An illustration showing how a combination of static high-pressure synthesis techniques and dynamic methods enabled the researchers to probe the magnesium silicate bridgmanite, believed to be predominate in the mantles of rocky planets, under extreme conditions mimicking the interior of a super-Earth. Credit: Yingwei Fei. Sandia Z Machine photograph by Randy Montoya, Sandia National Laboratories.
New research led by Carnegie’s Yingwei Fei provides a framework for understanding the interiors of super-Earths—rocky exoplanets between 1.5 and 2 times the size of our home planet—which is a prerequisite to assess their potential for habitability. Planets of this size are among the most abundant in exoplanetary systems. The paper is published inNature Communications.https://349c2ad06770b85713828b8b09374a4f.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
“Although observations of an exoplanet’s atmospheric composition will be the first way to search for signatures of life beyond Earth, many aspects of a planet’s surface habitability are influenced by…
FEBRUARY 10, 2021 / 6:53 AM/ CBS NEWShttps://www.cbsnews.com/embed/video/?v=f5a61ed4a77aed583185989dcd67890a#vVZtb9s2EP4rgj4OoUVRb5SBYUjaYevWFUGTAAOiwqBIymZCiYIoOXaL%2FPcdJdlx0gIF1pcEQSjy3vjc3XP85LOhN61me3%2FZd4M887dKSOMvP%2Fmql7X1l7ef%2FH7fSn%2Fpb43wz3wlYElJVeE4SRGTkUBxHpaozOIERQmlVQgncRiBbN3u3svqjdOozz%2Fe5XfdH%2FvzVf7RvFmt0jd%2F0X9fVXe7K7V7dbEHaauHNUi2RrMObU3Xyx3iZtAClZ1q1qjq1FoJBGG1smP90EmLmEUVSFsz9Bv3ATrMgq1e9drFfOmMeZMxbzRjPcX3HlOd1xuvZV1vPVN5N4urBagJeQ9KsKgGrb9oYwxosuRNAXmnAXnMehCQNwbkPq7ngDhrTKM409ff02qvaml7Vrf%2BMkxDkid5lGP4gZsMoKtMAwcke%2Fp8y0qpwTsmS5yBAT19N3BdSG3N1tK63FuXsk3ft3ZZBEXAS9vIBxstYKHAX6%2F4gpu6CDZDWQSqCLoiIJiERYBJEYS4CFgVsSxkOYpFyVFcpRWiEU5RlkWUi5JRQaIi6DdDXTZM6SJIY7yLUtAsU5pHVcYJ5ZwxgitOJcMkLVlKaR6KKRpUDRaug769WNAxCJTGUUwjNIeyuGvXgNDmi1CQHwhFSCjeZcSpxpTiikUkhz8hSUklyUVIKibyjMbRz8Xi8cxvO7lV8uGm089Asa1WXC5YrdcLZSDuFoDYwv1HMimCrzV%2FEcyGi8A%2FMtCJ%2FbYzYgH0M54s5hRMsM8f4AqA32j7Ev2QJpREeZIkaUZdmcG1wtUoWDPby25RRwM9eCU%2F3W1lupr14Ja1DsSxSYtghyBV65v3b0FieAH2w8PD81hmkL89%2FSP6yr6pW%2BNC9JcV0xZGAgwIxceR4HohTnGcJoSiLKEChaEkyNUkwjiklaQM4xI%2FsTlEClWlLKpN10A0rqMUhNHxDYycW3fuuXPvcP4Bqox1sumvndd3rHZk%2Beriyrt2Uv98buViPwndfi71AUpWtsoaAechxCSZdZTohy5Aua7BzXQwtFCB1h6vzLQ%2B5xx2LrTh90eCtDdWdldDaXmnSimO4rY1jTXdQW4jd%2BevZcUG7TKLz%2BDXH3cvnnaj%2FCxOzpLcsXjH%2BL2LFyCGjFpuOjmuoRwjjBNMUxgg8YTDuznvbqaksPWLcwkfjV3ZfrV2aLnSmHZYu2Luvu%2BK4Nx%2FBDTqYXfZGaiDfv%2B3hAT4JM6kYEkahZkIkziHWU6iiEWp%2FwiZqGXPxnkAIfZyvXdr2NsYMVWsbMRodk52JcfyEoi7cSPdc2F%2BO0DAAJGD%2B2k2wxKIAhbHEt5toJu40VryqQ%2BOakXw0nYR%2FKbsSpv1WoqVan7Fjp9OkVT294aV2mVpetnArFdcy3MoedO5R8mtT4iIGKYJ4jILUUwkRzmRMZI8jHOBI8EpcRX5TPVQbneyqrzSVaGQWqsTufHFI5Mqy0IMZkuZoTghGDGKYyRCnOVhGJcVdwDNKpdD%2BRqu5TICRIIwQSH2cLwkyTJJn8QOr4f29PUAD5mh0VDbm8PjARoDxL1SA9ecKB9y0fQA6WreHZ89W%2BDv%2BVhIew8dP1LBa7l1EfmuJ9cHAVdeK%2Fc6dE0E%2F%2F9Ujitu%2FcE6CNzO1ZQ%2FkB3sLDTrQpO5VlFb6T3I0p%2B5ZcSryrCQNIKXJJHVxCssqjBAAWjROKTZ1CwntDBa16pW0FDx8ZpXZui4nLjHm3uh7FgjLjXrHd%2BO7mYKXbngVk93dp%2Bz9VnC%2BZRMq6F2VQUzoVL65NgpgIhsHFJuYrg6PL72Xk7Kz8h7miLPuPsBKn0jO%2BSOgMiBx6d0ojGdI0nXUih2acA3wDxDCwUg5kT9IK%2FO9IzN%2FzUxNvpXw%2FueE%2B3x8T8%3D
The polar vortex has become synonymous with winter’s most brutal cold. For days, the weather system has been sitting and spinning right along the U.S.-Canada border, with temperatures as low as 43 degrees below zero in northern Minnesota.
But now, there are signs it is about to surge south, bringing with it record-shattering cold air from the far reaches of Alaska and Northern Canada. By the weekend, temperatures in Kansas City and St. Louis will be below what’s normal for Fairbanks, Alaska.
Authorities had collected seven samples from four different locations in the zoo, which were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) on February 3, Pandey said.
Samples taken of bird droppings in the Delhi Zoo have been found positive for avian influenza virus, director of the zoo Ramesh Pandey said Tuesday.
Authorities had collected seven samples from four different locations in the zoo, which were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) on February 3, Pandey said.
“The samples have been found positive for avian influenza virus… All safety measures and protocols…
OIE detected bird flu hotspot in Ain Fakroun town Tuesday
Abdurrazzak Abdullah |10.02.2021FILE PHOTO
ALGIERS, Algeria
Algeria declared a state of emergency after World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)’s announcement of H5N8 bird flu outbreak in the country’s east, said Minister of Agriculture Abdelhamid Hamdani Tuesday.
In a press conference, Hamdani said: “The source of this virus is migratory birds and we [Algeria] have put all regions on alert in anticipation of any emergency.”
He stressed that “the epidemic was contained in Ain Fakroun town which appeared in there.”
On Tuesday, OIE detected a bird flu hotspot in Ain Fakroun town of Oum El Bouaghi city.
Laboratory analyses revealed the spread of bird flu in the town, which infected 51,200 chickens before isolating the town.
The risk of humans potentially contracting the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus cannot be excluded, although the likelihood is low, according to the World Health Organization.
*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara
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A Costco-owned slaughterhouse is being accused of engaging in “cruel” animal practices including cramming chickens into “filthy sheds” and breeding them to grow to an unnatural weight.
An undercover investigation allegedly revealed how Lincoln Premium Poultry’s practices directly contrast “Costco’s claim that animal welfare is a critical component” of its chicken supply chain, according to Animal rights group Mercy for Animals “Revealing the hidden price of Costco chicken” investigation.
Representatives for Lincoln Premium Poultry did not immediately return FOX Business’ request for comment.
In 2019, farmers began raising chickens for the Nebraska slaughterhouse which supplies the wholesale club with many of the tens of millions of rotisserie chickens it sells each year, Mercy said.
Dios Ruiz, a service deli worker for Costco Wholesale Corp., places cooked rotisserie chickens in containers at a store in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Costco Wholesale Corp., a wholesale membership warehouse company, is (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)https://www.credible.com/partners-widgets/credit-card/rich-cta/?variation=interactive&theme=fox&credclid=abd3fbe6-22c0-4d39-90ec-3a324f3fc376&pageUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxbusiness.com%2Flifestyle%2Fcostco-rotisserie-chicken-animal-rights
One year later, the animal’s rights group said it discovered “large piles of dead, rotting animals” on the facility’s grounds outside the barns which housed live chickens.
“Costco members deserve to know the truth about where their chickens come from and how Costco is failing to live up to the animal welfare standards members expect and the company claims to support,” the group said.
Additionally, an undercover investigator captured animals being forced to live for weeks in their own waste while being raised to “grow so large so fast that they often cannot support their weight.” The animals allegedly struggle to walk and “many die from organ failure,” the group said.
Aside from the terrible living conditions, the investigator allegedly witnessed “countless birds with open wounds, ammonia burns, broken bones, and twisted necks and beaks,” the group said.
Costco told FOX Business that “independent audits are regularly performed to ensure all parties are consistently in compliance” and that Costco and Lincoln will “use the results of our audits as well as other sources of information, including this video” to further improve its animal welfare processes.
“Costco is committed to maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare, humane processes and ethical conduct throughout the supply chain,” the company said in a statement. “Lincoln Premium Poultry (LPP) shares our commitment, as do the independent growers selected for the program who have been carefully chosen based on our mutual business philosophies.”
Mercy for Animals says Costco has the “power to implement meaningful animal welfare requirements for these farms” and is urging the company to take action.
According to Mercy for Animals, over 200 companies have already adopted Better Chicken Commitment standards which “ban the worst cruelty from their operations” and so far, “Costco has failed to do the same.”
The department’s website also features a short presentation detailing the remaining steps in the regulatory process, data updates, and the status of the Atlantic Population (migratory) Canada goose population. Citizens canprovide input online, by phone at 410-260-8540, by fax at 410-260-8596, or in writing to: Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service, 580 Taylor Avenue, E-1, Annapolis, Maryland,21401.
Thepublic commentperiod will close atnoonFebruary 26.
Animal rights activists stage a protest at Gwanghwamun, Seoul, in this Jan. 25 photo, calling for a halt to the culling of poultry as a method to prevent the spread of avian influenza, saying there are other options. Yonhap
While the government has been bolstering measures to prevent the spread of avian influenza, animal welfare organizations and veterinarians are criticizing the measures ― culling poultry regardless of whether or not they have been infected.
They say culling is nothing more than animal slaughter, and vaccines for the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu should be introduced as a preventive measure.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the number of chickens and ducks culled here, since last Nov. 26 when the first H5N8 case broke out, topped 25.3 million as of Feb. 3. There were 75 cases of infections nationwide.
In Gyeonggi Province alone, more than 6.8 million chicken and ducks in 83 poultry and egg farms were culled during the same period. Of these, 4.24 million at 65 farms, or 61 percent, were culled as a preventive measure although they were not infected with the virus.
The government has been culling all poultry within a three-kilometer radius of infected farms since 2018.
However, animal welfare organizations and veterinary associations are questioning whether the government’s policy is the only viable solution.
Members of 45 organizations, including the Korea Association for Animal Protection (KAAP), held a press conference in Gwanghwamun in Seoul last month, saying more than 100 million poultry have been buried underground since the very first outbreak of avian influenza here in 2003.
“Based on scientific and elaborate analysis, culling should be carried out mainly on the farms infected with the virus. As a fundamental measure to solve the problem, a vaccine for H5N8 should be introduced, just like vaccines turned out to be the fundamental solution to end the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lee Won-bok, head of the KAAP.
“Although the country can minimize culling by using vaccines, the government sticks to culling and it seems to only be because of administrative convenience.”
Lee Sung-sik, head of the Gyeonggi Veterinary Medical Association, also said even though there is a simple test kit that can detect the virus within three hours, the government adheres to culling the animals without convincing reasons.
“It seems the authorities are hesitant out of fear of losing the country’s status as a bird flu clean zone if they use vaccines for avian influenza, but now we have to begin vaccination as the virus breaks out every year,” he said.
According to him, losing its status as a “bird flu clean zone” could result in restrictions on the export of domestic poultry and related products, and increase the possibility of allowing imports of poultry products from China, which have been banned as the country is not designated as a clean zone.
In August 2008, Korea declared itself a bird flu clean zone in accordance with guidelines set by the World Health Organization.
He also noted the biggest reason for the government’s hesitation to implement a vaccination program is fear of a virus mutation that could be deadly to humans.
Culled chickens are buried near a poultry farm in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 21, after an outbreak of avian influenza was confirmed there. Yonhap
Virus variants can develop when vaccines are used; the H5N8 strain of avian influenza does not pose a great threat to human health, but there is a chance for a variant to develop that is lethal to humans, he explained.
“The virus is powerful enough to infect a million birds with just 1 gram,” an official of the agriculture ministry said, adding no one can predict what mutations could occur or how these mutations might affect humans.
“Despite the large number of culled birds, it should be understood as a measure to prevent greater damage,” he added.
Some other experts argued that the government’s position is understandable given that some types of avian influenza can infect both animals and humans, but claimed the government still needs to consider other options.
“We should not blindly block the introduction of a vaccine, but examine the possibility of a variant in a scientific and rational manner,” said Song Chang-sun, a professor of veterinary medicine at Konkuk University.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents cited two men for alleged migratory game bird violations on Jan. 24 in Assumption Parish.
Agents cited Terry W. Lee, 55, of Bayou L’Ourse, and Tobbie R. Lacoste, 38, of Bayou Vista, for hunting migratory game birds over a baited area. Lee was also cited for placing bait to take migratory game birds and gross littering. Lacoste was also cited for hunting ducks without a federal stamp, harvest information program (HIP) certification and state duck license.
Agents set up surveillance on the area after observing it was baited with cracked corn. On Jan. 24, agents heard gunshots coming from the baited area. Agents also observed Lee and Lacoste leaving the baited area in possession of shotguns.
Agents made contact with the men and found them in possession of two wood ducks. Upon further investigation, agents…
Dementia patients had a significantly increased risk for COVID-19 and that risk was even higher for African Americans with dementia, a retrospective analysis of U.S. electronic health record (EHR) data showed.
After adjusting for age, sex, race, and COVID-19 risk factors including comorbidities and nursing home stay, people with dementia had twice the risk of developing COVID-19 as other adults (adjusted OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.94-2.06,P<0.001), according to Rong Xu, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, and co-authors.
Among people with dementia, African-American patients were nearly three times as likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 as white patients (adjusted OR 2.86, 95% CI 2.67-3.06,P<0.001), they reported…
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