COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects, Explained

With the Pfizer BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine and Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine currently being administered to select groups, the buzz around the COVID-19 vaccine is palpable. Public response to the idea of a vaccine has also grown more favourable, with a national survey from PEW Research Center indicating that 60 per cent of Americans would definitely or probably get a vaccine for the coronavirus, up from 51 per cent in September. Yet among many people who are in line to get the vaccine, those who aren’t yet eligible, and those who are hesitant, there are questions about exactly what the side effects of those vaccines are, and how often they occur. Collectively, the companies’ clinical trials have tested more than 73,000 people and separately have produced vaccines with over 90 per cent effectiveness. The vaccines teach your body to produce an immune response, and they do have the potential for short-term side effects.

Shaking of Shenzhen skyscraper sends people fleeing, leading to evacuation and official investigation

 

A landmark skyscraper in downtown Shenzhen started to shake for unknown reasons on Tuesday afternoon, leading to an emergency evacuation of thousands of people.

The Shenzhen Emergency Management Bureau said it had received reports that the SEG Plaza, a 20-year-old, 79-floor building with a height close to the Empire State Building in New York, was wobbling and that relevant authorities were still investigating the matter.

The bureau said that there had not been an earthquake in the city when the shaking took place at around 1:50pm. The local weather report also showed a wind speed in Shenzhen of around 27km per hour, a speed unlikely to cause the shaking of high-rise buildings.

The SEG Plaza is the fifth-tallest building in China’s boomtown and is at the heart of Huaqiangbei, the world’s largest bazaar of hardware and electronics components.

Huge Chinese Rocket Falls to Earth over Arabian Peninsula

 

The Chinese rocket has come down. The 23-ton core stage of a Long March 5B booster crashed back to Earth Saturday night (May 8), ending 10 controversial days aloft that captured the attention of the world and started a wider conversation about orbital debris and responsible spacefaring.The Long March 5B reentered the atmosphere over the Arabian Peninsula at about 10:15 p.m. EDT Saturday (0215 GMT on Sunday, May 9), according to U.S. Space Command.

“It’s unknown if the debris impacted land or water,” Space Command officials wrote in a brief update Saturday night. But some analysts have identified a watery grave for any rocket hunks that managed to survive the intense heat of re-entry. For example, Space-Track.org stated on Twitter Saturday night that the Long March “fell into the Indian Ocean north of the Maldives," an idyllic island chain off India’s southwest coast.

The Long March 5B launched the core module for China’s new space station on April 28. Instead of ditching safely into the ocean when its work was done, however, the rocket’s first stage reached orbit, becoming a piece of space junk just waiting to crash down on its home planet after feeling enough atmospheric drag. And this was not an isolated incident. The same thing happened last year with a different Long March 5B core, which fell uncontrolled over the Atlantic Ocean off the West African coast. Some large pieces of debris from that reentry apparently made it to the ground in the nation of Ivory Coast, though no injuries were reported.

China Lands Tianwen-1 Rover on Mars in a Major First for the Country

 

China says it safely landed a spacecraft on Mars—for the first time in its history and in its first attempt, becoming the only other nation besides the U.S. to achieve such a feat. Its Zhurong rover, named after a god of fire from Chinese folklore, successfully touched down in Utopia Planitia around 7:11 P.M. EST as part of the Tianwen-1 mission, according to the China National Space Administration. Soon the rover should drive down the ramp of its landing platform, ready to explore its unearthly surroundings. If there was any doubt about China’s spacefaring prowess, it has been dispelled now that the nation has added interplanetary landings as a coveted notch on its belt “Mars is hard,” says Roger Launius, NASA’s former chief historian. “This is a really big deal.”

Tianwen-1 was launched in July 2020 as part of a summer Martian armada that also included launches of NASA’s Perseverance rover and the United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter. All three missions arrived at Mars in February. But while Perseverance descended straight to the surface, Tianwen-1 instead entered an elliptical orbit around the planet to give its scientists a god’s-eye view for scouting out their planned landing site in Utopia Planitia, an immense impact basin on Mars. “China does not have its own detailed Mars maps,” says Brian Harvey, a writer who covers the country’s space program. At least, that was the case until today, when Tianwen-1’s controllers decided they had seen enough to confidently initiate the spacecraft’s daring descent.

Packed inside a cone-shaped protective shell, Zhurong and its rocket-powered landing platform detached from the orbiter, descended toward Mars and began the fiery plunge through the planet’s upper atmosphere. After jettisoning its protective shell lower in the atmosphere, the spacecraft unfurled parachutes to slow its descent before riding thrusters down to a gentle landing on the surface. This was “very similar” to the powered landings China has used in its Chang’e missions to Earth’s moon, says Andrew Jones, a space journalist who follows the Chinese space program. The latest of those missions returned samples to Earth in 2020.

There's a lack of research and awareness, which influences endometrial cancer rates

Uterine cancer is deemed to be the most common gynecologic malignancy in developed countries. Despite all the breakthroughs, the issue has received considerable critical attention as the mortality rate for uterine cancer is on the rise. This elevated incidence could be multifactorial (Siegel et al., 2012; Niyazi et al., 2016). The raised prevalence of endometrial cancer in US-born generations of Chinese and Japanese Americans when compared with their counterparts who were born in Asia demonstrated that the exposure to some environmental features or lifestyle modifications may alter the race-specific factors of this malignancy (Frumovitz et al., 2014). 

The association of endometrial cancer with such dominant characteristics as age, BMI, race, familial history, and polycystic ovary, diet, physical activity, smoking, parity, breastfeeding, birth rate, hormone-replacement therapy, hypertension, diabetes, histology, the socio-economic status, and the exposure to infertility treatment are still controversial in terms of incidence and mortality (Brinton et al., 1992; Salazar-Martínez et al., 2000; Soliman et al., 2005; Beral et al., 2007; Zhou et al., 2008; Furness et al., 2009; Liat et al., 2012; Liao et al., 2014; Filomeno et al., 2015). Several attempts have been made to distinguish the contributing factors behind Type I endometrial cancer from Type II. Flix et al. (2010) concluded that type 2 was associated with excess age, nonwhite race, and the history of additional primary tumors. 

Renehan et al. (2008) also recognized that excess adiposity played a critical role. Despite all the reported data, much uncertainty still exists about the factors associated with uterine cancers in the developing and less developed countries. The limited knowledge of the known symptoms, the late diagnosis at a higher-grade phase of the disease, the poorer quality of life, and the impaired socioeconomic status make women in developing and less developed counties more vulnerable to endometrial cancer (Soliman et al., 2008; Hirth et al., 2016). Research on the issue has been mostly limited to imperfect statistics from women who were involved with uterine malignancy prior to higher-grade stages, patients who died of cancer at home and those with misdiagnosis of metastases from organs adjacent to uterine. Accordingly, these women suffer disproportionately from adverse disease-specific prognosis of endometrial malignancy.

Women of Color Die of Cancer at Higher Rates Than White Women

 

Before she walked into the office, Adrienne Moore already knew what doctors were going to tell her: her cancer had returned. Thirteen years after beating ovarian cancer, she now had endometrial cancer. What Moore was not prepared to hear that it was at an advanced stage 3, and treatment would be difficult. This was shocking because for nine months, Moore had insisted that doctors take her list of health concerns seriously. These included having a menstrual cycle that vacillated between absent, spotty, and so heavy she needed a rolled-up towel to help soak up blood, as well as pelvic pain. She also attended every appointment with copies of her medical file, and she let all her physicians know that she was a cancer survivor. Moore was told—repeatedly—by doctors that she had no reason to worry. "I'd ask, 'Should I be concerned?' And they'd say, 'No, you're a Black woman, you get fibroids. You're a Black woman, you might have thickening of the uterus,' says the 50-year-old respiratory therapist.

Some could hear Moore's story and chalk it up to one woman's unfortunate experience. But the truth is that what happened to her mirrors reality for many Black women in the United States. At times she was uninsured—meaning diagnostic tests were not ordered by physicians because she could not afford to pay for them out of pocket. And many of her doctors were white men who, she says, "spoke at, not to" her.

‘Children Of Blood And Bone’ Author Tomi Champion-Adeyemi

 

Nigerian-American author Tomi Champion-Adeyemi, who wrote the New York Times bestselling novel, Children of Blood and Bone, which was released in 2018 via Henry Holt Books.

At just 23-years-old, Adeyemi landed a high figure publishing deal for her debut novel, which stayed at No. 1 on the NYT bestseller list for 25 consecutive weeks. Children of Blood and Bone, the first in the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, picked up the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and the Hugo Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book.

'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' To End After 19 Seasons

 

Ellen DeGeneres has broken her silence on news that her talk show will end after its 19th season.

“I’m announcing that next season, Season 19, is going to be my last season. So, the past 18 years, you have to know, has changed my life,” she said Wednesday, taping the opening of the May 13 episode. “You all have changed my life and I am forever grateful to all of you for watching, for laughing, for dancing… sometimes crying. This show has been the greatest experience of my life, and I owe it all to you. Thank you.”

Early Wednesday morning, news leaked that the long-running talk show, which has been embroiled in controversy and toxic workplace accusations since last summer, will enter is final chapter. During her opening monologue, the Game of Games host and comedian shared that ending the talk show was a decision she meditated on for a while and said she knew that Season 19 would be her final one.

She then reflected on the number 19, jokingly tying her final season to the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and to potassium, which is number 19 on the periodic table. But beyond coincidences, the actress said had a feeling that it was time to move on.

“You may wonder why I’ve decided to end after 19 seasons. The truth is, I always trust my instincts,” she continued. “My instinct told me it’s time. As a comedian, I’ve always understood the importance of…timing. In all seriousness, I truly have felt like next season was the right time to end this amazing chapter.”

How To Boost Your entry-level IT certifications to launch your career in 2021

 

According to the 2021 IT Salary report from Robert Half, IT professionals holding the following popular certifications can earn 5% to 10% more than their peers. Whether you’re just starting out and building your resume or you’ve been in the industry for 20 years, there’s a certification that can help boost your salary and your career. As you grow in your career, you’ll want to consider more advanced certifications to continue your professional development. By then, you’ll know what specialities to focus on and what skills you need for your desired career path. But at the entry-level, it’s better to stick with more generalized certifications that will help get your foot in the door.

Certifications give your resume more credibility and can make you more marketable to recruiters and hiring managers. And at the entry-level, they’re a great way to stand out from other candidates — and even boost your pay.

Many certifications require passing two or more exams, and both cert sponsors and third-party training and study providers will often offer bundles to match (this kind of thing is common for CCNA, and more advanced Cisco Professional certs, and for MCSA, MCSE, and MCSD certifications, too). If you sign up for a comprehensive offering (which usually means exams or exams plus training for cert sponsors, or a variety of bundling deals from training or cert prep materials companies), you will typically save 15-25 per cent over the normal costs for the items involved, with savings up to 45 per cent occasionally available.

Take advantage of "all you can eat" offers spotoclub  dump

Flu Has Disappeared Worldwide during the COVID Pandemic

 

Since the novel coronavirus began its global spread, influenza cases reported to the World Health Organization have dropped to minuscule levels. The reason, epidemiologists think, is that the public health measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading also stop the flu. Influenza viruses are transmitted in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, but they are less effective at jumping from host to host.

As Scientific American reported last fall, the drop-off in flu numbers was both swift and universal. Since then, cases have stayed remarkably low. “There’s just no flu circulating,” says Greg Poland, who has studied the disease at the Mayo Clinic for decades. The U.S. saw about 600 deaths from influenza during the 2020-2021 flu season. In comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were roughly 22,000 deaths in the prior season and 34,000 two seasons ago.

Because each year’s flu vaccine is based on strains that have been circulating during the past year, it is unclear how next year’s vaccine will fare, should the typical patterns of the disease return. The WHO made its flu strain recommendations for vaccines in late February as usual, but they were based on far fewer cases than in a common year. At the same time, with fewer virus particles circulating in the world, there is less chance of an upcoming mutation, so it is possible the 2021–2022 vaccine will prove extra effective.

Why Do People in Relationships Cheat? A new study breaks down the reasons—they’re complicated

 

Cheating: it’s the ultimate relationship violation and a notorious relationship killer. A favorite gossiping pastime, the phenomenon is frequently discussed but difficult to study. The goal is to avoid getting caught, so why confess infidelity in the name of science?

But scientists can offer us new insight on a topic often shrouded in stigma and mystery. As researchers have recently demonstrated, cheating is rarely a simple affair. There are many reasons why people cheat, and the patterns are more complex than common stereotypes suggest. A fascinating new study sheds some light on these motivations.

The investigation included 495 people (87.9 percent of whom identified as heterosexual), who were recruited through a participant pool at a large U.S. university and through Reddit message boards with relationship themes. The participants admitted to cheating in their relationship and answered the question at the root of the mystery: Why did you do it? An analysis revealed eight key reasons: anger, self-esteem, lack of love, low commitment, need for variety, neglect, sexual desire, and situation or circumstance. These motivations not only influenced why people cheated but how long they did so, their sexual enjoyment, their emotional investment in the affair and whether their primary relationship ended as a result.

A giant piece of space junk is hurtling towards Earth. Here’s how worried you should be

 

A large piece of space debris, possibly weighing several tonnes, is currently on an uncontrolled reentry phase (that’s space speak for “out of control”), and parts of it are expected to crash down to Earth over the next few weeks. If that isn’t worrying enough, it is impossible to predict exactly where the pieces that don’t burn up in the atmosphere might land. Given the object’s orbit, the possible landing points are anywhere in a band of latitudes “a little farther north than New York, Madrid and Beijing and as far south as southern Chile and Wellington, New Zealand”.

The debris is part of the Long March 5B rocket that recently successfully launched China’s first module for its proposed space station. The incident comes roughly a year after another similar Chinese rocket fell to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean but not before it reportedly left a trail of debris in the African nation of Cote D'Ivoire. At the time, experts noted this was one of the largest pieces of human-made debris ever to fall to Earth. We cannot say with certainty what fate awaits this latest piece of space junk.

The Indian government is silencing its critics on Twitter and Facebook.

A major battle over free speech on social media is playing out in India during the pandemic, As the coronavirus pandemic rages in India, claiming thousands of lives, many Indians are turning to social media to demand that the government handle the public health crisis better. And now, the government is silencing these critics in its latest threat to the future of free speech on the internet in the world’s second-most populous country.

In recent weeks, the Indian government has requested that companies like Twitter take down content that it says contains misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. But critics say that India’s political leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using the premise of misinformation to overreach and suppress criticism of the administration’s handling of the pandemic.

A similar debate has also played out in the US around how companies like Twitter and Facebook should moderate harmful speech on their platforms, particularly when that speech comes from world leaders. But the issue has taken on an increased intensity in India, where the government is more aggressively and directly pressuring tech companies to block content it takes issue with.

“Internet companies are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said Anupam Chander, a law professor at Georgetown University who focuses on the regulation of international speech online. “They face a government that is accusing them of essentially abetting a violation of law. At the same time, there are huge free expression concerns here.”

Christina Aguilera Talks Confidence and Working Through Insecurities in the Public Eye

 

Over the past 20 years, while Christina Aguilera has been topping the music charts, her voice has been described as soulful and powerful, with just a bit of grit. Interestingly enough, those words also perfectly reflect who she is in her life at this very moment. Having turned 40, the singer says she's been doing a lot of reflection and is determined to live every moment for herself—and to stop worrying about what others think.

As Christina talks about this goal, a mix of vulnerability and determination shines through. "No matter what I've been through—successes, childhood trauma, hardships—I still have a fighting spirit," she says. "I never want to stop learning and growing to be the best person I can be." 

Christina was just 9 years old when she commanded the stage on Star Search. At 13, she more than held her own on The All New Mickey Mouse Club alongside costars Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. By 19, she had released her debut album and won a Grammy for Best New Artist. In 2002 came her album Stripped. With empowering anthems like "Beautiful," everything about the effort seems to message staying true to yourself. More albums followed, as did roles in movies and TV shows. The other role Christina takes very seriously: being "mama bear" to her kids—Max, 13, and Summer, 6.

So, hearing that she has gotten caught up with what others think? It's a bit surprising. And when we tell Christina that, she laughs—and says that as she's been more open, she's been getting this reaction more and more. But then, she's quick to insist that everyone has their struggles—even world-famous, award-winning singers. 

Bill and Melinda Gates divorce after 27 years of marriage

 

Bill and Melinda Gates have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying "we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple".

"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," the pair tweeted. They first met in the 1980s when Melinda joined Bill's Microsoft firm. The billionaire couple have three children and jointly run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The organisation has spent billions fighting causes such as infectious diseases and encouraging vaccinations in children. The Gates - along with investor Warren Buffett - are behind the Giving Pledge, which calls on billionaires to commit to giving away the majority of their wealth to good causes.

Bill Gates, 65, is the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, and is worth $124bn (£89bn).

He made his money through the firm he co-founded in the 1970s, Microsoft, the world's biggest software company. The pair both posted the statement announcing their divorce on Twitter. "Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,"