It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)--also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19--isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab. Credit: NIAID RML
The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists The New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. The results provide key information about the stability of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 disease, and suggests that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects. The study information was widely shared during the past two weeks after the researchers placed the contents on a preprint server to quickly share their data with colleagues.
The NIH scientists, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Montana facility at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, compared how the environment affects SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1, which causes SARS. SARS-CoV-1, like its successor now circulating across the globe, emerged from China and infected more than 8,000 people in 2002 and 2003. SARS-CoV-1 was eradicated by intensive contact tracing and case isolation measures and no cases have been detected since 2004. SARS-CoV-1 is the human coronavirus most closely related to SARS-CoV-2. In the stability study the two viruses behaved similarly, which unfortunately fails to explain why COVID-19 has become a much larger outbreak.
The NIH study attempted to mimic virus being deposited from an infected person onto everyday surfaces in a household or hospital setting, such as through coughing or touching objects. The scientists then investigated how long the virus remained infectious on these surfaces.
The scientists highlighted additional observations from their study:
If the viability of the two coronaviruses is similar, why is SARS-CoV-2 resulting in more cases? Emerging evidence suggests that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 might be spreading virus without recognizing, or prior to recognizing, symptoms. This would make disease control measures that were effective against SARS-CoV-1 less effective against its successor.
In contrast to SARS-CoV-1, most secondary cases of virus transmission of SARS-CoV-2 appear to be occurring in community settings rather than healthcare settings. However, healthcare settings are also vulnerable to the introduction and spread of SARS-CoV-2, and the stability of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosols and on surfaces likely contributes to transmission of the virus in healthcare settings.
The findings affirm the guidance from public health professionals to use precautions similar to those for influenza and other respiratory viruses to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2:
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Stay home when you are sick.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
More information: Neeltje van Doremalen et al, Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1, New England Journal of Medicine (2020). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973
Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have developed an AI-powered, smart insole that instantly turns any shoe into a portable gait-analysis laboratory.
The work, reported in January 2020 issue of IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, could benefit clinical researchers by providing a new way to precisely measure walking function in patients with movement disorders or musculoskeletal injuries, in their living environments. The technology could also lead to significant advances for athletes, by helping them improve their running technique.
"From a practical standpoint, that's invaluable," said Damiano Zanotto, lead author and director of Stevens Wearable Robotic Systems Lab. "We're now able to accurately analyze a person's gait in real time, in real-world environments."
Taking a single step might seem simple, but capturing reliable information about a person's gait in real-life environments remains a major challenge for researchers. Gold-standard gait-analysis technologies, such as camera-based motion-capture systems and force plates, are expensive and can only be used inside laboratories, so they offer few insights into how people walk around in the real world. Emerging wearable technologies such as smart shoes, pods, and insoles can potentially overcome this limitation, but the existing products cannot provide accurate gait data.
In their work, Zanotto and his team show that their smart insole can deliver real-time data on the length, speed, and power of a wearer's stride with better accuracy than existing foot-worn technologies—and at a fraction of the cost of traditional laboratory equipment. (Zanotto and his team are seeking two patents relating to the SportSole, and several companies and professional sporting franchises are closely following the team's work.)
The team's SportSole technology uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to monitor its own movement and orientation in space, and an array of force sensors to detect plantar pressure, allowing it to capture 500 readings per second—around a fivefold improvement over smart pedometers and other wearable gait-analysis tools.
The real magic, however, happens outside the shoe. Wearable motion sensors are inherently noisy. To overcome that challenge, Zanotto simmers those 500 measurements per second down to just a few key features, then feeds the results into an AI algorithm capable of rapidly extracting gait parameters that are accurate to within a couple of percentage points.
That's a big improvement over other AI gait-analysis tools, which are computationally intensive and require data to be recorded for later analysis. The Stevens system is far more efficient, allowing it to be baked into a microcontroller capable of delivering real-time gait analysis.
It also works regardless of whether the wearer is walking or running, and generates accurate results without requiring calibration or customization for individual users. Preliminary testing suggests the SportSole even works with children as young as three years of age and elderly with vestibular disorders, whose gait patterns are very different from those of healthy adults.
Such consistent accuracy is impressive because most gait researchers use high-end sensors costing $1,000 or more in a bid to reduce errors. By contrast, Zanotto and his team used off-the-shelf sensors costing around $100, relying on AI to extract reliable data. "We're achieving the same or better results at a far lower cost, and that's a big deal when it comes to scaling this technology," said Zanotto.
For now, though, the team is focusing on testing the SportSole for clinical use. An unobtrusive, wearable gait monitor could help researchers optimize treatments for people with movement disorders, allow remote monitoring of vulnerable populations, or offer important insights into the safety and efficacy of new treatments that might affect gait and balance.
More information: Huanghe Zhang et al, Accurate Ambulatory Gait Analysis in Walking and Running Using Machine Learning Models, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (2019). DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2019.2958679
Alitalia nationalized
'Worse than 9/11': Coronavirus threatens global airline industry
by Luc Olinga Avec Corentin Dautreppe Et Sonia Wolf À Paris
Many of the world's airlines face possible bankruptcy due to the coronavirus shutdown of the industry
Fears of massive bankruptcies and calls for emergency bailouts swept global airlines Tuesday as a top US official warned the coronavirus crisis threatens the industry even more than the September 11 attacks, which saw US airspace shut down entirely. I
Italy moved to take over insolvent Alitalia while Sweden and Denmark offered 275 million euros in guarantees to help prop up Scandinavian carrier SAS.
In the United States, airlines sought $50 billion in help from the government as the White House prepared a reportedly $850 billion plan to support the entire economy.
"This is worse than 9/11 for the airline industry—they are ground to a halt," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Industry officials said most airlines face burning through their cash reserves in three months or less.
And airlines warned that vital air cargo could be impacted by the shutdown of 185,000 passenger flights around the world.
"Most airlines in the world will be bankrupt" by the end of May, Market intelligence firm CAPA warned.
"If the crisis will continue at that intensity, it's clear we will see a consolidation," Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, said in Geneva.
Alitalia nationalized
More airlines slashed flights Tuesday as millions of passengers cancelled travel to self-quarantine and countries blocked arrivals to stem the spread of the COVID-19 infection.
The Italian government will take over Alitalia to prevent its collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic
Belgium-based Brussels Airlines, a Lufthansa subsidiary which operates 48 aircraft, suspended all flights for at least a month on Tuesday. Lufthansa has already cut back flights by 90 percent.
In Australia, Qantas slashed international capacity by 90 percent early Tuesday, as the government required that anyone arriving from abroad needs to isolate themselves for 14 days to be sure they are not carrying the virus.
Italy's government said it would take over Alitalia, the former flag carrier already mired in bankruptcy negotiations since 2017.
"At a time like this, a flag carrier gives the government more leeway," said Deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli. "We all saw the difficulties our compatriots faced in returning to Italy. Our decision stems from this."
Even with the takeover, the plan was to furlough 4,000 of Alitalia's 11,000 employees.
In Russia, Alexander Neradko, head of the federal agency Rosaviation, said their airlines, hit beginning in February with the shutdown of flights to China, the original epicenter of the virus, were also in trouble.
"There is a rising risk of bankruptcies by airlines that are in a tough financial situation," Neradko said.
"The government is actively discussing how to support airlines," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Airports also desperate
Brian Pearce, economist of IATA, said their early March estimate of $113 billion in losses to the global industry now looks very low.
Most of the world's airlines barely have enough cash to cover the next three months, according to analysts
"Seventy-five percent of the airlines we have looked at have less than three months of cash to pay their fixed costs," Pearce said.
Such numbers put aviation in perhaps the top position of industries requiring a bailout, like banks in the 2008 financial crisis.
"Connectivity is crucial," said the IATA's de Juniac.
"The world will get through this crisis," he said. "And when it does it will need a functioning air transport sector. Without financial relief that is not guaranteed."
Airports too said they were under threat. The Airports Council International Europe said they were bracing for a "near total collapse" of traffic, wiping out earnings while they hold high fixed costs.
ACI Europe president Jost Lammers called in a letter to the European Union Tuesday for urgent financial support.
"This funding needs to be available under similar conditions as those that will be considered for airlines," Lammers wrote.
In the United States, however, some bristled at again, like in 2008, using taxpayer funds to rescue industries and well-paid executives who took excessive risks with their companies.
Critics said US airlines, rather than build up cash reserves, used nearly all their profits in recent years to buy back shares to prop up share prices.
According to Bloomberg, over the past decade US airlines used nearly 96 percent of their free cash flow to buy back shares, with American Airlines the most aggressive, paying out $12.5 billion.
"We cannot permit American and other airlines to use federal assistance, whether labelled a bailout or not, to weather the coronavirus crisis and then return to business as usual," wrote Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu in The New York Times.
3-D printers saving the lives of coronavirus victims
by Peter Grad , Tech Xplore The original valve (left) and its 3-D printed twin. Credit: Cristian Fracassi
Medical valves manufactured with portable 3-D printers are saving the lives of coronavirus victims at a hospital located in what is considered Italy's Ground Zero for the deadly viral infection.
When the founder of Issanova, a startup 3-D printing firm with a staff of 14 learned that a local hospital was running short of critical breathing devices used to help hospital patients suffering from the deadly virus, he sprang into action. He consulted with a fellow engineering expert and the two raced to the desperate hospital located in the small town of Chiari. There, they examined the medical device, called a Venturi valve.
That was on Friday the 13th. By Saturday, after a few hours designing blueprints for the device, they began producing the first of 100 Venturi valves on a 3-D printer that would immediately be shipped to the hospital to help save lives.
At the moment, Italy is suffering from the virus more than any other country in the world, with 2,158 confirmed deaths and 27,980 confirmed infected with the virus as of March 16. On Sunday alone, 368 new deaths were reported.
"We were told the hospital was desperately looking for more valves," Cristian Fracassi, CEO of the 3-D printing firm Isinnova, said. "They're impossible to find at the moment, production can't keep up with demand."
The hospital's valve supplier would not release blueprints of the device, so Fracassi turned to fellow engineer Alessandro Romaioli and the two examined the devices and reverse-engineered the design within hours. They rushed the first units to the hospital the same day. At one point, they brought 3-D printers to the hospital to speed delivery of the critical valves.
Romaioli told BBC News, "They tested it on a patient and they told us that it worked well and so we ran again back to our office and we started to print new valves."
The valves are inexpensive—roughly a dollar apiece—but they are produced slowly, taking about an hour each to complete. Isinnova has only six 3-D printers, so Fracassi contacted fellow firms to join in the effort.
Countries around the world are stepping up restrictions, closing schools, theaters, restaurants and public arenas and are issuing strict warnings to citizens to avoid crowds, wash their hands thoroughly and avoid touching their faces.
According to the Worldometer web site that is tracking the impact of the virus, as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, there are 194,584 reported cases of COVID-19 infection, 7,894 deaths caused by the virus, and 81,080 recoveries.
The Venturi valve is named after its inventor, the Italian 18th century physicist Giovanni Battista Venturi. The component connects oxygen masks to respirators used by patients with respiratory complications.
More Italian hospitals are expected to place calls for emergency replacement valves and the production procedure is sure to be examined closely by health officials globally.
"We haven't slept for two days," Fracassi said. "We're trying to save lives."
US auto workers union seeks two-week halt due to virus
WILDCAT STRIKES BREAK OUT
Following a walkout at one plant, the United Auto Workers is pushing for a two-week shutdown of American auto plants due to the coronavirus
The United Auto Workers is pushing for a two-week shutdown of American auto plants due to the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, following a walkout at one plant.
The auto workers union, which has about 150,000 members in the US car industry, is set to meet with representatives of the "Big 3" tonight, as part of a task force set up by the union that includes executives with General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler (FCA).
At a meeting with auto company officials Sunday, UAW President Rory Gamble and other union officials requested a two-week shutdown, Gamble said in a statement posted Tuesday to Facebook.
Pointing to recommendations from health officials, UAW leaders "requested a two-week shutdown of operations to safeguard our members, our families and our communities," Gamble said.
"Your UAW leadership feels very strongly, and argued very strongly, that this is the most responsible course of action."
Gamble said this plan was rejected by Big 3 leaders on Sunday, who asked for two days to prepare plans to address the concerns.
Gamble said the union "will use any and all measures" to protect workers.
A General Motors spokesman confirmed the task force would meet this evening, adding in an email that "the members of the Task Force have been working diligently since Sunday and that work continues."
On Monday night, workers walked off the job at a Warren, Michigan truck plant outside Detroit, FCA confirmed.
An FCA spokeswoman confirmed the action, adding that there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant.
"We are continuing to monitor the situation carefully and are taking all necessary precautions to safeguard the health and welfare of our workforce," the spokeswoman said in email.
Ford announced Tuesday that it was halting production in Europe due to the coronavirus, joining Volkswagen and other leading automakers in suspending work.
Sugar leads to early death, but not due to obesity
by MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
Close up of glass jar with sugar cubes inside and a stack of six sugar cubes to the side. Credit: Suzy Hazelwood via Pexels
Sugar-rich diets have a negative impact on health independent of obesity reports a new study led by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, UK.
Researchers discovered that the shortened survival of fruit flies fed a sugar-rich diet is not the result of their diabetic-like metabolic issues.
The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, instead suggest that early death from excess sugar is related to the build-up of a natural waste product, uric acid.
We all know that consuming too much sugar is unhealthy. It increases our risk of developing metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes, and can shorten our life expectancy by several years. While this reduction in lifespan is widely believed to be caused by metabolic defects, this new study in fruit flies reveals that this may not be the case.
"Just like humans, flies fed a high-sugar diet show many hallmarks of metabolic disease—for instance, they become fat and insulin resistant", says Dr. Helena Cochemé, the principal investigator of the study. "Obesity and diabetes are known to increase mortality in humans, and so people always assumed that this was how excess sugar is damaging for survival in flies".
However, like salt, sugar also causes dehydration. In fact, thirst is an early symptom of high blood sugar and diabetes. Dr. Cochemé continues: "Water is vital for our health, yet its importance is often overlooked in metabolic studies. Therefore, we were surprised that flies fed a high-sugar diet did not show a reduced lifespan, simply by providing them with an extra source of water to drink. Unexpectedly, we found that these flies still exhibited the typical metabolic defects associated with high dietary sugar".
Based on this water effect, the team decided to focus on the fly renal system. They showed that excess dietary sugar caused the flies to accumulate a molecule called uric acid. Uric acid is an end-product from the breakdown of purines, which are important building blocks in our DNA. But uric acid is also prone to crystallise, giving rise to kidney stones in the fly. Researchers could prevent these stones, either by diluting their formation with drinking water or by blocking the production of uric acid with a drug. In turn, this protected against the shortened survival associated with a sugar-rich diet.
So, does this mean we can eat all the sugary treats we want, as long as we drink plenty of tea? "Unfortunately not," says Dr. Cochemé, "the sugar-fed flies may live longer when we give them access to water, but they are still unhealthy. And in humans, for instance, obesity increases the risk of heart disease. But our study suggests that disruption of the purine pathway is the limiting factor for survival in high-sugar-fed flies. This means that early death by sugar is not necessarily a direct consequence of obesity itself".
To understand the impact of dietary sugars on human health, collaborators from Kiel University in Germany explored the influence of diet in healthy volunteers. "Strikingly, just like flies, we found that dietary sugar intake in humans was associated with worse kidney function and higher purine levels in the blood", says Prof. Christoph Kaleta, co-author of the study.
Accumulation of uric acid is a known direct cause of kidney stones in humans, as well as gout, a form of inflammatory arthritis. Uric acid levels also tend to increase with age, and can predict the onset of metabolic diseases such as diabetes. "It will be very interesting to explore how our results from the fly translate to humans, and whether the purine pathway also contributes to regulating human survival", concludes Dr. Cochemé. "There is substantial evidence that what we eat influences our life expectancy and our risk for age-related diseases. By focusing on the purine pathway, our group hopes to find new therapeutic targets and strategies that promote healthy ageing".
Studying a single food or commodity such as sugar may seem like an incongruous project for an anthropologist who claims to work mostly with living people. Still, it is a rich subject for someone interested in the history and character of the modern world, for its importance and popularity rose together with tea, colonial slavery, and the machine era. Had it not been for the immense importance of sugar in the world history of food, and in the daily lives of so many, I would have left it alone.
Sugar, or sucrose (C12H22O11), is manufactured photosynthetically by green plants. We humans can't make sugar. The best we can do is to extract it, and change its form. We have been doing so zealously, for more than 2,000 years. Sugarcane was domesticated about ten millennia before that, and is the most important plant from which sucrose is extracted. Today, corn sweeteners have begun to overtake sucrose in the West; but cane sugar and beet sugar still have promising futures in the poor, or “less developed” world.
My work on sugar, Sweetness and Power, situates it within Western history because it was an old commodity, basic to the emergence of a global market. The first time I was in the field I'd been surrounded by it, as I did my fieldwork. That led me to try to trace it backward in time, to learn about its becoming domesticated, and how it spread and gained importance in the growing Western industrial world. I became awed by the power of a single taste, and the concentration of brains, energy, wealth and -- most of all, power -- that had led to its being supplied to so many, in such stunningly large quantities, and at so terrible a cost in life and suffering.
I follow it still – as well as honey, carob, aspartame, estevia, palm sugar, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and so on. I want to know what will happen with sweetness next: how its desirability confronts the costs it poses to health, physical appearance, the environment, and the world order.
How do we get from one child's sweet tooth to the history of slavery, of war, and of corporate lobbying in the Congress? And how do we retrace our steps backward, this time to the significance of that child's sweet tooth? Do these issues ever become so powerful that there may be thought of legislating the availability of this or other foods – the health implications of which can be debated? These are the kinds of questions that have arisen in recent years. Alongside them are the shacks of the cane cutters, scattered in so many of the earth’s tropical corners, which deserve at least equal attention from anthropologists.
Fusion researchers endorse push for pilot power plant in US
A fusion community report recommends three science drivers and several new facilities to accelerate toward commercially relevant fusion power. Credit: Plasma Science and Fusion Center
The growing sense of urgency around development of fusion technology for energy production in the United States got another boost this week with the release of a community consensus report by a diverse group of researchers from academia, government labs, and industry. High among its recommendations is development of a pilot fusion power plant, an ambitious goal that would be an important step toward an American fusion energy industry.
The report—the first of its kind in almost 20 years and the product of a novel 15-month collaboration process—identifies high-priority scientific needs that can help fill gaps in fusion knowledge and facilitate the drive to making fusion a practical energy source. It will be used by the U.S. Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) as it undertakes a new phase of strategic planning for its Fusion Energy Sciences program, the primary U.S. source of fusion research funding.
If successfully harnessed, fusion would fundamentally change the world's energy grid by offering safe, abundant, carbon-free electricity production.
Some 300 members of the fusion community hammered out their consensus during three major workshop meetings and hundreds of online working-group sessions, using an anonymous voting process that gave all participants the chance to express themselves freely. The top energy-related priorities include: development of a shared neutron source facility that can be used for development of critical materials and power plant designs;
continued cultivation of burning plasma physics knowledge through ongoing participation in the international ITER program and expanded public-private collaboration in the United States; and Immediate pre-conceptual design of a new U.S. tokamak facility, which would begin operation by the end of the decade and support work on power extraction from exhaust heat and plasma sustainment.
Also identified were several "opportunities and research needs" that are broadly applicable across the fusion and plasma fields: use of advanced computing technologies for better understanding and modeling; development of improved plasma diagnostics; enhanced support for public-private partnerships; and embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with development of a more multidisciplinary workforce.
"This is first time in a generation when the fusion community has been called upon to self-organize and figure out its highest priorities for getting from fusion science to fusion energy," says Bob Mumgaard, chief executive of MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), one of a growing number of private companies pursuing fusion. "How we can get ready, with data, experience, test facilities—the things that are needed to support the science, and eventually an industry.
"The National Academies of Science (NAS) issued a good report [in late 2018], that said we should be bold and do fusion now and create test facilities," adds Mumgaard. "But this is different because it's the whole community, coming together in a very transparent grassroots effort to answer questions about what we're doing, what needs to be done, and what we're willing to not do. It wasn't done in a back room but by scientists themselves, and they came out with a plan and priorities—it's kind of cool."
Nathan Howard, a research scientist at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was one of seven co-chairs who shared development oversight of the report, which will be used in developing long-range strategic plans for fusion science programs in response to a FESAC request issued in November 2018.
"The American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics took the lead and brought together the seven of us to gather data from the community," explains Howard. In addition to fusion energy, the effort also generated extensive recommendations for Discovery Plasma Science, a diverse field of more-basic research with impact in astrophysics, high energy density plasma physics, and other disciplines. A fusion community report recommends increased effort in the fusion technologies that will be required to harness fusion power production, a transition from a program historically focused on producing fusion-grade plasmas. Credit: Alex Creely/Plasma Science and Fusion Center-Commonwealth Fusion Systems
One important development along the way was the creation of deeper linkages between the group focused on magnetic-confinement fusion and the one focused on fusion-related materials and technologies.
"It really didn't make sense for those to be separate," notes Howard. "The merger occurred naturally during the process and was motivated in part by the NAS burning plasma report, which said the U.S. should pursue building a fusion pilot plant, a reactor that will demonstrate creation of electricity from fusion and a closed fusion fuel cycle. The fusion community adopted construction of a pilot plant as its mission during the process"
While additional plasma research is important to achieving that goal, adds Howard, "the community recognized pretty clearly that we need more emphasis in fusion materials and technology. Where we're most lacking in the progress towards a power plant is in areas such as design of the blanket [the area surrounding the reactor, used to breed fusion fuel] and fusion-relevant materials."
Many of the outstanding materials issues are applicable not only to magnetic-confinement fusion, including the tokamak-type reactors that have received the most development attention to date, but also to inertial-confinement and other approaches, which offer different opportunities and challenges.
The report's official recipient is a FESAC subcommittee chaired by Troy Carter, professor of physics at the University of California at Los Angeles and director of the university's Basic Plasma Science Facility and Plasma Science and Technology Institute. He praised Howard and the other co-chairs for "working incredibly hard to organize the effort and bring so many people together. The report is very compelling, and the whole community should be commended—this sets an example for future iterations of the process and makes the job of my subcommittee much easier."
In particular, says Carter, "junior members of the community really stepped up. The co-chairs are junior and mid-career people for the most part, and it's important that it's their plan, because given the time scale, they'll be the ones implementing it."
Carter notes that, while he knew the concept of driving aggressively toward a pilot plant had support, "I was a bit surprised at how strongly it was embraced in the process. It's ambitious, and it points us in the direction of using innovation to get fusion energy onto the grid much quicker. There's still a lot of work to do in core plasma physics, but we've also got to get working on materials and other technology, which we're not putting enough effort towards now. It's refreshing to see that broad support for changing direction."
Carter's group will now incorporate the report's findings into strategic plans reflecting several budget scenarios it has been given.
"We'll lay it all out to take advantage of the opportunities in science and push towards the goal of realizing a pilot plant. We've got really good information about initiatives and guidance on prioritization," he says. "But a lot of the initiatives aren't at the level of conceptual design, so we'll have to do some work to figure out what they will cost. We have project management experts to work with, and also people from the private side—we have three members connected to private fusion companies, and will also engage other external points of view."
That process is expected to take about eight months, says Carter, with the results being submitted to FESAC around year end. After a vote, it would become FESAC's official advice to the Department of Energy. "It's something a lot of folks in Congress are interested in," notes Carter.
CFS's Mumgaard says the report's delivery could prove to be a key moment for the United States, with the potential to lead to a new fusion policy, Congressional action to support the nascent fusion industry and prepare for power plant licensing and regulation, and ongoing funding that would give academic and national laboratory leaders confidence to hire staff and build infrastructure. "It feels like things are going in the right direction," he says. "The scientific community has to speak with one voice, and this is the process that creates that voice." Isotope movement holds key to the power of fusion reactions
Coronavirus Virus did NOT originate in Wuhan seafood market, claims CHINESE study
CORONAVIRUS cases now number more than 245,967
the virus continuing to spread around the world. Now a shocking study suggests novel coronavirus did not originate in Wuhan seafood market as first thought.
Coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 10,748 victims, leading scientist to race to learn about the source of the deadly disease. Now a new study by a team of Chinese scientists indicates coronavirus did not actually originate at a seafood market in the central China city of Wuhan as widely reported.
Consequently the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was instead imported from elsewhere, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research have reported.
The crowded market then boosted SARS-CoV-2 circulation and spread it to the whole city in early December 2019
Dr Yu Wenbin
The team, led by Dr Yu Wenbin, sequenced the genomic data of 93 SARS-CoV-2 samples provided by 12 countries in an attempt to hunt the source of the infection and understand how it spreads.
They discovered while the virus had spread rapidly within the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, there had also been had two major population expansions on December 8 and January 6.
According to the study, published on the institute’s website late last week, analysis indicates the coronavirus was actually introduced from outside the market.
Coronavirus: Chinese scientists now believe coronavirus didn't originate at a Wuhan seafood market (Image: Getty)
Coronavirus news: Cases of coronavirus now number more than 79,800 (Image: Express)
The authors wrote: “The crowded market then boosted SARS-CoV-2 circulation and spread it to the whole city in early December 2019.”
Earlier studies by Chinese health authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) claimed the first known patient showed symptoms on December 8.
They also reported most of the subsequent cases had links to the Huanan seafood market, which was closed on January 1.
The researchers now believe it was possible the virus began spreading from person to person as early as late November, following analysis of genome data.
They wrote: “The study concerning whether Huanan market is the only birthplace of SARS-CoV-2 is of great significance for finding its source and determining the intermediate host, so as to control the epidemic and prevent it from spreading again.”
The scientists added although China’s National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 2 emergency warning about the new coronavirus on January 6, the information was not widely shared.
The authors wrote: “If the warning had attracted more attention, the number of cases both nationally and globally in mid-to-late January would have been reduced.
Meanwhile, Xiang Nijuan, a researcher at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, yesterday warned in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV people infected with the new coronavirus were contagious two days before they showed any symptoms.
Coronavirus news: The virus has claimed the lives of at least 2,468 victims (Image: Express)
Coronavirus news: There have been worrying coronavirus developments in South Korea, Italy and Iran (Image: Express)
Coronavirus news: The virus began spreading from person to person as early as late November last year (Image: Express)
He said anyone who had been in close contact with someone within 48 hours of them being confirmed as infected should put themselves in isolation for a fortnight.
The development coincided with worrying coronavirus developments in South Korea, Italy and Iran.
South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the “highest level” as confirmed case numbers keep rising.
President Moon Jae-in said the country faced “a grave turning point”, and the next few days would be crucial in the battle to contain the outbreak.
Six people have died from the virus in South Korea and more than 600 have been infected.
Meanwhile, Italy and Iran have announced steps to try to contain worrying outbreaks of the virus.
Meet the 'Wonderchicken': Scientists discover the oldest fossil of a modern bird — an ancestor of hens and ducks that waddled alongside the dinosaurs
The Wonderchicken — or 'Asteriornis' — lived around 67 million years ago
According to the researchers it resembles a 'mash-up' of a duck and a chicken
It was a small bird that fed on land alongside the sea, experts have determined
The specimen found in Belgium is one of the best preserved fossil bird skulls
The oldest fossil ever found of a modern bird skull has been identified by scientists — who have dubbed the creature the 'Wonderchicken'.
The Wonderchicken is thought to be an ancestor of today's hens and ducks.
The fossil has been dated back to almost 67 million years ago — meaning that the birds lived alongside dinosaurs for around a million years before the latter died out.
The oldest fossil ever found of a modern bird skull has been identified by scientists — who have dubbed the creature the 'Wonderchicken'. It is thought to be an ancestor of hens and ducks. Pictured, an artist's impression of a Wonderchicken foraging along the seashore of the Cretaceous era, 67 million years ago +4
The fossil has been dated back to almost 67 million years ago — meaning that the birds lived alongside dinosaurs for around a million years before the latter died out. Pictured, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the fossil bird's skull, which is one of the best ever preserved
'The moment I first saw what was beneath the rock was the most exciting moment of my scientific career,' said paper author and palaeobiologist Daniel Field of the University of Cambridge.
'This is one of the best-preserved fossil bird skulls of any age, from anywhere in the world.'
'We almost had to pinch ourselves when we saw it, knowing that it was from such an important time in Earth's history.'
The fossil of the Wonderchicken — named in part because it looks like a mash-up of a duck and a chicken — was found in the Romontbos Quarry near fort Eben-Emael in Liège, on the Belgium-Netherlands border.
The ancient remains include a complete skull as well as leg fragments — with the bird displaying many common features with the fowl you might see in farmyards in the present day.
It is the oldest example ever found of a common ancestor to the family of birds called 'galloanserae' — which also includes quails.
'The moment I first saw what was beneath the rock (left) was the most exciting moment of my scientific career,' said paper author and palaeobiologist Daniel Field of the University of Cambridge (pictured, right, with a 3D printed model of the skull). 'We almost had to pinch ourselves when we saw it, knowing that it was from such an important time in Earth's history'
'The moment I first saw what was beneath the rock was the most exciting moment of my scientific career,' said palaeobiologist Daniel Field of the University of Cambridge
A high resolution CT scan of the fossil helped the researchers determine that the Wonderchicken was a small-bodied, likely ground-dwelling bird
The scientific name given to the Wonderchicken is 'Asteriornis' — in recognition of the ancient Greek goddess of falling stars, Asteria, who in legend transformed herself into a quail.
A high resolution CT scan of the fossil helped the researchers determine that the Wonderchicken was a small-bodied, likely ground-dwelling bird which fed along land near the seashore.
'Finding the skull blew my mind,' said paper co-author Juan Benito.
'Without these cutting-edge scans, we never would have known that we were holding the oldest modern bird skull in the world.'
The fossil of the Wonderchicken — named in part because it looks like a mash-up of a duck and a chicken — was found in the Romontbos Quarry near fort Eben-Emael in Liège, on the Belgium-Netherlands border
'The origins of living bird diversity are shrouded in mystery — other than knowing that modern birds arose at some point towards the end of the age of dinosaurs, we have very little fossil evidence of them until after the asteroid hit,' said paper co-author Albert Chen.
'This fossil provides our earliest direct glimpse of what modern birds were like during the initial stages of their evolutionary history.'
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature.
The original valve (left) and its 3-D printed twin. Credit: Cristian Fracassi
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