Science & Technology

• DOD, HHS Buy $1.1B in Coronavirus Therapeutics
  
  The Department of Defense will now focus its Operation Warp Speed to coronavirus therapeutics after agreeing to buy $375 million on Wednesday of Eli Lilly's yet-to-be-proven antibody treatment, according to the Washington Examiner.
• Facebook's Zuckerberg Hit by Tech Issues, Forcing Pause in Senate Hearing
  
  A U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on a key social media legal protection was briefly delayed when Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg struggled to appear remotely
• Study: Anti-Malarial Drug Helps Outpatients With COVID-19
  
  The anti-malarial drug promoted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 – and derided by his critics, has been found to help outpatients with the disease, a new peer-reviewed study says.
• Record Cold, Snow Strikes Western States, Rockies
  
  Heavy snow with accompanying unseasonably cold temperatures has gripped western states up and down the Rocky Mountains and affected areas in the central part of the nation from Minnesota to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas....
• Study Shows Over 80 Percent of COVID Patients Had Vitamin D Deficiency
  
  Vitamin D has been getting a lot of attention during COVID-19. A recent study found more than 82.2% of coronavirus patients hospitalized in Spain were deficient in the vitamin, while only 47.2% of healthy people had low levels of the sunshine vitamin.
• Fauci: Early Vaccines Only Stop Illness, Won't Stop Spread
  
  Dr. Anthony Fauci says early vaccines for the novel coronavirus will only prevent symptoms, not block the virus.
• Study Concludes Moon May Be Full of Ice
  
  The moon's shadowed, frigid nooks and crannies may hold frozen water in more places and in larger quantities than previously suspected, scientists said Monday.
• SpaceX Plans Starlink Satellite System for Mars
  
  Elon Musk's SpaceX aerospace technology company plans to surround Mars with a constellation of communication satellites like the Starlink series it has orbiting Earth.
• Vaccine Trials 'Can't Detect' Virus Risk Reduction: Expert
  
  None of the trials of COVId-19 candidate vaccines can detect a reduction in serious outcomes such as hospitalization or death, a leading public health expert said Thursday. Writing in the BMJ medical journal, associate editor Peter Doshi warned that not even phase 3 trials...
• Dan Gainor to Newsmax TV: Ordinary People Can't Compete With Google
  
  The average business owner cannot compete with Google, which is why the federal government has to intervene with its antitrust suit against the tech giant, media expert Dan Gainor told Newsmax TV.
• US Spacecraft Touches Asteroid for Rare Rubble Grab
  
  A NASA spacecraft descended to an asteroid Tuesday and, dodging boulders the size of buildings, momentarily touched the surface to collect a handful of cosmic rubble for return to Earth.
• Expert Cited in COVID Study on Safe Flying Disputes Report's Conclusion
  
  An infectious disease expert whose research was referred to in a study by the large aviation companies to encourage air travel during the pandemic said the report's conclusion flying has almost no risk is faulty, the New York Post reported Monday.
• Veterinary Drug Associated With Lower Mortality for COVID
  
  A drug originally developed in the 1970s as a veterinary medicine to combat parasites in livestock was associated with lower death rates among people suffering from COVID-19, a study conducted in Florida and published in the medical journal Chest revealed.
• Bezos's Blue Origin Launches Moon Rocket for NASA
  
  Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space company launched a New Shepard rocket for a seventh time from a remote corner of Texas on Tuesday, testing new lunar-landing technology for NASA that could help put astronauts back on the moon.
• Study: Coronavirus Antibodies May Last 3 Months After Initial Infection
  
  Coronavirus antibodies might exist in a person's blood at least three months after they were infected, according to a study in Science Immunology.
• US Deaths Increased by 20 Percent During Pandemic
  
  U.S. deaths increased by 20 percent between March 1 and July 1, with COVID-19 the cause of only 67% of those additional casualties, according to research published Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA.
• Gallup Poll: Just 50 Percent Say They'll Take COVID-19 Vaccine
  
  The latest Gallup Poll in late September showed only half of Americans say they will get a COVID-19 vaccine even it is cleared and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
• Caterpillar Bets on Self-Driving Machines Impervious to Pandemics
  
  Question: How can a company like Caterpillar try to counter a slump in sales of bulldozers and trucks during a pandemic that has made every human a potential disease vector? Answer: Cut out human operators, perhaps?Caterpillar's autonomous driving technology, which can be...
• Pfizer Attempts to Quell Critics' Concerns About Vaccine Candidate
  
  As Pfizer tries to push ahead with a possible release of its coronavirus vaccine candidate ahead of the presidential election by garnering support from health experts concerned that the company is moving too fast because of political pressure.
• Ex-Google Worker Warns of Social Media's 'Big Tobacco' Effect on Users' Brains
  
  Former Google employee Tristan Harris is warning people that social media and smartphone apps are ''Big Tobacco for our brains'' in the way they use psychology to influence users, according to Fox News....
• Study: Mild to Severe COVID Reduces Fertility in Men
  
  Mild to severe cases of the respiratory malady COVID-19 could result in reduced fertility in men, an Israeli study suggests. Male COVID-19 patients saw a 50% reduction in sperm volume, concentration and motility 30 days post diagnosis, Dr....
• The Most Unusual COVID-19 Symptom of All
  
  Can COVID-19 kill pain? That is the possibility raised by University of Arizona researchers who found SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, might function as a pain killer.
• Twitter Bans Trump Death Wishes, Sparks Debate
  
  Twitter is removing tweets hoping for the demise of UPresident Donald Trump -- a move which opened up the social platform to criticism that it should enforce the same policy for everyone.San Francisco-based Twitter drew a line on caustic commentary after Trump's COVID-19...
• Southern California Rattled by Hundreds of Quakes
  
  Hundreds of earthquakes have rattled an area about 100 miles east of San Diego just southeast of the Salton Sea since Wednesday afternoon, suggesting more activity will shake the region over the next week...
• Scientists Discover Genetic, Immunological Reasons for Severe COVID-19 Cases
  
  Scientists found some people have antibodies that actually attack the immune system instead of the virus. They also discovered 3.5% of people who develop severe complications from COVID-19 carry a genetic mutation that negatively impacts their immunity.

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