Technology

Japanese-made flu drug favipiravir (also known as Avigan) has been shown to be effective in both reducing the duration of the COVID-19 virus in patients, and to have improved the lung conditions of those who received treatment with the drug, based on results of clinical trials conducted with affected patients in both Wuhan and Shenzhen by Chinese medical authorities.

The trials involved 340 patients in total, and since they drug has already been developed and approved for use in treating flu, it has a &high degree of safety,& according to China science and technology ministry official Zhang Xinmin, who spoke to reporters on Wednesday according to The Guardian. The tests showed a reduction in the period during which patients tested positive for the new coronavirus from 11 days down to just four, and showed improvements in the lung condition of around 91 percent of patients treated with favipiravir, compared to just 62 percent for those without among the trial participants.

The Chinese studies are not the only attempt to test the efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 treatment & Japanese doctors are bonding their own studies. A Japanese health ministry source told Japanese newspaper the Manichi Shimbun that the drug so far has been given to around 70 to 80 people, but that early results suggest it isn&t effective in treating those with more severe symptoms where the virus has already multiplied to a much greater extend.

Still, a treatment that is effective in reducing the duration of the presence of the virus even in milder cases, and in lessening the impacts in moderate symptomatic patients, would be a huge benefit to the ongoing fight against the coronavirus. Any approvals for use of favipiravir would of course require further clinical testing, followed by approval of widespread use by each countryrelevant medical treatment regulating body.

Other drug treatments have been tested for COVID-19 treatment, and are in the process of development, but no antiviral has yet been approved or created specifically for dealing with the new coronavirus. Other drugs that have shown early promising signs include remadesivir, a compound developed by Gilead Sciences that has shown some promise as a general antiviral.

Grappling with the spread of misinformation on the platform, WhatsApp today announced two initiatives to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Facebook -owned instant messaging service announced WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub — for which it has partnered with the WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP — to offer simple, actionable guidance, general tips and resources for users around the world to be better informed about the disease and hence reduce the spread of rumors.

WhatsApp said it is working with the WHO and UNICEF to provide messaging hotlines for people around the world to use directly. These hotlines will provide information and will be listed on the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub. It did not share exactly when the hotline will be ready for use.

The messaging firm said it is additionally donating $1 million to the Poynter InstituteInternational Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). The $1 million grant will help in fact-checking for the #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance, which spans more than 100 local organizations in at least 45 countries.

WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub

The grant will aim to train people to use the advanced features within WhatsApp Business, including the WhatsApp Business API. Expanding the presence of these IFCN certified fact-checking organizations could help ensure local communities are aware and responding to potential harmful rumors, the firm said.

The announcement today comes days after it became apparent that WhatsApp, which is used by more than 2 billion users, is again grappling with spread of misinformation worldwide.

&We are also pleased to be able to partner with the Poynter Institute to help grow the amount of fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp and to support their life saving work to debunk rumors. We will also continue to work directly with health ministries around the world for them to provide updates right within WhatsApp,& said Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp, in a statement.

In a statement, Baybars Orsek, Director of IFCN, said, &the timely donation from WhatsApp will help the fact-checks published by the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance to reach wider audiences and, in consequence, help people sort facts from fiction during this avalanche of information that WHO called an ‘infodemic&.&

&The International Fact-Checking Network also looks forward to discovering ways to understand the spread of health related hoaxes on WhatsApp in different formats and to make tools available for fact-checkers to detect and debunk misinformation on the messaging app,& he added.

WhatsAppparent firm on Friday committed to match$20 million in donations to support global relief efforts for COVID-19 coronavirus. Mark Zuckerberg, the social juggernautchief executive, said Facebook was committing $10 million for the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and World Health OrganizationCOVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and an additional $10 million for the CDC Foundation, which will launch its Facebook Fundraiser in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, the social juggernaut said it planned to award $100 million in cash grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 small businesses in some 30 countries to address COVID-19economic impact.

This pilot fish is working as a printer repair tech when hecalled to a job at a small manufacturing plant.

&I was greeted at the front door by a supervisor who said he would show me where the printer was,& says fish.

&On the way to the printer, he told me to not be alarmed by Barney. My confused look prompted him to add that Barney was an extremely large man who used the printer. ‘But he sometimes needs things explained to him more than once,& he added with a wink.&

The supervisor goes on to tell fish that Barney is the guy that people call on when they need heavy things lifted. Fish isn&t sure he believes it when hetold Barney will sometimes do things like lift the front of a forklift for money so he can buy a soft drink.

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SpaceX is launching its latest Starlink mission today, with a takeoff time of 8:16 AM EDT (5:16 AM PDT) currently scheduled to take place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will carry 60 more Starlink broadband internet satellites to their low Earth orbit destination, using a Falcon 9 rocket with a booster that flew four times previously, including twice in 2018 and twice last year, most recently in November for another Starlink mission. This is the second launch attempt for this mission, after a scrubbed attempt on Sunday due to an engine power issue, and therea backup launch opportunity set for Thursday at 7:56 AM EDT should this try encounter any issues or weather delays.

SpaceX is proceeding with this launch despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which late on Tuesday prompted NASA to move to a ‘Stage 3& condition across all of their facilities, which mandates telework for all agency employees except for those whose presence on site are mission critical for operations.

This launch will include a landing attempt for the Falcon 9 booster, meaning if all goes well SpaceX could recover it for a fifth time for an attempt at refurbishment and re-use. Five flights of a Falcon 9 booster would be a record for SpaceX & and the booster that itattempting this mission with is already a record-holder, since it achieved SpaceXexisting high-water mark for re-use with its last November launch.

The primary mission is to deliver the sixth batch of 60 of SpaceXStarlink satellites to space, which will grow the total constellation size to 360. SpaceX plans to begin commercial operation of the constellation later this year if all goes well, providing high-speed, reliable broadband internet to customers in North America, with lower latency and better speeds than are available using existing satellite internet service, which depend on larger, geosynchronous satellites placed much farther out from Earth.

SpaceX will also be aiming to recover the two fairing halves used to protect the satellite cargo on this launch, using two ships stationed at sea that have large nets strung across struts extending from their surface. SpaceX has been attempting these recoveries in order to further increase the reusability (and reduce the cost) of launch but so far it hasn&t had much consistency in its success, catching three fairings in total. The fairing being used today flew before, too & during the May 2019 Starlink satellite launch.

The broadcast of the launch will begin above around 15 minutes prior to the target takeoff time, so at around 8:01 AM EDT (5:01 AM PDT).