#covid19

#covid19

Humbertium covidum: "Alien" Predatory Flatworm named after COVID-19Scientists have named a newly discovered species of hammerhead flatwormHumbertium covidum. Sounds familiar? This predatory flatworm was named in homage to all the loved ones that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken from us.Like its name, the hammerhead flatworm has a distinctive hammer-shaped head. Its slick 3-cm long body is metallic black and, unlike many other flatworm species, lacks stripes or other ornamentation.Related: We Don't Talk About Covid, No no no

COVID-19 Vaccine Delivered by Skin Patch May Work Better Than InjectionsThe world has developed quite a few vaccines against the virus that causes COVID-19, and several of them work very well. But scientists are working on even better solutions. The drawbacks of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are that they must be stored and shipped at freezing temperatures, and they must be injected by trained medical personnel. These are requirements that underdeveloped countries don't have enough of, especially in rural areas. That's why David Muller and his team at the University of Queensland have been working on a better vaccine delivery system -a patch that can simply be applied to the skin. They've already made these patches with vaccines against influenza, polio, dengue, and other illnesses. Their COVID-19 patch is now in the trial stage.Related:We Don't Talk About Covid, No no noThe patch is only a centimeter wide, and sports 5000 tiny plastic spikes that are covered with a dried version of the HexaPro vaccine, which is now in clinical trials. HexaPro is stable at room temperature for at least a couple of months. The tiny spikes on the patch only reach the upper level of skin, but as Dr. Muller tells us, there are many immune cells in the epidermis. Trials in mice so far have shown that the patch delivers a bigger immune response than injected vaccines! Human trials of the vaccine patch will begin next year. Read more about this research at NewScientist. (Image credit: David Muller/University of Queensland) #vaccine #COVID19 #skinpatch #HexaPro

Watch Covid-19 Spread Across the United States (Jan 2020 to Oct 2021)Watch as COVID-19 swept across the United States from January 2020 to October 2021 in this short video clip by Nicholas Bauer(@bioturbonick)Bauer, a computational biologist and postdoctoral  research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, used data from the Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center for the striking visualization.In the video clip below, you can see the various individual counties of the United States change color as cases spike during the pandemic. The brighter colors indicate closer to the maximum number of cases seen in that county.#covid19 #coronavirus #visualization #NicholasBauer #USA #USAMapRelated: We Don't Talk About Covid, No no no

Watch How COVID-19 Virus Cause Cell Death in Bat Brain CellsSophie-Marie Aicher and Delphine Planas of the Department of Virology of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, captured footage of the COVID-19 virus infection causing cell fusion and cell death in the brains of bats (Myotis myotis).In the video clip, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is shown to infect bat brain cells engineered to express human ACE2 enzyme on its cell membrane, which is the entry point of the coronavirus into the cell. The COVID-19 virus infection triggered syncytia, or cell fusion, as part of the virus' evasion of the immune system response, and led to cell death (the red spots) in just 48 hours.This video won Honorable Mention in the 2021 Nikon Small World In Motion competition.Related:We Don't Talk About Covid, No no noView the full clip below.#COVID19 #coronavirus #braincell #syncytia #cellfusion #celldeath #Nikon #NikonSmallWorldinMotion #InstitutPasteur #photomicrography #microscopySee also: Video of Microorganisms Found in the Gut of a Termite Won the Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 Competition

Eurovision Winner Mr Lordi Got a COVID-19 Vaccine in Full CostumeMr. Lordi looks like he doesn't need any help fighting any virus, but here he is getting the second jab of his COVID-19 vaccination in Rovaniemi, Finland.The lead singer of the heavy metal band Lordi, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, showed up in full costume. "They put a big needle in my arm, and that's exactly why I came here. This was my second vaccine dose," he said to Finnish news site Yle.Mr. Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Petteri Putaansuu, added that the coronavirus pandemic had postponed his band's tours, but he managed to put all the extra time to good use."There's also good sides to all of this. It's given us an opportunity to be creative. We've recorded seven albums [during the epidemic]," he added.Image:Jouni Porsanger#COVID19 #coronavirus #pandemic #vaccination #Lordi #MrLordi #Eurovision #FinlandRelated: We Don't Talk About Covid, No no no

Kaleidoscopic COVID-19 Art by Laura SplanIn her art series, "Unraveling," Brooklyn artist Laura Splan took the COVID-19 coronavirus spike protein models and animated them into a series of mesmerizing kaleidoscopic art.From Fast Company:Splan exclusively used the spike protein found on the surface of the coronavirus, the part of the virus that attaches itself to human cells, which is represented in the software as alpha helices, (the ribbony spirals), and beta sheets (the arrows).“Ultimately, these are amino-acid sequences, and because of the biochemistry of that sequence, the protein folds in a certain way through propulsion and attraction,” Splan said. “When you’re watching these animations, you can see these individual ribbon structures folding and unfolding and coming together and falling apart. That coming apart is what I did manually in the software. I unraveled the protein, and I animated it coming back together.”#COVID19 #coronavirus #kaleidoscope #protein #LauraSplan #animationRelated: We Don't Talk About Covid, No No No

If Only More Covid-19 Vaccine PSAs are As Funny As This One by Rudy WillinghamSeattle-based artist Rudy Willingham created a series of fantastic public service announcements encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.Willingham use simple cutout image of Dr. Anthony Fauci placed at the right position next to the Seattle's Space Needle to create an image of the physician holding a giant syringe.Related: We Don't Talk About Covid, No no noIn other clips, Willingham put a giant syringe into the hand of the statue of Ken Griffey Jr. and a bandage on the arm of Rosie the Riveter. Take a look:

World's Tallest Sandcastle is a Covid-Themed Sculpture by Wilfred StijgerStanding at 21.16 meter (69.4 ft) Dutch designer Wilfred Stijger's new sandcastle creation smashed the previous record holder to claim the new title of world's tallest sandcastle.Stijger was assisted by 30 of the world's best sand sculptors to create the sandcastle in the annual Sand Sculpture Festival in the seaside town of Blokhus, Denmark. It took nearly 5,000 tonnes of sand, mixed with some clay and an extra layer of glue to make the sculpture last through most of the Danish winter.To commemorate the current COVID-19 pandemic, Stijger put a sculpture of the coronavirus on top of the sandcastle. "It's ruling our lives everywhere," Stijger said, "It tells you what to do ... It tells you to stay away from your family and not go to nice places. Don't do activities, stay home."#sandcastle #SandSculpture #worldrecord #WilfredStijger #Covid19 #coronavirus #pandemicRelated: We Don't Talk About Covid, No No No