Month: August 2020

A region in Africa that includes 43 nations has been certified free of the wild polio virus (Aug. 24) after Nigeria, the last endemic country, recorded no new cases for the past three consecutive years. Nigeria’s polio survivors are celebrating the eradication of the virus, even though many still face challenges. Timothy Obiezu profiles the president of Nigeria’s Polio Survivors Association, who has been helping other survivors through sport. …

A new study suggests researchers have developed a method to significantly improve “anti-solar” panels – a new clean, sustainable way to generate energy at night.   Solar panels work because they are colder than the light given off by the sun, so they can capture that heat and convert it into electrical energy. “Anti-solar” panels work by being cooler than heat radiated by the Earth at night, gathering that heat and converting it into electricity using a thermoelectric generator.  Developers of the anti-solar panels say they can generate about a quarter of the electricity as solar panels. But authors of a new study published Monday in the journal Optics Express say they have developed a method that, in simulations, has improved energy generation in these anti-solar panels by as much as 120%. The team of researchers from Stanford University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology said they achieved their results by improving the thermoelectric generator. They used a more efficient material to allow the generator to more efficiently dump excess heat. The researchers say that after they analyzed these upgrades, their redesign of the anti-solar generator was able to produce 2.2 watts of energy per square meter – 120 times the energy produced by previous anti-solar models. The researchers are quick to point out there is a difference between simulations and an actual physical system. But they also say their design uses technology and materials that are currently available. Their design works well enough to, theoretically, convert heat for energy from other sources, such as running cars, …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday nine vaccines are being evaluated by its cooperative COVAX facility which now has 172 nations as contributing partners. The FILE – World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, July 3, 2020.Speaking at his usual briefing at the agency’s Geneva headquarters, WHO director- general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the facility is critical to efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Tedros said making sure all nations have access to any viable vaccine makes the most economic sense. He said it would lead to a prolonged pandemic if only a small number of the richest countries would get most of the supply, saying “Vaccine nationalism only helps the virus.” The WHO chief urged other nations who are not participating to join COVAX. More resources and more vaccines are needed, he said, to meet the goal of having at least two billion does of safe, effective vaccines by the end of 2021.  Tedros said as nations invest billions into their economic stimulus, to see get their economies back up and running, COVAX offers “a huge return on investment. There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.   …

The World Food Program reports Burkina Faso is facing an acute shortage of food, with more than 3.2 million people going hungry in this conflict-ridden country.There has been a 50 percent rise in the number of people struggling to feed themselves and their families since March. The World Food Program warns the situation is likely to worsen in the current lean season – the period when food stocks are at their lowest ahead of the September harvest. WFP reports people in two provinces in the Sahel region, Oudalan and Soum, have reached near starvation level. It says fighting by a myriad of Jihadist and armed groups in the region has forced thousands of people to flee their homes, preventing them from cultivating their crops.   WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs says insecurity and conflict are the main drivers of growing hunger in Burkina Faso. “Most of those forced to flee are subsistence farmers and livestock herders who have had to abandon their farms, homes, assets, livelihoods. Some farmers were not able to harvest their fields and most of the displaced are no longer able to grow crops. This is dramatic in a country where 80 percent of the population lives from agriculture,” Byrs said.The United Nations reports a surge of attacks by armed groups over the last two years has prompted more than one million people in Burkina Faso to flee their homes.   Byrs says WFP is racing against the clock to prevent a hunger catastrophe. She says the agency has continued to scale up its assistance over the past two years to try to keep pace with the growing humanitarian crisis.   She says …

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama – home to “Space Camp” – faced permanent closure as COVID-19 forced the internationally popular science and technology center to turn students and visitors away. But as VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, an online campaign to “Save Space Camp” is providing a lifeline to get through the pandemic.  …

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Russia announced it was the first to approve a vaccine for the coronavirus, and even more so when Vietnam said it would buy up to 150 million doses.  Not many were expecting the news, but if it comes to pass, a few factors would explain how Vietnam and Russia got here. The two sides have a long history, from founding father Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary years in Moscow, to their membership in a modern trade deal. Vietnam has also been more aggressive than most other nations in tackling COVID-19, and it needs an affordable vaccine as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns rich nations against “vaccine nationalism” and hoarding.  The U.S., a key partner of Vietnam, has expressed doubt that Russia developed a vaccine so quickly. Other nations reportedly interested in the vaccine include the Philippines, Indonesia, India and South Korea. Cold War history Several nations have already put in pre-orders for other future vaccines, and there are more than 150 programs to research possible vaccines around the world, from silkworm cells in Japan, to new use of RNA instead of DNA in research. Russia announced this month it is in Phase 2 trial of a vaccine, which involves testing on hundreds of people, as opposed to tens of thousands in Phase 3. Vietnam could buy 50 million to 150 million doses by 2021, according to the state-run newspaper Tuoi Tre.  “A vaccine that has been used in a foreign country may not require any more tests when it’s imported to Vietnam,” Dr. Tran …

The World Health Organization is concerned by the rapid increase and spread of the deadly Ebola virus in remote, densely forested areas of Equateur province in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.Health officials report 100 people in DRC have been infected with Ebola in fewer than 100 days, killing nearly half or 43 of those who have contracted this highly contagious disease.      The WHO says the virus is continuing to spread and is already in 11 of the province’s 17 health zones. This is of particular concern because of the difficulty of reaching affected communities in the geographically vast area.   WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says there currently is a delay of about five days from the onset of symptoms to when an alert about a suspected case is raised.      “This is concerning because the longer a patient goes without treatment, the lower their chances of survival, and the longer the virus can spread unseen in communities. The situation has been further complicated by a strike by health workers, which is affecting activities including vaccination and safe burials,” Tedros said.        Health care workers in Mbandaka, Equateur’s provincial capital, recently went on strike in protest over allegedly unpaid wages. After promises by the government to investigate, the strike reportedly now has ended.      Nevertheless, money remains a central problem in the fight to combat this epidemic disease, especially as COVID-19 resources are draining funds away from Ebola operations. Tedros …

The head of the World Health Organization says he hopes the coronavirus pandemic will end in less than two years – less time than it took to stop the 1918 Spanish flu. Speaking Friday at his regular briefing in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it is easier for a virus to spread today than 100 years ago because “we are more connected now.” However, he said, “at the same time, we have also the technology to stop it and the knowledge to stop it.”  FILE – Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 30, 2020.”So we have a disadvantage of globalization, closeness, connectedness but an advantage of better technology,” Tedros said. He said the key to stopping the virus is for countries around the world to “pool our efforts.” Several European countries have been reporting new surges of COVID-19 cases.  The French health ministry on Friday reported 4,586 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours. That follows a record the previous day for the number of post-lockdown infections. Spanish authorities Friday reported more than 3,000 new infections for the fourth day running, while officials in Madrid advised residents in areas with a high level of coronavirus cases to stay at home. People queue for tests outside Federica Montseny primary health care center during the coronavirus pandemic in Madrid, Spain, Aug. 20, 2020.Britain said Friday it plans to start regular, population-wide testing for COVID-19 by the end of the year to help …

The U.S. National Weather Service is predicting that two storm systems in and around the Caribbean Sea will strengthen and could both be hurricanes next week in the Gulf of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center reports Tropical Storm Laura formed early Friday just northeast of the Lesser Antilles, and by last report, was 280 kilometers east of the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.This satellite image released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Laura in the North Atlantic Ocean, Aug. 21, 2020.The Washington Post reports Laura is the earliest forming “L” named storm on record, beating out Tropical Storm Luis, which formed Aug. 29, 1995. The season has already featured the earliest-forming C, E, F, G, H, I, J and K storms on record.Meanwhile, further to the west, in the southern Caribbean, forecasters are watching Tropical Depression 14, which they say will strengthen into Tropical Storm Marco later Friday.Forecasters say both storms are likely to move into the Gulf of Mexico and become hurricanes by early next week. If they do, it will be the first time two hurricanes are in the gulf at the same time in the satellite era.Some computer models say both hurricanes could hit the southern United States at roughly the same time, or could interact with each other in some way, depending on their size.Tropical storm warnings have been issued in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the northern Leeward Islands and the southeast Bahamas, where tropical storm conditions from Laura could …

A recently approved rapid saliva test for COVID-19 is already being used on college campuses across the United States. Also called spit tests, they produce results in less than 24 hours, cost about $10, and are less invasive than the standard swab that is placed deep into the nose.Faster, Easier COVID-19 Test Approved as US Testing Rates Fall A Yale-developed, NBA-funded test uses saliva to detect the coronavirusYale University School of Public Health in Connecticut partnered with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association in June, the school said, to devise the test, called SalivaDirect.“Direct saliva testing can address bottlenecks of time, cost and supplies,” said Dr. Martin Burke, a chemistry professor who helped design a saliva test at the University of Illinois in collaboration with Yale University.  “Once somebody is infected, the amount of virus in their system can rise very rapidly. Unless we have a test that can give them results very quickly, by the time somebody finds out they are infected, they will have spread the virus,” said Rebecca Lee Smith, a professor of pathobiology on the Illinois University website.  “The faster we can notify people, the faster we can stop the spread,” Smith said.COVID-19 Infections Rising Among Young People on US University Campuses Although many colleges and universities offer comprehensive reopening plans with mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines, research shows virus would still roam throughout campuses, causing complicationsAt the University of South Carolina, officials say they will test thousands of students and employees daily for …