 'sour spot' relates to Covid...who knows. But the logic part of biologic requires that at least this antibody dependent enhancement (and multiple untold similar biologic responses to infection) must contribute to worse outcomes in a small (if very tiny) % of people during both initial infection and primary infection, while vaccination just complicates the entire analysis.

[GordMay]

Science under fire:

"Midnight Watch Project" ~ New York University School of Law
The outgoing U.S. Administration is likely to take numerous midnight actions on environmental, climate and energy issues, to further its deregulatory agenda, during the 10 week presidential transition through Inauguration Day, on January 20. The Midnight Watch Project will track any of these eleventh-hour changes over nine areas: climate change; clean air; clean water; clean energy and energy efficiency; public lands; wildlife; safety and toxins; regulatory processes; and executive actions.
The State Impact Center will be tracking these breaking developments here.
➥ https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/stat...midnight-watch

The non-partisan State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU Law supports state attorneys general in defending and promoting clean energy, climate and environmental laws and policies.
➥ https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/state-impact

The “Silencing Science Tracker”, a joint initiative from Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, tracks government attempts to restrict scientific research or communication. It cites numerous instances in which scientific studies or reports, related to climate change or clean energy, were blocked, sidelined or delayed by federal agencies. To date, they've documented more than 400 attacks on science, including government efforts to restrict, censor, undermine, and misrepresent science.
➥ https://climate.law.columbia.edu/Sil...cience-Tracker

[GordMay]

Coronavirus Protection - Swiss Cheese Model & omni calculator

The “omni” calculator imitates a contact between two people (one is you), and is based on the swiss cheese model for coronavirus, adapted by Doctor Ian M. Mackay, who portrays the fight against COVID-19 as a pile of cheese slices.
Aleksandra Zając, a doctor specializing in nuclear medicine in Warsaw, devised a calculator to help people learn how much wearing masks and goggles, regularly washing their hands and keeping distance from others might help protect them.
“One individual cannot do much” beyond protecting themselves, Zając says, “but if we sum up all the individuals together and they all follow the rules, I truly believe we can control this pandemic.”
The more slices (ways of protection) you have, the less chance of the holes coinciding and the safer you are. No single protection is perfect.
The calculator simulates two people encountering each other, and estimates the risk of getting infected for, one of them. Then, it shows you the result, as a risk reduction, that you have made following the safety recommendations. This way, the tool displays how much you can do, on your own, with no great costs and no effort.
Calculator & More ➥ https://www.omnicalculator.com/healt...se-coronavirus


Transmission of the virus can be mitigated through physical distancing, use of face coverings, hand and respiratory hygiene, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. Rapid testing, contact tracing, and isolation are also critical to controlling transmission. WHO has been advocating for these measures since early in the pandemic.
As we see, there are actions and interventions on various levels. Contact tracing and rapid testing are not our job and do not depend on us, but everybody can wear a mask. Everybody can learn to wash their hands properly. You can wear a mask; you can wash your hands. You can save lives.
Do not lose that superpower.

[GordMay]

On November 8, 2020, the first passengers traveled safely on a hyperloop
Achieving airline speeds, in transportation at ground level is closer to reality, with the first passenger test of the Virgin Hyperloop in Nevada. Virgin Hyperloop demonstrated the concept, by carrying two passengers, on a half kilometre test "tube" in Nevada. The riders were only accelerated to 172 km/hr, but earlier tests without humans achieved 387 km/hr.
The technology promises ultra-high speed (eventually ± 1000 km/h) transport between cities.
About ➥ https://virginhyperloop.com/

SpaceX to launch first official crewed mission to space station
Four astronauts are scheduled to launch, Sunday (tonight) from the Kennedy Space Center, using the Crew Dragon capsule "Resilience"..
More ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/s...auts-1.5801370

[GordMay]

Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Meets its Primary Efficacy Endpoint in the First Interim Analysis of the Phase 3 COVE Study
The study is continuing, and Moderna acknowledged the protection rate might change, as more COVID-19 infections are detected, and added to the calculations. Also, it's too soon to know how long protection lasts.
Both cautions apply to Pfizer's vaccine as well.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer shots are frozen but at different temperatures. Moderna announced Monday that once thawed, its doses can last longer in a refrigerator than initially thought, up to 30 days. Pfizer's shots require long-term storage at ultra-cold temperatures.
- 'mRNA-1273' vaccine efficacy of 94.5%
- vaccine was generally well tolerated, majority of adverse events were mild or moderate in severity, and short lived
- on track to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses globally in 2021
More ➥ https://investors.modernatx.com/news...imary-efficacy
And ➥ https://www.modernatx.com/modernas-w...ainst-covid-19




Chemists discover the structure of a key coronavirus protein
The protein, envelope protein E, which acts as an ion channel, could be a target for new drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
If researchers could devise ways to block this channel, they may be able to reduce the pathogenicity of the virus, and interfere with viral replication.
More ➥ https://news.mit.edu/2020/chemists-d...s-protein-1112

[GordMay]

Medical experts call the temperature-controlled supply chain of vaccines and other protein-based pharmaceuticals the “cold chain,” because the protein molecules in these products can break down at higher temperatures, rendering them ineffective.


Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech said that their vaccine (BNT162b2) needs to be stored at minus 94 F.

Conversely, Moderna states that its vaccine (mRNA-1273) can be safely stored in freezers at about 25 F, a temperature easily reached by a home refrigerator freezer.

To prepare to store a hopefully forthcoming coronavirus vaccine, large urban hospitals across the U.S. are rushing to buy expensive ultra-cold freezers.
Most rural, and developing countries’ hospitals, can’t afford ultra-cold freezers, meaning health workers and residents in those communities may have difficulty getting the shots.

"After Conquering Space, Water Bears Could Save the Global Vaccine and Blood Supply"
Special proteins that help tardigrades survive extreme conditions might be the key to extending the shelf life of life-saving pharmaceuticals.
Boothby and his team have compared tardigrade proteins’ ability to preserve vaccine,s to that of FDA-approved protectants. CAHS proteins, they found, protect the proteins within pharmaceuticals about 10 times more efficiently, than current methods.
“... If tardigrade proteins could protect protein-based pharma, Boothby says, we wouldn’t have to rely on the cold chain to keep vaccines stable ...
➥ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/articl...-blood-supply/

[GordMay]

Early research suggests immunity to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can last for at least six months - and possibly much longer, perhaps even years, when all components of the body's immune memory are taken into consideration. The new study, which has not been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal, involves analyzing multiple compartments of immune memory over time: antibodies, B cells and T cells, among other features of immune memory.
The study comes with limitations, including that more research is needed to determine whether similar findings would emerge among a larger group of people across more time points.

“Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for greater than six months after infection” ~ by Jennifer M Dan et al
➥ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1....full.pdf+html

Expert reactions to a preprint investigating immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 after six months
➥ https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/e...er-six-months/

[Singularity]

Fear, Lockdown, and Diversion: Comparing Drivers of Pandemic Economic Decline 2020
University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2020-80
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=3631180

TLDR: Economics consequences mostly consumer driven, not lockdown driven. When/where this holds up, all studies/papers/arguments concluding "lockdowns causing all the problems" fundamentally don't understand the major drivers of cause-effect here.

This paper examines the drivers of the economic slowdown using cellular phone records data on customer visits to more than 2.25 million individual businesses across 110 different industries.
The collapse of economic activity in 2020 from COVID-19 has been immense. An important question is how much of that collapse resulted from government-imposed restrictions on activity versus people voluntarily choosing to stay home to avoid infection.

While overall consumer traffic fell by 60 percentage points, legal restrictions explain only 7 percentage points of this.

Individual choices were far more important and seem tied to fears of infection. Traffic started dropping before the legal orders were in place; was highly influenced by the number of COVID deaths reported in the county; and showed a clear shift by consumers away from busier, more crowded stores toward smaller, less busy stores in the same industry.

Although the shutdown orders had little aggregate impact, they did have a significant effect in reallocating consumer activity away from “nonessential” to “essential” businesses and from restaurants and bars toward groceries and other food sellers.