Pigs on a farm.

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Scientists in Brazil recently reported that two people were simultaneously infected with two different variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This co-infection seemed to have no effect on the severity of patients’ illness, and both recovered without needing to be hospitalised. Although this is one of the few such cases recorded with SARS-CoV-2 – and the study is yet to be published in a scientific journal – scientists have observed infections with multiple strains with other respiratory viruses, such as influenza. This has raised questions about how these viruses may interact in an infected person, and what it could mean for generating new variants. Viruses are masters of evolution, constantly mutating and creating new variants with every cycleContinue Reading

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Glenn Maxwell posted a picture in his Instagram story with his fiancee Vini Raman.© Instagram Glenn Maxwell took to Instagram to share a cute picture with his Indian-origin fiancee to wish her birthday on Wednesday. The Australian all-rounder posted a photo in his Instagram story with his fiancee Vini Raman and wrote “Happy Birthday To My Amazing Fiancee”. The couple recently completed one year as engaged to each other. The duo had announced their engagement in February last year with an adorable social media post. Maxwell is currently in New Zealand for the ongoing Twenty20 International series between Australia and New Zealand. The right-handed batsman, who had a disappointing season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, got a bigContinue Reading

A graph showing that respondents were more positive about helping people in their own country than those in other countries.

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Most nations are currently focusing their efforts to defeat the pandemic within their own borders, under pressure to help their citizens first. But this is a global problem and governments need to work together to eradicate COVID. To avoid hardening attitudes against helping other countries, governments need to change how they talk about the pandemic. They must resist the urge to blame other countries. The emphasis must now be on the need for a global response. We are psychologically driven to help people from our own tribe, or in-group, over members of out-groups. This is what we are now witnessing in the allocation of resources to fight COVID. Around the world, governments are trying to vaccinate their own populations first.Continue Reading

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Virat Kohli became the first cricketer to cross 100 million followers on Instagram.© AFP Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday took to Instagram to thank his fans after crossing 100 million followers on the social media platform on Monday. Kohli shared a video highlighting some of his favourite posts on Instagram that also marked important landmarks in his life. The video begins with the words “milestone achieved together”. “You have made this journey beautiful. Feeling blessed and grateful for all the love. Thank you,” Kohli captioned the post, and added “100 million #instafam”. The video shows a childhood picture, a photo from his wedding day and one with his mother. It also focuses on a gym photo, oneContinue Reading

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Jyothi Surekha Vennam secured the first rank in the ranking round.© Twitter International archer from the city Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who is representing Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, has been selected for the Indian team in the compound women’s category for World Cup which begins from April. The Archery Association of India has conducted the selection trials at the Sports Authority Of India (SAI), Sonepat, Haryana for the last three days. Surekha has set a new national record in the ranking round by scoring 710/720 by breaking her own national record of 709/720 which she set last year. She secured the first rank in the ranking round by scoring total points of 2808/2880. She won all the seven matches in theContinue Reading

Key workers' dedication takes a toll on their families – here's what employers should do about it

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British health authorities are currently hunting for an unknown person who has tested positive for a variant of the coronavirus known as P1. Sometimes called the Brazil variant, P1 is feared to be more transmissible than earlier forms of the coronavirus. It may also be partially resistant to immunity generated by prior infections or vaccination. Six people have tested positive with P1 in the UK, but one of them didn’t leave contact details behind when completing their test. This has sparked an urgent effort to find this person and trace their contacts to limit the variant’s spread. The variant is believed to have originated in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in Brazil, and so is also known as theContinue Reading

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Jasprit Bumrah played two Tests in the ongoing four-match series against England.© Twitter Ahead of the fourth Test against England, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was released from India’s squad due to personal reasons, and now it has come into knowledge that the bowler has asked for some days off as he is getting married. Speaking to ANI, sources in the BCCI in the know of developments have confirmed that the pacer is set to get married soon and has taken a leave to prepare for the same. “He informed the BCCI that he is getting married and has taken the leave to help in preparations for the big day,” the source said. The 27-year-old Bumrah played two Tests in the ongoing four-matchContinue Reading

Scientists have found dust from the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs inside the crater it left

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A large impact. Shutterstock/Vadim Sadovski More than 99% of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct. Most of these just died out quietly. However, in Earth’s history there have been five major mass extinction events – known as the big five – during which many species became extinct at the same time. Each of the big five events caused at least a 40% loss of all species on Earth. Yet humans hold a particular grudge against the most recent one, which brought a sudden end to the 160-million-year history of the dinosaurs. This was the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction and it happened 66 million years ago, wiping out about 75% of all species on Earth at the time.Continue Reading

Parkinson's disease: blood changes may occur years before diagnosis

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Patients had fewer lymphocytes in their blood. Alexander Raths/ Shutterstock Although Parkinson’s disease affects around 1%-2% of people over the age of 65, there is currently no cure. And by the time it is diagnosed – typically by identifying problems with movement, such as slower movements and tremors – the changes in the brain it causes are irreversible. So being able to identify Parkinson’s earlier will be important in finding ways to prevent and cure the disease. In our latest study, my colleagues and I have identified changes in blood that occur years before a Parkinson’s diagnosis. This could lead to earlier diagnosis of the disease. The causes of Parkinson’s aren’t completely understood, but clear links have been established withContinue Reading