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Tiny airborne particles may pose a big coronavirus problem
NEW YORK (AP) — At a University of Maryland lab, people infected with the new coronavirus take turns sitting in a chair and putting their faces into the big end of a large cone. They recite the alphabet and sing or just sit quietly for a half...
Q&A: How to handle technology issues with online school
NEW YORK (AP) — Across the U.S., the pandemic has forced students to attend virtual school to prevent spread of the coronavirus. But the more we rely on technology, the bigger the consequences when gadgets or internet service let us down....
Stressful times are an opportunity to teach children resilience
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Between the global COVID-19 pandemic, the associated economic downturn and widespread protests over racism, it's...
China aims to make 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses a year
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese health official said Friday that the country's annual production capacity for coronavirus vaccines will top 1 billion doses next year, following an aggressive government support program for construction of new factories....
Single-dose vaccine tested as US experts say no corners cut
WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge international study of a COVID-19 vaccine that aims to work with just one dose is getting underway as top U.S. health officials sought Wednesday to assure a skeptical Congress and public that they can trust any shots the...
Nearly 500 pilot whales stranded in Australia; 380 dead
HOBART, Australia (AP) — More pilot whales were found stranded in Australia on Wednesday, raising the estimated total to nearly 500, including 380 that have died, in the largest mass stranding ever recorded in the country. Authorities had already...
US experts vow 'no cutting corners' as vaccine tests expand
WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge international study of a COVID-19 vaccine that aims to work with just one dose is getting underway as top U.S. health officials sought Wednesday to assure a skeptical Congress and public that they can trust any shots the...
Carpenters wow public with medieval techniques at Notre Dame
PARIS (AP) — With precision and boundless energy, a team of carpenters used medieval techniques to raise up — by hand — a three-ton oak truss Saturday in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, a replica of the wooden structures that were consumed in th...
Wyoming wildfire prompts evacuations, nears water supply
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A rapidly growing wildfire in southeastern Wyoming was closing in on a reservoir that's a major source of water for Cheyenne. Firefighters on Saturday ordered campers, hunters and anybody else still around to leave an over...
CDC changes, then retracts, its take on coronavirus spread
NEW YORK (AP) — The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting — and then taking down — an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person on small droplets in the air. The Centers...
US bans WeChat, TikTok from app stores, threatens shutdowns
The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores on Sunday and will bar the apps from accessing essential internet services in the U.S. — a move that could effectively wreck the operation of...
Science mag makes first endorsement in 175 years, taps Biden
NEW YORK (AP) — Even though Scientific American had never endorsed a presidential candidate in the magazine's 175-year history, its top editor said Tuesday there was little internal debate over a decision to back Democrat Joe Biden....
World isn't meeting biodiversity goals, UN report finds
A decade-long global effort to save Earth's disappearing species and declining ecosystems has mostly stumbled, with fragile habitats like coral reefs and tropical forests in more trouble than ever, researchers said in a report Tuesday. In 2010, more...
Oxford and AstraZeneca resume coronavirus vaccine trial
LONDON (AP) — Oxford University announced Saturday it was resuming a trial for a coronavirus vaccine it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, a move that comes days after the study was suspended following a reported side-effect in...
TikTok picks Oracle over Microsoft in Trump-forced sales bid
The owner of TikTok has chosen Oracle over Microsoft as its preferred suitor to buy the popular video-sharing app, according to a source familiar with the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly about it. Microsoft announced Sunday that its...
Astronomers see possible hints of life in Venus's clouds
Astronomers have found a potential sign of life high in the atmosphere of neighboring Venus: hints there may be bizarre microbes living in the sulfuric acid-laden clouds of the hothouse planet. Two telescopes in Hawaii and Chile spotted in the thick...
Russian hackers targeting U.S. campaigns, Microsoft says
BOSTON (AP) — The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the Democrats in 2016 has renewed vigorous U.S. election-related targeting, trying to breach computers at more than 200 organizations including political campaigns and their...
Experts: Revamped OxyContin hasn't curbed abuse, overdoses
WASHINGTON (AP) — A panel of government health advisers said Friday there's no clear evidence that a harder-to-crush version of the painkiller OxyContin designed to discourage abuse actually resulted in fewer overdoses or deaths. The conclusion...
Study: Kids infected at day care spread coronavirus at home
NEW YORK (AP) — Children who caught the coronavirus at day cares and a day camp spread it to their relatives, according to a new report that underscores that kids can bring the germ home and infect others. Scientists already know children can...
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine study paused after one illness
Late-stage studies of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate are on temporary hold while the company investigates whether a recipient's "potentially unexplained" illness is a side effect of the shot. In a statement issued Tuesday evening, the...
Vaccine by Nov. 3? Halted study explains just how unlikely
WASHINGTON (AP) — The suspension of a huge COVID-19 vaccine study over an illness in a single participant shows there will be "no compromises" on safety in the race to develop the shot, the chief of the National Institutes of Health told Congress...
Think 2020's disasters are wild? Experts see worse in future
A record amount of California is burning, spurred by a nearly 20-year mega-drought. To the north, parts of Oregon that don't usually catch fire are in flames. Meanwhile, the Atlantic's 16th and 17th named tropical storms are swirling, a record...
Facebook blocks ailing man's planned end-of-life broadcasts
LE PECQ, France (AP) — Facebook on Saturday blocked live broadcasts from a chronically ill bed-ridden man who appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron for a medically-assisted death and who wanted to show what he expects will be a painful end...
Group helps struggling bee populations in Montana
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — The constant hum of more than a quarter of a million bees and the faint acrid smell of smoke fill the air as Angela Tollerson sets to work carefully inspecting the first of five hives on a farm east of Kalispell on a recent...
Environmentalists say Washington's wolf program is broken
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Gov. Jay Inslee has directed the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to draft new rules governing the killing of wolves involved in conflicts with livestock, a move winning praise from conservation groups. The Democrat on...
