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<title>19 February, 2021</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Popular Reactions to Coordination Problems under External Threats</strong> -
<div>
Exogenous threats pose a formidable coordination challenge to federations, as they compel governments at all levels to cooperate to prevent a collective risk. As the vertical fragmentation of powers complicates a coordinated response, we here argue that the central government becomes the focal point of the solution. In search of a more effective response against the threat, citizens coordinate their preferences around the centralization of authority boundaries in the federation. We test this argument using an on-line survey experiment in Spain, a country where the threat caused by COVID-19 has operated on top of non-negligible internal threats. The empirical analysis shows that exposure to vertical coordination failures prompt citizens to support a centralized redrawing of authority boundaries, though this effect is importantly conditioned by respondents’ ideology and territorial preferences. Our findings suggest that shocks may represent turning points for the stability of federations, as citizens demands for a redrawing of authority might be followed by beneficial or opportunistic adjustments of authority.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/qyjtm/" target="_blank">Popular Reactions to Coordination Problems under External Threats</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>If-then planning, self-control, and boredom as predictors of adherence to social distancing guidelines: Evidence from a two-wave longitudinal study with a behavioral intervention</strong> -
<div>
Objectives: In the wake of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), social distancing is instrumental for containing the pandemic. To maximize its effectiveness, it is paramount to investigate psychological factors that predict adherence to social distancing guidelines and examine corresponding interventions. We focused on individual differences in if-then planning, self-control, and boredom, and tested an intervention based on if-then planning. Design: We conducted a two-wave longitudinal study combining observational and experimental methods. Methods: Participants (N = 574, 35.7% female, age: M = 37.5 years, SD = 10.8) reported their adherence to social distancing guidelines and the perceived difficulty of adherence at T1, along with trait measures of if-then planning, self-control, and boredom. Afterwards, they were randomly assigned to an if-then planning intervention to increase adherence, or to a control intervention. One week later at T2, participants again reported their adherence and the perceived difficulty of adhering. Multiple regression and structural equation modeling were used to establish whether trait if-then planning, self-control, and boredom predicted adherence, and to examine the effects of the if-then planning intervention. Results: Trait if-then planning, self-control, and boredom were associated with T1 adherence, while only if-then planning and boredom predicted T2 adherence. No overall treatment effect of the if-then planning intervention emerged; however, participants who complied with the intervention (75.6%) maintained higher levels of adherence over time than control participants. Conclusions: Individual differences in if-then planning, self-control, and boredom predict adherence to social distancing guidelines. If-then planning interventions are promising but require further steps to ascertain compliance.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/enzbv/" target="_blank">If-then planning, self-control, and boredom as predictors of adherence to social distancing guidelines: Evidence from a two-wave longitudinal study with a behavioral intervention</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on online sex advertising and sex trafficking</strong> -
<div>
Disruptive social events like the Covid-19 pandemic can have significant impact on the commercial sex industry, yet these effects have been little understood. This paper examines the effect of the pandemic on one part of the commercial sex industry: sex trafficking. Our results from scraped sexual service advertisements show that the pandemic has had measurable impact on online advertising for sex trafficking in the United States, with a significant decrease associated with stay-at-home orders followed by an increase to levels well above prepandemic levels as Covid-related restrictions were relaxed. We contribute to the policy landscape by showing that the initial decrease was associated with a loss of demand for sexual services due to pandemic-related health concerns, but that a confluence of factors, including the lack of economic and social support, increased the number of people vulnerable to being exploited. This study can assist policy makers in predicting future changes in the sex industry to support a more just and inclusive society. In the context of future health crises, natural disasters, and major social disruptions it can guide policy makers in apportioning public aid in a way that does not leave vulnerable populations and existing sex workers powerless to being trafficked.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/tfyj5/" target="_blank">COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on online sex advertising and sex trafficking</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>‘Stressed, uncomfortable, vulnerable, neglected’: a qualitative study of frontline keyworker experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.</strong> -
<div>
Aims: Non-healthcare keyworkers face distinct occupational vulnerabilities that have received little consideration within broader debates about ‘essential’ work and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the impact of the pandemic on the working lives and mental health and wellbeing of non-healthcare keyworkers in the UK. Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 participants employed in a range of non-healthcare keyworker occupations, including transport, retail, education, postal services and the police force. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a reflexive thematic approach. Results: Keyworkers experienced adverse psychological effects during the COVID-19 pandemic, including fears of COVID-19 exposure, contagion and subsequent transmission to others, especially their families. These concerns were often experienced in the context of multiple exposure risks, including insufficient PPE and a lack of workplace mitigation practices. Keyworkers also described multiple work-related challenges, including increased workload, a lack of public and organisational recognition and feelings of disempowerment. Conclusion: In efforts to reduce psychosocial concerns among non-healthcare keyworkers, there is a need for appropriate support during the COVID-19 pandemic and in preparation for other infections (e.g. seasonal influenza) in the future. This includes the provision of psychological and workplace measures attending to the intersections of personal vulnerability and work conditions that cause unique risks and challenges among those in frontline keyworker occupations.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/dn43c/" target="_blank">‘Stressed, uncomfortable, vulnerable, neglected’: a qualitative study of frontline keyworker experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A New Hematological Prognostic Index For Covid-19 Severity</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or Covid-19 is a nationwide public health emergency with significant impact on human life. Objective: To develop a new simple hematological prognostic index for Covid-19 severity state. Patients and methods: This observational cross sectional study was conducted on 250 patients with Covid-19 disease. Age, gender, and severity of Covid -19 were recorded. Complete blood count and lactate dehydrogenase were measured. New index: COVID-19 severity-Iraqi-index = CSI index to predict COVID-19 severity. CSI index is monocyte/lymphocyte absolute counts multiplied by LDH (lactate dehydrogenase)/upper normal reference laboratory range of LDH value. Results: Mean age of patients was 50.4 + 15.1 years. Majority of patients were Males 148 (59.2%)..Most of patients were in stage 2 and 3 (&gt; 94% ). There was a significant difference between means of White Blood Cells, lymphocytes and Monocytes among the different stages of the disease (P = 0.0001, 0.036, 0.012). There was a significant moderate correlation between the prognostic index and the stage of the disease (r=0.41, p=0.0001). Conclusions: CSI index is a new simple predictor of clinical outcome in patients with covid-19 during early stage of the disease.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.11.21251285v2" target="_blank">A New Hematological Prognostic Index For Covid-19 Severity</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The impacts of COVID-19 vaccine timing, number of doses, and risk prioritization on mortality in the US</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
As COVID-19 vaccination begins worldwide, policymakers face critical trade-offs. Using a mathematical model of COVID-19 transmission, we find that timing of the rollout is expected to have a substantially greater impact on mortality than risk-based prioritization and adherence and that prioritizing first doses over second doses may be life saving.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.18.21250071v2" target="_blank">The impacts of COVID-19 vaccine timing, number of doses, and risk prioritization on mortality in the US</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparison of infection control strategies to reduce COVID-19 outbreaks in homeless shelters in the United States: a simulation study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in homeless shelters across the US, highlighting an urgent need to identify the most effective infection control strategy to prevent future outbreaks. Methods: We developed a microsimulation model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a homeless shelter and calibrated it to data from cross-sectional polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) surveys conducted during COVID-19 outbreaks in five shelters in three US cities from March 28 to April 10, 2020. We estimated the probability of averting a COVID-19 outbreak when an exposed individual is introduced into a representative homeless shelter of 250 residents and 50 staff over 30 days under different infection control strategies, including daily symptom-based screening, twice-weekly PCR testing and universal mask wearing. Results: The proportion of PCR-positive residents and staff at the shelters with observed outbreaks ranged from 2.6% to 51.6%, which translated to basic reproduction number (R<sub>0</sub>) estimates of 2.9-6.2. The probability of averting an outbreak diminished with higher transmissibility (R<sub>0</sub>) within the simulated shelter and increasing incidence in the local community. With moderate community incidence (~30 confirmed cases/1,000,000 people/day), the estimated probabilities of averting an outbreak in a low-risk (R<sub>0</sub>=1.5), moderate-risk (R<sub>0</sub>=2.9), and high-risk (R<sub>0</sub>=6.2) shelter were, respectively: 0.35, 0.13 and 0.04 for daily symptom-based screening; 0.53, 0.20, and 0.09 for twice-weekly PCR testing; 0.62, 0.27 and 0.08 for universal masking; and 0.74, 0.42 and 0.19 for these strategies combined. Conclusions: In high-risk homeless shelter environments and locations with high community incidence of COVID-19, even intensive infection control strategies (incorporating daily symptom-screening, frequent PCR testing and universal mask wearing) are unlikely to prevent outbreaks, suggesting a need for non-congregate housing arrangements for people experiencing homelessness. In lower-risk environments, combined interventions should be employed to reduce outbreak risk.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.28.20203166v4" target="_blank">Comparison of infection control strategies to reduce COVID-19 outbreaks in homeless shelters in the United States: a simulation study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Retrospective study of the first wave of COVID-19 in Spain: analysis of counterfactual scenarios</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One of the most important questions on the COVID-19 pandemic is ascertaining the correct timing to introduce non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), based mainly on mobility restrictions, to control the rising of the daily incidence in a specific territory. Here, we make a retrospective analysis of the first wave of the epidemic in Spain and provide a set of useful insights to optimize actions in the near future. We have reconstructed the exposure times, from infection to detectability, to correctly estimate the reproduction number Rt. This enables us to analyze counterfactual scenarios to understand the impact of earlier or later responses, decoupling containment measures from natural immunity. Our results quantify the differences in the number of fatalities for earlier and later responses to the epidemic in Spain.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.16.21251832v1" target="_blank">Retrospective study of the first wave of COVID-19 in Spain: analysis of counterfactual scenarios</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Accuracy of Smartphone Integrated Pulse Oximetry Meets Full FDA Clearance Standards for Clinical Use.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Pulse oximetry is used as an assessment tool to gauge the severity of COVID-19 infection and identify patients at risk of poor outcomes. The pandemic highlights the need for accurate pulse oximetry, particularly at home, as infection rates increase in multiple global regions, including the UK, USA, and South Africa. Over 100 million Samsung smartphones containing dedicated biosensors (Maxim Integrated Inc, San Jose, CA) and preloaded Apps to perform pulse oximetry, are in use globally. We performed detailed in human hypoxia testing on the Samsung S9 smartphone to determine if this integrated hardware meets full FDA/ISO requirements for clinical pulse oximetry. Methods: The accuracy of integrated pulse oximetry in the Samsung 9+ smartphone during stable oxygen saturation (SaO2) between 70% and 100% was evaluated in 12 healthy subjects. Inspired oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide partial pressures were monitored and adjusted via a partial rebreathing circuit to achieve stable target SaO2 plateaus between 70% and 100%. Arterial blood samples were taken at each plateau, and saturation measured on each blood sample using ABL-90FLEX blood gas analyzer. Bias, calculated from smartphone readings minus the corresponding arterial blood sample, was reported as root mean square deviation (RMSD). Findings: The RMSD of the over 257 data points based on blood sample analysis obtained from 12 human volunteers tested was 2.6%. Interpretation: Evaluation of the smartphone pulse oximeter performance is within requirements of &lt;3.5% RMSD blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) value for FDA/ISO clearance for clinical pulse oximetry. This is the first report of smartphone derived pulse oximetry measurements that meet full FDA/ISO accuracy certification requirements. Both Samsung S9 and S10 contain the same integrated pulse oximeter, thus over 100 million smartphones in current global circulation could be used to obtain clinically accurate spot SpO2 measurements to support at home assessment of COVID-19 patients.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.17.21249755v1" target="_blank">Accuracy of Smartphone Integrated Pulse Oximetry Meets Full FDA Clearance Standards for Clinical Use.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Rotavirus as an Expression Platform of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein</strong> -
<div>
Rotavirus, a segmented double-stranded RNA virus, is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children. The introduction of live oral rotavirus vaccines has reduced the incidence of rotavirus disease in many countries. To explore the possibility of establishing a combined rotavirus-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, we generated recombinant (r)SA11 rotaviruses with modified segment 7 RNAs that contained coding sequences for NSP3 and FLAG-tagged portions of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. A 2A translational element was used to drive separate expression of NSP3 and the S product. rSA11 viruses were recovered that encoded the S-protein S1 fragment, N-terminal domain (NTD), receptor-binding domain (RBD), extended receptor-binding domain (ExRBD), and S2 core (CR) domain (rSA11/NSP3-fS1, -fNTD, -fRBD, -fExRBD, and -fCR, respectively). Generation of rSA11/fS1 required a foreign-sequence insertion of 2.2-kbp, the largest such insertion yet made into the rotavirus genome. Based on isopycnic centrifugation, rSA11 containing S sequences were denser than wildtype virus, confirming the capacity of the rotavirus to accommodate larger genomes. Immunoblotting showed that rSA11/-fNTD, -fRBD, -fExRBD, and -fCR viruses expressed S products of expected size, with fExRBD expressed at highest levels. These rSA11 viruses were genetically stable during serial passage. In contrast, rSA11/NSP3-fS1 failed to express its expected 80-kDa fS1 product, for unexplained reasons. Moreover, rSA11/NSP3-fS1 was genetically unstable, with variants lacking the S1 insertion appearing during serial passage. Nonetheless, these results emphasize the potential usefulness of rotavirus vaccines as expression vectors of portions of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein (e.g., NTD, RBD, ExRBD, and CR) with sizes smaller than the S1 fragment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.18.431835v1" target="_blank">Rotavirus as an Expression Platform of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A glimpse into the diverse cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific cellular immune response may prove to be essential for long-term immune protection against the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To assess COVID-19-specific immunity in the population, we synthesized selected peptide pools of SARS-CoV-2 structural and functional proteins, including Spike (S), Membrane (M), Envelope (E), Nucleocapsid (N) and Protease (P) as target antigens. Survey of the T cell precursur frequencies in healthy individuals specific to these viral antigens demonstrated a diverse cellular immunity, including high, medium, low and no responders. This was further confirmed by in vitro induction of anti-SARS-CoV-2 T cell immune responses using dendritic cell (DC)/T cell coculture, which supported the corresponding T cell precursor frequencies in each of the individuals tested. In general, the combination of all five viral antigen pools induced the strongest cellular immune response, yet individual donors responded differently to different viral antigens. Importantly, in vitro restimulation of the T cells with the DC-peptides induced increased anti-viral immune responses in all individuals even in the no responders, suggesting that repeated antigen stimulation could elicit a broad protection in immune naive population. Our analysis recapitulates the critical role of cellular immunity in fighting COVID-19 and the importance of analyzing anti-SARS-CoV-2 T cell response in addition to antibody response in the population.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.17.431750v1" target="_blank">A glimpse into the diverse cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein dually regulates innate immune responses</strong> -
<div>
The recently emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19, may trigger immunosuppression in the early stage and a cytokine storm in the late stage of infection, however, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein dually regulated innate immune responses, i.e., the low-dose N protein suppressed type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling and inflammatory cytokines, whereas high-dose N protein promoted IFN-I signaling and inflammatory cytokines. Mechanistically, the SARS-CoV-2 N protein interacted with the tripartite motif protein 25 (TRIM25), thereby dually regulating the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of IRF3, STAT1 and STAT2. Additionally, low-dose N protein combined with TRIM25 could suppress retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) ubiquitination and activation. Our findings revealed a regulatory mechanism of innate immune responses by the SARS-CoV-2 N protein, which would contribute to understanding the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and other SARS-like coronaviruses, and development of more effective strategies for controlling COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.17.431755v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein dually regulates innate immune responses</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Homologous and heterologous serological response to the N-terminal domain of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
The increasing numbers of infected cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses serious threats to public health and the global economy. Most SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies target the receptor binding domain (RBD) and some the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike protein, which is the major antigen of SARS-CoV-2. While the antibody response to RBD has been extensively characterized, the antigenicity and immunogenicity of the NTD protein are less well studied. Using 227 plasma samples from COVID-19 patients, we showed that SARS-CoV-2 NTD-specific antibodies could be induced during infection. As compared to the serological response to SARS-CoV-2 RBD, the SARS-CoV-2 NTD response is less cross-reactive with SARS-CoV. Furthermore, neutralizing antibodies are rarely elicited in a mice model when NTD is used as an immunogen. We subsequently demonstrate that NTD has an altered antigenicity when expressed alone. Overall, our results suggest that while NTD offers an alternative strategy for serology testing, it may not be suitable as an immunogen for vaccine development.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.17.431722v1" target="_blank">Homologous and heterologous serological response to the N-terminal domain of SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Combination Adjuvant for the Induction of Potent Antiviral Immune Responses for a Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Protein Vaccine</strong> -
<div>
Several promising vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 have received emergency use authorization in various countries and are being administered to the general population. However, many issues associated with the vaccines and the protection they provide remain unresolved, including the duration of conferred immunity, whether or not sterilizing immunity is imparted, and the degree of cross-variant protection that is achieved with these vaccines. Early evidence has suggested potentially reduced vaccine efficacy towards certain viral variants in circulation. Development of adjuvants compatible with these vaccine platforms that enhance the immune response and guide the adaptive and cellular immune responses towards the types of responses most effective for broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 will likely be pivotal for complete protection. Natural viral infection stimulates strong immune responses through the activation of three main pathways involving Toll-, RIG-I-, and NOD-like receptors (TLRs, RLRs, NLRs). As induction of appropriate innate responses is crucial for long-lasting adaptive immunity and for shaping the correct types of immune responses, we developed a combination, intranasal, adjuvant integrating a nanoemulsion-based adjuvant (NE) that activates TLRs and NLRP3 with an RNA agonist of RIG-I (IVT DI). This rationally designed combination adjuvant yielded a synergistic immune response with highly robust humoral and cellular responses towards SARS-CoV-2 using a recombinant spike protein S1 subunit antigen. Significantly enhanced virus neutralizing antibody titers were achieved towards both a homologous SARS-CoV-2 virus (IC50 titers of 1:104) and a mouse-adapted variant containing the N501Y mutation present in the B1.1.7 UK and B.1.351 South Africa variants. Importantly, NE/IVT DI dramatically enhanced the TH1-biased cellular response, which is expected to provide more durable and tailored cellular immunity while avoiding potential vaccine enhanced pathology previously associated with TH2-biased responses in some SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV vaccines. Our previous work with the NE/IVT DI adjuvant has demonstrated its compatibility with a broad range of antigen types. Thus, this combined adjuvant approach has strong potential for improving the induced immune profile for a variety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates such that better protection against future drift variants and prevention of transmission can be achieved.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.18.431484v1" target="_blank">A Combination Adjuvant for the Induction of Potent Antiviral Immune Responses for a Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Protein Vaccine</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Social touch deprivation during COVID-19: effects on psychological wellbeing, tolerating isolation and craving interpersonal touch</strong> -
<div>
Social touch has positive effects on social affiliation and stress alleviation. However, its ubiquitous presence in human life does not allow the study of social touch deprivation ‘in the wild’. Nevertheless, COVID-19-related restrictions such as social distancing allowed the systematic study of the degree to which social distancing affects tactile experiences and mental health. In this study, 1746 participants completed an online-survey to examine intimate, friendly and professional touch experiences during COVID-19-related restrictions, their impact on mental health and the extent to which touch deprivation results in craving touch. We found that intimate touch deprivation during COVID-19-related restrictions is associated with worse psychological wellbeing, even though this type of touch is still the most experienced during the pandemic. Moreover, intimate touch is reported as the type of touch most craved during this period, thus being more prominent as the days practicing social distancing increase. However, our results also show that the degree to which individuals crave touch during this period depends on individual differences in attachment style: the more anxiously-attached, the more touch is craved; with the reverse pattern for avoidantly-attached. These findings point to the important role of interpersonal and particularly intimate touch in times of distress and uncertainty.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/vkzft/" target="_blank">Social touch deprivation during COVID-19: effects on psychological wellbeing, tolerating isolation and craving interpersonal touch</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An Effectiveness Study of the Sinovac’s Adsorbed COVID-19 (Inactivated) Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Adsorbed COVID-19 (Inactivated) Vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Butantan Institute<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Telerehabilitation in Covid-19 After Hospital Discharge</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Standard Physiotherapy program;   Other: Telerehabilitation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Universidad de Granada<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study of the Kinetics of COVID-19 Antibodies for 24 Months in Patients With Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Infection</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Covid19;   SARS-CoV 2<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Sampling by venipuncture<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Centre Hospitalier Régional d’Orléans<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of Prone Position onV/Q Matching in Non-intubated Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: prone position<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Southeast University, China<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Therapy</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   SARS-CoV-2 Infection;   COVID-19 Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Convalescent plasma<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Angelica Samudio;   Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y Tecnología, Paraguay;   Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social, Paraguay;   Centro de información y recursos para el desarrollo, Paraguay<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Oxidative Stress Parameters, Trace Element and Quality of Life in Women Before and After Covid-19 Vaccines</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid-19 Vaccine<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: CoronoVac Vaccine<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Izmir Bakircay University;   Cigli Regional Training Hospital;   Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID Antithrombotic Rivaroxaban Evaluation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Rivaroxaban 10 mg<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz;   Bayer;   Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein;   Hospital do Coracao;   Hospital Sirio-Libanes;   Hospital Moinhos de Vento;   Brazilian Research In Intensive Care Network;   Brazilian Clinical Research Institute<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AGILE (Early Phase Platform Trial for COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: CST-2: EIDD-2801;   Drug: CST-2: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Liverpool;   University of Southampton;   Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine;   Lancaster University;   Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity Study in Adults of AZD1222 and rAd26-S Administered as Heterologous Prime Boost Regimen for the Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: AZD1222;   Biological: rAd26-S<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   R-Pharm;   AstraZeneca<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Prothione™ Capsules for Mild to Moderate Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Placebo;   Drug: Prothione™ (6g)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Prothione, LLC<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pulmonary Rehabilitation of Patients With a History of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Procedure: Pulmonary rehabilitation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Rzeszow<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ivermectin Role in Covid-19 Clinical Trial</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: ivermectin;   Drug: hydroxychloroquine;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Elaraby Hospital;   Shebin El-Kom Teaching Hospital<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Community Network-driven COVID-19 Testing of Vulnerable Populations in the Central US</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Social Network Strategy + COVID-19 messaging<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Chicago<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Enriched Heparin Anti COVID-19 Trial</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Heparin sodium;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   UPECLIN HC FM Botucatu Unesp<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib in Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Tofacitinib<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) inhibitors with antiviral activity in a transgenic mouse model</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus continually poses serious threats to global public health. The main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 plays a central role in viral replication. We designed and synthesized 32 new bicycloproline-containing M^(pro) inhibitors derived from either Boceprevir or Telaprevir, both of which are approved antivirals. All compounds inhibited SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) activity in vitro with IC(50) values ranging from 7.6 to 748.5 nM. The co-crystal structure of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>3D culture models to study SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and antiviral candidates: From spheroids to bioprinting</strong> - The pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is receiving worldwide attention, due to the severity of the disease (COVID-19) that resulted in more than a million global deaths so far. The urgent need for vaccines and antiviral drugs is mobilizing the scientific community to develop strategies for studying the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, replication kinetics, pathogenesis, host-virus interaction, and infection inhibition. In this work, we review the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phyto-compounds from a rather poisonous plant, Strychnos nux-vomica, show high potency against SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase</strong> - CONCLUSION: Sharing the same binding location as that of ATP and having high binding affinities, Ergotamine, Isosungucine, Sungucine and Strychnine N-oxide could be effective in controlling the SARS-CoV-2 virus replication by blocking the ATP and inhibiting the enzyme function.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The COVID-Kidney Controversy: Can SARS-CoV-2 Cause Direct Renal Infection?</strong> - Determining whether SARS-CoV-2 causes direct infection of the kidneys is challenging due to limitations in imaging and molecular tools. Subject of Review: A growing number of conflicting kidney biopsy and autopsy reports highlight this controversial issue. Second Opinion: Based on the collective evidence, therapies that improve hemodynamic stability and oxygenation, or dampen complement activation, are likely to ameliorate acute kidney injury in COVID-19. At this time, whether inhibition of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, coronavirus disease 2019 and abdominal aortic aneurysms</strong> - CONCLUSION: COVID-19 may theoretically influence AAA disease through multiple SARS-CoV-2-induced mechanisms. Further investigation and clinical follow-up will be necessary to determine whether and to what extent the COVID-19 pandemic will influence the prevalence, progression and lethality of AAA disease in the coming decade.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Development and Validation of Viral Load Assays to Quantitate SARS-CoV-2</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 30 million persons throughout the world. A subset of patients suffer serious consequences that require hospitalization and ventilator support. Current tests for SARS-CoV-2 generate qualitative results and are vital to make a diagnosis of the infection. However, they are not helpful to follow changes in viral loads after diagnosis. The ability to quantitatively assess viral levels is necessary to determine the effectiveness of therapy with anti-viral or immune…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ivermectin shows clinical benefits in mild to moderate COVID19: A randomised controlled double-blind, dose-response study in Lagos</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: 12 mg IV regime may have superior efficacy. IV should be considered for use in clinical management of SARS-Cov-2, and may find applications in community prophylaxis in high-risk areas.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Biomaterials-based formulations and surfaces to combat viral infectious diseases</strong> - Rapidly growing viral infections are potent risks to public health worldwide. Accessible virus-specific antiviral vaccines and drugs are therapeutically inert to emerging viruses, such as Zika, Ebola, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Therefore, discovering ways to prevent and control viral infections is among the foremost medical challenge of our time. Recently, innovative technologies are emerging that involve the development of new biomaterial-based…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bepridil is potent against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro</strong> - Guided by a computational docking analysis, about 30 Food and Drug Administration/European Medicines Agency (FDA/EMA)-approved small-molecule medicines were characterized on their inhibition of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease (M^(p) ^(ro)). Of these small molecules tested, six displayed a concentration that inhibits response by 50% (IC(50)) value below 100 μM in inhibiting M^(p) ^(ro), and, importantly, three, that is, pimozide, ebastine, and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Potent, Novel SARS-CoV-2 PLpro Inhibitors Block Viral Replication in Monkey and Human Cell Cultures</strong> - Antiviral agents blocking SARS-CoV-2 viral replication are desperately needed to complement vaccination to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Viral replication and assembly are entirely dependent on two viral cysteine proteases: 3C-like protease (3CLpro) and the papain-like protease (PLpro). PLpro also has deubiquitinase (DUB) activity, removing ubiquitin (Ub) and Ub-like modifications from host proteins, disrupting the host immune response. 3CLpro is inhibited by many known cysteine protease…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Are vanadium complexes druggable against the main protease m(pro) of sars-cov-2? - a computational approach</strong> - In silico techniques helped explore the binding capacities of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(pro)) for a series of metalloorganic compounds. Along with small size vanadium complexes a vanadium-containing derivative of the peptide-like inhibitor N3 (N-[(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)carbonyl]alanyl-l-valyl-N1-((1R,2Z)-4-(benzyloxy)-4-oxo-1-{[(3R)-2-oxopyrrolidin-3-yl] methyl }but-2-enyl)-l-leucinamide) was designed from the crystal structure with PDB entry code 6LU7. On theoretical grounds our…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Quantitative Assays Reveal Cell Fusion at Minimal Levels of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Fusion-from-Without</strong> - Cell entry of the pandemic virus SARS-CoV-2 is mediated by its spike protein S. As main antigenic determinant, S protein is in focus of various therapeutic strategies. Besides particle-cell fusion, S mediates fusion between infected and uninfected cells resulting in syncytia formation. Here we present sensitive assay systems with a high dynamic range and high signal-to-noise ratios covering not only particle-cell and cell-cell fusion, but also fusion-from-without (FFWO). In FFWO, S-containing…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Transcriptomic profiling of SARS-CoV-2 infected human cell lines identifies HSP90 as target for COVID-19 therapy</strong> - Detailed knowledge of the molecular biology of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is crucial for understanding of viral replication, host responses, and disease progression. Here, we report gene expression profiles of three SARS-CoV- and SARS-CoV-2-infected human cell lines. SARS-CoV-2 elicited an approximately two-fold higher stimulation of the innate immune response compared to SARS-CoV in the human epithelial cell line Calu-3, including induction of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsecond MD Simulation and Multiple-Conformation Virtual Screening to Identify Potential Anti-COVID-19 Inhibitors Against SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease</strong> - The recent pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), raised global health and economic concerns. Phylogenetically, SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to SARS-CoV, and both encode the enzyme main protease (M<sup>(pro)/3CL</sup>(pro)), which can be a potential target inhibiting viral replication. Through this work, we have compiled the structural aspects of M^(pro) conformational changes, with molecular modeling and 1-μs MD simulations. Long-scale MD…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Screening of JAK-STAT modulators from the antiviral plants of Indian traditional system of medicine with the potential to inhibit 2019 novel coronavirus using network pharmacology</strong> - The majority of the bioactives under investigation were predicted to target TNF receptor-associated factor 5 in the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of the transcription pathway. Similarly, druglikeness prediction identified vitexilactone to possess the highest druglikeness score, i.e., 0.88. Furthermore, proteins targeted in the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription pathway were also predicted to regulate multiple pathways, i.e., ErbB, AGE-RAGE, NF-kappa…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Compositions and methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU317343760">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>新冠病毒疫苗表达抗原蛋白的电化学发光免疫检测试剂盒</strong> - 本发明提供一种新冠病毒疫苗表达抗原蛋白的电化学发光免疫检测试剂盒，所述试剂盒至少包含：包被有链霉亲和素的孔板、生物素标记的抗新冠棘突蛋白抗体1、SULFO标记的抗新冠棘突蛋白抗体2、洗涤液、读数液、新冠病毒S蛋白标准品和新冠病毒RBD蛋白标准品。本发明以生物素标记的抗新冠棘突蛋白的抗体1与链霉亲和素板进行连接作为固定相，以新冠S蛋白、RBD蛋白作为参照品，可被SULFO标记的抗体2识别，从而检测新冠抗原的表达情况。该试剂盒能准确灵敏地定量检测不同基质中的新冠S蛋白、RBD蛋白，样品的前处理过程简单，耗时少，可同时检测大量样品。本发明对于大批量样品的新冠病毒疫苗表达抗原的检测具有重要意义。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN317672956">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>陶瓷复合涂料、杀毒陶瓷复合涂料及其制备方法和涂层</strong> - 本发明是关于一种陶瓷复合涂料、杀毒陶瓷复合涂料及其制备方法和涂层。该涂料包括30<sub>99.9%无机树脂、0.1</sub>70%氮化硅、0<sub>10%功能助剂、0</sub>18%无机颜料和0<sub>2%其他功能助剂；无机树脂由有机烷氧基硅烷、有机溶剂和硅溶胶混合、反应，抽醇，添加去离子水获得；有机烷氧基硅烷、有机溶剂和硅溶胶的质量比为1</sub>1.6：0.5~0.8：1。所要解决的技术问题是如何制备一种贮存稳定性好、可常温固化且膜层的物理化学性能优异的涂料；该涂料VOC含量低，具有良好的安全生产性，且涂料成膜过程中的VOC排放很低，利于环保；该膜层的硬度高、柔韧性好，不易开裂，且可以接触性杀灭病毒和细菌；该涂料既可常温固化，也可加热固化，无需现场两个剂型调配，施工方便，成本节约，从而更加适于实用。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN317672744">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 antibodies</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU315792577">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 antibodies</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU315792579">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>病毒核酸提取或保存试剂、引物探针组合、病毒扩增试剂、试剂盒及其应用</strong> - 本发明涉及病毒检测领域，特别涉及病毒核酸提取或保存试剂、引物探针组合、病毒扩增试剂、试剂盒及其应用。本发明病毒检测装置提供了一种简单易行的病毒核酸提取方法，整个过程大约5‑15分钟，回收纯化的核酸，可用于病毒核酸的检测。包括PCR、NASBA、LAMP、RPA等。相比较于传统的病毒提取方法，本方法病毒核酸回收率高、用时少、操作方便、易于临床推广。本发明涉及单管同时检测新型冠状病毒COVID‑19 N和ORF基因以及人源内参基因的等温扩增引物、探针组合序列和反应缓冲液，该体系特异性好，灵敏度高（50 cp/mL），特异性高，只需20 min的检测时间，最快可在10 min左右报阳性。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN317398766">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种侧链修饰的聚氨基酸及其制备方法和用途</strong> - 本发明提供了一种侧链修饰的聚氨基酸及其制备方法，所述侧链修饰的聚氨基酸具有如下优势：（1）主链和侧链结构及其连接方式都可以灵活选取，使制得的聚合物胶束具有良好生物相容性和靶向递送效率，（2）聚氨基酸主链的电荷极性为电正性，对主链的电荷调节促进胶束的pH值响应，帮助RNA从“溶酶体陷阱”中逃离进入胞浆，（3）通过量化侧链修饰脂肪链的链长、饱和度和脂肪链数量来控制侧链的疏水性部分，精确调节疏水部分的体积和缔合作用强度，（4）由于RNA和DNA在结构和负电性上的相似性，高效构建包裹和递送体，（5）通过双亲性功能高分子的侧链修饰引入不同的生物功能基团，实现递送体系对靶点组织和部位的特异性结合，提高靶向递送效果。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN317398760">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>靶向SARS-CoV-2冠状病毒的抗体及其诊断和检测用途</strong> - 本发明涉及靶向SARS‑CoV‑2冠状病毒的抗体及其诊断和检测用途。具体涉及特异性结合冠状病毒S蛋白的抗体或其抗原结合片段和抗体对以及包含所述抗体或其抗原结合片段和抗体对的检测产品。本发明还涉及编码所述抗体或抗原结合片段的核酸及包含其的宿主细胞，以及制备所述抗体或抗原结合片段的方法。此外，本发明涉及所述抗体或其抗原结合片段、抗体对的预防、治疗或诊断用途。相较于常规的IgG/IgM检测，该检测方法直接检测样本中病毒的RBD蛋白，可以有效避免可能的样本中无关IgG/IgM对于检测的干扰，有效提高检测的灵敏度。所述抗体或抗体对可用于诊断和/或检测冠状病毒。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN317346928">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION OF NITAZOXANIDE AND MEFLOQUINE AND METHOD THEREOF</strong> - A pharmaceutical composition for treating Covid-19 virus comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a nitazoxanide or its pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and an mefloquine or its pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof is disclosed. The pharmaceutical composition comprises the nitazoxanide in the ratio of 0.05% to 66% w/v and the mefloquine in the ratio of 0.05% to 90% w/v. The composition is found to be effective for the treatment of COVID -19 (SARS-CoV2). The pharmaceutical composition of nitazoxanide and mefloquine has been found to be effective and is unexpectedly well tolerated with a low rate of side-effects, and equally high cure-rates than in comparable treatments. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN316412781">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>TREATMENT OF COVID-19 WITH REBAMIPIDE</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU315792482">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Blaming the Wind for the Mess in Texas Is Painfully Absurd</strong> - Failures in renewable-energy generation accounted for only a small percentage of the state’s recent power outages. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/blaming-the-wind-for-the-mess-in-texas-is-ridiculous">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Texans in the Midst of Another Avoidable Catastrophe</strong> - The state’s independent power grid was couched as a badge of individualism. Then a once-in-a-generation storm hit—and, sure enough, the onus fell on the individual. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/texans-in-the-midst-of-another-avoidable-catastrophe">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Politics, Protests, and Pandemics</strong> - During the past year, social upheaval has been as widespread as COVID-19. What will history make of that? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/politics-protests-and-pandemics-covid-19">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The White House Is Definitely in Different Hands</strong> - Biden’s new chief of staff, like the new President, is a serious Washington lifer. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/after-years-of-chaos-the-white-house-is-definitely-in-different-hands">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Enormous Risk of Atmospheric Hacking</strong> - Solar geoengineering is the ultimate, break-the-glass response to the climate crisis—and one we should back away from for now. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/the-enormous-risk-of-atmospheric-hacking">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>The new Biden-backed immigration bill, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vFlvNj5rLB4KA9PT70rfbw62XQU=/0x0:4313x3235/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68839079/985324410.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) speaks during a news conference on June 27, 2018, to announce Senate Democrats’ legislative proposal to address the root causes of the Central American migrant crisis. | Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Democrats are pushing a comprehensive approach to immigration reform — for now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OB9M2M">
Democrats in Congress introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill on Thursday crafted around the priorities President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.vox.com/22233711/biden-day-one-immigration-congress-path-citizenship">articulated</a> on his first day in office, including a path to citizenship for the estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZcZR9Z">
If passed, the long-anticipated bill, known as the <a href="https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/USCitizenshipAct2021BillText.pdf">US Citizenship Act of 2021</a>, would mark the most sweeping reform of the US immigration system since 1986 — and would be a rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s nativist agenda.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DWaFwK">
But it’s unlikely that the legislation, which is a kind of mission statement for the Democratic Party on immigration, will attract the 10 Republican votes needed to proceed in the Senate — unless Democrats <a href="https://www.vox.com/22260164/filibuster-senate-fix-reform-joe-manchin-kyrsten-sinema-cloture-mitch-mcconnell">eliminate or alter the filibuster</a> in such a way that could allow them to pass the bill without a single Republican vote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yd6Hgf">
The centerpiece of the bill is an eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US prior to January 1, 2021. It also includes provisions that would address the underlying causes of migration, expand the number of available visas and green cards, invest in technology and infrastructure at ports of entry on the border, remove obstacles to asylum, and shore up protections for immigrant workers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EwH08X">
Noticeably absent from the bill are provisions that would promote the kind of border security and interior enforcement measures that Republicans have long sought. For example, previous Republican proposals would have boosted funding for the construction of the border wall, made it a crime to be present in the US without authorization, and required children to be indefinitely detained together with their parents while they faced deportation proceedings.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3zo9BA">
Some Republicans have <a href="https://republicans-judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021-02-08-How-the-Biden-Administrations-Immigration-Proposals-Risk-Undoing-the-Successes-of-the-Trump-Administration.pdf">already warned</a> the bill would “return to the radical left-wing policies that will incentivize illegal immigration and promote an unending flood of foreign nationals into the United States.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="97oAoL">
But Democrats have so far been reluctant to say they are willing to bargain with Republicans on beefing up border security beyond modernizing ports of entry or narrowing the bill’s legalization provisions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BkM2kl">
Sen. Bob Menendez, the lead co-sponsor of the bill in the Senate, said in a press call Thursday that the reason comprehensive immigration reform has failed time and time again over the last two decades is because Democrats have “capitulated too quickly to fringe voices who have refused to accept the humanity and contributions of immigrants to our country and dismiss everything … as amnesty.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f0UUKg">
“We know the path forward will demand negotiations with others. But we’re not going to make concessions out of the gate,” Menendez said. “We will never win an argument that we don’t have the courage to make.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hlCHkE">
California Rep. Linda Sánchez, who introduced a companion bill in the House on Thursday, also warned during the call that “cynicism can defeat us before we even try.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0abJT5">
Though advocates have expressed openness to starting out with smaller bills that might gain traction more easily — such as those legalizing DREAMers who came to the US as children, as well as farmworkers and other essential workers — Democrats are currently prioritizing comprehensive reform. In a call with reporters Wednesday, a senior administration official didn’t rule out the possibility that Democrats could also pursue piecemeal legislation, but said fixing the entire immigration system was imperative.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b6Vwsp">
Practical considerations about the bill’s prospects have nevertheless continued to plague advocates who are simply trying to get relief for as many people as quickly as possible after four years of their communities living under siege.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bL9cgy">
“Even as I read and dissect this bill, the only question in my mind is HOW? Not just what. What’s the strategy?” Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer at the immigrant rights group RAICES, <a href="https://twitter.com/ErikaAndiola/status/1362476625137393665">tweeted</a>. “How are Democrats planning to keep their promises to the immigrant community? Because I can assure you, the party of Trump won’t do anything good for us.”
</p>
<h3 id="QpwS2j">
The bill would implement reforms to legal immigration
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mEfVJy">
The centerpiece of the bill is a provision that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status and, eventually, citizenship.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ym7DKS">
The process would take at least eight years. To qualify, immigrants would have had to be physically present in the US on or before January 1, 2021, unless granted a waiver on humanitarian grounds.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MRr4Eo">
Initially, immigrants would be able to obtain a work permit and travel abroad with the assurance that they would be permitted to reenter the US. After five years, they could apply for a green card if they pass background checks and pay taxes. Immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and Temporary Protected Status, as well as farmworkers, would be able to apply for green cards immediately, however.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SrWEWQ">
After holding their green card for three years and passing additional background checks, they could apply for US citizenship.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ywCSTE">
The impact of such legislation cannot be overestimated: It could potentially bring millions of people out of the shadows.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dfVoKf">
“For all of them, the broken immigration system stands in their way of being recognized for who they already are: important members of our communities,” Maria Praeli, government relations manager at the immigrant advocacy group <a href="http://fwd.us/">FWD.us</a>, said in a press call.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o6YtCY">
Among other reforms to the legal immigration system, the bill notably includes a provision to prevent presidents from issuing categorial bans on immigration. It would also remove barriers to family-based immigration, including lengthy visa backlogs and employment-based green cards, which have been relatively inaccessible for workers in lower-wage industries.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="opD6EF">
It would repeal Clinton-era restrictions that prevent people who have been present in the US without authorization for more than six months from reentering the country for a period of three to 10 years. Many of those immigrants would otherwise be eligible to apply for legal status, often through a US citizen or a spouse who holds a green card.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4SuKlW">
It would also strengthen protections for immigrant workers by helping to ensure that victims of serious labor violations receive visas, protecting those who face workplace retaliation from deportation, and setting up a commission to make improvements to the employment verification process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3sZnJh">
In addition to substantive changes to the legal immigration system, the bill would also introduce rhetorical changes, substituting “noncitizen” for the word “alien” in federal immigration laws.
</p>
<h3 id="2REnGw">
The bill seeks to address the underlying causes of migration
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l7CfMI">
The bill aims to bring to fruition Biden’s vision for a <a href="https://joebiden.com/centralamerica/">regional approach</a> to migration, addressing the factors that drive Central American migrants to flee their home countries.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IvB4Yu">
As vice president, Biden developed a <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/would-biden-rebuild-the-old-program-to-reduce-northern-triangle-migration-97945">$750 million program</a> in tandem with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras — Central America’s Northern Triangle countries — aimed at improving economic development and curbing violence and corruption in the region, but the Trump administration halted that effort in March 2019.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F4e7Td">
The new bill builds on that concept, allocating $4 billion over the course of four years to address those push factors and incentivize Northern Triangle governments to improve living conditions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rPTJvl">
It would also set up new processing centers throughout the region to register qualifying migrants as refugees and resettle them in the US. And it would reunify separated families by reinstituting the Central American Minors program — under which children can join their relatives in the US — and creating a new parole program for those whose family members in the US sponsored them for a visa.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="81dsz1">
The bill also seeks to improve the capacity of Central American countries to process and protect asylum seekers and refugees by working with the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kWh3Uw">
The proposal appears to be substantially differently from the agreements the Trump administration brokered with the Northern Triangle countries, which allowed the US to return asylum seekers to those countries to seek protections — agreements Biden has <a href="https://joebiden.com/latino-agenda/">vowed to terminate</a>. The bill does not create any kind of obligation for asylum seekers to seek protection outside the US, but would instead aim to ensure migrants have due process and information about their rights, in addition to being properly screened and given documentation that allows them to move freely and access social services.
</p>
<h3 id="Xeva8o">
The bill could boost funding for immigration enforcement with a focus on technology
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Efnmh">
The bill would allow for an unspecified increase in funding for immigration enforcement. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would have to assess the precise dollar amount required, but that could prove controversial, given that many immigrant advocates have spent the last four years calling for lawmakers to abolish or at least defund the immigration enforcement agencies, whose budgets ballooned under Trump.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mr7IFA">
Those funds would go toward improving screening technology, officer training, infrastructure at ports of entry, and border security between ports of entry, favoring alternatives to a border wall.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PQwrqt">
The bill would also establish mechanisms to address misconduct among DHS’s ranks, increasing staff at the DHS Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates such cases, and requiring the agency to create a use-of-force policy. It would be a critical first step in reforming the agency, which became politicized under Trump, at times <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21540020/trump-immigration-2020-election">acting as the mouthpiece</a> of his immigration and “law and order” agenda.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tNp71k">
It would also enhance penalties for criminal gangs and drug traffickers.
</p></li>
<li><strong>NASA’s Perseverance rover landed safely on Mars. Now it will look for signs of ancient life.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NKl63-vjzOQUFRPgvD8Wyox3Mkk=/328x0:2579x1688/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68831019/09_Touchdown_10k.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
An illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover landing safely on Mars. | NASA/JPL-Caltech
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
NASA’s Perseverance mission, explained.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zVBeRP">
Touchdown! The planet Mars has a new robot resident.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hfAqRF">
At 3:55 pm Eastern time Thursday, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed safely on the Red Planet, after its seven-month journey through space. Upon arrival, it snapped this image of its landing spot. You can see the shadow of the craft imposed on the Martian dust.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XgDtAH8XahpeQPNp2ot-ZzeyWdY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22313254/Screen_Shot_2021_02_18_at_3.59.31_PM.png"/> <cite>NASA</cite>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eFA5Wm">
The safe landing came after what was called the “seven minutes of terror” landing sequence. Because it takes several minutes for any communication from Mars to reach Earth, NASA’s team could not pilot the rover’s landing. So Perseverance had to land itself, without any guidance from humans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nhNgZm">
Why was this so terrifying? Simply: NASA couldn’t know if the rover had landed safely for those seven minutes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5GexHS">
But it did. And soon, it will be time for the rover to get to work.
</p>
<div id="gVSGqM">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OWrdZC">
Previous rover missions were after one big question: Was Mars ever hospitable to life? They found that it was, with water once on the surface and <a href="https://earthsky.org/space/thiophenes-organic-molecules-curiosity-rover-mars-life#:~:text=The%20Curiosity%20rover%20has%20found,once%2Dliving%20microbes%20on%20Mars%3F&amp;text=This%20is%20Mars%2C%20the%20planet,eyes%20of%20the%20Curiosity%20rover.">organic chemicals in the environment</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CEhxAn">
Perseverance is going to go for the next big question: Is there evidence of actual microbial life, frozen in time on the Martian surface?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X9A2DL">
“This Mars mission is going to be the first mission to actually go and directly search for past evidence of life on Mars,” Philip Twu, a robotics engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who helped design Perseverance’s autonomous driving system, told me in July.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jpPCV7">
This is stuff scientists dream about answering as kids. And now, thanks to this latest mission, they have a good shot at it.
</p>
<h3 id="9D1xBD">
Meet Perseverance. It’s like NASA’s Curiosity Rover, but upgraded.
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RTabfA">
The Perseverance rover will look familiar to many.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o1-KnDAPXVxZxafG8VKLysIcdlA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20664543/spacecraft_rover_cameras.png"/> <cite>NASA/JPL-Caltech</cite>
<figcaption>
Perseverance’s various scientific instruments.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="87zjcg">
It’s modeled after the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/">Curiosity</a>, which landed on Mars in 2012. Like a new-model-year car, Perseverance comes with many upgrades: It can travel faster, farther, and around more obstacles on the Martian surface than Curiosity can. It has improved autonomous driving and more resilient wheels. It has a drone helicopter aboard (called <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/6-things-to-know-about-nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter/">Ingenuity</a>), which will become the first of its kind to fly on another planet (this is more of a technology demonstration than a main mission tool).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rccHUg">
It even has an experiment designed to <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/moxie/">generate oxygen from the Martian atmosphere</a>, as a proof of concept for future rocket fuel factories on the planet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xrKCr4">
And like any new piece of engineering these days, it comes with more cameras than the previous model: 23, compared to Curiosity’s 17.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GMNgzE">
But perhaps most important are the rover’s power tools: Perseverance is going to drill into an ancient river delta on Mars and collect rock samples that may contain evidence of ancient life. Even more audacious is the follow-up plan: A future mission will recover those samples from Mars and return them to Earth.
</p>
<h3 id="BGehG8">
“Seven minutes of terror”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hJavfc">
To find out the answer to that epic question — did Mars ever have life? — first, Perseverance had to travel through space for seven months to reach the Red Planet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g1Gv1c">
Upon arrival to Mars Thursday, it had to repeat an exceedingly tricky landing first achieved by Curiosity. The rover and all its gizmos are too heavy to land on the planet via parachutes alone. (Mars’s atmosphere is thinner than Earth’s to begin with, so parachutes are less effective there.) It has to be slowed down with a powered (rocket) descent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bV1YPX">
When Perseverance was <em>just</em> above the surface, the 2,260-pound rover was lowered gently from the rocket via what NASA’s engineers call a “sky crane.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ruaKpfozFZDlqBCSXjwigF81UlE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20628778/PIA14839.jpg"/> <cite>NASA/JPL-Caltech</cite>
<figcaption>
An artist’s depiction of the “sky crane” landing.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5rJSe0">
This whole feat was made more impressive by the fact that Perseverance had to land itself. Mars is far enough away from Earth that any radio signal we send the rover takes seven minutes to reach Mars. That means there was no piloting Perseverance in real time. It had to slow itself from around 12,000 mph to zero, all while choosing an unobstructed place to land.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WRB-kl6cFHQnPYHVKu03382b5gM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20664544/edl_timeline_2020_imperial.jpg"/> <cite>NASA/JPL-Caltech</cite>
<figcaption>
Perseverance’s landing will be completely self-guided by its computers.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iE5kye">
Even though Curiosity pulled off this feat in 2012, “our hearts will still be beating hard when we get to that point of the mission,” Matt Wallace, deputy project manager for Perseverance, told reporters before the mission launched. This was the most dangerous part of the whole mission, and the point at which it could have failed catastrophically. Once the landing sequence started, NASA had no control over the craft.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1dgS9J">
(Unlike Curiosity, Perseverance was able to film its landing, which the public will be able to see at a later date. That will be rad.)
</p>
<h3 id="3Vav9A">
Looking for signs of ancient life
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wR19nT">
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater, a dried-up ancient lake bed. Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater, which is an ancient river delta. The terrain there is a little more treacherous than Gale, but the rewards may be richer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hdO3lJ">
“It’s going to be a lot more rocks, it’s going to be a lot more cliffs, there’s going to be a lot more things that are going to really require a rover to be able to be a lot smarter in the way it drives,” Twu said. It all has to work perfectly: If the rover gets stuck or breaks a wheel, there’s no Martian equivalent of AAA to tow it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7oK6O0">
As with any Mars mission, many technical malfunctions are possible. Last year, for instance, a heat probe <a href="https://www.space.com/nasa-insight-mars-lander-mole-stuck.html">on NASA’s Mars Insight</a> lander got <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/28/20936315/nasa-mars-insight-lander-heat-probe-mole-digging-failure">unexpectedly stuck</a> while drilling into the ground.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sBVWPD">
But the risk will be worth it. “If life ever did exist on Mars, this is the kind of place where that evidence would be preserved,” Lori Glaze, the director of NASA’s planetary science division, told Vox in July.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sulebBJcnHyIeKaAtrPP-pmOT3I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20641183/22474_PIA23239_800w.jpg"/> <cite>NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHU-APL</cite>
<figcaption>
This image of <a class="ql-link" href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/22474/jezero-crater-mars-2020s-landing-site/" target="_blank">Jezero Crater</a>, the landing site for the Mars Perseverance Rover, was taken by instruments on NASA’s <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/index.html" target="_blank">Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter</a>.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rpoTcu">
That’s because the crater is home to a 3.4 billion-year-old dried-up river delta. You can see its shape in the image above. This is an ideal place to look for signs of past life, Tanja Bosak, an MIT geobiologist working on the Perseverance mission, said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BNN3aT">
In a river bed, “there are a lot of clay minerals, and as they settle, they can really just kind of smother anything organic, or they can even absorb organic molecules,” she says. That is: In the ancient dried clay of the delta, there may be microscopic fossils of microbial life, or geological patterns indicative of life. (Typically, Bosak studies how microorganisms alter rocks on Earth. The research she and her colleagues are doing in this area will provide the basis for what rocks to look out for on Mars.)
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eaAux3fwTbou4QQLUomqsPME5GQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20664576/Mars2020_Depot_Caching_animated.gif"/> <cite>NASA/JPL-Caltech</cite>
<figcaption>
Perseverance’s planned journey through Jezero Crater. It’s nuclear-powered (like Curiosity), and its initial mission to explore an ancient river delta on Mars is set to last a Martian year (two Earth years) but could be extended for much longer.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TA08n4">
Once settled in the delta, Perseverance will use its cameras and various chemical sensors to find the rocks most likely to contain this evidence. (One of the sensors is called SHERLOC, short for “Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman &amp; Luminescence for Organics &amp; Chemicals.”) Scientists here on Earth will analyze that data and choose several dozen samples for the rover to drill into. Then the samples will be stored in special tubes inside the rover, where they’ll be undisturbed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FVSD1n">
The most audacious plan, though, is to come. A future mission — <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars-sample-return-msr/">whose date</a> is not yet determined — called the Mars sample return will send a new rover to Mars to collect the samples from a drop-off point and then launch those back to Earth on a small rocket.
</p>
<div id="G6mA2L">
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<h3 id="vPkbaP">
What type of life might scientists find?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TlmNiJ">
Once back on Earth, scientists can study the samples extremely precisely and determine whether they contain signs of ancient life.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r6WNEb">
They’re not expecting anything more than microbes — bacteria-like, or other single-celled organisms. This is not a mission to find little green men.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SXJdzh">
But it’s still exciting. “These [Martian] rocks are older, by half a billion or a billion years, than anything that’s well preserved that we have on Earth,” Bosak says. Which means we might not only find life on Mars but a form of life older and more primordial than any previously observed on Earth. We can’t even ask “what life was like on Earth at that time,” she says. The potential evidence of life on Mars may give us a better understanding of how life evolved on our own planet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZiLnTb">
Of course, the discovery of life on Mars will also provoke epic questions, like: Did life originate on Mars separately from Earth? Was there a common event that created life on both planets? Did life start on one planet and then jump to another via meteorite? Scientists won’t have these answers right away, but with actual samples from Mars, they can start thinking about them. (It’s also possible these Martian samples show no signs of ancient life.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RwlaF3">
“Is there life in space?” is one of the biggest questions that gets kids interested in science. But scientists usually have to settle for figuring out the answers to smaller questions. “You learn to ask questions you can actually answer,” Bosak says. Now, in the relatively near future, we might be able to answer the big question.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3WOCQJ">
“This is something that is so unashamedly cool,” Asad Aboobaker, an engineer who worked on an experimental oxygen generator aboard Perseverance, said in a July interview. This is his first Mars mission, and he’s just giddy about it. “Like, I get to send something to Mars, right? I mean, it’s literally going to go to another planet and land there, and it’s going to do something that’s never been done before.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nbdMCN">
It’s something hopeful to think about during the coronavirus pandemic. The rover was named Perseverance in March after NASA conducted a nationwide <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/name-the-rover/#Essay">essay-writing</a> contest asking students for their ideas. Back then, the pandemic was not all-encompassing. Now the name has a new significance for many of the NASA engineers who have had to finish their work from home, or in person with increased biohazard safety burdens. “The name has taken on a lot of special meaning,” Glaze says. “The team has really had to overcome unbelievable obstacles.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x9uuZi">
</p></li>
<li><strong>NASA’s new Mars rover is equipped with the first aircraft to fly on another planet</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="An artist’s rendering of the Perseverance rover on Mars." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6cm79Az_H3M-1387I4cQo1-uAps=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67135716/1_PIA23764_RoverNamePlateonMars.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
The Perseverance rover is the size of a small car and more technologically sophisticated than anything you’ve ever seen. | NASA / JPL
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Some powerful autonomous tech has landed on the red planet.
</p>
<div class="c-float-left">
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<img alt="Open Sourced logo" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lcj6gww0ZKRDdVz0qOCNWvVxgYw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png"/>
</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pFpV77">
At 3:55 pm ET on February 18, NASA’s Perseverance rover finally landed on Mars, completing a journey through space that began last July. The fifth rover to land on the red planet, this boxy, car-sized vehicle with an extendable arm is now charged with looking for signs of ancient life and gathering data about Mars’s geology and climate. It will even lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration of the planet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IyBkPP">
To make all that possible, the rover carries a stunning display of technology designed especially for Perseverance’s historic mission, from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-perseverance-rover-will-carry-first-spacesuit-materials-to-mars">pieces of a new spacesuit</a> to an autonomous helicopter, the first aircraft ever sent to another planet. Those tools will help the rover gather data about the planet’s atmosphere, which it can then send back to NASA. There’s <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/sample-handling/">also an excavation system</a> that can collect high-quality samples of Martian soil to be stashed and later analyzed by a future mission to Mars.
</p>
<div id="J2WTCF">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Hello, world. My first look at my forever home. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CountdownToMars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CountdownToMars</a> <a href="https://t.co/dkM9jE9I6X">pic.twitter.com/dkM9jE9I6X</a>
</p>
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (<span class="citation" data-cites="NASAPersevere">@NASAPersevere</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1362507436611956736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9fTsab">
In the years the new rover is expected to operate, these machines will battle challenges that terrestrial technology never has to deal with, including Mars’s super-thin atmosphere, limited resources, incredibly cold temperatures, and delayed communication with human overlords on Earth.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NFMb87">
To give you an idea of how all this will happen, we’ve outlined some of the coolest features that will be on display now that Perseverance has <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/">finally arrived on Mars</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="A3NDEP">
Perseverance is armed with advanced self-driving tech
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SOq3cy">
Key to its mission’s success is the ability for Perseverance<em> </em>to self-drive. The vehicle has a computer devoted to its autonomous capabilities, and <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-nasa-built-a-self-driving-car-for-its-next-mars-mission/">as Wired explains</a>, it was designed and built specifically for this mission. The autonomous driving feature is essential because Mars is simply too far away for humans to give the vehicle constant, real-time instructions. So the rover needs to fend for itself.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MxSGXQ">
“One of the fundamental constraints of any kind of space exploration — whether you’re going to Mars or Europa or the moon — is that you have limited bandwidth, which means a limit on the amount of information you can send back and forth,” <a href="https://www.ri.cmu.edu/ri-faculty/david-wettergreen/">David Wettergreen, research professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute</a>, told Recode. “During the periods of time when the robot can’t communicate, autonomy is important for it to enable it to keep doing tasks, to explore on its own, to make progress, rather than just sitting there waiting for the next time it hears from us.”
</p>
<div id="rtwC8M">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CSnyRN">
But building an autonomous vehicle for Mars is not necessarily as easy as building a self-driving car here on Earth (and <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/26/21154502/tesla-autopilot-fatal-crashes">that’s not easy</a>, either). For one thing, the vehicle needs to be primarily concerned with safety, not with speed or the comfort of its passengers. After receiving basic instructions from humans about where it needs to go, Perseverance has to figure out the least-dangerous route on its own. If it crashes, the rover might render itself useless.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ItHccY">
“Mars is not a fixed, flat, nice, paved road. Mars is really challenging terrain. There is dirt, rocks, sand, slopes, cliffs — all these things that the rover is going to have to avoid,” explained <a href="https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Philip_Twu/">Philip Twu, robotics system engineer at NASA</a>. “In addition to cameras, the rover is also going to need computers, algorithms, and software to be able to process all that imagery data into essentially a 3D picture that it’s then going to go ahead and use to plan.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hXag1F">
Fortunately for Perseverance, Mars is not a place where a self-driving rover needs to worry about crashing into another car or hitting a pedestrian.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zyNTqw">
“On Mars, there’s nothing moving around,” said Wettergreen. “They’re moving slowly, so they can take the time to build a detailed model, do a lot of analysis on that model, and then decide what to do next.”
</p>
<h3 id="aLJAZK">
A robotic arm will take samples of Mars that will be studied back on Earth
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WK7o2T">
The vehicle is also armed with <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/arm/">a 7-foot-long arm</a> equipped with a drill that’s designed to collect rock and soil samples from beneath Mars’s surface. Those samples will then be stored in as many as 43 containers that the rover carries around on the planet. Once those samples are collected, they’ll be left in tubes that will sit on Mars’s surface for a future mission to pick up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="usSJGl">
The arm alone isn’t all that impressive as a piece of space technology. Instead, its virtue is all the stuff that it comes, well, armed with.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ke761K">
“It’s like a Swiss Army knife of scientific instruments,” said Wettergreen. “What’s so amazing about it is all of these different functionalities and capabilities that they’ve been able to pack into such a small package.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0OyK9C">
For instance, on the arm is a robotic claw equipped with a laser and other tools, including a camera called Watson that <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/arm/">NASA compares</a> to “a geologist’s hand-lens, magnifying and recording textures of rock and soil targets,” which is part of a tool — fittingly named Sherloc — that comes with special spectrometers and a laser. There’s also a tool called PIXL that can analyze incredibly tiny chemical elements and, in NASA’s words, take “<a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/pixl/">super close-up pictures of rock and soil textures</a>” to help scientists figure out whether Mars could have been home to microbial life in the past.
</p>
<h3 id="M7bLvM">
High-tech cameras and microphones will give the rover “senses”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lf8b0z">
Integrated into the rover are a slew of <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/cameras/">extremely high-quality cameras</a> — <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8663/nasas-perseverance-rover-will-look-at-mars-through-these-eyes/">23 in total</a> — that will help the vehicle survey the planet. The cameras won’t just help Perseverance get around Mars, but they’ll also take images of samples collected on the planet and record the vehicle’s arrival on the surface in full color. Meanwhile, NASA says that so-called <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/cameras/#Descent-Imaging-Cameras">“engineering” cameras</a> will take on tasks like helping the vehicle avoid potentially treacherous areas, like sand dunes and trenches, while others will help the system navigate without human intervention.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A drawing of the NASA rover Perseverance detailing its multiple cameras." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L7bJREwZcxjNHIt_VqpBuv8xFIg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20925263/21365_mars_2020_cameras_labeled_web.jpg"/> <cite>NASA</cite>
<figcaption>
There are 23 cameras aboard Perseverance.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vpGI98">
At the same time, the rover will pick up sound data through its <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/microphones/">two microphones</a>. Those devices will listen to the rover as it arrives and travels on the planet. There’s a special microphone that works in conjunction with a laser to study the chemistry of the planet’s geology by zapping it and recording the sound of the zapping. As NASA <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/microphones/">explains</a>, the microphone hears the intensity of the “pop” made by the laser turning the rock into plasma, which “reveals the relative hardness of the rocks, which can tell us more about their geological context.”
</p>
<h3 id="YPmc39">
A self-driving helicopter will fly on another planet. That’s a first.
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vLKSFC">
Also aboard the rover is Ingenuity, which will — if all goes as planned — be the first helicopter to fly on Mars as well as the “first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet,” according to NASA. That makes Ingenuity an experiment on its own, one that has undergone <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/29/21339544/nasa-mars-helicopter-ingenuity-perseverance-rover-flight-date">extensive testing</a> on Earth. Its mission is to demonstrate that flight on Mars, where it will conduct up to five test flights, is possible, and that flights can be conducted autonomously on the planet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ru2wjK">
While the device is essentially a drone, it’s specially crafted for Mars, which has less gravity than Earth. This makes ascent easier, but due to the planet’s <a href="https://www.space.com/16903-mars-atmosphere-climate-weather.html">comparatively thin atmosphere</a>, flight itself is more challenging. As <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/29/21339544/nasa-mars-helicopter-ingenuity-perseverance-rover-flight-date">The Verge reports,</a> the blades of the helicopter can make more than 2,000 revolutions a minute, several times the speed of helicopter blades whipping around in Earth’s atmosphere. Ingenuity is incredibly light, weighing in at <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/mars_2020/launch/mission/spacecraft/experimental_technologies/">around 4 pounds</a>.
</p>
<div id="DSkcZH">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FeGtUD">
But the tiny vehicle’s autonomy is not just designed to help with navigation; it’s also built to keep Ingenuity alive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hY0T8z">
“Mars is very, very cold. It gets to about negative 130 degrees Fahrenheit at night. That’s pretty cold,” explained Twu. “So the autonomy onboard the helicopter is also involved with finding a way to keep the helicopter warm enough to survive all the Martian nights.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1mcgRB">
If the helicopter is ultimately successful, it will help NASA make decisions about where flight could lend assistance during future missions to the planet. Similar drones could serve as scouts that survey the terrain of Mars — especially places that rovers can’t easily get to — or, as NASA says, become “<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/mars_2020/launch/mission/spacecraft/experimental_technologies/">full standalone science craft carrying instrument payloads.</a>”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hPVqzr">
Will we be seeing any of this tech on Earth one day? It’s hard to say right now, but Twu notes that NASA is famous for its spinoffs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6gEoo6">
“Time and time again, we’ve seen that technology developed for NASA missions — a lot of them for space missions — end up having terrestrial applications here on Earth,” he said. “All technology development can cross-pollinate and advances in one area inevitably result in advances in other areas.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QlfKhv">
<strong>Update, February 18, 2021, 3:58 pm ET:</strong> This piece was updated to include that Perseverance has now landed on Mars.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iJOYn9">
<a href="http://www.vox.com/open-sourced"><em>Open Sourced</em></a><em> is made possible by Omidyar Network. All Open Sourced content is editorially independent and produced by our journalists.</em>
</p>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India’s football World Cup qualifying round matches scheduled for March postponed to June</strong> - The second round of qualification matches have not been held since November 2019 due to COVID-19 pandemic.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Strike a balance between franchise leagues and international cricket, says Sangakkara</strong> - New Zealand Cricket did not stop its players from participating in IPL despite the last leg of the league clashing with the country’s Test series opener against England.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australian Open 2021 | Medvedev powers past Tsitsipas to enter final</strong> - To finally get over the line Medvedev must beat Djokovic, on Sunday, who has won all eight finals he has played at Melbourne Park.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ankita wins maiden WTA title, assured of doubles top-100 entry for first time</strong> - Ankita will become only the second player to crack the doubles top-100 since Sania Mirza, who is a six-time Grand Slam champion.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | Morris has a very specific role to play in supporting Archer, says Sangakkara</strong> - Kumar Sangakkara also made it clear that Archer will be leading the Rajasthan Royals bowling attack.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Worldview with Suhasini Haidar | India, China and the Line of Actual Control</strong> - Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar takes a deep dive into the disengagement plan between India and China along the LAC</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>‘Enhanced genome studies, social vaccine can keep check on new coronavirus mutations’</strong> - CSIR-CCMB scientists publish study documenting mutation landscape of SARS-CoV-2 virus in India</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Helina, Dhruvastra ATGMs successfully test fired</strong> - DRDO trials Anti-Tank Guided Missiles using the ALH</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Infant deaths: TN Health Department to hold back batch of vaccines</strong> - Nine-member ‘adverse event following immunisation committee’ convened; samples of vaccine batch to be sent for testing</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Amit Shah summoned by special court in West Bengal in defamation case</strong> - In a case filed by Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, the Home Minister has been asked to appear in person or through a lawyer on February 22.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid vaccines: Macron proposes sending 4-5% of doses to poorer nations</strong> - France’s president says failure to share vaccines more evenly is deepening global inequality.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Alps hiker survives seven icy nights after fall in Italy</strong> - Italian rescuers find an injured man who says his dog helped him to survive.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hervé Gourdel: Man sentenced over French tourist’s killing</strong> - The jihadist abduction and killing of mountaineer Hervé Gourdel in Algeria in 2014 prompted outrage.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France’s elite confronted by sexual abuse scandals</strong> - Revelations about sexual assaults and incest hit the reputation of France’s intellectual elite.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Prisoner exchange after Israeli woman enters Syria</strong> - Russia mediated the exchange after the woman crossed near the Quneitra crossing about two weeks ago.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Burning Crusade Classic leaks ahead of BlizzCon</strong> - BlizzCon leak includes vague “2021” release window, offers option to stay “vanilla.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1743757">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers stole source code for 3 products</strong> - The company said it found no indication the breach allowed customers to be hacked. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1743760">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Perseverance on Mars: Where it is, and what the next steps are</strong> - NASA’s first chat about its newest rover talks about the landing and what’s next. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1743740">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Robinhood says Gamestop volatility was a “1 in 3.5 million” black swan</strong> - CEO Tenev tells House committee quicker trade settlements would prevent a repeat. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1743729">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Land Rover Defender—rugged, charming, but drinks like a fish</strong> - Off-road utility is paid for at the gas pump. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1743663">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>A man crosses the Mexican border seeking better living conditions for his family.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then his constituency calls for him to resign as a senator from Texas.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Microwave_Warrior"> /u/Microwave_Warrior </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ln7luu/a_man_crosses_the_mexican_border_seeking_better/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ln7luu/a_man_crosses_the_mexican_border_seeking_better/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Some Yank had the audacity to say us Texans were dumb for not having Snow Tires. Bless their heart.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We may not have as much experience as y’all Yanks when it comes to snow, but after tinkering with it a couple minutes I think all of us Texans can agree to try and make a tire out of snow is a pretty dumb idea.
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We’ll keep our tires made of rubber, thanks.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MrGoodGlow"> /u/MrGoodGlow </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ln29i6/some_yank_had_the_audacity_to_say_us_texans_were/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ln29i6/some_yank_had_the_audacity_to_say_us_texans_were/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Two Beggars in London. (NSFW)</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Two beggars in London
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ali and Habib are beggars. They beg in different areas of London …
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Habib begs just as long as Ali does, but only collects £2 to £3 every day.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ali brings home a suitcase FULL of £10 notes, drives a Mercedes, lives in a mortgage-free house and has a lot of money to spend.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Habib asks Ali ‘I work just as long and hard as you do but how is it that you bring home a suitcase full of £10 notes every day?’
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ali says, ‘Look at your sign, what does it say’?
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Habib’s sign reads ‘I have no work, a wife and 6 kids to support’.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ali says No wonder you only get £2- £3
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Habib says ‘So what does your sign say’?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ali shows Habib his sign. It reads:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘I only need another £10 to move back to Pakistan’.
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/1Tosspot"> /u/1Tosspot </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/lmp1y7/two_beggars_in_london_nsfw/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/lmp1y7/two_beggars_in_london_nsfw/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Angry I paid top dollar for a session with a sex therapist - only to be told I need to masturbate more.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I should have just taken matters into my own hands instead.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/WildAndFreeee"> /u/WildAndFreeee </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/lmtxgz/angry_i_paid_top_dollar_for_a_session_with_a_sex/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/lmtxgz/angry_i_paid_top_dollar_for_a_session_with_a_sex/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>My wife is madder at me than she has ever been.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She tripped and fell while carrying clothes she just ironed. I didn’t move.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“What are you doing?!” She yelled at me.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Watching it all unfold,” I said.
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/rumblefish65"> /u/rumblefish65 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ln0ref/my_wife_is_madder_at_me_than_she_has_ever_been/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ln0ref/my_wife_is_madder_at_me_than_she_has_ever_been/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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