Six African countries, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia are selected to receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccine against the COVID-19 infection. On Friday, the European Union and African Union have chosen these six countries in a summit meeting. These six countries will build their own vaccine in factories as part of a bid The World Health Organization launched last year. The bid replicated what is believed to be the most effective licensed shots against the coronavirus. WHO’s Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told in the Brussels summi
On Tuesday, as part of a push to reduce Europe's reliance on foreign companies and secure key communications services and surveillance data against outside interference, the European Commission unveiled a $6.8 billion satellite communications plan. The aim of the EU proposal was to build and operate a space-based state-of-the-art connectivity system, improve the resilience of EU telecommunication infrastructures, and help counter cyber and electromagnetic threats. The program is set to be launched next year by the EU. In a statement, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said, “Our new con
Researchers found new antibodies that can directly interfere with and block the cell-to-cell transmission of SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19. FuG1 is the antibody that targets the enzyme furin that is used by the virus for its efficient chain of infection in cells of the human body. In the journal Microbiology Spectrum, this approach was described recently that could be added to existing SARS-CoV-2 antibody cocktails. It can help for greater functioning against the emerging variants. From the University of California, the senior author of the study Jogender Tushir-Singh said, "We devel
On Monday, The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully stationed its earth observation satellite EOS-04 along with two other satellites in the intended orbit. this was the first launch mission in 2022. It followed a smooth countdown of 25 hours and 30 minutes in early morning skies with the workhorse launch vehicle, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52) along with three satellites onboard. it blasted off at 5:59 towards the sky amid the dark. According to ISRO, the important flight events took place exactly as planned- stage and strap-on ignition, heat shield separation, st
On Thursday, a $5billion plan was unveiled by the Biden administration to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. In November, the congress party approved the funding to staters as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure. Although efforts to win substantial funding for electric vehicles have stalled by Congress, the White House is trying to encourage Americans to shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles. $615 million will be made available by the administration in 2022. However, the states must first submit plans and win approval from the federal. U.S Transportation Secreta
On Tuesday, the European Union announced that the supply of semiconductors will quadruple by 2030. By supplying a key component used in electric cars and smartphones, the bloc hopes to limit its dependence on Asia. After the impact of the pandemic, chips have become a key strategic priority in Europe and the United States, as factories have come to a halt and stores have been emptied. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that they have a goal to have 20% of the global market share of the production chips in Europe. They are getting to a level that basically quadruplin
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will pay up to $1 million prize money to people who will come up with innovative and sustainable food production ideas to feed the astronauts in Space. The US space agency gears up to send astronauts further into the cosmos than ever before. As long as future explorers are able to prepare nutrient-rich, tasty, and satisfying food during long-term space missions, they will have the necessary energy to discover the great unknown. Food loses its nutritional value over time the period of time. To bring the pre-packaged food on a multi-yea
China is set to blast its ambitious ‘mega constellation’ of up to 13,000 satellites that will operate in low Earth orbit, akin to SpaceX Starlink. China is said to be rolling out 5G mobile internet via this network. The mega constellation plan was dubbed the “Guowang” (GW) when it was first announced in 2021. It was designed in a way that it can complement satellite-based internet services. This project is a high-level project for the Chinese government which is likely to disturb the internet and communications services around the globe. Initially, the contracts were awarded
A low-cost smartphone was developed by US researchers based on the diagnostic tool for COVID-19 which combines the speed of over-the-counter antigen tests with the accuracy of PCR tests. Researchers at the University of Washington in the US developed the Harmony COVID-19 test by detecting genetic material from the SARS, CoV-2 virus. The Harmony kit provides results in less than 20 minutes while the conventional PCR tests take several hours. An associate professor at the University of Washington Bary Lutz said, “We designed the test to be low-cost and simple enough that it could be used a
Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) scientists have developed a computer program that can detect those people who are at a higher risk of developing depression. Like Fitbit watches, the predictive program analyses a person’s sleep patterns, physical activity, and circadian rhythms through data from wearable devices. In 2019, for three months, 290 adults carried a trial that showed the program has an accuracy of 80 % in detecting those with depression. It also shows people who are at a high risk of developing depressive symptoms/depression when compared to healthy individuals. The ad