New Coronavirus Stable for Hours on Surfaces

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.
Credit: NIAID RML

SARS-CoV-2 stability similar to original SARS virus. The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to 3hrs , up to 4hours on copper, up to the24hours on cardboard and up to 2d to 3d on plastic and s...

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3D Printers saving the lives of Coronavirus victims

The original valve (left) and its 3-D printed twin. Credit: Cristian Fracassi

Medical valves manufactured with portable 3D printers are saving the lives of coronavirus victims at a hospital located in what is considered Italy’s Ground Zero for the deadly viral infection.

When the founder of Issanova, a startup 3D printing firm with a staff of 14 learned that a local hospital was running short of critical breathing devices used to help hospital patients suffering from the deadly virus, he sprang into action. He consulted with a fellow engineering expert and the two raced to the desperate hospital located in the small town of Chiari. There, they examined the medical device, called a Venturi valve.

That was on Friday the 13th...

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Asteroid Ryugu likely link in Planetary Formation

Close-up of Asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST, Kobe University, Auburn University

The solar system formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Numerous fragments that bear witness to this early era orbit the sun as asteroids. Around three-quarters of these are carbon-rich C-type asteroids, such as 162173 Ryugu, which was the target of the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission in 2018 and 2019. The spacecraft is currently on its return flight to Earth...

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Researchers stop Blood Vessel, Tumor Growth in Mice

A tumor and its blood vessels.
An artist’s conception of a tumor and its blood vessels
Credit: Stock Image

Disabling key enzymes overcomes previous limitations to blocking angiogenesis. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have devised a new strategy to stop tumors from developing the new blood vessels they need to grow. Once thought to be extremely promising for the treatment of cancer, blocking molecules that stimulate new blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) has proven ineffective because tumor cells respond by producing more stimulatory molecules. The new strategy involves disabling key enzymes that replenish the molecule that cells need for the reactions that sustain new vessel growth. The research team was led by Brant M. Weinstein, Ph.D...

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