1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 185 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4 million. More than 3.29 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
Confirmed new COVID-19 cases have risen for the first time in more than two months in Germany.
It comes as the German government also announced plans to donate all its remaining AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses in August.
The Dutch government is reviewing its options following a spike in COVID-19 cases after an easing of restrictions.
Viet Nam is set to impose restrictions in Ho Chi Minh city for 15 days from Friday to tackle an outbreak of COVID-19 cases.
Turkmenistan has announced it’s making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all residents over 18 years old.
The Australian state of New South Wales has reported its biggest daily rise in locally acquired COVID-19 cases so far this year, despite a lockdown in capital Sydney.
South Korea has reported its highest ever single-day rise in new COVID-19 infections. Officials are considering imposing a semi-lockdown in capital Seoul in an effort to clamp down.
COVID-19 infections in England have quadrupled in a month since early June, a large study led by Imperial College London has shown.
2. World at ‘perilous point’: WHO
The Director-General of the World Health Organization warned in a media briefing yesterday that the “world is at a perilous point in this pandemic.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while some countries were planning to roll out booster shots and ease restrictions, the global inequity in vaccine production and distribution means that “variants are currently winning the race against vaccines”.
“Vaccine nationalism, where a handful of nations have taken the lion’s share, is morally indefensible and an ineffective public health strategy against a respiratory virus that is mutating quickly and becoming increasingly effective at moving from human-to-human,” he said.
Dr Tedros also acknowledged that more than 4 million confirmed COVID-19 deaths have now been recorded. He cautioned though that this “likely underestimates the overall toll”.
“From a moral, epidemiological or economic point of view, now is the time for the world to come together to tackle this pandemic collectively,” he said.
Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, also warned countries “not to lose the gains you’ve made” by opening up too quickly.
News
How a Palm-Sized Laser Could Change Medicine and Manufacturing
Researchers have developed an innovative and versatile system designed for a new generation of short-pulse lasers. Lasers that produce extremely short bursts of light are known for their remarkable precision, making them indispensable tools [...]
New nanoparticles stimulate the immune system to attack ovarian tumors
Cancer immunotherapy, which uses drugs that stimulate the body’s immune cells to attack tumors, is a promising approach to treating many types of cancer. However, it doesn’t work well for some tumors, including ovarian [...]
New Drug Kills Cancer 20,000x More Effectively With No Detectable Side Effects
By restructuring a common chemotherapy drug, scientists increased its potency by 20,000 times. In a significant step forward for cancer therapy, researchers at Northwestern University have redesigned the molecular structure of a well-known chemotherapy drug, greatly [...]
Lipid nanoparticles discovered that can deliver mRNA directly into heart muscle cells
Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide. But advances in heart-failure therapeutics have stalled, largely due to the difficulty of delivering treatments at the cellular level. Now, a UC Berkeley-led [...]
The basic mechanisms of visual attention emerged over 500 million years ago, study suggests
The brain does not need its sophisticated cortex to interpret the visual world. A new study published in PLOS Biology demonstrates that a much older structure, the superior colliculus, contains the necessary circuitry to perform the [...]
AI Is Overheating. This New Technology Could Be the Fix
Engineers have developed a passive evaporative cooling membrane that dramatically improves heat removal for electronics and data centers Engineers at the University of California San Diego have created an innovative cooling system designed to greatly enhance [...]
New nanomedicine wipes out leukemia in animal study
In a promising advance for cancer treatment, Northwestern University scientists have re-engineered the molecular structure of a common chemotherapy drug, making it dramatically more soluble and effective and less toxic. In the new study, [...]
Mystery Solved: Scientists Find Cause for Unexplained, Deadly Diseases
A study reveals that a protein called RPA is essential for maintaining chromosome stability by stimulating telomerase. New findings from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest that problems with a key protein that helps preserve chromosome stability [...]
Nanotech Blocks Infection and Speed Up Chronic Wound Recovery
A new nanotech-based formulation using quercetin and omega-3 fatty acids shows promise in halting bacterial biofilms and boosting skin cell repair. Scientists have developed a nanotechnology-based treatment to fight bacterial biofilms in wound infections. The [...]
Researchers propose five key questions for effective adoption of AI in clinical practice
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool that physicians can use to help diagnose their patients and has great potential to improve accuracy, efficiency and patient safety, it has its drawbacks. It [...]
Advancements and clinical translation of intelligent nanodrugs for breast cancer treatment
A comprehensive review in "Biofunct. Mater." meticulously details the most recent advancements and clinical translation of intelligent nanodrugs for breast cancer treatment. This paper presents an exhaustive overview of subtype-specific nanostrategies, the clinical benefits [...]
It’s Not “All in Your Head”: Scientists Develop Revolutionary Blood Test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A 96% accurate blood test for ME/CFS could transform diagnosis and pave the way for future long COVID detection. Researchers from the University of East Anglia and Oxford Biodynamics have created a highly accurate [...]
How Far Can the Body Go? Scientists Find the Ultimate Limit of Human Endurance
Even the most elite endurance athletes can’t outrun biology. A new study finds that humans hit a metabolic ceiling at about 2.5 times their resting energy burn. When ultra-runners take on races that last [...]
World’s Rivers “Overdosing” on Human Antibiotics, Study Finds
Researchers estimate that approximately 8,500 tons of antibiotics enter river systems each year after passing through the human body and wastewater treatment processes. Rivers spanning millions of kilometers across the globe are contaminated with [...]
Yale Scientists Solve a Century-Old Brain Wave Mystery
Yale scientists traced gamma brain waves to thalamus-cortex interactions. The discovery could reveal how brain rhythms shape perception and disease. For more than a century, scientists have observed rhythmic waves of synchronized neuronal activity [...]
Can introducing peanuts early prevent allergies? Real-world data confirms it helps
New evidence from a large U.S. primary care network shows that early peanut introduction, endorsed in 2015 and 2017 guidelines, was followed by a marked decline in clinician-diagnosed peanut and overall food allergies among [...]
