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☆ The live volcano sitting below Santorini
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Elinda Labropoulou | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Everywhere you look on Santorini, you’re reminded that you’re on a volcano. Few realize that beneath the hypnotic kaleidoscope of colors lies an active volcano. The East Mediterranean’s most active underwater, and potentially dangerous, volcano, Kolumbo, is five miles northeast of Santorini and part of the same volcanic system. They include a visit to the volcano of Nea Kameni: one of five islands that form the Santorini volcanic complex, and a national geological park in itself. A simmering volcanoTourists can take boat trips to Nea Kameni, home to an active volcano.

☆ California's reappearing phantom lake could remain for two years in the Central Valley
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

An aerial view of a home (C) surrounded by floodwaters in the reemerging Tulare Lake, in California’s Central Valley, on April 14, 2023 in Corcoran, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesSatellite images taken over the past several weeks show a dramatic resurrection of Tulare Lake in California's Central Valley and the flooding that could remain for as long as two years across previously arid farmland. This week, a heat wave could prompt widespread snow melt in the mountains and threaten the small farming communities already dealing with the resurrected Tulare Lake. Satellite imagery shows a large swath of farmland before water filled the Tulare Basin. Planet LabsSatellite images show miles of flooding after California's Tulare Lake returns.

☆ Solving the mystery of the most powerful objects in the universe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Astronomers first discovered quasars, considered to be the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe, 60 years ago — but they didn’t understand their origin. Now, scientists think they have unlocked the mystery behind what ignites these celestial objects. Astronomers observed 48 different galaxies that contain quasars and compared them to more than 100 galaxies without them. When two galaxies merge, massive amounts of gas are pushed toward the supermassive black holes located at their centers. “Quasars play a key role in our understanding of the history of the Universe, and possibly also the future of the Milky Way.”

☆ Commercial lunar lander presumed lost after historic moon landing attempt
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A Japanese lunar lander, carrying a rover developed in the United Arab Emirates, attempted to find its footing on the moon’s surface Tuesday — and potentially mark the world’s first lunar landing for a commercially developed spacecraft. The lunar lander, called Hakuto-R, was carrying the Rashid rover — the first Arab-built lunar spacecraft, which was built by Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. Israel-based company SpaceIL was the first XPrize contestant to attempt to put its lander on the moon after the program ended. Its Beresheet spacecraft crashed in 2019 after ground teams lost contact with the lander as it approached the surface. That same year, the Indian Space and Research Organisation lost contact with a lunar lander shortly before it was slated to touch down on the moon.

Lilly has not previously discussed its Medicare coverage optimism publicly. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Such "coverage with evidence development" requirements are rare and historically used by Medicare to evaluate medical devices. Amyvid, Lilly's Alzheimer's imaging agent that can detect amyloid plaques on PET scans, has been subject to CMS' evidence development program for a decade. "It shuts out many patients," said Dr. Maria Carrillo, chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, "especially minorities and rural patients."

☆ A new long Covid treatment shows promise, but insurance won't cover it and some doctors are skeptical: Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Some long Covid patients swear by the treatment, with one describing it to CNBC Make It as a "total game changer." That's a huge stumbling block for many medical experts, who caution against viewing it as a universal remedy for long Covid. Most of the ones who do get treated have reported improved long Covid symptoms, the clinic adds. That's because a variety of underlying physiological conditions — like chronic lung issues, for example — can "drive different manifestations of long Covid," says Dr. Lucy Horton, an infectious disease physician who founded the long Covid clinic at UC San Diego Health. "For many [Covid] long haulers, including myself, financial freedom is gone because we can't work full-time."

☆ New study suggests Black women should be screened earlier for breast cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —A new study on breast cancer deaths raises questions around whether Black women should screen at earlier ages. Even though Black women have a 4% lower incidence rate of breast cancer than White women, they have a 40% higher breast cancer death rate. “When the breast cancer mortality rate for Black women in their 40s is 27 deaths per 100,000 person-years, this means 27 out of every 100,000 Black women aged 40-49 in the US die of breast cancer during one year of follow-up. They also wrote that health policy makers should pursue equity, not just equality, when it comes to breast cancer screening as a tool to help reduce breast cancer death rates. Having dense tissue in the breast can make it more difficult for radiologists to identify breast cancer on a mammogram, and women with dense breast tissue have a higher risk of breast cancer.

☆ Scientists identify mind-body nexus in human brain
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers called this system the somato-cognitive action network, or SCAN, and documented its connections to brain regions known to help set goals and plan actions. "Basically, we now have shown that the human motor system is not unitary. A second system, the SCAN, is more important for integrated, whole body movements, and is more connected to high-level planning regions of your brain," Gordon said. I'm not a philosopher, but one succinct statement I like is saying, 'The mind is what the brain does.' "Some neuroscientists think of the brain as an organ intended primarily to perceive and interpret the world around us.

☆ Defunct NASA spacecraft returns to Earth after 21 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A NASA satellite that observed solar flares and helped scientists understand the sun’s powerful bursts of energy will fall to Earth this week, almost 21 years after it was launched. The retired Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft, which launched in 2002 and was decommissioned in 2018, is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere Wednesday at approximately 9:30 p.m. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth as a result of RHESSI’s return is low — approximately 1 in 2,467, according to NASA. From its former perch in low-Earth orbit, the satellite captured images of high-energy electrons that carry a large part of the energy released in solar flares, NASA said. NASA said that the agency, along with the Department of Defense, would monitor the satellite’s reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Sunrun & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

This is relevant to Apple as we estimate that Google pays Apple ~$20bn for being the default search engine across iOS devices." Goldman Sachs reiterates Microsoft as buy Goldman says it's staying bullish heading into Microsoft earnings next week. Deutsche Bank reiterates Disney as buy Deutsche Bank says it sees an "attractive setup" heading into earnings in early May. HSBC upgrades Nvidia to buy from reduce HSBC said in its double upgrade of Nvidia that it's "all about AI." Deutsche Bank reiterates Amazon as buy Deutsche says it's standing by its buy rating on the e-commerce giant ahead of earnings later this month.

☆ Agnellis' Exor eyes further healthcare investment for expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Giulio Piovaccari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After completing the sale of its reinsurer PartnerRE, Exor has around 6.5 billion euros in cash available for investments, including 5 billion euros for acquisitions. It has already said its M&A activity would mainly focus on healthcare, luxury and technology businesses. Through its venture capital arm Exor Ventures, Exor was also developing partnerships with healthcare companies at an early stage of their development, Elkann said. NEW CHAIRMANExor is the single largest investor in carmaker Stellantis and has controlling stakes in companies including Ferrari (RACE.MI), CNH Industrial (CNHI.MI) and soccer club Juventus (JUVE.MI). It said its profit rose to 4.227 billion euros ($4.64 billion) last year, from 1.717 billion euros in 2021 mainly due to the net gain it booked from the 8.6 billion euro sale of PartnerRe.

☆ Fact Check-Mammograms do not expose women to Hiroshima-level radiation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Breast cancer screenings reduce deaths from breast cancer and have considerably lower radiation levels than nuclear or atomic bombs, contrary to claims circulating in a video on social media. Dr Veronique Desaulniers, a bio-energetic chiropractor according to her LinkedIn profile, warns about the purported dangers of breast cancer screening in the clip posted on Instagram (here). “A decade of annual mammography would yield a total radiation dose 10 times that: 3.6 mSv,” he adds. A reduction in breast cancer deaths has been primarily attributed to mammography screening and early breast cancer detection (here). There is a radiation risk to the breasts of teenagers and women in their early 20s due to development, however, the risk drops rapidly as women age, according to Kopans.

☆ First photo of a black hole resembles 'skinny' doughnut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The first photo ever taken of a black hole looks a little sharper now. The central region is darker and larger, surrounded by a bright ring as hot gas falls into the black hole in the new image. The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, called EHT, is a global network of telescopes that captured the first photograph of a black hole. Computers using PRIMO analyzed more than 30,000 high-resolution simulated images of black holes to pick out common structural details. But if heated materials in the form of plasma surround the black hole and emit light, the event horizon could be visible.

☆ Some new offices are mini towns with their own restaurants, doctor offices, and hotels. Workers actually want to go.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The idea is getting replicated from the Bell Labs location, or Bell Works New Jersey, Keating said. The spaces run by Bell Works' own coworking brand, CoLab, are nearly 100% occupied. At Bell Works New Jersey, Zucker partnered with Toll Brothers to build a 185-home 55-and-over community. At BRIC, tenants can take advantage of a dozen art galleries, some of which show the work of building tenants. A lobby area near offices at Bell Works Chicagoland.

☆ South Korea to conduct first launch of commercial-grade satellite
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this image provided by Korea Aerospace Research Institute, a space rocket Nuri (KSLV-Ⅱ) launches at the Naro Space Center on June 21, 2022 in UGoheung-gun, South Korea. South Korea plans to conduct its first launch of a commercial-grade satellite aboard a domestically built rocket next month as part of its space development program, officials said Tuesday. South Korea's officials say its homegrown Nuri space launch vehicle has no military purposes. In June last year, South Korea conducted its first satellite launch using the Nuri rocket. The Science Ministry said the rocket will blast off from the country's space launch center on a southern island on May 24.

☆ Virginia Norwood, ‘Mother’ of Satellite Imaging Systems, Dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Dylan Loeb Mcclain | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Virginia Norwood, an aerospace pioneer who invented the scanner that has been used to map and study the earth from space for more than 50 years, has died at her home in Topanga, Calif. She was 96. Her death was announced by the United States Geological Survey, whose Landsat satellite program relies on her invention. Her daughter, Naomi Norwood, said that her mother was found dead in her bed on the morning of March 27. Ms. Norwood, a physicist, was the person primarily responsible for designing and championing the scanner that made the program possible. NASA has called her “the mother of Landsat.”

☆ Sony backs maker of tiny Raspberry Pi computers with fresh funding, access to A.I. chips
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, invested an undisclosed amount in Raspberry Pi Ltd, the trading company of Raspberry Pi, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Upton established Raspberry Pi in 2012 with the aim of making computing more accessible to young people. Raspberry Pi's tiny single-board computers are the size of a credit card and have been used to build everything from high-altitude balloons to small radio-controlled submarines. Raspberry Pi's customers were mainly hobbyists and teachers in the early days. The deal extends an existing manufacturing relationship between Sony and Raspberry Pi.

☆ The Man Who Demystified the Human Heart
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Vincent M. Figueredo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Deaths from heart disease have fallen from their peak in the 1950s, thanks to the development of more effective imaging and treatments. Still, even at the peak of the Covid pandemic, heart disease remained the leading cause of death in the U.S., as it has been for more than a century. Worldwide, 6.3 million people died from Covid by July 2022, while 18 million people died from cardiovascular disease in 2021 alone. This discovery was dramatically confirmed in 1641, when Harvey met a young Irish nobleman named Hugh Montgomery. The wound abscessed and healed, leaving a hole in the boy’s chest through which his beating heart was visible.

☆ Eli Lilly says experimental Alzheimer's drug reduces brain plaque in early study
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Eli Lilly 's experimental Alzheimer's drug lowered levels of brain plaque in patients who are in the earliest stages of the devastating disease, initial data shows. Researchers have argued that accumulation of amyloid plaque is a crucial first step toward the cognitive decline observed in Alzheimer's disease. The early data comes as Eli Lilly continues its decades-long bid to bring an Alzheimer's drug to the market. Eli Lilly found the drug caused a "rapid and robust" clearance of amyloid plaque, the presentation said. But Tewari said it's unclear if clearing amyloid plaque will lead to clinical benefits like a reduction in cognitive decline.

☆ Fact Check-Document mentioning cryogenic-electron microscopy does not prove Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene oxide
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Graphene oxide is not an ingredient in the vaccine,” she said. When contacted by Reuters, a Pfizer spokesperson sent a link with the full list of ingredients of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (here, see page six). No graphene oxide is listed. “We confirm that graphene oxide is not used in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokesperson said. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine does not contain graphene oxide.

☆ Fact Check-Distorted photo of US Senator Fetterman not proof of a ‘body double’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator John Fetterman is being shared alongside false claims that he received a “head replacement” or has a “body double” after he was admitted to hospital in February 2023. That’s not Fetterman on the right” alongside two photos of Fetterman (here). In other posts, people remarked the photo on the right shows a “body double” (here), (here). The photo on the right shows Fetterman being discharged from a hospital on May 22, 2022, as seen in Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station WESA article (here). Side by side comparisons of two photos of Fetterman are not proof he was replaced by a body double.

☆ Exclusive: ICU Medical to compete against GE Healthcare for Medtronic units -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( David Carnevali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GE Healthcare and private equity firms Carlyle Group Inc (CG.O) and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which have been pursuing rival offers separately, are also through to the second round, the sources added. Carlyle is bidding through its newly formed healthcare investment platform Atmas Health, according to one of the sources. Medtronic has been taking offers for its patient monitoring and respiratory interventions businesses even as it presses on with preparations to spin them off to its shareholders. ICU Medical, GE Healthcare, Carlyle and CD&R declined to comment. The patient monitoring technology portfolio includes Nellcor pulse oximetry and BIS brain monitoring, while the respiratory interventions business comprises ventilators and breathing systems.

☆ Giant 'holes' dozens of times the size of our planet are appearing on the sun. Here's how they could affect Earth.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Two huge coronal holes, dozen of times the size of the Earth, have appeared on the sun. These coronal holes can spew solar winds at 1.8 million mph toward our planet, which can cause stunning auroras and disrupt satellites. Coronal holes aren't actually holes in the sunA coronal hole rotates across the face of the sun, streaming solar wind towards Earth, February 1, 2017. Coronal holes happen in the "corona," the atmosphere of the sun, and can only be seen in UV or X-ray light. We could see this month's coronal holes again next monthThe coronal hole came into view as the sun rotated.

☆ Alzheimer’s first signs may appear in your eyes, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Getty ImagesResearch has been exploring how the eye may help in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms begin. “Alzheimer’s disease begins in the brain decades before the first symptoms of memory loss,” said Dr. Richard Isaacson, an Alzheimer’s preventive neurologist who is also at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. Researchers then compared samples from donors with normal cognitive function to those with mild cognitive impairment and those with later-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The study, published in February in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, found significant increases in beta-amyloid, a key marker of Alzheimer’s disease, in people with both Alzheimer’s and early cognitive decline. Tissue atrophy and inflammation in cells in the far periphery of the retina were most predictive of cognitive status, the study found.

☆ Mistakes by the US's top spies allowed China to turn a deadly mid-air collision into an intelligence coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Bamford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +36 min

On April 1, 2001, a US EP-3 spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. One of eleven left in the fleet, the tired 1960s-era spy plane bristled with porcupine-like antennas. Within minutes, however, the fighters had reached the lumbering spy plane, and while Zhao Yu hung back about a half-mile, Wang Wei rapidly closed in. In severe trouble, he immediately radioed the base, telling them he was unable to maneuver and being sucked in by the spy plane. "You are not allowed aboard the aircraft," Osborn said.

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