The technology has the potential to revolutionize the highly regulated medical-diagnostics industry by giving doctors the ability to perform “instant” DNA tests, but its inventors don’t see it being used that way for at least three to five years. For now, its trial run will come in the realm of biodefense. The Department of Homeland Security has awarded the company an initial $500,000 contract to develop an instant biological airborne-detection system....
Experts from Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and the University of Oslo have detailed how special silicate nanoparticles can harden porous limestone. It is hoped their research will lead to a low-cost way of preserving historic buildings. In a statement obtained by Zenger News, TU Wien said: “Many historical buildings were built of limestone, such as Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Limestone is easy to work with, but does not withstand weathering well....
In a bid to better understand these microscopic lifeforms, a team of scientists spent six weeks sailing through the South Pacific Gyre—an ocean void covering an area greater than 14 million square miles. The South Pacific Gyre is home to the oceanic pole of inaccessibility—the point on Earth that is farthest from any continent. It sits 1,670 miles from the nearest land, an uninhabited atoll to the north, Easter Island to the northeast and Antarctica to the south....
Richelle Nice is expected to testify on February 25 regarding accusations she lied about her experiences with domestic violence to get put on the case’s jury. Peterson was charged in 2004 for the murders of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child, Connor. Nice is accused of not disclosing two specific experiences of domestic violence she allegedly experienced at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. In 2000, Nice attempted to get a restraining order against her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, saying that she “really [feared] for her unborn child” due to the threats, according to the Associated Press....
Trump is the owner of both the Trump Turnberry golf course and Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen in Scotland. Rumors that Trump would visit Turnberry after leaving the White House came after U.S. planes were allegedly spotted on surveillance missions around the Turnberry resort. Although Trump is expected to go to Florida before Biden is inaugurated on Wednesday, the brewing company’s petition to rename the airport was still visible online on Tuesday....
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in September that mail-in ballots received within three days of Election Day on November 3 and postmarked November 3 must be counted. They also ruled that ballot envelopes received by November 6 with no postmark should be counted unless the “preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that it was mailed after Election Day.” Republicans had sought emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court but Chief Justice John Roberts apparently joined the court’s liberals in denying the stay, creating a 4-4 deadlock....
In a recent episode of Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald, actors Zach Braff and Donald Faison had show creator Bill Lawrence on the podcast to discuss the episode “My Last Day,” though the discussion steered toward the use of blackface in later episodes. Braff and Faison faced criticism due to Braff’s stated justification of using blackface at the time of the episode’s filming, which involved the fact that it was using during “fantasy” segments....
Those who’ve made a recent pre-order will still get the “too early” message when they attempt to join. To fix this, they need to go to the Xbox Insider Hub on either Xbox One or PC. There, they can select the Sea of Thieves Closed Beta (which should appear once the game itself has been pre-ordered). Once this step is completed, players should be able to launch the title and bypass any “too early” error messages entirely....
The Steam release of Sea of Thieves has full parity with the game as it’s currently available on Xbox One and through the Microsoft store. Rare has also confirmed that Sea of Thieves on Steam will receive all of the same free content updates as they’re released. Even more exciting is that Sea of Thieves on Steam is fully cross-play compatible with the other platforms. RELATED: Sea of Thieves’ New Update Features Developer’s Cats...
Bennett, who leads the team in sacks, was taken off the field on a stretcher with a lower-back injury. He had feeling in all his extremities and tests came back negative. By game's end, Bennett was back in the Seahawks' locker room. Coach Pete Carroll said that Bennett was "fine." He reportedly sustained a strained muscle in his back, close to his spine, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Sunday night. It was because of the location of the injury that medical personnel took extra precautionary measures....
In the strange case of Richard Sherman and the Seahawks, I subscribe to the latter. It’s time for the verbose four-time Pro Bowl corner to move on from Seattle. Sherman may not be playing at the peak level he achieved in 2013, when he led the NFL with eight interceptions during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run. But at 29 he remains a talented, productive player. Yet Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider both confirmed back in March that Sherman has been on the trade block this offseason....
1. Seattle Seahawks They’re defending champs led by wily old Pete, returning that defense that’s oh-so sweet. They go into the season as the team to beat, but it’s unfortunately unlikely the Seahawks will repeat. 2. San Francisco 49ers The 49ers have been right there but not fine enough. Still Harbaugh’s gang is always tough. Some defensive concerns might make it rough, but we’re about to see Kaepernick strut his very best stuff....
Here’s how video game grading works. Collectors will take what they consider a rare video game, boxed or unboxed, and ship it to a professional grading and certification service. Wata Games and CGC Video Games are just two examples of companies that provide this service. The graders will then evaluate the product’s authenticity, give it a grade on a 10-point scale, and secure it in a sealed plastic casing with official information prominently displayed....
The FBI-intercepted phone call from June 2017, between former associate head coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson and pay-for-play middleman Christian Dawkins, was among more than a half-dozen played in court Wednesday in New York as part of a trial dealing with bribery in college basketball recruiting, the result of a wide-ranging federal investigation into corruption in the sport. Amid seven wiretaps played in the Lower Manhattan courtroom, there were multiple inferences to Miller himself personally paying Ayton, who played one season at Arizona before the 7-footer from the Bahamas became the No....
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Saints want “a first-round pick and more” as compensation from any team that hires Payton. Saints GM Mickey Loomis confirmed Friday that three teams — the Broncos, Cardinals and Texans — have been granted permission to interview Payton, adding that all teams have an understanding of what it will take to hire the Super Bowl-winning coach. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier in January that the Saints were seeking a first-round pick for Payton....
Payton is viewed as the best coach available on the market, but he hasn’t yet made a decision about his future. He has interviewed — or is set to interview — with four of the five teams with vacancies at the head coach spot yet doesn’t appear close to agreeing to a deal with any of the teams. Why is that? Because there may not be a perfect fit for him in this hiring cycle, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports....
National Park Service (NPS) officials said in a statement that the search for 66-year-old Quang Trong Than has been scaled back to “limited continuous mode,” meaning the search is still active but authorities are reducing the resources that have so far been dedicated to it. The hunt for Than is centered on the area around Split Mountain—a 14,000-foot-plus peak that lies at the boundary between Kings Canyon and Inyo National Forest....
The study, which was published in JAMA Psychiatry in January, found that schizophrenia spectrum disorders significantly increased COVID-19 mortality. Schizophrenia ranks as the second-highest predictor of death from COVID-19 after age. These rates were determined after controlling for demographic and medical risk factors. Between March 3 and May 31, 2020, the researchers followed 7,348 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 during the 45 days prior. The goal was to find out whether a patient’s risk of dying from COVID-19 could be predicted by any or all of three psychiatric conditions: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, or schizophrenia spectrum disorders....
“Everything about this crisis exacerbates the inequalities that we see,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten told Newsweek. More than 55,500 people in the United States have tested positive for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, making America the nation with the third largest outbreak. Slowing the spread of the virus is dependent on limiting human interactions, so schools are closed for varying periods of time. Everyone is hoping the mitigation measures work, the outbreak subsides and schools reopen at the end of April or sometime in May....
The decision was made by the board of the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District on Tuesday. Production of the current logo will cease, and Superintendent Antonion Garcia will work out a timeline for replacing it with a new one. “I’ll be happy to bring that forward in the near future, maybe not next month, but in the next few months,” Garcia said. The superintendent noted that he would not be able to bring forward a timeline as quickly as possible, given that the district is currently devoting many of its resources to operating amid the COVID-19 pandemic....
