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Smartwatch data shows Covid booster vaccine is safe: Lancet study
“We saw clear and significant changes after administration of the...
2022 was a crucial year for India in combating climate change, reverse nature loss
The Centre also set a new target of 40 per cent reduction in...
Scientists find dangerous chemical pollutants in disposable face masks
Aa full investigation is necessary to determine the quantities and potential impacts of these particles leaching into the environment, and the levels being inhaled by users during normal breathing. This is a significant concern, especially for health care professionals, key workers, and children who are required to wear masks for large proportions of the working or school day.”
Experts feel ‘herd immunity’ looking unlikely in US: Report
Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from infectious diseases that can occur with some diseases when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections, thereby reducing the likelihood of infection for individuals who lack immunity.
According to The New York Times, the experts believe that the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the US for years to come, still causing hospitalisations and deaths but in much smaller numbers.
Google’s earthquake alerts system to be made available in more countries
The tech giant announced that the earthquake alerts will now be available in two more locations. Android users in Greece and New Zealand will now receive automatic notifications about earthquakes in the regions. Google stated that it chose these countries because they lack early warning system alerts. Users can turn these notifications off if they like.
Global e-commerce jumps to $26.7 trillion, fuelled by COVID-19
The digital retail economy experienced the most growth in the Republic of Korea, where internet sales increased from around one in five transactions in 2019 to more than one in four last year.
The UK also saw a spike in online transactions over the same period, from 15.8 to 23.3 per cent; so too did China (from 20.7 to 24.9 per cent), the US (11 to 14 per cent), Australia (6.3 to 9.4 per cent), Singapore (5.9 to 11.7 per cent) and Canada (3.6 to 6.2 per cent).
“These statistics show the growing importance of online activities”, said Shamika Sirimanne, UNCTAD’s director of technology and logistics. “They also point to the need for countries, especially developing ones, to have such information as they rebuild their economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Billions of computers at hacking risk: Indian-origin scientist
However, researchers, led by Ashish Venkat at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, UVA Engineering, discovered that computer processors are open to hackers again.
They found a whole new way for hackers to exploit something called a “micro-op cache,” which speeds up computing by storing simple commands and allowing the processor to fetch them quickly and early in the speculative execution process.
Indonesia finds cases of Indian COVID-19 variant as officials warn on Eid travel
Indonesia, which has been trying to contain one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia, stopped issuing visas last month for foreigners who had been in India in the previous 14 days.
The two cases of the Indian variant, known as B.1.617, were found in Jakarta, while the minister said a variant first discovered in South Africa was also detected in Bali.
Could not predict exact nature of 2nd wave: Scientists working on mathematical models
”Clearly, the model predictions in this instance were incorrect because of the reasons below,” they said, listing reasons why. A mathematical model, they said, can only predict the future with some certainty so long as virus dynamics and its transmissibility do not change substantially over time. Mathematical models can also provide a mechanism to predicting alternate scenarios corresponding to various policy decisions such as non-pharmaceutical interventions, they added.
US may be winning war against Covid with vaccinations
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 34 per cent proportion of the US population already have some immunity to the virus from having been exposed to the virus.
Added to this is the vaccination campaign, the report said. More than 43 per cent of the population has now gotten at least one shot, and a third are fully vaccinated. That’s getting very close to where other countries, such as Israel, started to turn the corner and experience a precipitous drop in infections, it added.
Covid’s spike protein plays key role in illness: Study
“A lot of people think of it as a respiratory disease, but it’s really a vascular disease,” said Uri Manor, Assistant Research Professor at the Salk Institute in California.
“That could explain why some people have strokes, and why some people have issues in other parts of the body. The commonality between them is that they all have vascular underpinnings,” Manor added.
ICMR advises against NSAIDs, says some painkillers found to worsen Covid-19
On whether patients with heart disease, diabetes or hypertension are at an increased risk to get the infection, the apex health research body said, “No, people with hypertension, diabetes or heart diseases are at no greater risk of getting the infection than anyone else.”
Some people with diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases, including heart failure (weak heart), may develop more severe symptoms and complications, it said, adding that extra care is advised for these patients.