Blog - Page 214 of 222 - Cactus three

25

Jan

Health

Europe Faces a Measles Outbreak

Back Story: The pandemic and rising hesitancy slowed immunizations.A false claim in the 1990s that said the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism led to a drop in immunization rates. Public health campaigns later recouped much of that deficit, but the rates again fell during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in low-income countries.The measles virus is particularly adept at finding pockets of vulnerability, but outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases may follow, said Dr. Saad Omer, the dean of the O’Donnell School of Public Health at U.T. Southwestern in Dallas.“Measles is usually the canary in the coal mine,” Dr. Omer…

Tesla Profit From Car Sales Falls as Price Cuts Hurt

25

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

Tesla Profit From Car Sales Falls as Price Cuts Hurt

Tesla’s profit from sales of electric cars slumped in the last three months of last year because of price cuts intended to thwart increasingly intense competition, the company said on Wednesday as it warned of a tough year ahead.Profit in the fourth quarter nearly doubled to $7.9 billion, up from $3.7 billion a year earlier. But $5.9 billion of that profit came from a tax benefit. Without that one-time accounting effect, profit would have fallen.Tesla has slashed prices for the two cars that make up the bulk of its sales — the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y sport…

FDA Issues Warning of Cancer Risk Tied to CAR-T Therapies

23

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Health

FDA Issues Warning of Cancer Risk Tied to CAR-T Therapies

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring companies that make specialized cancer therapies known as CAR-T to add a boxed warning that the treatments themselves may cause cancers.The agency noted that the benefits still outweighed the risks of the therapy, which involves removing a type of white blood cells — T cells — and then genetically engineering them to create proteins called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). Infused back into a patient’s blood, the engineered cells allow the T cells to attach to cancer cells and kill them.But the therapies, which mostly treat blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, had already carried…

Even Rats Are Taking Selfies Now (and Enjoying It)

23

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

Even Rats Are Taking Selfies Now (and Enjoying It)

When Augustin Lignier, a professional photographer in Paris, was in graduate school, he began to ponder the point of picture-taking in the modern world: Why did so many of us feel compelled to photograph our lives and share those images online?It was not a novel question, but it led Mr. Lignier to a surprising place, and before long he found himself building what was, in essence, a photo booth for rats.He took inspiration from B.F. Skinner, the famous behaviorist who had devised a test chamber to study learning in rats. The Skinner box, as it became known, dispensed food pellets…

Berish Strauch, Path Breaker in Reconstructive Surgery, Dies at 90

22

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Health

Berish Strauch, Path Breaker in Reconstructive Surgery, Dies at 90

Berish Strauch, a plastic surgeon whose pioneering procedures and devices to reattach or replace vital body parts included one of the first toe-to-thumb transplants, a device to reverse vasectomies and, perhaps most notably, the first inflatable prosthetic penis, died on Dec. 24 in Greenwich, Conn. He was 90.His daughter, Laurie Strauch Weiss, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was respiratory failure.Beginning in the late 1960s, Dr. Strauch was at the forefront of a revolution in plastic surgery, in particular microsurgery, in which doctors use microscopes and precision instruments to sew together minuscule blood vessels, nerves and ligaments,…

Microsoft Executives’ Emails Hacked by Group Tied to Russian Intelligence

21

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

Microsoft Executives’ Emails Hacked by Group Tied to Russian Intelligence

An elite hacking group sponsored by Russian intelligence gained access to the emails of some of Microsoft’s senior executives beginning in late November, the company disclosed in a blog post and regulatory filing on Friday.Microsoft said it had discovered the intrusion a week ago and was still investigating. The hackers appeared to focus on combing through Microsoft’s corporate email accounts to look for information related to the hacking group, which Microsoft’s researchers called Midnight Blizzard.The hackers looked through emails from Microsoft’s senior leadership team as well as employees in cybersecurity, legal and other groups, and took some emails and attachments,…