The Hubble Space Telescope detected the farthest individual star seen to date this week in a collaboration that included researchers from Ben Gurion University.
The newly discovered star existed within the first billion years after the big bang and provides insight farther back in time than we previously had after Hubble discovered a star in 2018 that existed when the universe was about four billion years old.
Since the discovery of the 2018 star, others like it have been discovered closer to Earth, but finding a star as far away as the new one relies on the perfect conditions which are highly rare.
The star is so far away from Earth that it has taken 12.9 billion years for its light to reach us. At this distance, scientists have only been able to see galaxies containing billions of stars, and the smallest objects detected were star clusters, but, seemingly impossibly, they have now been able to detect a single star at this distance. The breakthrough was made possible because a cluster of galaxies aligned, magnifying the star by a few thousand times.
“We almost didn’t believe it at first, it was so much farther than the previous most-distant,” said astronomer Brian Welch of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Highly magnified star Earendel. The collection of yellow-looking galaxies form the massive galaxy-cluster lens that magnifies background objects lying behind it. (credit: ALYSSA PAGAN/STScI, ESA, NASA)
Massive cosmic bodies can sometimes bend spacetime and essentially act as a lens in the sky.
“The lensing phenomenon opens a door to learn about dark matter and distant galaxies”, says Prof. Adi Zitrin from Ben Gurion University and one of the lead researchers of the study.
“A gravitational lens, similar to a regular lens we know from everyday life, forms regions of high magnification that are called caustics, where light rays focus. A similar feature can be seen on the bottom of a pool on a sunny day from ripples in the water. The lensing magnification at the caustic of a gravitational lens can be very high, and even reach millions.”
“The current discovery has another important aspect to it as it also opens a door to learn about stars in the early universe, where we have little information on their physical characteristics and their contribution to the early ionization of hydrogen throughout the universe.”
The star was dubbed Earendel (“morning star” in Old English) and is believed to be at least 50 times the mass of the sun and millions of times brighter.
Astronomers believe that Earendel will remain visible for many more years, giving them a chance to study it further. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will be used to observe it because it is built such that its sensitivity makes it the ideal tool to observe Earendel.
“With Webb, we may see stars even farther than Earendel, which would be incredibly exciting,” said Welch. “We’ll go as far back as we can. I would love to see Webb break Earendel’s distance record.”
Harry Styles has dropped his hotly anticipated new song “As It Was.” It’s the lead single and video from his upcoming third album, Harry’s House, due May 20 — the first music he’s released since his 2019 blockbuster, Fine Line. It’s one of the most emotionally powerful songs he’s ever done. He sings about facing up to personal transitions, with the chorus “In this world it’s just us/You know it’s not the same as it was.”
It’s a daring change-up for Styles, unlike anything he’s done before musically. He kicked off his first two album eras with grand statements, “Sign of the Times” and “Lights Up.” But “As It Was” is more nakedly vulnerable, a straight-from-the-heart cry that’s also an irresistible dance-floor challenge. It begins with children’s voices calling “Come on, Harry, we wanna say good night to you!”
But the song goes deep into feelings of isolation and melancholy. The lyrics are a plea: “Answer the phone/Harry, you’re no good alone/Why are you sitting at home on the floor?/What kind of pills are you on?”
“As It Was” swerves into Eighties-style synth-pop, in the vein of A-Ha or Depeche Mode. The synth hook sounds like warped steel drums, with tolling chimes at the end — Styles is credited with playing “tubular bells.” His vocals are bittersweet, almost piercingly poignant, with the intimate vibe of a journal entry. Yet it also feels like it’s about a relationship, full of secret confessions shared between two people — the first time he’s ever started off an album era with a love song.
It’s the first taste from his astounding new Harry’s House, which is even better than you hope it is. The 13-track Harry’s House will be released globally on May 20, on vinyl, CD, and cassette, available on preorder now. The vinyl will include exclusives like Sea Grass Green (on Harry’s website) and Target Translucent Yellow; there’s also a CD photobook with 32 new photos. Later this month, he’s headlining the Coachella Festival, on the weekends of April 15 and 22, where he’ll debut “As It Was” live. This summer he returns to the road for the international stretch of Love On Tour, starting June 11 in Glasgow with Mitski, and stretching into December.
The “As It Was” video evokes the song’s sense of personal conflict, with Styles and a partner literally running in circles, fitting for sentiments like “Gravity’s holding me back.” It was filmed in London by Ukrainian director Tanu Muino. As she says in a statement, “Shooting him was bittersweet, as it was one of the happiest days of my life, but on the second day of the shoot, my country Ukraine was invaded, so you can imagine the insane emotions we had while shooting. Me and my team from Ukraine poured so much love into this video, and you can see it onscreen.”
Styles wrote “As It Was” with his trusty longtime collaborators Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, who both produced. Guitar wingman Mitch Rowland is on drums along with Harpoon. As Styles told Rolling Stone when Fine Line came out, “If you’re going in with session writers or something, you spend one or two days there, and there is no way that person really cares about your album as much as you do. Because they’re into something else tomorrow.” That’s why he’s so unusually devoted to his team. “We’ll bond over music we love and things we’re going through. It’s not like there’s one person in the group that’s like, ‘Well, no, I don’t talk about that. I just make beats.’”
When Paul McCartney — one of Styles’ main heroes — released his solo debut, he summed it up as “Home, Family, Love.” The title and cover of Harry’s House seem to evoke similar themes, as does the cryptic You Are Home site, with daily messages like “Whisper to your houseplants/Sing to your neighbors.” The gatefold to the vinyl album, as teased on his website yesterday, has a very Linda McCartney-style photo of domestic life: a garden breakfast table set for two, with coffee, eggs, and an orange. (In case you’re following the Harry Fruit Universe, there’s another one to check off your list.)
Styles has always made a point of mixing pop glam with raw emotion. As he told Rolling Stone in the Fine Line era, “It’s all about having sex and feeling sad.” That perfectly describes “As It Was” — the moment when being in love forces you to confront some of your own baggage, the feelings you usually hide from yourself. “As It Was” comes out almost exactly five years after he began his solo career. (He dropped “Sign of the Times” on April 7, 2017.) Yet it sounds like an artist who’s just getting started. “As It Was” is more than a creative peak — it’s a fearless leap into a new era.
Find a playlist of all of our recent Songs You Need to Know selections on Spotify.
The dating services company said Stir focuses on meeting the specific dating needs of single parents that aren’t typically addressed on mainstream dating apps. With the app, single parents can comparetheir schedules and make sure they’re notmatching with someone who doesn’t have the same free time. The app also lets people match via questions about their personality and values.
Stir’s parent company Match Group owns Tinder, Match, Hinge, OKCupid and other dating services.
“Every year, we survey and interview singles, and every year, we find the same recurring theme: single parents are having a hard time dating,” Dinh Thi Bui, vice president of new verticals at Match Group, told CNN Business. “They felt stigmatized in the dating world, like it is a turn-off to disclose they have children. We also saw that single parents naturally gravitate towards other single parents because they didn’t have to explain their constraints as they were in the same stage of life.”
Bui added the app was inspired in part by his sister, who has two kids and didn’t feel comfortable signing up for a dating service after she heard about the specific challenges single parents face online. Match Group said it conducted its own study, which found most single parents were “ghosted” after a first date on mainstream apps.
“I saw these challenges she faced getting back into the dating world, and I wanted to build a supportive community that catered to single parents like her and make it easier for them to connect without fear of judgment,” he said. “[These] members don’t have to second guess if it will be an issue to disclose they have kids, or that they might have to cancel a date because they couldn’t find a babysitter.”
The app, which launched on National Single Parent Day, is available for download via the Apple App Store and Google Play. The service is free to download and message others after you match. A premium membership costs $89.99 for three months andincludes “boosting” (promoting your profile in a local area) and “super likes,” a way to show someone you’re really into them.
The new app is part of Match Group’s strategy to continue diversifying its portfolio of dating apps to appeal to more customers.Match Group also continues to roll out new features across its properties, including a new background check tool on Tinder to help people surface red flags about potential dates. In November, the company also outlined its long-term vision for some of its brands, which included plans to launch virtual dating experiences in the “Metaverse.”
ONE in three Americans take over-the-counter pain medication every single day, new research suggests.
In a poll of 2,000 adults, 20% reported taking OTC pain medications once a day and 12% take it “a few times a day.”
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One in three Americans take over-the-counter medication every dayCredit: Getty
Even so, respondents seemed more interested in avoiding pain altogether; 57% prefer a preventative approach, compared to 15% who tend to react to pain after it’s already started.
Over-the-counter medication proved to be the most popular form of primary preventative action (42% of respondents), followed closely by myofascial release tools like foam rollers and back wheels (39%).
In the case of reactive methods, however, respondents were more likely to mention rest (42%) over OTC medication (34%) or myofascial release tools (37%).
The poll, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Chirp, also explored the ways in which pain inhibits Americans from performing everyday activities.
Of those polled, the average respondent spends three days a week feeling limited by pain.
Almost half (49%) said they’re affected by pain at work, and two in five (40%) said it impacts their ability to do social activities.
“Pain caused from environmental factors can directly impact your lifestyle choices,” said Tate Stock, Chirp CEO. “In addition to limited physical activity, pain can cause psychological effects such as feelings of isolation and fatigue, being easily distracted or having a poor self-image.”
Sixty-one percent of respondents noted environmental factors that contribute to their pain.
Three in 10 cited poor posture as a contributing factor, despite the fact that one in four have purchased supportive furniture for pain management.
Poor sleeping habits (36%) and a sedentary lifestyle (35%) were also commonly identified as environmental pain contributors.
When asked what part of their daily routine best manages pain, about three in 10 said some form of “exercise.”
“Most of my pain is residual from my many head and neck surgeries, so I don’t think complete management is possible,” one respondent admitted. “Usually, I just try to ignore it and get on with my day. It is because all pain relief is temporary, prescription drugs would not offer lasting relief, so I stick to OTC pain relief.”
While pain prevention and management have become part of Americans’ daily routine, almost three-quarters (73%) said spending time with loved ones makes them feel healthy.
Another 73% said achieving physical strength contributes to feeling able-bodied.
“Using myofascial release tools, especially those with vibration therapy, localize pain relief to increase blood circulation, leading to faster healing tissue, increased mobility and reduced joint pain,” continued Stock. “A vibration therapy tool, such as a vibrating back wheel, is known for relieving pain. Consistent use of this type of tool is a natural alternative to prevent muscle injuries and further pain because it strengthens muscle tissue.”
Validating genetic diagnosis of neurological and neuromuscular diseases using faster, smaller, cheaper sequencing technologies.
A new
DNA Double Helix. Credit: Arek Socha
A patient who participated in the study, John, first realized something wrong when he experienced unusual problems balancing during a ski lesson.
“It was very worrying having symptoms that, over the years, increased in severity; from being active and mobile to not being able to walk without support. I had test after test for over ten years and absolutely no answers as to what was wrong,” says John, who was eventually diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called CANVAS, which affects the brain.
“It was reassuring to finally confirm my diagnosis genetically, and it’s exciting to know that, in the near future, others with these types of conditions will be able to get a diagnosis quicker than I did,” he says.
“For patients like John, the new test will be a game-changer, helping to end what can often be a taxing diagnostic odyssey,” says Dr. Kishore Kumar, a co-author of the study and clinical neurologist at the Concord Hospital.
Repeat expansion disorders can be passed on through families, can be life-threatening, and generally involve muscle and nerve damage, as well as other complications throughout the body.
Dr. Ira Deveson of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Credit: Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Quicker, more-accurate diagnosis for patients avoids “diagnostic odyssey”
Current genetic testing for expansion disorders can be “hit and miss,” says Dr. Kumar. “When patients present with symptoms, it can be difficult to tell which of these 50-plus genetic expansions they might have, so their doctor must decide which genes to test for based on the person’s symptoms and family history. If that test comes back negative, the patient is left without answers. This testing can go on for years without finding the genes implicated in their disease. We call this the “diagnostic odyssey,” and it can be quite stressful for patients and their families,” he says.
“This new test will completely revolutionize how we diagnose these diseases, since we can now test for all the disorders at once with a single DNA test and give a clear genetic diagnosis, helping patients avoid years of unnecessary muscle or nerve biopsies for diseases they don’t have, or risky treatments that suppress their immune system,” says Dr. Kumar.
Although repeat expansion disorders cannot be cured, a quicker diagnosis can help doctors identify and treat disease complications earlier, such as heart issues associated with Friedreich’s ataxia.
Dr. Kishore Kumar. Credit: Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Scanning for known and novel diseases
Using a single DNA sample, usually extracted from blood, the test works by scanning a patient’s genome using a technology called Nanopore sequencing.
“We’ve programmed the Nanopore device to hone in on the roughly 40 genes known to be involved in these disorders and to read through the long, repeated DNA sequences that cause disease,” he says. “By unraveling the two strands of DNA and reading the repeated letter sequences (combinations of A, T, G or C), we can scan for abnormally long repeats within the patient’s genes, which are the hallmarks of disease.”
“In the one test, we can search for every known disease-causing repeat expansion sequence, and potentially discover novel sequences likely to be involved in diseases that have not yet been described,” says Dr. Deveson.
Upscaling to wider use in the next five years
The Nanopore technology used in the test is smaller and cheaper than standard tests, which the team hopes will smooth its uptake into pathology labs. “With Nanopore, the gene sequencing device has been reduced from the size of a fridge to the size of a stapler, and costs around $1000, compared with hundreds of thousands needed for mainstream DNA sequencing technologies,” says Dr. Deveson.
The team expects to see their new technology used in diagnostic practice within the next two to five years. One of the key steps towards that goal is to gain appropriate clinical accreditation for the method.
Once accredited, the test will also transform research into genetic diseases, says Dr. Gina Ravenscroft, a co-author of the study and a researcher working on rare disease genetics at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.
“Adult-onset genetic disorders haven’t received as much research attention as those that appear in early life,” she says. “By finding more people with these rare adult-onset diseases, and those who may be pre-symptomatic, we’ll be able to learn more about a whole range of rare diseases through cohort studies, which would otherwise be hard to do.”
Reference: “Comprehensive genetic diagnosis of tandem repeat expansion disorders with programmable targeted nanopore sequencing” 4 March 2022, Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm5386
The work was supported predominantly by philanthropic funding from The Kinghorn Foundation.
The Washington Commanders have done plenty of things in recent years that make the team an appropriate target of scrutiny, criticism, and ridicule. The news that the Commanders have called every other NFL team in search of a quarterback should not be one of those things.
Sparked apparently by a paywalled story in the Kansas City Star that collected random tweets, plenty have been dragging the Commanders for calling the Chiefs about Patrick Mahomes. When considering the context, the criticism is badly misplaced.
Although Commanders G.M. Martin Mayhew said Wednesday that they called all teams that may have a quarterback available, John Keim of ESPN.com reported on Tuesday that the Commanders called every team.
So this wasn’t a case of Washington thinking there was a specific reason to call the Chiefs about Mahomes. It was a conscious decision to leave no stone unturned. Not one. Per Keim, Washington called everyone. Which means that the Chiefs got a call about Mahomes, the Bills got a call about Josh Allen, the Chargers got a call about Justin Herbert, and so on.
Big deal. It’s a phone call. It doesn’t even cost anything to make those calls, not like it used to when “long-distance” communications rang up dollars and cents faster than a fuel pump.
It was smart for the Commanders to make the calls. Especially since, as Mayhew mentioned on Wednesday, they didn’t get a fair shot at Matthew Stafford before he was traded from the Lions to the Rams. This year, the Commanders decided there will be no doubt or ambiguity. They won’t miss out on a guy who may be available, and they’ll ensure that by calling everyone.
Yes, the desperation could force them to give up plenty for a new quarterback. But if they get the right quarterback, who cares?
As coach Ron Rivera said Tuesday regarding the cost of securing a veteran franchise quarterback, “Does anybody really care what was traded for Matthew Stafford last year?”
No, they don’t. All that matters is the result. Washington is trying to get to that same result, by getting a great quarterback. Even if the Chiefs, Bills, Chargers, or anyone else laughed and hung up, there’s no cost in trying. There’s no fault in trying. Anyone who would criticize the Commanders for making those calls simply doesn’t understand how things really work.
The reality star turned business mogul first petitioned for divorce from West in February 2021 and their legal battle is ongoing.
“I very much desire to be divorced,” a new filing in their divorce case, obtained by CNN on Thursday, states. “I have asked Kanye to keep our divorce private, but he has not done so. Kanye has been putting a lot of misinformation regarding our private family matters and co-parenting on social media which has created emotional distress.”
Kardashian’s court filing continued, “I believe that the Court terminating our marital status will help Kanye to accept that our marital relationship is over and to move forward on a better path which will assist us in peacefully co-parenting our children.”
Kardashian and West were married for seven years and share four children together.
“Kanye does not agree [to end the marriage] but at least it appears that he has come to the realization that I want to end our marriage, even if he does not,” Kardashian’s petition states. “I ask that the Court restore me to the status of a single person so that I can begin the healing process and so that our family can begin the healing process and move forward in this new chapter in our lives.”
Engineers have brought 18 dots of starlight into a coherent pattern. Image: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale
A major milestone in the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope has been met, as engineers continue to bring the observatory’s view of the universe into focus.
Annotated view of the new mosaic image, matching the mirror to each dot. Image: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale
We’ve seen these 18 dots before, but now they’re organized. Oh, how beautifully organized.
The $10 billion Webb telescope is currently fixated on this single star, designated HD 84406, as engineers work to align its 18 gold mirrors. Eventually, these 18 dots will merge together to form a single image. At first, these dots were seen as 18 scattered, quasi-random spots, but now they’re oriented to match the honeycomb shape of the primary mirror, in a process known as Segment Image Identification, according to a NASA statement.
“We steer the segment dots into this array so that they have the same relative locations as the physical mirrors,” Matthew Lallo, systems scientist at the Baltimore-based Space Telescope Science Institute, said in the statement.
A selfie taken by the Webb Telescope, showing the hexagonal pattern of the primary mirrors. Image: NASA
With the dots oriented into a hexagonal formation, the team will now go about Segment Alignment in which large positioning errors will be corrected for each segment. The team will also update the secondary mirror alignment, which will make each dot appear more focused; it’ll basically be like giving each mirror a pair of glasses. The third phase is called Image Stacking, and it’s exactly how it sounds: the team will bring all 18 spots of light on top of each other to form a single dot.
The current orientation of the mirrors should make the second and third steps more manageable. As Lallo explained, once the Image Stacking process gets underway, the “familiar arrangement” of the 18 mirrors will give the team an “intuitive and natural way of visualizing changes in the segment spots in the context of the entire primary mirror.” The commissioning team “can now actually watch the primary mirror slowly form into its precise, intended shape,” he added.
The alignment stage began on February 2, and it should be completed by the end of the month. Launched on Christmas Day 2021, Webb is expected to enter into the science phase of the mission in June, at which time it will explore some of the most distant regions of the universe, the evolution of galaxies over time, and the atmospheres of extrasolar planets, among other celestial phenomena.
More: Webb Space Telescope Successfully Sees Its First Glimmer of Light.
In October last year, shortly before the Omicron variant shattered hopes that the pandemic was burning out, zoonotic disease specialist Linfa Wang published a study that he considers one of his most significant in decades of coronavirus research.
For almost two years pharmaceutical companies and governments had ploughed billions of dollars into the creation, production and distribution of vaccines that would safeguard populations from Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. But Omicron’s sudden emergence and rapid spread underlined how vulnerable the world remained. The vaccines that had been sunk into millions of arms had been designed to neutralise the original viral strain, first identified in Wuhan. While booster jabs offered good protection against severe disease, they did not stop Omicron — which has about 50 genetic mutations compared with the original strain — ripping through nations.
Pharmaceutical companies scrambled to update their existing jabs. A clinical trial of BioNTech/Pfizer’s vaccine that specifically targets Omicron has begun and the company estimates it will be ready by March — arguably several months too late for regions where Omicron has peaked.
Wang, who is based at Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School and led the team that revealed the 2003 Sars-Cov-1 outbreak had probably originated in bats, had a more ambitious goal. He thought it might be possible to protect people against all Sars-related coronaviruses. In early 2020 he started tracking down survivors of the first Sars outbreak, acting on a theory that the antibodies still present in their blood would shield them from Sars-Cov-2, but was disappointed to see that they only had immunity to the original Sars virus.
As new variants emerged in early 2021, Wang tried again. By then, eight of the Sars survivors had been injected with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine and this time their blood generated neutralising antibodies not only against Sars-Cov-1 and three Sars-Cov-2 variants of concern (Alpha, Beta and Delta), but five other coronaviruses living in bats and pangolins. “I’m a professional scientist, I’ve been in the game for 30 years, and as soon as I saw the results I was telling my students ‘that’s really groundbreaking’,” Wang says.
Published in October, Wang’s research provides the first human data to suggest a broadly protective “super shot” is possible. His work “gives us hope”, says Melanie Saville, director of vaccine research and development at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), a non-profit foundation which funds vaccine development for emerging diseases.
Even before the emergence of Omicron, there was considerable interest in the idea of a “universal” vaccine. But the subject has become a pressing priority for public health officials over the past three months as Omicron has exposed the limits of current vaccines and therapeutics.
There are already some indications that more boosters of the existing vaccines might not be a long-term solution. One study involving health workers in Israel underlined the limitations, showing that a fourth dose of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine was largely ineffective in stopping Omicron infections despite increasing antibodies. Last month, the US drugs regulator withdrew its authorisation for the monoclonal antibody treatments made by Eli Lilly and Regeneron, which had proved effective against earlier strains but do not work well against Omicron.
Since the arrival of new variants there has been a flurry of new funding into research on a universal coronavirus vaccine. In theory, such a jab would not only protect people against known strains, but coronaviruses yet to emerge. After three major outbreaks — Sars, Mers and Covid-19 — in less than two decades, it would be “naive” to assume there will not be others, says Anthony Fauci, US president Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser.
“So rather than being responsive to it, we should be prepared for it. And that’s the entire rationale of trying to get a [vaccine] that covers all the iterations of, certainly, beta coronaviruses” — the family that includes Sars-Cov-2 — “but possibly and hopefully and aspirationally all coronaviruses.”
Health leaders are in no doubt that this broad-based protection is needed if the world is not to live permanently in fear of another devastating pandemic. The pursuit of a universal vaccine goes beyond public health considerations, says Saville, citing the massive shocks the global economy has suffered since early 2020. The IMF recently warned that global gross domestic product losses could be as high as $5.3tn over the next five years if the “great vaccination divide” between rich and poor nations is not closed.
A vaccine that offers global protection would also be cheaper, and less demanding of overburdened health systems, Saville adds, pointing to the huge R&D costs of updating and rolling out a vaccine against each new variant.
But while the pandemic spurred researchers to develop highly effective vaccines in record time, it does not follow that they will have the same success with a universal vaccine, which is still at the level of basic clinical research. Generations of scientists have struggled in vain to create such a broadly protective vaccine against another fast-mutating virus: influenza.
Fauci explains that the task is considerably more complex than developing the first crop of Covid-19 vaccines where scientists knew the virus’s genetic sequence. “We knew what the target was: it was there, it was right in front of us,” he says. In contrast, a universal jab would need to work on viral genetic sequences that are as yet unknown.
If scientists knew how to induce broad immunity, “we would be cranking [a vaccine] out like Operation Warp Speed tomorrow”, says Fauci, referring to the US government-backed programme. “But when you don’t know what the right product is, then you’re still in the realm of discovery. And discovery is a heck of a lot more unpredictable than implementation.”
A change of tack
A vaccine’s basic function is to train the body’s immune system to identify and attack a virus. It mimics the natural infection and recovery process, where antibodies produced to neutralise a specific pathogen linger in the blood for years or decades.
The first generation of Sars-Cov-2 vaccines worked by generating antibodies that neutralise the “spike” protein that the virus uses to enter cells. But this key part of the virus has changed as Sars-Cov-2 has mutated, making it harder for the immune system to recognise the virus and diminishing the effectiveness of vaccines devised for the spike on the initial strain.
For the universal vaccine, researchers are trying a different approach. Most are working on identifying so-called “conserved” parts of the virus — pieces of protein known as epitopes that are present in all coronaviruses and resist change however much they mutate. The idea is to have a vaccine that trains the body to recognise this conserved region, prompting an immune response to a broader array of coronaviruses.
The US’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which Fauci directs, has given three academic institutions $36.3mn to conduct research into vaccines against multiple coronaviruses. Cepi has earmarked $200mn for similar research, about $80mn of which has so far been dispersed, with more awards expected in the next few weeks.
While most research teams are still at the proof-of-concept stage in the lab, a small number have progressed to human trials. One of the most advanced candidates has been developed by scientists at the US military’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. A phase 1 trial of its vaccine began last April, with the first results expected soon. An earlier pre-clinical study suggested it may provide “broad protection against Sars-Cov-2 variants of concern as well as other coronaviruses”, according to a statement issued by Walter Reed in December.
Also in the vanguard is a vaccine against the group of viruses that includes Sars-Cov-1 and Sars-Cov-2, developed by DIOSynVax, a biotech spinout of the University of Cambridge led by Professor Jonathan Heeney. The team has identified several unique structures on the Sars group that do not mutate, “presenting promising targets for broad vaccine protection against this group of coronaviruses and their variants”, he says.
In the US, Barton Haynes, director of the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University School of Medicine, and his team have also identified an epitope resistant to mutation on the spike protein. Their vaccine would combine a synthetic nanoparticle derived from that spike protein with an “adjuvant”, a chemical substance that enhances the immune system’s response to a virus. Preliminary studies in animals suggest that the vaccine triggers neutralising antibodies and other immune responses to all the Sars-Cov-2 variants that have arisen so far, and Haynes hopes it will also work against variants that appear in the near future.
While many researchers are focused on trying to find specific regions of the virus that do not mutate, researchers at Massachusetts-based VBI Vaccines are attempting something new. They have placed the spike proteins for three human coronaviruses — Sars-Cov-1, Mers and Sars-Cov-2 — on the surface of virus-like particles which “resemble the virus so well they are a very, very potent way to activate the immune system”, according to David Anderson, the company’s chief scientific officer. When injected into animals, the particles, which are non-infectious but mimic the natural viruses, generated antibody levels that were between two and seven times higher against a variety of variants than vaccines aimed at single strains.
There has never been a vaccine developed using this method before. Anderson says he is often asked: “what’s the precedent for this? And I have to candidly say there isn’t any. But by the same token, there was no precedent for an mRNA vaccine until a couple years ago.”
As scientists such as Anderson and Heeney focus on coronaviruses, the protracted search for a universal flu shot offers caution and inspiration in equal measure.
The “tweak-and-boost” vaccine model currently used against Sars-Cov-2 broadly resembles the World Health Organization’s approach to influenza. Each year scientists have to devise a different version of the flu shot, meeting in February and September to estimate which flu viruses will circulate and gain dominance in the coming six to 12 months. It is a less than exact science. Effectiveness against infection varies from year to year but rarely exceeds 60 per cent.
In designing each flu vaccine, scientists must contend with a complicating factor: immunity to earlier strains. “When we try to design a universal influenza vaccine, we have to come up with something that’s better than the current vaccine and that works in a population of people who have already seen influenza before. Those two things are similar for Covid,” says John Mascola, director of vaccine research at the US’s NIAID.
He adds that in terms of identifying a common part of coronavirus that will not mutate, many of the same principles apply to flu. “[A lot of those] ideas have been in the influenza field and are now being used also in the coronavirus field,” he says.
Jeffery Taubenberger, a senior investigator at NIAID who first sequenced the genome of the virus which caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, notes that influenza and coronavirus share a capacity to develop strains that escape pre-existing immunity.
“So making just a ‘matched’ vaccine to try to chase the evolution of the virus is always going to have you behind the game . . . by the time you’ve given that vaccine the virus is on to someplace else, so that strategy is not a winning strategy,” he says.
Taubenberger believes that scientists need a better understanding of how long-term immunity in the respiratory system can be achieved. He warns that a universal vaccine that provides life-long immunity from a single jab is probably “too high a bar”. A more realistic proposition may be a vaccine to protect against multiple variants for which you would only need to boost every five or 10 years.
But even that would be a considerable leap. “I’ve spent the last 25 years of my life thinking intensively about influenza virus every day, and I’ve spent two years thinking about coronavirus, and I’ve learnt enough to now realise that I don’t understand anything,” Taubenberger says. A virus is “this little tiny packet of genetic material wrapped in protein”. Influenza viruses, for example, encode about 10 to 11 proteins, as opposed to the 40,000-50,000 proteins that humans make. “And we don’t even know what they all do yet — and that’s crazy.”
Chinks in the armour
As they grapple with these fundamentals, researchers have a new weapon at their disposal: computational predictive modelling.
Heeney and his team in Cambridge have used computer models to explore Sars-Cov-2’s structure, using information about Mers and other coronaviruses that can spill over from animals. These virtual models have allowed them to identify what he calls “chinks in its armour” as they have sought to find ways to disable the virus.
In a programme in the US, Haynes of Duke University is collaborating with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to predict what the next variants of Sars-Cov-2 might be as he continues efforts to develop a universal vaccine.
But even with advanced technology, it is not easy to predict how quickly a universal vaccine might emerge. The speed at which Covid-19 vaccines were developed was unprecedented — just 326 days from the sequencing of the virus to the first vaccine being approved. Cepi would like to squeeze that timescale still further, so a vaccine would be available within just 100 days of the emergence of a new pathogen. But this is no guide to the time needed for the more complex universal vaccine project, says Saville.
Cepi’s aim is to have proof of concept for a broadly-protective, variant-proof vaccine against Sars-1 and Sars-2 “in the 2023 timeframe”, she says. It would then take another year or two to be licensed for use. As to a truly protective vaccine against all coronaviruses of concern to humans, “we’re really looking in the timeframe of 2024 to 2025 . . . so it is a long haul,” she adds.
Fauci is equally cautious. “You’re not going to hit a home run the first time up, that’s for sure,” he says.
Yet researchers will continue operating on parallel tracks, both working towards the creation of a pan-coronavirus vaccine and finding smarter ways to respond to variants as they emerge. One thing the pandemic has proved is that humanity is capable of feats of vaccine production and distribution that were previously unimaginable. “When you’ve cracked the scientific problem [of a universal vaccine], then you could do a Manhattan Project to get it out,” Fauci adds.
In an effort to encourage New Yorkers to get back on subways, buses, and trains — particularly following the sharp decline in ridership due to the pandemic — the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a pilot fare program.
The temporary promotional changes to fare structures will begin Feb. 28 for New York City Transit and Feb. 25 for commuter rail tickets.
The pilot will last for at least four months.
In an effort to encourage New Yorkers to get back on subways, buses, and trains — particularly following the sharp decline in ridership due to the pandemic — the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a pilot fare program that is “more affordable, more flexible and more fair.”
The temporary promotional changes to fare structures will begin Feb. 28 for New York City Transit and Feb. 25 for commuter rail tickets. The pilot will last for at least four months.
“Bringing riders back to mass transit depends on three variables – reliability, safety and price. We’ve made it a priority to get creative on fares,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement.
“Transit affordability is also an equity issue, and we are committed to providing a wide range of new discounts, while ensuring the MTA maintains a solid bottom line.”
NYC TRANSIT FARE CAPPING PILOT
The fare capping pilot for New York City Transit will feature automatically free unlimited rides achieved after 12 OMNY taps, Monday through Sunday, without having to pre-pay for the week, according to the MTA.
Customers who tap and go with OMNY will be charged the standard $2.75 pay-per-ride fare for their first 12 trips starting every Monday. Any trips after that through the following Sunday would be free.
Those with a device or contactless card can start tapping their way to free rides as long as they use the same device or card each time.
Ultimately, this means that under the pilot, no OMNY customer would pay more than $33.00 per week — the current price of a seven-day unlimited-ride MetroCard. Right now, only MetroCards offer the option of unlimited rides. But those cards are being phased out by 2023.
Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered good news for subway and bus riders: no fare hikes for the immediate future and no service cuts for at least two years. NBC New York’s Erica Byfield reports.
FARE CHANGES FOR LIRR, METRO-NORTH RAILROAD
The MTA will offer three major changes to railroad fares, all with the hope of encouraging railroad ridership within the city.
A new 20-trip ticket will offer 20% off the comparable 20 peak one-way fares when purchased through MTA eTix, or at a ticket window;
Monthly tickets, which are currently discounted between 48% and 61% of the price of a comparable number of one-way peak tickets, will be discounted by an additional 10%;
CityTicket, which offers a reduced, flat fare on rail travel within New York City on weekends, will be extended to all weekday off-peak trains at a fare of $5.
The new offer is a $2.25 or 31% discount from Metro-North’s current weekday fare between the Bronx and Manhattan, which is $7.25. (CityTicket must be purchased and activated before boarding the train. Metro-North’s off-peak fare between the Bronx and Manhattan remains $13 when purchased on board the train.)
This new offer translates to $2.75 or 35% discount from the LIRR’s current weekday fare between eastern Queens and Manhattan or Brooklyn, which is $7.75. (CityTicket must be purchased and activated before boarding the train. The LIRR’s off-peak fare between eastern Queens and Manhattan or Brooklyn remains $14 when purchased on board the train.)
All LIRR and Metro-North fares will remain off peak through Feb. 28.
As the pilot is underway, the MTA will evaluate the new fares’ impact and customer experience, among other things.
After one of his constituents was killed when she was pushed onto the subway tracks, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine on Thursday called on the MTA to immediately conduct a feasibility study of platform barriers. NBC New York’s Tracie Strahan reports.
The MTA has been contemplating a fare pilot program for some time. Another major city — London — has a fare cap program for their mass transit riders.
Before the pilot plan began to be put in place, the agency studied whether a cap would make economic sense, especially given that the year’s planned fare increase was scratched.
“It’s not a secret the MTA has serious financial challenges,” Lieber said last year. “We want to make sure we are there for New Yorkers forever. And that means having a solid financial footing.”
According to MTA Chief Customer Officer Sarah Meyer, if the fare capping pilot proves successful, it could be extended or even become permanent.
“Fare capping will save many of our riders money and give them more flexibility,” Meyer said. “At a time when New Yorkers are paying more for everyday items, the MTA is helping them save money on transportation, one of their most essential expenses…We hope riders embrace the new program, and we’ll be watching to see how it affects our operations and farebox revenue. If the pilot is successful, we could extend it or make it permanent.”
