detect | Common News Update

Jan202021 by adminNo Comments

Scientists can detect new COVID-19 variants by analyzing wastewater

Science

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- New research suggests viral genome sequencing of wastewater can be used to identify new COVID-19 variants before they're picked up via other screening methods. In Britain, scientists have been regularly sequencing the DNA of hundreds of COVID-19 samples on a weekly basis. Advertisement Since Britain's Covid-19 Genomics Consortium was formed in the early weeks of the pandemic, the project has traced the genetic history of more than 150,000 viral samples. Elsewhere in the world, genomic surveillance efforts remain limited. In the United States, for example, hospitals, county health departments and testing labs are already overwhelmed testing and treating patients, while also facilitating an unprecedented vaccination effort. However, the emergence of what scientists suspect...

Dec102020 by adminNo Comments

Proof-of-concept study shows dogs can detect COVID-19 in human sweat

Health

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- "Working" dogs trained to perform search and rescue tasks, detect explosives or diseases such as colon cancer correctly identified people infected with COVID-19 up to 100% of the time, French researchers said Thursday. The findings suggest that dogs can confirm the presence of the virus by sniffing samples of human sweat, the researchers said in an article published by the journal PLOS ONE. Advertisement Although the results still need to be confirmed in larger studies, this proof-of-concept study indicates that trained dogs could provide a "non-invasive" alternative to currently available tests, researchers said. The dogs also could be used to detect people infected with COVID-19 in public places and hopefully prevent them from spreading the disease to others, the resear...

Nov172020 by adminNo Comments

France seeks drones to detect, intercept battlefield radio communications

Business

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The French Defense Ministry seeks an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of intercepting radio communications transmitters, a request for proposal indicates. A "call for projects for a mini-payload of electronic support on drones" was revealed by France's Defense Innovation Agency for "an electronic support payload that can be integrated into drones with a maximum take-off mass of less than" 55 pounds. Advertisement "This payload must be able to detect, locate, identify or even interact with or block telecommunications transmitters," the agency said in a press release on Friday. The agency referred to its project as "Sauron," named after the all-seeing eye in the book series "The Lord of the Rings." It is budgeted for $ 473,000. It cites a January 2021 deadline for submissio...

Jul312020 by adminNo Comments

Nasa Mars rover: Perseverance robot launches to detect life on Red Planet

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device The US space agency's Perseverance robot has left Earth on a mission to try to detect life on Mars.The one-tonne, six-wheeled rover was launched out of Florida by an Atlas rocket on a path to intercept the Red Planet in February next year.When it lands, the Nasa robot will also gather rock and soil samples to be sent home later this decade.Perseverance is the third mission despatched to Mars inside 11 days, after launches by the UAE and China. Lift-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station occurred at 07:50 local time (12:50 BST; 11:50 GMT).Nasa made this mission one of its absolute priorities when the coronavirus crisis struck, establishing special work practices to ensure Perseverance met its laun...

Jul102020 by adminNo Comments

Experts pitch surveillance system to detect viruses in wildlife before next pandemic

Science

July 9 (UPI) -- Scientific experts said Thursday that a wildlife surveillance system must be developed before the next pandemic emerges. Evidence shows the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, came from bats that likely passed the virus onto another species before infecting humans, according to the World Health Organization. Advertisement Infectious disease experts, ecologists, wildlife biologists and other experts argue, in a paper published in the journal Science, that a decentralized global system of wildlife surveillance must be established before the next pandemic. "It's impossible to know how often animal viruses spill over into the human population, but coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in people three times in the last 20 years," co-author Jennifer Philips said in a pre...