Science

The Hour of Epidemics Has Struck
The Hour of Epidemics Has Struck

Between environmental disasters and geopolitical crises, the proliferation of epidemics is emerging as an inevitable consequence of the erosion of ecological balances. The 21st century will be dominated by epidemics. This is neither superstition nor a conspiracy theory. The planet is in distress. The great ecological balances that have sustained ...

Lebanese Professor Appointed Co-Chair of US CDC PulseNet Middle East Network
Lebanese Professor Appointed Co-Chair of US CDC PulseNet Middle East Network

Dr. Ghassan Matar, professor and chairperson of the Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology & Microbiology at the American University of Beirut (AUB), was recently appointed as co-chair/co-coordinator of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PulseNet Middle East. This network focuses on detecting and preventing ...

Flawed Boeing Mission to Return to Earth with SpaceX
Flawed Boeing Mission to Return to Earth with SpaceX

Two US astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station aboard Boeing's Starliner will have to return home with rival SpaceX, NASA said Saturday. "NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed," NASA administrator Bill Nelson told reporters. The return of Barry ...

Mpox: An International Emergency, but (Still) Not a Pandemic
Mpox: An International Emergency, but (Still) Not a Pandemic

In response to the resurgence of mpox, the World Health Organization has declared, for the second time in two years, a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern." However, this viral disease is far from being the "new COVID-19." In 2022, as SARS-CoV-2 was mutating into less virulent strains, monkeypox (mpox) infections were gradually ...

Gene Therapy: A New Era of Cancer Treatment Begins…
Gene Therapy: A New Era of Cancer Treatment Begins…

Gene therapy is redefining modern medicine with its successes in hematological cancers and recent advances in treating solid tumors, particularly synovial sarcoma. Gene therapy is on the rise. Having made its first steps at the end of the 20th century, it has since accumulated several successes. This revolutionary approach, which involves ...

Mediterranean Sea Broke Daily Temperature Record Thursday
Mediterranean Sea Broke Daily Temperature Record Thursday

The Mediterranean Sea reached its highest temperature on record Thursday, Spanish researchers told AFP on Friday, surpassing the previous record set in July 2023. "The maximum sea surface temperature record was broken in the Mediterranean Sea yesterday... with a daily median of 28.90C," Spain's leading institute of marine sciences said. The ...

Unveiling Mars' Hidden Depths: Water Beneath the Surface
Unveiling Mars' Hidden Depths: Water Beneath the Surface

In a recent discovery that could rewrite our understanding of Mars, a study based on data from a retired NASA mission has unveiled the presence of an underground reservoir of water in the rocky outer crust of the planet. The findings, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shed light on a hidden world ...

2024 on Track to Be the Hottest Year on Record
2024 on Track to Be the Hottest Year on Record

It is "increasingly likely" 2024 will be the hottest year on record, despite July ending a 13-month streak of monthly temperature records, the EU's climate monitor said Thursday. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said last month was the second warmest on record books going back to 1940, only slightly cooler than July 2023. Between June ...

Music Therapy: When Music Becomes Medicine
Music Therapy: When Music Becomes Medicine

  From the modal music therapy of the Greeks and Arabs to contemporary neuro-music therapy, this field has evolved over the centuries, making use of the psychophysiological effects of music on both body and mind. According to Plato, if music soothes the soul, it also holds therapeutic virtues. Over the centuries, human experience has ...

Astronauts Stranded in Space, Potentially for Months
Astronauts Stranded in Space, Potentially for Months

What was meant to be a weeklong trip to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first NASA astronauts to fly with Boeing could extend to eight months, with the agency considering bringing them home on a SpaceX spaceship. A final decision on whether to persist with Boeing's troubled Starliner — which experienced worrying propulsion issues ...

Wind, Temperatures Pick up as Fire Scorches Northern California
Wind, Temperatures Pick up as Fire Scorches Northern California

Crews continued to fight a massive fire in northern California on Sunday, as authorities in the western US state warned of increasing winds and rising daytime temperatures. The so-called Park Fire outside of Chico had burned more than 357,000 acres (144,500 hectares) as of Sunday afternoon, said Cal Fire incident commander Billy See, making it ...

California Fire Rapidly Reaches State’s Top 10 Biggest Ever
California Fire Rapidly Reaches State’s Top 10 Biggest Ever

A fire raging out of control in northern California has rapidly become among the biggest ever in the western US state, authorities said Saturday. The so-called Park Fire burned more than 350,000 acres (142,000 hectares) as of Saturday evening, making it the seventh-largest ever recorded in California history, the state agency Cal Fire said. The ...