ebola
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FDA issues its first approval for an Ebola vaccine
A month ago the European Union issued marketing authorization for a vaccine to prevent the Ebola virus in adults, and now the FDA has approved it. While noting that Ebola cases in the US have been very rare, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Peter Marks said in a statement that "Vaccination is essential to help prevent outbreaks and to stop the Ebola virus from spreading when outbreaks do occur." Studies supporting its approval included one with 900 subjects in Canada, Spain and the U.S., where antibody responses matched with those seen elsewhere. Side effects included "pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as headache, fever, joint and muscle aches and fatigue." An ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the Congo has killed more than 2,000 people, and more than 200,000 people have received the vaccine. A study during an outbreak in Guinea " determined to be 100% effective in preventing Ebola cases with symptom onset greater than 10 days after vaccination." The EU marketing approval precedes increased manufacturing of the dose, called V920, in Germany later in 2020.
The EU just approved a vaccine to prevent Ebola
Today, the European Union granted an Ebola vaccine "conditional marketing authorization." The vaccine, developed by the pharmaceutical giant Merck, is known as Ervebo. It's the first human Ebola vaccine to be approved by the EU.
After Math: Merry Christmahanukwanzakkahs
It's been a festive week and, for once, not a complete socio-political trainwreck. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are, but some good things really did happen. Like, we found an effective vaccine against Ebola, Super Mario Run broke iOS download records, both the UK and France have come to embrace renewables and Canada set some impressive broadband speed rules. Numbers, because how else are we going to count down the million years until Sweet Meteor O'Death finally comes calling?
Ebola vaccine proves 100 percent effective in Guinea trial
An Ebola vaccine has proven to be 100 percent effective during test trials in Guinea. The shot has yet to be approved by a regulator, but Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has already committed $5 million so a stockpile of 300,000 doses can be produced. The results of the trial, which covered 11,841 citizens, were published in The Lancet medical journal this week. Of the 5,837 people who received the vaccine, none came down with Ebola after 10 days. (Those who showed symptoms before this time were not counted, as it was assumed they had been infected before vaccination.)
Blue dye could help keep Ebola doctors safe
If you're unfortunate enough to wind up in hospital with a dangerous infectious disease like Ebola, then keep an eye on what your doctors are wearing. If their hazmat suits are smeared with blue dye that gently evaporates as they work with you, you can rest easy. If they're sporting the odd tint, it means that they're taking proper precautions and keeping their biohazard gear nice and clean. It also means that they're using Kinnos Highlight, a new wonder dye created by three students out of Columbia University.
IBM developed a 'magic bullet' to combat viral infections
IBM Research and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore have created a new chemical "macromolecule" that could aid in the fight against a wide range of viral diseases like Ebola, Zika, dengue fever, herpes or even influenza. The new chemical was "designed from the ground up" to combat viruses in three ways: by preventing it from infecting healthy cells, stopping the virus's replication and finally boosting the body's immune system to help it fight the virus on its own.
CDC labs sanctioned for mishandling potential bioweapons
You'd think an agency like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be extremely careful in handling potential bioweapons. But according to a report by USA Today, at least one CDC lab's permit was secretly suspended in recent years for "serious safety violations while working with bioterror pathogens." In addition, the agency has admitted to the publication that its labs had been sanctioned six times since 2003 for the same reason. Take note that the CDC helps run the Federal Select Agent Program, which oversees any work on anthrax, Ebola and other bioterror pathogens.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: hypersonic jets and spider cars
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Airbus just unveiled its vision for the future of transportation: a 3,000MPH airplane that could travel from New York City to London in one hour flat. Meanwhile Lexus brought the future to life by debuting a working hoverboard that can soar through the air and fly over water. Tesla turned heads with an automatic electric car charger that looks like a robotic snake, while Swincar launched an amazing off-road spider car that can tackle any terrain. Stanford brought us one step closer to a solar future by revealing its new Arctan sun-powered vehicle, and China debuted an all-electric bus that can charge up in 10 seconds flat.
Google created an 'Ebola-proof' tablet to help fight epidemics
Up until now, doctors fighting highly contagious diseases like Ebola have had to forgo their gadgets for pen and paper. But Google, at the request of the French organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), has developed an alternative: A tablet enclosed in polycarbonate, which can be soaked in chlorine for decontamination. It communicates with a battery-powered server outside of high-risk zones, allowing doctors to save and retrieve patient records easily. Altogether, it's a rather elegant solution for getting around typically restrictive biohazard restrictions. The system's usefulness goes far beyond Ebola, as well: it could be easily deployed to help fight future disease outbreaks. Google and Médecins Sans Frontières are also working to open source the project, which should make it easy for others to adapt it to their needs. [Photo credit: Médecins Sans Frontières]
Meet the company that brought 'Ebola' to CES
Every year, CES manages to bring thousands of exhibitors to Las Vegas, spreading them across the Las Vegas Convention Center and throughout hotels like Mandalay Bay, Sands Expo and The Mirage. For members of the media, the abundance of companies at the show makes the task of keeping up with every one of them extremely hard -- but it must be done. Exhibitors, on the other hand, have to reach out to journalists and host press conferences in hopes of getting valuable airtime for their product, whatever it may be. Naturally, due to the madness that is CES, smaller companies have to get creative to compete for attention with the tech giants of the world, such as Samsung, LG, Sony and more. And it helps tremendously if their product is, you know, actually good. So, when we got an email with a subject line that said, "WakaWaka Brings Ebola To CES," we instantly took notice. According to recent statistics, Ebola is estimated to have infected more than 20,000 people worldwide, the majority of them in West Africa. To date, the deadly virus has taken roughly 8,000 lives. At first glance, you think, "Are they seriously using a disease for promotional purposes?" Indeed, the company behind it, WakaWaka, wasn't really bringing Ebola to CES, but that's quite a bold way to approach pitching a story to journalists and other CES attendees.
Help cure Ebola by donating your smartphone's idle time
You know how your smartphone and computer just do nothing when you're not using them? You can now put those slackers to work in a noble cause: helping cure the Ebola virus. IBM's World Community Grid has teamed up with scientists from the Scripps Research Institute with the "Outsmart Ebola Together" project to tackle the deadly plague. The laboratory has been studying the virus for the last decade, and has mapped potential weak points in Ebola proteins. But the process of narrowing down promising drugs is computationally intensive, which is where you and your device come in.
Ebola scare causes spike in Plague Inc game sales
Worried about the Ebola scare but feel powerless to do anything about it? Join the tens of millions of people who have joined the dark side, so to speak, and created their own virtual plague in a quest to wipe out humanity in Plague Inc. The developers of the hit game are noting a noticeable spike in sales following an increase in Ebola media coverage, with many players now naming their own viruses "Ebola" and then attempting to take over the world. The game is based on the concept that a single infected individual can lead to the destruction of society and, eventually, the end of the world. Each play sessions starts with a "Patient Zero," at which point the player tweaks the disease so that it can spread as far as possible and kill as many humans before eventually being cured -- or, if the player wins, leading to the extinction of mankind. Sales of the game have risen more than 50% since Ebola began taking over headlines and newscasts, and the game's creator James Vaughan is already in talks to donate a portion of the game's proceeds towards victims of the disease.
Plague Inc. picks up more players during Ebola outbreak
In Plague Inc, players simulate fast-moving, contagious diseases in a bid to infect the entire world. Players are able to name their own diseases and experiment with simulated human behavior, such as eliminating hand-washing in certain countries or adding sophisticated hospital systems in others. The ongoing outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has drawn extra attention to Plague Inc, driving sales up in recent weeks, creator James Vaughan told the Daily Mail. "This hasn't been the biggest increase we've had in our downloads in 2014, but I think this is the first time a real-world situation has been the reason why people are getting the game," Vaughan said. On Twitter, he added, "Public concern about #Ebola has increased Plague Inc. downloads recently." Last week, 430,000 people downloaded the Plague Inc app, a rise of 147,000 over the same stat two weeks prior. During that same time, 4 million people played the game, 923,000 more than player numbers two weeks prior. Plague Inc launched in 2012 and has a player base of 35 million across iOS and Android. Plague Inc: Evolved hit Steam in February and there's a version in development for Xbox One.
Scientists want to fight the Ebola outbreak using robots
Outbreaks of lethal viruses like Ebola are bad enough by themselves, but they're made worse by having to send in aid workers -- these people can quickly become victims, no matter how careful they are. To eliminate that risk, both the White House and a trio of educational institutions are holding workshops on November 7th where scientists will discuss using robots to tackle the current Ebola crisis. The goal is to minimize physical contact whenever possible while keeping patients and families in touch. At a basic level, they'd like machines to disinfect areas and deliver supplies. Telepresence robots, meanwhile, could both let people visit patients without putting themselves in danger.
#Weirded Returns
#Weirded's back this week with another carousel of visual delights. In this second installment, see Engadget's social media editor take the literal piss out of widespread Ebola panic, peek inside Toys for Bob, the studio behind mega-franchise Skylanders, to look at how 3D printing brings new characters to life and jet off to Japan for a confounding glimpse of the uncanny advances in robotic absurdity. The whole shebang's just after the break. Enjoy the feast!
All the World's a Stage: Inspiration
All the World's a Stage is a source for roleplaying ideas, suggestions, and discussions. It is published every Sunday evening.You've probably heard that no story is completely original, that everything is copied from somewhere, and nothing anyone ever thinks or says is really unique. It's an awfully pessimistic way of looking at the creative endeavor, but there's a degree of truth in it.Any time you make up a new character, you are sure to be inspired by something you observed somewhere else. Perhaps you wondered, "What if there were a dwarven rogue, whose personality was a mix between Sherlock Holmes and Jack Sparrow?" or "My undead warrior is a lot like Frankenstein's monster, not evil so much as tragically neglected and rejected. He also likes to play with dolls." All this is fine and good for roleplaying, as long as you recognize the essential differences between your character and his or her inspirational anscestors. After all, every creative endeavor basically consists of mix-and-matching pre-existing knowledge in new and useful ways. In the same way a painter doesn't need to invent new colors, color palettes, or even new color matching techniques to make an beautiful, a storyteller doesn't need to create entirely new characteristics for each character in his or her story, only mix-and-match qualities real people already have in order to create someone compelling and interesting for other characters to interact with. Jump on in to find some great inspirations for WoW characters.
