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Yale researchers report 'Remdesivir-resistant' Covid mutation


RT
Sat, 13 Nov 2021 15:15 UTC
Remdesivir
© Reuters / Ulrich PerreyA person holds an ampule of Remdesivir, an investigational Covid-19 treatment.
Researchers have discovered what's believed to be the first Covid-19 mutation resistant to the antiviral drug Remdesivir outside of the lab, according to a new preprint study.

In research published earlier this week ahead of peer review, scientists at Yale and the University of Washington School of Medicine said they found the mutation in a woman aged in her 70s, who was severely immunocompromised at the time she received Remdesivir due to cancer treatments.

Though such mutations have been produced in vitro during lab studies, they "have not been reported" in a real-life setting previously, the researchers said, noting that the finding is "limited to a single case" and requires further confirmation, but nonetheless "suggests that Remdesivir can impart selective pressure" and drive the evolution of the virus in infected cells.
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Brain

Flashback All your memories are stored by one weird, ancient molecule

Peter Hess
Inverse
Thu, 11 Jan 2018 21:45 UTC
virus infect cell
© Chris ManfreMuch as a virus infects host cells, Arc can deliver genetic material to brain cells.
We actually borrowed our ability to form memories from viruses.

How does memory work? The further we seem to dive in, the more questions we stumble upon about how the function of memory first evolved. Scientists made a key breakthrough with the identification of the Arc protein in 1995, observing how its role in the plastic changes in neurons was critical to memory consolidation.

This protein is already a big deal, but the Arc picture just got a lot more interesting. In a study published Thursday in the journal Cell, a team of researchers at the University of Utah, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, argue that Arc took its place in the brain as a result of a random chance encounter millions of years ago. Similar to how scientists say the mitochondria in our cells originated as bacteria that our ancient ancestors' cells absorbed, the Arc protein seems to have started as a virus.

Comment: Despite being mired in the materialistic conception of memory and 'evolution', this finding is fascinating. If the scientists would let go of their preconceptions of materialistic memory storage and random chance evolution, science might actually take great leaps forward in the understanding of how the brain works.

See also:

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Microscope 1

Breaking down fungal biofilm defenses provides potential path to treating sticky infections

Eric Hamilton
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:00 UTC
Candida albicans
© Wikimedia CommonsCandida albicans
The microbes that make us sick often have ways to evade our attacks against them. Perhaps chief among these strategies is a sticky, armor-like goo, called the biofilm matrix, that encases clusters of disease-causing organisms.

This defense works, sometimes in tragic ways. For example, biofilms form readily and invisibly on medical devices like catheters and implants and are highly resistant to drugs that might otherwise treat them. The infections they cause cost tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars a year in the U.S.

"There are no approved antimicrobials to treat biofilms. The only way to treat a biofilm is to physically remove it from the body," says David Andes, a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

In a new study designed to better understand and combat these structures, Andes and his collaborators identified some of the key proteins in biofilms of the fungus Candida albicans that control both how they resist antifungal drugs and how they become dispersed throughout the body.
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Gem

Diamond hauled from deep inside Earth holds theorized, but never-before-seen mineral

Bob Yirka
PhysOrg
Fri, 12 Nov 2021 22:35 UTC
diamond deep earth rate minieral mantle
© ShutterstockResearchers discovered the mineral davemaoite inside a diamond that was formed in Earth's mantle.
A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in the U.S. has found a sample of a mineral previously believed to be unable to exist in nature. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of a diamond found in Orapa, Botswana and the mineral specks they found trapped inside. Yingwei Fei with the Carnegie Institution for Science has published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining the work by the team and explaining why the mineral find is important to geology.
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Bizarro Earth

Israel to track and neutralise enemies with beam tech


RT
Fri, 12 Nov 2021 14:33 UTC
israel beam warfare scorpius
© Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
Israel has unveiled what it says is the world's first family of electronic warfare systems, capable of detecting and disrupting multiple targets at the same time with the use of special beams.

Its brand-new Scorpius systems are equipped to deal with drones, ships, radar installations and other aerial, ground and naval threats, state-run defense contractor Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on Thursday.

The units work not by firing missiles or bullets, but by sending out narrowly focused beams that jam various enemy systems, including radars, sensors, navigation equipment, and data communications.

Comment: Meanwhile China has been testing out hypersonic missiles and the US alleges that Russia has armed satellites capable of taking out ground based assets.

See also: Russia-China joint military exercise 'complete success', US-Israel perform 'first of its kind' military aerial operation in Southern Israel

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Moon

Scientist claims the Moon has enough oxygen for 8 billion people


RT
Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:30 UTC
cavern beneath Moon
© Stocktrek / Getty Images
The Moon's atmosphere doesn't contain enough oxygen for human life, but under the planet's rocky top layer, there's enough of the gas to sustain eight billion human lives for 100,000 years, according to a prominent scientist.

In a piece penned this week in The Conversation, John Grant, a lecturer in soil science at Australia's Southern Cross University explained that the Moon was heavy in minerals that bind tightly with oxygen.
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Cell Phone

Pegasus-style spyware found on thousands of South Korean smartphones


RT
Thu, 11 Nov 2021 16:30 UTC
Pegasus phone spyware
NSO makes Pegasus spyware favored by governments and intelligence agencies worldwide
Cybersecurity researchers have found spyware, similar to the notorious 'Pegasus' malware peddled by Israeli company NSO Group, on thousands of South Korean smartphones. The software is disguised as innocent yoga and photo apps.

Used by governments worldwide to spy on rival politicians, foreign powers, journalists, lawyers, and business figures, NSO Group's Pegasus malware has gotten significant media attention since its existence was revealed earlier this year by activists. While the Israeli firm has found itself maligned by the press and blacklisted by Washington, similar snooping software is reportedly still active and going unnoticed, as highlighted in a report published on Wednesday by cybersecurity company Zimperium.
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Moon

A ferris-wheel-size chunk of the moon is orbiting close to Earth

Brandon Specktor
Live Science
Thu, 11 Nov 2021 20:43 UTC
Kamo`oalewa asteroid piece of moon
© Addy Graham/University of ArizonaAn artist impression of Earth quasi-satellite Kamo`oalewa near the Earth-Moon system.
The asteroid Kamo'oalewa passes within 9 million miles of Earth every April. It may have once been part of our moon.

A small asteroid orbiting close to Earth could be a fragment of the moon that snapped off during an ancient impact, according to new research published Nov. 11 in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment.

If confirmed, that would make the asteroid the first near-Earth object with a known lunar origin โ€” and could help shed light on the chaotic history of our planet and its pockmarked companion, the researchers said.

The asteroid in question is called Kamo'oalewa โ€” a Hawaiian word that roughly means "the oscillating celestial fragment" โ€” and was discovered in 2016 by astronomers using the PanSTARRS telescope in Hawaii.
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Moon

Get ready: The longest partial lunar eclipse of the century is happening November 19, 2021

Ben Turner
LIve Science
Thu, 11 Nov 2021 19:32 UTC
lunar eclipse colors
© Westend61 via Getty ImagesThe moon takes on a dull orangey-red hue during a lunar eclipse
The partial eclipse takes place next week on the morning of Nov. 19

The longest partial lunar eclipse of the century is due to take place next week between Nov. 18 and. 19, and the gorgeous phenomenon will be visible in all 50 U.S. states.

NASA forecasts that the almost-total eclipse of the Micro Beaver Full Moon will last around 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds โ€” beginning at approximately 2:19 a.m. EST (7:19 a.m. UTC); reaching its maximum around 4 a.m. EST (9 a.m. UTC); and ending at 5:47 a.m. EST (10:47 a.m. UTC). The Micro Beaver moon is so named because it occurs when the moon is at the farthest point from Earth and in the lead-up to beaver-trapping season.
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Nebula

Screen of 250,000 species reveals unexpected tweaks to genetic code

Dan Robitzski
The Scientist
Tue, 09 Nov 2021 12:00 UTC
RNA molecules
© ISTOCK.COM, SELVANEGRATransfer RNA (tRNA) molecules ferry amino acids to a ribosome as it decodes a strand of mRNA to make a protein.
A massive screen of bacterial and archaeal genomes revealed five previously unknown instances where an organism uses an alternate code to translate genetic blueprints into proteins.

The genetic code that dictates how genetic information is translated into specific proteins is less rigid than scientists have long assumed, according to research published today (November 9) in eLife. In the paper, scientists report screening the genomes of more than 250,000 species of bacteria and archaea and finding five organisms that rely on an alternate genetic code, signifying branches in evolutionary history that haven't been fully explained.

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