Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Ancient Art of Tassili n’Ajjer: 12,000-Year-Old Window into Sahara’s Past

Hidden in the vast Sahara Desert, the cave paintings of Tassili n’Ajjer are among the oldest and most intriguing art forms in human history. …

Ancient Art of Tassili n’Ajjer: 12,000-Year-Old Window into Sahara’s Past

कालातीत संबंध / Timeless Bonds

गुजरते समय के साथ, रिश्ते पुराने हो सकते हैं, चुप्पी सी छा जाती है, शक भी गहराने लगते हैं… यादें हो सकती हैं धूमिल, जैसे कोई बेसुरा राग, पर रहते हैं …

कालातीत संबंध / Timeless Bonds

Scientists Are Racing to Develop a New Bird Flu Vaccine | TIME

What about an mRNA vaccine for H5N1?

There isn’t one yet, but several companies—including Moderna, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (in collaboration with CureVac)—are working on such a shot. In July, the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded Moderna $176 million to develop its updated mRNA H5N1 vaccine. All of the mRNA vaccine candidates are in early stages of testing in people for safety and efficacy.

The shots rely on the same mRNA technology that was used to create COVID-19 vaccines. In recent weeks, scientists led by a team at the CDC reported that an mRNA-based H5N1 vaccine helped ferrets generate strong antibody responses against the virus and to survive a lethal dose that killed ferrets that hadn’t received the vaccine.

Dr. Drew Weissman, director of vaccine research at Penn Medicine and a 2023 Nobel Prize winner for his work in pioneering mRNA technology for vaccines, and his colleagues also reported encouraging results with a vaccine they developed and tested in ferrets. The shot, which targeted the strain of H5N1 causing recent infections in chicken and cattle, prevented severe illness and death from H5N1 in the ferrets. Unvaccinated animals did not survive.

“The real advantage of mRNA vaccines in the context of a pandemic is the ability to update the vaccines as needed,” says Scott Hensley, professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine who worked with Weissman to develop the vaccine. “The beauty of mRNA is the ability within a moment’s notice to change the vaccine…”

Source: Scientists Are Racing to Develop a New Bird Flu Vaccine | TIME

(Me: Will Trump administration encourage or discourage this work?)

On a Trip to the Ballroom by Frank – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

It boggles my mind that I”ve blogged since December 2015! This holiday season has been hectic, with little time to work on my novels (about them here), so it’s the perfect time to delve into the Happiness Between Tails archives. Here’s a long-ago guest blog post from Frank in Cincinnati, Ohio. In those days, he hosted a Frank Angle, which remains viewable, and nowadays he posts at Beach Walk Reflections. Both are lovely to visit, so it’s no wonder that this post is as fresh and fun as ever…

“Bailaora (Flamenco Dancer)” 1945 by Enrique Herreros
“Bailaora (Flamenco Dancer)” 1945 by Enrique Herreros

On a Trip to the Ballroom by Frank of BeachWalkReflections

It all started on 5th January 2006. I remember hearing about the competition in the previous series, but on this night I wanted to see Kenny Mayne, a studio personality on ESPN. My wife knew even less, but she also watched. Now it was done.

After dinner the next day, we gathered in our family room. My wife asked, “Don’t you want to see how it ends?” I wasn’t interested because I saw what I wanted – but she wanted to watch – so we did. Since then, we can use our fingers to count the number of episodes we’ve missed of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS).

DWTS became a topic within our dinner group as several others watched the show. In 2007 (I think), the hosting couple hired a local dance instructor to give the dinner group couples an introductory lesson. A few months later, I purchased an introductory package of ballroom dance lessons for my wife as a birthday gift.

That initial purchase led to other lessons … and then more lessons. Who knows how much money we’ve spent on dance since then, but we are still dancing and having fun!

No – we don’t have any glamorous outfits – those are very expensive – but outside of lessons, we’ve purchased shoes and attended numerous dance events. We don’t compete or perform – so no need for the glamour and glitz. We dance for fun!

Ballroom dance is a journey and more difficult than one may think. I recall our first lessons were in April, so we were excited to dance at an upcoming wedding 6-8 weeks later. We struggled at the wedding, so the lesson learned was to continue maximizing the Safe House for Dance – the studio where we take lessons.

We continued our weekly pattern of a private lesson, a group lesson, and the Friday night socials. That’s how you learn to dance. That’s how you increase your confidence. By the end of summer, we were ready to again try dancing in public.

That was our breakthrough dance. We felt confident enough not to worry, wise enough to know we still had a lot to learn, and comfortable enough to laugh after mistakes – stop and start again. A month later we were on a cruise ship where we danced every day – and had dance friends on ships. The rest is history.

We still take private lessons – still attend groups – still dance socially most weeks – we still don’t compete or perform – and we still enjoy it. We have a circle of dance friends, and know many other because of ballroom. Life is good.

For more of his writing, including videos of his nature walks, check out Franks site, Beach Walk Reflections, which came after his A Frank Angle.

Is there a style of music or dance that touches your heart most?

Source: On a Trip to the Ballroom by Frank – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL