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Flu and colds are back with a vengeance — why now?

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  Restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 markedly   blunted the spread of other respiratory illnesses . Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — a seasonal virus that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms, but that can be dangerous for young children and older adults — all but disappeared in 2020 and early 2021. Now, in the Northern Hemisphere, RSV is surging, and the hospitalization rate for flu in the United States is higher for this time of year than it has been since 2010. Why exactly are these surges happening now? And what’s in store for future winters? “These viruses are coming back, and they’re coming back with a vengeance,” says Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “It is possible that this year will be sort of the granddaddy of them all in terms of flu.” Hensley says that this is because the population “is more immunologically naive than what we would expect in most years”. Normally, children get infected by their se
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Chances of finding COVID-virus ancestor ‘almost nil’

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The Giant Bacteria Discovered-5,000 Times Bigger Than Normal

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Cyberattacks increasingly hobble pandemic-weary US schools

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UAE’s Ras Al-Khaimah 2022 New Year’s fireworks break 2 Guinness World Records

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Heavy snowstorms caused travel chaos in Japan

  Heavy snowfall has caused travel chaos and brought record drifts to parts of central Japan, with weather experts warning more snow was on the way. Thousands have been left without power. Heavy snow hit parts of central  Japan  on Monday, causing traffic snarls and disrupting flights and rail connections. Power outages were reported by over 3,200 houses in the region, Kansai Electric Power said. Weather officials have warned of more snow overnight along the Sea of Japan coast on Japan's northwest, from the Tohoku to Kyushu regions. Government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said no injuries or fatalities due to the  extreme weather conditions  have yet been confirmed. "A strong winter pressure pattern is causing heavy snow... with some areas experiencing record snowfall," Matsuno said. "The amount of snow is expected to increase tomorrow," he warned, adding that "increased caution and vigilance are still required." Japan's Meteorological Agency has
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The richest 10% produce about 50% of greenhouse gas

  L et’s face it: our chances of staying under a 2C increase in global temperature are not looking good. If we continue business as usual, the world is on track to heat up by 3C at least by the end of this century. At current global emissions rates, the carbon budget that we have left if we are to stay under 1.5C will be depleted in six years. The paradox is that, globally, popular support for climate action has never been so strong. According to a recent United Nations poll, the vast majority of people around the world sees climate change as a global emergency. So, what have we got wrong so far? There is a fundamental problem in contemporary discussion of climate policy: it rarely acknowledges  inequality . Poorer households, which are low CO2 emitters, rightly anticipate that climate policies will limit their purchasing power. In return, policymakers fear a political backlash should they demand faster climate action. The problem with this vicious circle is that it has lost us a lot o
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Saudi Arabia invests millions in vertical farming

  MAKKAH: Agriculture is the world’s oldest, most adaptable industry and some of the earliest cultivation techniques are still in widespread use. But as nations address future challenges, authorities are looking to more modern concepts and ideas to ensure their citizens are fed. Saudi Arabia, for example, is exploring the use of vertical farming as one of the innovative solutions to ensure enough crops are grown to keep pace with increasing demand. The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has allocated SR100 million ($27 million) to develop and localize vertical-farming technologies. As the name suggests, vertical farming is an agricultural process in which crops are grown in vertically stacked layers rather than spread out horizontally in tradi-tional rows in fields. This approach requires much less space and results in higher crop yields per square foot of land used. Vertical farms are mainly situated indoors, in structures such as warehouses, where the environmental condit