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ScienceHealthThis is Why You Need a Flu Shot
If you’ve been debating whether to get a flu shot, you should watch this beautifully terrifying animation of a virus taking over a cell and sending millions of its progeny off to spread the infection. A single virus particle can turn an infected cell into a factory capable of producing millions more virus particles, which … Continued
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Tech NewsBioweapon Experts Aren’t Buying the Tesla Model X’s Bioweapon Defense Mode [Updated]
The air conditioning system in the new Tesla Model X has three modes: circulating air from outside the car, re-circulating air that’s already inside the cabin, and a “bioweapon defense mode,” triggered by a button on the dashboard, which creates positive pressure inside the cabin to keep outside particles at bay. So, does it work? … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
A New Botnet Hits Servers With 150 Gbps DDoS Attacks
Just yesterday, Akamai’s Security Intelligence Response Team announced that it’s discovered a new botnet that uses a 150 Gbps onslaught to bring servers and websites to their knees. The Linux-based botnet spreads aboard a Trojan that’s called XOR DDoS. That wriggles its way into Linux systems by attacking embedded devices — things like routers — … Continued
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Tech News
Viruses are Alive, and They Share An Ancestor With Modern Cells
Viruses are living things after all, and they share an early evolutionary history with the cells that make up the bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals we know today. That’s according to new research on the evolutionary history of viruses and cells, published in the journal Science Advances. To learn more about how viruses might be … Continued
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Tech NewsWatch Two Sex Educators Show It’s Safe to Make a Dental Dam from Plastic Wrap
Sex educators Megara Bell and Brian Flaherty (both from the Boston group Partners in Sex Education) are a little stiff on camera, but the message of their delightful science demonstration (with controls!) is clear. If you’re in a pinch, microwavable plastic wrap is impermeable to viruses and you can use it to fashion a MacGyver-like … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
io9
Can the United States Cope With a Resurgence of Tropical Disease?
Having stamped out a number of tropical diseases—including malaria—decades ago, is the United States today complacent about a rising wave of infectious disease? One rainy Friday morning in March 2015, Dr Laila Woc-Colburn saw two patients with neurocysticercosis (a parasitic infection of the brain) and one with Chagas disease, which is transmitted by insects nicknamed … Continued
Carrie Arnold—Mosaic Science -
io9
Ebola Vaccine Shows 100% Effectiveness In Latest Trial
There’s a new tool in the fight against Ebola in West Africa: rVSV-ZEBOV, a vaccine that has recently concluded a study phase, with researchers finding that it was incredibly effective against the deadly disease. While it’s still in trial stages, the drug appears to be a promising tool moving forward. In a study published in … Continued
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ScienceHealth
A $25 Blood Test Could Detect Every Virus That’s Ever Infected You
Every time a virus gets you sick, your immune system keeps a record. This essentially becomes a kill list that lets your body recognize and readily dispatch of any virus that tries to invade again. Scientists have now created $25 test blood test that prints out this list—an easy and cheap way to find out … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
Tech News
UV Water Purifiers Are Bullshit
To achieve its claimed ability to remove pathogens, water going into CamelBak’s new UV purifier must first be cleaned by a filter from a rival manufacturer. And that rival product is cheaper. That’s according to CamelBak’s own lab testing. And its not the only water treatment technology that’s incapable of performing as claimed. This failure … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
How Viruses Hide Inside Your Eyeballs, Even When You’re No Longer Sick
Last week brought the horrifying news that the Ebola virus can live in the eyeballs of survivors, even after it’s been eliminated from the rest of the body. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, though. Viruses have always hidden in parts of our bodies you’d never expect. In fact, we’re all walking virus reservoirs. It’s … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
Tech News
The Ebola Virus Can Live Inside Your Eyes
After working as a doctor in an Ebola-stricken nation, Ian Crozier felt like he had something in his left eye. He was right: a live, replicating reservoir of the Ebola virus. According to a story in the New York Times, Crozier had contracted Ebola while working with the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone in … Continued
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io9
Yes, Dangerously Low Vaccination Rates Are Fueling The Measles Outbreak
A new research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics is the first to positively link low vaccination rates to the Disneyland measles outbreak that emerged in California late last year. The new research also shows how frighteningly fast measles can spread in a population that’s insufficiently immunized against the highly contagious virus. Calculations made by a … Continued
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io9
A Disturbing Visualization That Shows Where Kids Aren’t Being Immunized
For parents living in North America and other developed countries, the choice not to have children immunized is a luxury and a privilege. As this map makes painfully clear, there are many parts of the world where it’s the inaccessibility of vaccines that’s the problem. This map was produced by Benjamin Hennig and Save the … Continued
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io9
These 19th Century Maps Show Measles Death Rates Before Vaccines
As parts of North America struggle to contain a completely unnecessary measles epidemic, it’s important to remember what life was like prior to the onset of vaccines. These maps paint a grim picture of the past — and where we ourselves may be headed in the future. As Slate’s Rebecca Onion reports, these statistical maps … Continued
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io9The Most Common Misconceptions About Getting Sick, Debunked
In the latest installment of Mental Floss’ debunk-tastic series Misconceptions, Elliott Morgan serves up factual counterpoints to ten of the most common misconceptions about getting sick. It’s all in here – from food poisoning myths to false notions about the common cold. For my money, the most interesting myth on this list is the one … Continued
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io9
Everybody Needs To Read PW Singer’s Book On Cybersecurity And Cyberwar
The recent Sony hacking scandal just proved what’s already been clear to a lot of people for years: cyberattacks are an ever-increasing threat, and we’re not ready. Luckily, a book released last year provides an excellent primer on this sort of situation: P.W. Singer and Allan Friedman’s Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know. … Continued
Andrew Liptak -
io9
The U.S. Experiences One of the Worst Flu And Cold Seasons In Years
On any given day last month, an average of 4% of Americans said they were sick with the flu and 11.6% said they had a cold. That’s the highest these figures have ever been since Gallup first starting keeping track back in 2008. Typically, reports of the flu are highest in January or February. So … Continued
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io9
You Can Get A Pox From Seals
This cute little guy is just waiting to infect you. In the late 1960s, scientists realized that seals had a virus that they could share back and forth with other pinnipeds. Over 30 years later, scientists have confirmed that it can be given to humans. Sealpox isn’t as bad as it sounds. Although it shares … Continued
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io9A Vastly Improved Protective Suit For Healthcare Workers In Ebola Zones
As the ongoing Ebola epidemic rages in West Africa, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the protective suits worn by healthcare workers are extremely inadequate. To address this, researchers as Johns Hopkins have designed a new suit that should dramatically reduce infection risk. The prototype is specially designed to keep healthcare workers from coming into contact … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Download This Free Tool to See If the Government’s Spying on You
It’s been over a year-and-a-half since documents leaked by Edward Snowden shook our sense of privacy to the core. Those documents proved that government is spying on us pretty much all the time. And now that we know Congress isn’t going to do anything about it right away, it’s time to find the tools to … Continued