Despite promise, few in US adopting COVID-19 exposure apps

Six months ago, Apple and Google introduced a new smartphone tool designed to notify people who might have been exposed to the coronavirus, without disclosing any personal information. But for the most part, Americans haven't been all that interested.

UK gears up for huge vaccination plan watched by the world

The coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech was being sent to hospitals across the U.K. in super-cold containers on Sunday, two days ahead of the kickoff of Britain's biggest-ever immunization program, one being closely watched around the world.

Insect invaders threaten Rome's iconic pines

Rome's majestic umbrella pines are as much part of the landscape as the ruins and cobbled streets, but they are under threat from a tiny insect invader—the pine tortoise scale.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-insect-invaders-threaten-rome-iconic.html

Japan's capsule with asteroid samples retrieved in Australia

A Japanese capsule carrying the world's first asteroid subsurface samples shot across the night atmosphere early Sunday before landing in the remote Australian Outback, completing a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-japan-capsule-asteroid-samples-australia.html

Chinese probe prepares to return moon rocks to Earth

A Chinese probe that landed on the moon transferred rocks to an orbiter Sunday in preparation for returning samples of the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years, the space agency announced.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-chinese-probe-moon-earth.html

Most of California to enter sweeping new virus lockdown

The vast region of Southern California, much of the San Francisco Bay area and a large swath of the Central Valley are about to be placed under a sweeping new lockdown in an urgent attempt to slow the rapid rise of coronavirus cases.

UK vaccine rollout set to begin with queen in line for jab

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks, reports on Sunday said, as the biggest immunisation programme in UK history begins next week.

China prepares large-scale rollout of coronavirus vaccines

Provincial governments across China are placing orders for experimental, domestically made coronavirus vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country's 1.4 billion people.

1.2M doses of China-made COVID vaccine arrive in Indonesia

Indonesia's government said 1.2 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech arrived in the country late Sunday.

Will the US ever have a national COVID-19 testing strategy?

As the coronavirus epidemic worsens, U.S. health experts hope Joe Biden's administration will put in place something Donald Trump's has not—a comprehensive national testing strategy.

Europe battles surge in coronavirus deaths in nursing homes

As the two mortuary workers pushed a stretcher with a bagged corpse out of the room, the elderly man in the adjacent bed briefly awakened from his dementia. "Is he dead?" he muttered, extending his arm, trying to touch his roommate for the last time.

Germany's Bavaria sharpens curbs as virus marches on

Germany's Bavaria region announced tougher coronavirus rules including local curfews and partial school closures on Sunday as case numbers remained high across the country despite five weeks of national restrictions.

South Korea tightens virus curbs in Seoul region

South Korea raised its coronavirus alert to the second-highest level in Seoul and surrounding areas Sunday as authorities struggle to contain a fresh outbreak.

Insect invaders threaten Rome's iconic pines

Rome's majestic umbrella pines are as much part of the landscape as the ruins and cobbled streets, but they are under threat from a tiny insect invader—the pine tortoise scale.

Japan's capsule with asteroid samples retrieved in Australia

A Japanese capsule carrying the world's first asteroid subsurface samples shot across the night atmosphere early Sunday before landing in the remote Australian Outback, completing a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

Virus cases continue climbing in US during holiday season

Coronavirus infections across the U.S. continue to rise as the country moves deeper into a holiday season when eagerly anticipated gatherings of family and friends could push the numbers even higher and overwhelm hospitals.

Chinese probe prepares to return moon rocks to Earth

A Chinese probe that landed on the moon transferred rocks to an orbiter Sunday in preparation for returning samples of the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years, the space agency announced.

How phones can alert you to COVID-19 exposure

More than 8.1 million people in the U.S. have turned their iPhones and Android devices into pandemic contact-tracing tools, but it hasn't been of much use when their neighbors, classmates and coworkers aren't on the same system.

Covid-19 death toll in Italy tops 60,000

More than 60,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Italy, according to an official toll published Sunday.

Double Dragons: SpaceX launches space station supplies

SpaceX launched a newer, bigger version of its Dragon supply ship to the International Space Station on Sunday, marking the first time the company has two capsules in orbit at the same time.

Venetoclax added to standard treatments shows promise in high-risk myeloid blood cancers

The novel oral drug venetoclax can be safely added to standard therapies for some high-risk myeloid blood cancers and in early studies the combination shows promise of improved outcomes, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

ASH: Off-the-shelf immune drug shows promise in aggressive multiple myeloma

A subcutaneous injection of the immune-boosting drug teclistamab was found to be safe and elicit responses in a majority of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to findings from a multi-institutional phase I study being presented by Alfred L. Garfall, MD, an assistant professor of Medicine in the division of Hematology-Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, at the annual American Society of Hematology & Exposition Meeting on Dec. 5.

Double Dragons: SpaceX launches space station supplies

SpaceX launched a newer, bigger version of its Dragon supply ship to the International Space Station on Sunday, marking the first time the company has two capsules in orbit at the same time.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-dragons-spacex-space-station.html