testing

How a 19th-Century Breakthrough Could Revolutionize COVID-19 Diagnosis

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It sounds simple, but to treat someone you suspect has COVID, you need to confirm they are actually infected with the coronavirus. In the UK, it is easy to take this for granted – we’ve had a reliable detection method for diagnosing infected patients widely available since early on in the pandemic. This allowed for … Read more

NASA’s ‘quiet’ X-59 supersonic plane moves to Texas for testing and calibration

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A quiet supersonic plane designed and built by NASA to usher in a new era of superfast air travel made a pitstop in Texas to perform crucial structural testing ahead of a debut flight later this year. NASA’s X-59 made the switch between Lockheed Martin facilities in late December, moving the plane between Palmdale, California … Read more

It’s Time for a Global Ban on Destructive Antisatellite Testing

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In November, Russia ignited an international uproar with a weapon test that launched an interceptor against a defunct military satellite. When it hit, that deliberate collision shattered the satellite into more than 1,500 trackable pieces of debris. This space debris is dangerous; it could hit and severely damage an orbiting space station, akin to the … Read more

Omicron testing: new covid guidelines, LFT results and everything else you need to know

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With omicron infections surging around the world, many countries are changing their coronavirus testing guidelines to better deal with the new variant and the huge number of cases it is causing. Here’s what you need to know. Health 10 January 2022 By Clare Wilson Lateral flow tests may be less likely to detect the omicron … Read more

FYI, Rapid Antigen Tests May Give More False Negatives With Omciron

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Rapid Covid home tests are more likely to give a false negative with the heavily-mutated Omicron variant compared to earlier strains, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Tuesday.   The news comes as the country is facing a massive surge in cases that experts say is being under-captured as a result of a … Read more

Here’s Why The World Will Be Holding Its Breath During The JWST Launch

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When the immense sound of the Ariane 5 rocket rumbles across Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, it will signal the end of a journey decades in the making. Perched atop the rocket will be the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most sophisticated and complex observatory ever constructed.   An enormous mirror 6.5 meters across, … Read more

The Biden Administration Should Offer Free, At-Home COVID testing

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A few days ago, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would provide 500,000 free at-home COVID tests to city residents through community centers. This step toward more equitable testing came days after a heated exchange between White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and a National Public Radio reporter in which Psaki scoffed … Read more