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Pfizer To Seek FDA OK For COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Within Days’
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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The vaccine was found to be 95% effective in an updated study analysis. Safety data required by the Food and Drug Administration showed no serious concerns, the company said.
Pfizer Says Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Is More Than 90% Effective
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is the first to have data showing that it exceeded the minimum effectiveness threshold set by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use.
Tobacco Plants Contribute Key Ingredient For COVID-19 Vaccine
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Here’s irony: tobacco plants may be key in preventing COVID-19. Two companies are using the plants to produce proteins for a vaccine. One candidate vaccine is already in a clinical trial.
AstraZeneca Resumes Its COVID-19 Vaccine Trials In The U.K.
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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The company had placed its worldwide vaccine trials on hold for several days. It now says a safety review by regulators and reviewers is complete. No word on when studies in the U.S. might resume.
COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Paused Due To Illness In Volunteer
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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AstraZeneca, which is working with the University of Oxford, hasn’t said what the illness is. It will try to determine whether the illness is related to the vaccine, or just a chance event.
U.S. Says It Will Cut Number Of Troops In Iraq By Nearly Half
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie, who is responsible for U.S. forces in the Middle East, says the U.S. plans to reduce its troop levels there from 5,200 to 3,000 this month.
How Can You Tell If A COVID-19 Vaccine Is Working?
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Several COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being tested now. But why does it take 30,000 volunteers to know if one is safe and effective? And what does it mean to say a vaccine candidate is working?
The Special Sauce That Makes Some Vaccines Work
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Adjuvants play a crucial role in many vaccines’ effectiveness. Some scientists say there needs to be more research into developing a wider variety of adjuvants because of how important they are.
Early Results Show Benefit Of Steroid For Very Sick COVID-19 Patients
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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A low-cost anti-inflammatory drug appears to reduce the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. The promising result comes from a large study of therapies being conducted in the U.K.
FDA Withdraws Emergency Use Authorization For Hydroxychloroquine
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Emergency use authorization makes it easier for doctors to use a drug in a manner not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA granted these drugs this status in March.
When Can We Expect A Coronavirus Vaccine?
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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The race is on. What will it take to develop, test and distribute a safe and effective vaccine?
Scientists Thread A Nano-Needle To Modify The Genes Of Plants
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Getting DNA into plant cells is tricky. Researchers have tried using infectious bacteria, as well as gene guns that shoot gold bullets. Then a physicist came up with a new approach almost by accident.
NASA’s Mars Rover Opportunity Is Officially Declared Dead
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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NASA’s six-wheeled rover landed on the red planet in January 2004 for what was billed as a 90-day mission. The plucky robot was still going until a dust storm on Mars last summer killed it.
Avoiding The Ouch. Scientists Are Working On Ways To Swap The Needle For A Pill
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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A lot of vaccines and some medications need to be delivered by injection. Two groups of researchers are designing ways of delivering these medications by putting them in pill form.
A Small Planet With Big Implications
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Astronomers have found a distant dwarf planet that appears to confirm the existence of Planet Nine, a giant planet lurking in the outer reaches of the solar system.
Inspired By Her Own Pain, A Researcher Explores Alternatives To Opioid Treatments
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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New options for non-addictive pain treatment are sorely needed. One researcher is borrowing from the field of cancer nanomedicine to test an idea that could bring relief to chronic pain sufferers.
Galileo Would Be Stunned: Jupiter Now Has 79 Moons
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Astronomers have found 12 more moons orbiting the planet Jupiter. These moons are all small — just 5 kilometers or less across — and one of them behaves very strangely.
How A Cheap Magnet Might Help Detect Malaria
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Engineers in California are working on a new test that could offer a fast, cheap way to see if people are infected with the parasite.
Icy Moon Of Jupiter Spews Water Plumes Into Space
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Researchers have evidence supporting the existence of plumes of water shooting up from the interior of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
NASA Is Heading Back To Mars To Peer Inside The Red Planet
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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The NASA mission is set to launch Saturday morning. The InSight spacecraft will land in the Elysium Planitia to listen for “Marsquakes” and learn more about what Mars is made of.
Live High Definition Video From Mars? NASA Is Getting Ready
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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NASA is building a new space-based laser communication that will allow live, high-definition video from Mars and beyond — something that’s not possible with standard radio equipment.
Stephen Hawking, Who Awed Both Scientists And The Public, Dies
By: Joe Palca | NPR
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Hawking was a theoretical physicist who changed how scientists think about gravity. He also wrote the best-selling book A Brief History of Time and lent his machine-aided voice to TV shows. He was 76.