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☆ Rescuers race against time to find the missing sub in the Atlantic bound for the Titanic site
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean raced against time early Tuesday to find a missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic. OceanGate's expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. Gallo identified Nargeolet, a friend who has led multiple expeditions to the Titanic, on Tuesday during an interview with CNN. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. CBS journalist David Pogue, who went on the trip last year, noted his vessel got turned around looking for the Titanic.

Persons: Mauger, NBC's, John Mauger, David Concannon, John's, Concannon, OceanGate, Hamish Harding, Harding, Mark Butler, Butler, Victor Vescovo, Mariana, Richard Garriott de Cayeux, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman, Allah, Paul, Henry Nargeolet, David Gallo, Gallo, David Pogue, Pogue, Mike Reiss, Alistair Greig, submersibles, Greig Organizations: Discovery, U.S . Coast Guard, OceanGate Expeditions, Authorities, Rescue Coordination Center, Rescuers, Polar, Canadian Boeing, Twitter, U.S, Lockheed, The Associated Press, AP, Coast Guard, United Arab, Action Aviation, World Records, Shepard, The Explorers, SETI Institute, CNN, CBS, University College London Locations: Nova Scotia, British, St, John's, Newfoundland, Canadian, Bahamas, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, California, Virginia

☆ Why investors pumped $100 million into a startup using microbial fungi to turn soil into a crucial tool in the fight against climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The startup Loam Bio wants to use fungi to boost soil health and help keep carbon in the ground. But soil carbon is in a sorry state, in part due to current agricultural practices. There are different types of soil carbon; some decompose easily while others can take thousands of years to break down. The soil microbiome could also change to start breaking down the carbon that gets fixed in soil, Bailey added. "The most important thing is that we're really accurately measuring the carbon that we store in the soil," Hudson said.

Persons: Guy Hudson, Chris Sacca's, Hacking, It's, Hudson, Monique, Britt Koskella, Koskella, Andy Bailey, Bailey, we're, Chris Shafto, Dr Brooke Bruning, you've Organizations: Green Tech, Service, Australian, Lowercarbon Capital, Lowercarbon, UC Berkeley, University of Bristol Locations: Australia, Brazil

☆ The future of medicine may lie in space
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Days after I got my first taste of working at a lab bench, a company set forth to prove scientific research can be successfully done in orbit without any humans present. Look upVarda Space Industries plans to use a small capsule, shown in the rendering above, to conduct pharmaceutical research in space. Varda Space industriesThe future of medicine may take flight in space. Unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974 and representing 40% of a skeleton, the remains revealed an early human relative who lived millions of years before Homo sapiens. Meanwhile, other, more recent fossil discoveries are shaking up what we know about early human migration.

Persons: Varda, Lucy, Dave Einsel, paleoanthropologist Dr, Ashleigh L.A, Wiseman, waddle, Frank Postberg, Jochen Brocks, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Logan Science Journalism, Marine Biological, Space Industries, Research, British Antarctic Survey, Sky, University of Cambridge, ATP, Freie Universität Berlin, Australian National University, CNN Space, Science Locations: Woods Hole , Massachusetts, California, Antarctica, Weddell, Ethiopia, Barney Creek, Northern Australia, Australia, New England

☆ This startup is working with Stanford University to tackle antibiotic resistance. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Solu used to secure $1 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Finish biotech startup Solu has raised $1 million in a round led by Oura-backer Lifeline Ventures. Solu is working with Stanford University to solve the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. A startup working with Stanford University to combat the issue of antibiotic resistance has secured $1 million in fresh funds. Antibiotic resistance is when bacteria start to resist the effect of medication, evolving into 'superbugs'. The World Health Organization has tipped antibiotic resistance to be one of the biggest threats to health and food security.

Persons: Sam Sihvonen, Sihvonen, Paul L, Solu, Kristian Ranta, Lauri Sippola Organizations: Oura, Lifeline Ventures, Solu, Stanford University, World Health, Stanford University's Medical, DoorDash, Meru Health, Kaiku Health Locations: Finland, Finnish, Meru

☆ Flesh-eating bacteria on beaches: What to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Out of more than 100 Vibrio species, about 12 — the most common in the US being Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus — can cause a human illness known as vibriosis. Vibrio vulnificus is the species that can cause flesh-eating infections, known as necrotizing fasciitis. Vibrio bacteria can enter through even minor wounds, including cuts, scrapes, scratches, recent piercings, new tattoos or surgical incisions. Even though the risk of a Vibrio vulnificus infection is low, if contracted the effects can be severe. Around 1 in 5 people infected with Vibrio vulnificus die, sometimes within a day or two of getting sick.

Persons: Daniel Slim, Vibrio, vulnificus, it’s, ”, Jae Williams, wasn’t, Tracy Mincer, “, Linda Amaral, Williams, “ It’s, ” Williams, parahaemolyticus, Hurricane Ian, Vibrio vulnificus, Don’t Organizations: CNN, Research, Florida Atlantic University, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Florida Department of Health, Florida, Branch Oceanographic Institute, University of Amsterdam Locations: Florida, United States, Africa, Gulf of Mexico, Cancun, AFP, Caribbean, Hurricane, sargassum

☆ Molecular fossils open window on 'lost world' of primordial life
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers discovered that the molecular fossils indicating the presence of these primitive eukaryotes were commonplace in rocks spanning from about 1.6 billion years ago to 800 million years ago. "It is a lost world in the sense that we had not been able to see or detect them - although there was an entire world of them. It is a lost world also because these forms are now entirely extinct, Brocks added. The oldest of the rocks bearing these fossils were unearthed in the remote Outback of northern Australia, near Darwin. Scientists long were puzzled about the seeming absence of molecular fossils from this time span indicative of primitive eukaryotes.

Persons: Jochen Brocks, geobiologist Jochen Brocks, Benjamin Nettersheim, Brocks, sapiens, Konrad Block, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Australian National University, Handout, REUTERS, University of Bremen, Thomson Locations: Creek, Northern Australia, REUTERS WASHINGTON, Canberra, Germany, Australia, Darwin

☆ How to stay healthy this summer, according to an expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Katia Hetter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Stay healthy so you can have fun all summer with family and friends. Maskot/Getty ImagesCNN: What should people consider as they aim to have fun and stay healthy this summer? How can people prevent Lyme disease, and why is this important? Wen: Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Short-term, Lyme disease manifests as muscle aches, joint pain, fever, rash and headaches.

Persons: they’ve, Leana Wen, Wen, Maskot, Lyme, don’t, enteroviruses, Enteroviruses Organizations: CNN, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Getty, US Centers for Disease Control Locations: Lyme, enterovirus, United States, Covid

☆ For its 2024 Olympics, Paris wants the Seine river swimmable
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Manuel Ausloos | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, June 5 (Reuters) - On a sunny spring day, Dan Angelescu was testing the water quality of Paris' Seine river by the bridge Alexander III - a scenic view for next year's swimming marathon and triathlon Olympic trials. Angelescu has been working for the city since 2017 on its longtime project to make the Seine swimmable. The 2024 Games are a good opportunity to fast-track it in order to host some sporting events in the famous river - as was done at the first Paris Olympics of 1900. Stephane Vidalie, who lives in Neuilly-Plaisance in the east of Paris, was happy to no longer send wastewater into the Marne river, a tributary that joins the Seine just outside Paris. Bastien Coignon, a member of a kayak club in Sevres, west of Paris, said he had been waiting for this.

Persons: Dan Angelescu, Alexander III, Angelescu, Pierre Rabadan, Rabadan, Manuel Ausloos, Stephane Vidalie, Colombe Brossel, Bastien Coignon, Clotaire Achi, Juliette Jabkhiro, Alex Richardson Organizations: Paris Olympics, Olympic, Games, REUTERS, Manuel Ausloos SYSTEM, Thomson Locations: Paris, Seine, Austerlitz, Sevres, France, Neuilly, Plaisance, Marne, Olive

☆ Ticks die when they bite him. This man's immunity to ticks could pave the way for a tick vaccine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Emily Swaim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He has acquired tick resistance, which may help guide research and development of a tick vaccine. (But don't go searching for ticks just to try and build immunity, since you might contract a debilitating tick-borne disease.) "There clearly has been an increase in recent decades in the incidence of tick-borne disease in the human population. CDCThe latest US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data reported 50,865 cases of tick-borne disease across the US in 2019. The Lyme disease vaccine currently in development would only protect against the bacteria Lyme borreliosis, meaning you could still get other tick-borne diseases.

Persons: Richard Ostfeld, welt, aren't, JUAN GAERTNER, Ostfeld, Ostfelt, Lyme, Remus Belododia, haven't Organizations: Service, for Disease Control, National Center for Emerging, Vector, CDC Locations: Lyme, Alaska, Maine

☆ A giant seaweed mass heading for Florida's beaches is full of potentially dangerous bacteria that threatens a 'pathogen storm,' a study found
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A giant stretch of Sargassum seaweed is headed toward the beaches of Florida and Mexico. The interplay between plastic marine debris and bacteria could cause a "pathogen storm," a study found. The potentially dangerous Vibrio can stick to the plastic debris that gets caught in the mass of seaweed, the study found in seawater samples from the Caribbean and Sargasso seas. While there are some fears about the bacteria's "flesh-eating" qualities, experts told LiveScience this possibility was relatively uncommon. "What is important is that individuals should take caution," Jae Williams, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health, told LiveScience.

Persons: —, Linda Amaral, Andrew, Kofi Jones, Vibrio, Tracy Mincer, Mincer, LiveScience, sargassum, Jae Williams Organizations: Service, NASA, Research, Florida Atlantic University, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Florida Department of Health Locations: Florida, Mexico, Sargassum, Caribbean, Lakes, sargassum, St, Barbados

☆ Was mass hysteria behind the mysterious case of 227 middle school students fainting last fall?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Lillian Perlmutter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

On September 23, 2022, 12-year-old Esmeralda walked out of the girls' bathroom at her middle school in Tapachula, Mexico, and fainted. Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador began including regular updates on the government's investigation into the fainting episodes in his daily press conferences. Dr. Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, one of Mexico's few field epidemiologists, had taken an interest in the fainting episodes. News of the initial fainting episodes had been shared there, the epidemiologist, who asked to remain anonymous, told Pantoja-Melendez. Both believe that the fainting episodes in Mexico were examples of something new and alarming: mass hysteria spreading online.

Persons: Esmeralda, Diala, Gladys, Esmeralda's, convulsing, Esmeralda Eva Alicia Lépiz, —, Esmerelda, Mami, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, Gladys didn't, Bochil, Luis Villagrán, bristled, Susanna, Tapachula, Diala's, José Eduardo Morales Montes, they'd, Eva Alicia Lépiz, Hidalgo —, I've, Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, Pantoja Meléndez, Meléndez, Robert Bartholomew, Bartholomew, Lopez Obrador, busily, Simon Wessley, schoolgirls, twitching, we'll, Pantoja, Melendez, Bartholomew said, we're, We've, who's Organizations: Federal, Central America, Journalists, Mexico City —, Mexico City, Universidad Autónoma Nacional, University of Auckland, Roswell, Kings College, New York, Health Department, Pantoja Locations: Tapachula, Mexico, Bochil, Mexican, Chiapas, Mexico City, El Pais, Chiapas —, Central, Esmeralda, Mexico City — Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, México, University of Auckland , New Zealand, Veracruz, London, Southern Mexico, Kanshasa, Tanzania, Blackburn , England, Sweden, Pyuthan, Nepal, Leroy , New York, Tapachula .

☆ Pfizer says its experimental antibiotic combo can treat some superbug infections
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File PhotoJune 1 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Thursday data from late-stage trials showed its experimental combination of antibiotics was effective in treating deadly infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria. Deaths from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as superbugs, have been on the rise globally, and health regulators have called for the development of newer treatments as resistance to older antibiotics grows. The late-stage studies compared the experimental combination of the antibiotics aztreonam-avibactam (ATM-AVI) and existing generic drug metronidazole with a combination of two older antibiotics - meropenem and colistin - to treat complicated intra-abdominal infections and types of hospital-acquired pneumonia. Pfizer said the data from the studies shows the antibiotic combination of ATM-AVI is effective and well-tolerated in treating infections caused by gram-negative bacteria. For patients with types of hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator‐associated pneumonia, the cure rate was 45.9% for Pfizer's antibiotic combination with metronidazole, versus 41.7% for other, older treatments.

Persons: Johanna Geron, Leroy Leo, Sriparna Roy, Pooja Desai Organizations: Pfizer, REUTERS, Pfizer Inc, Disease Control, Thomson Locations: Puurs, Belgium, United States, Bengaluru

☆ A US Navy ship dumped diesel fuel into its own water supply. Years later, sailors were still getting sick.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The USS Boxer dumped fuel into the ocean, which contaminated its own water supply. A Marine veteran from that deployment told Insider they drank and showered in the contaminated water for as long as a few weeks. Boxer's crew soon noticed the smell of fuel in the drinking water, and Marines and sailors told Military.com that Boxer leadership had claimed that the water was safe to drink. The Boxer is not the only US Navy ship to be stricken with contaminated water over the last few years. One sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln told Insider in an interview last year that the ship's water tasted "horrible" and they couldn't "escape it."

Persons: —, Military.com, Boxer, Wally Schirra, Machinist's, Michael Gonzales, Daniel Martin, Martin, it'll, Abraham Lincoln, USS Abraham Lincoln Organizations: US Navy, Service, Naval Surface Force, Navy Locations: Japan

☆ Plague: Oldest known cases in Britain uncovered in mass burial
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A team of researchers excavating mass burial sites in England have detected the DNA of the bacteria that caused the plague in human skeletal remains — and they are the oldest known cases of the disease in Great Britain. The bacterial DNA is thousands of years more ancient than the oldest strain uncovered prior to this latest finding. When it comes to the disease, there is a lot that scientists still don’t know — including how it spread, Swali said. And science may never truly know the severity of the plague 4,000 years ago when it came to humans, Roberts said. And while there are historical records of plague outbreaks, ancient DNA could potentially give us a look even further back, Swali said.

Persons: CNN —, Pooja Swali, Francis Crick, Swali, ”, Benjamin Roberts, ” Swali, Lee Mordechai, pestis, Roberts, ” Roberts, paleogeneticists, Mordechai, ” Mordechai Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, Francis, Francis Crick Institute, Durham University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Locations: England, Great Britain, Cambridgeshire, London, Somerset, Cumbria, Scotland, United Kingdom, Britain, Europe

As we shifted to indoor city life, outbreaks and pandemics whipped through society with alarming regularity. But technological changes have allowed us, in the developed world at least, to prevent many such pandemics. In the developed world, they are cheap, ubiquitous and mundane. Yet these technologies fight a whole host of outbreaks without our needing to know each pathogen’s name. Epidemics like cholera still occur in the developing world, but this ‌‌is a matter of a lack of global political will, not a lack of technological way.

☆ An Oil Refiner Leans on Manure to Provide a Greener Future
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stanley Reed | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Every day dozens of tanker trucks, many laden with pig manure and other kinds of agricultural waste, rumble through the gateway of an imposing steel-and-concrete plant in northeast Netherlands. This pungent cargo will be mixed together into a slurry and pumped into massive tanks, where hungry bacteria will within weeks turn it into methane gas that will ultimately be sold to the energy grid to heat homes and generate electricity. The gas is a biofuel — similar to the natural gas pumped out of offshore wells in the North Sea but, because of its biological origins, considered carbon neutral. The recipe for success, said Fritz Ullrich, the plant manager, is keeping the microbes nourished with a steady stream of waste. “We have to coddle them,” he said on a recent morning.

☆ World Bee Day 2023: 6 surprising things about bees
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Unfortunately, many bee species are under threat as a result of changes in land use, pesticides, intensive agriculture and climate change — but there are steps you can take to help them thrive. In honor of World Bee Day on May 20, here are six surprising things you might not know about nature’s hardest-working pollinators. “It marks the first report of honey bees of any species foraging for materials that are not derived from plants or water-based fluids. It is also the first clear-cut example of honey bees using a tool in nature.”Honeybees also signal an imminent attack by making a chilling warning noise. Bees are seen on a honeycomb cell at the Urban Bee Hive rooftop site in Woolloomooloo, a suburb of Sydney.

☆ Rice. Half of Humanity Eats It. And Climate Change Is Wrecking It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Sometimes there’s not enough rain when seedlings need water, or too much when the plants need to keep their heads above water. Rice farmers are shifting their planting calendars. On top of that, there’s climate change: It has upended the rhythm of sunshine and rain that rice depends on. That’s a fraction of the emissions from coal, oil and gas, which together account for 35 percent of methane emissions. His experiment, carried out over seven years, concluded that by not flooding the fields continuously, farmers can reduce rice methane emissions by more than 60 percent.

☆ A body odor buffet reveals which scents attract mosquitoes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Anyone who has spent a summer evening swatting away mosquitoes, or a summer day scratching mosquito bites, can agree: Mosquitoes stink. In a scientific report published Friday, scientists helped pinpoint the different chemicals in body odor that attract these insects by building an ice-rink size testing arena and pumping in the scents of different people. Hundreds of mosquitoes in the main 20-by-20-meter facility were then treated to a buffet of the sleeping subjects’ scents. The researchers found what many who have been on a picnic would attest to: Some people attract more mosquitoes than others. (Vosshall said that even scrubbing with unscented soap doesn’t get rid of the natural scents that attract mosquitoes.)

☆ Deadly suspected fungal infections in Texas residents linked to surgeries in Matamoros, Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jamie Gumbrecht | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Five Texas residents became ill with suspected cases of fungal meningitis after traveling to Matamoros, Mexico, for surgery, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. In a travel advisory, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged patients to cancel certain procedures in Matamoros, Mexico. Health officials are investigating whether the cases are linked and whether there are more infections. In this aerial photo, a border fence divides the cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico. “It is very important that people who have recently had medical procedures in Mexico monitor themselves for symptoms of meningitis,” said DSHS Commissioner Dr. Jennifer Shuford.

☆ No one knew a US aircraft carrier water tank had jet fuel in it until the unaware crew hooked it up to the drinking water system, Navy report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Navy acknowledged that it found jet fuel in the drinking water aboard the carrier USS Nimitz. A new investigation says that no one realized a water tank was polluted with jet fuel for more than a year. A failed manway cover gasket then allowed the leak into the offline potable water tank. US Navy"When developing the sequencing document used to empty potable water tanks, the ship was unaware that any of the tanks contained JP-5," the investigation says. Polluted water on Navy ships is not isolated to these two vessels.

☆ A scientist scraped a black dot on his forehead and filmed it under a microscope, revealing dozens of crawling face mites
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Erin Heger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He saw dozens of tiny face mites, aka Demodex mites, crawling around on the plate. This is more common in people with weakened immune systems that can't keep the population of Demodex mites under control. You can't get rid of face mites, and you shouldn't want toBecause Demodex mites live inside your pores, it's nearly impossible to scrub them out, Robinson said. Our face mites are a testament to that. Check out more footage of these face mites in the video below:

☆ More than 25% of biodiversity is under our feet — but we're destroying it. A biotech startup that's raised $56 million has a plan to help save our soil.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Amanda Paule | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The women-led biotech startup Trace Genomics is working to reverse human-caused soil erosion. Soil-data companies such as the Iowa startup Trace Genomics are trying to help farmers reverse that trend. Prasanna Kankanala, Trace Genomics' director of research and development, visits a client's farm. The opportunity to help fight crop diseases led Parameswaran and Diane Wu, her cofounder, to start Trace Genomics in 2015. Where a chemical test might run him $20, Trace's test could run him $200.

☆ 9 useless body parts that humans no longer need
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Peter Kotecki | Frank Olito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Some human body parts have become useless over the past few million years. Useless body parts include the appendix, the tail bone, and the muscle fibers that produce goose bumps. Take a look at nine body parts that remained in the human body despite having no function for millions of years. Several other body parts used to be important for humans' survival, but they have since become useless. Take a look at nine body parts that remained in the human body despite having no function for millions of years.

☆ ‘Compost Happens’ and Other Common-Sense Advice From Experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Margaret Roach | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When it comes to composting, where things break down — or don’t — is often where we get in our own way. We make the whole process too hard by fixating on details instead of the big picture. Commercial composting operations rely on those rules, and the science behind them, to produce material that is consistent and meets regulatory guidelines. We backyard composters can go a little easier on ourselves and still have great results, producing soil-improving bounty from our organic waste. Ms. Novak, who is also the founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food-education program, lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where she composts in her backyard, too.

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