spike | Common News Update

Apr12021 by adminNo Comments

New vulnerable sites identified on surface of COVID spike protein that ‘could help future vaccine development’

Technology

Scientists have discovered new vulnerable sites on the surface of the COVID-19 spike protein for antibodies which could help in the development of vaccines.Coronavirus is surrounded by spike proteins that it uses to enter and infect human cells. COVID vaccines work by teaching the immune system to make antibodies to the spike protein. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany, have developed a detailed model of the spike protein to identify potential target sites on its surface for the antibodies.They said previous models have not shown the flexibility of the spike protein or the movements of the protective glycans - which they describe as chains of sugar molecules - that coat it. ...

Mar242021 by adminNo Comments

For each degree of global warming, models predict 50% population displacement spike

Science

March 24 (UPI) -- As the planet warms, seas rise and climate change triggers shifts in precipitation patterns, scientists expect millions of people to be displaced by flooding and other forms of extreme weather. In an effort to more precisely quantify displacement risk, an international team of researchers combined a variety of climate and hydrological models. Advertisement Their analysis, published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, showed a single degree of warming will increase the risk of displacement caused by river flooding by 50 percent. "Displacement poses many hardships, which often fall most heavily on socio-economically vulnerable groups, who tend to live in more hazard-prone areas," researchers wrote in their newly published paper. Since 2008, 288 millio...

Oct52020 by adminNo Comments

Spike Lee film star Thomas Jefferson Byrd killed in shooting

Entertainment

Spike Lee and Viola Davis are leading the tributes following the death of actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd, who has died after being shot multiple times.Homicide detectives in Atlanta, Georgia, are investigating after officers were called to the city's southwest side, where Byrd lived, in the early hours of Saturday. Police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said the 70-year-old was found unresponsive with several wounds in his back.Responding paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.Byrd was known for his work in films by Oscar-winning director and producer Lee, including Clockers, He Got Game, Chi-Raq, Bamboozled and Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus. ...

Sep172020 by adminNo Comments

Alert issued to universities about spike in cyber attacks

Technology

British universities and colleges have been warned about a spike in ransomware attacks targeting the education sector by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ.Academic institutions are being urged to follow NCSC guidance following a sharp increase in attacks which have left some teachers fearing they won't be able to accept students when term begins. Last week staff at Newcastle University warned Sky News they had "no idea how we are going to welcome students in three weeks' time" following one such ransomware attack, which has impacted IT services across the whole university. Image: Newcastle has been 'completely crippled' by an attack. Pic: Newcastle Uni Similar attacks in which criminal hackers infiltrated ...

Sep112020 by adminNo Comments

UK faces a long winter – but there is still a chance infections spike can be stemmed

Technology

For the first time in many weeks, the official measures of the UK's coronavirus outbreak are all pointing in the wrong direction.The government says the R number in the UK is between 1.0 and 1.2, meaning it is now definitely above 1 for the first time since March. Scotland's R could be as high as 1.5. A large study from Imperial College even suggested that the R was more like 1.7, although like all these figures, there is a good deal of imprecision. The overall trend, from multiple studies, is the thing to watch: from this, we get the clear message that the virus is now spreading fast, albeit still among small numbers.This conclusion is confirmed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, which tests 10,000 households to get a representative sample of the state of the outbreak. Li...