India coronavirus toll sees record jump of 2,000 dead

Credit: CC0 Public Domain India’s official coronavirus death toll leapt by more than 2,000 on Wednesday as the hard-hit country struggles to contain a ballooning health crisis that has overwhelmed hospitals. The news came as Germany urged its nationals in India to consider leaving for their own safety, while France warned its citizens in New […]

Mexico records 3rd highest daily death numbers

Even as Mexico announced plans for reopening churches and religious events, the country posted near-record numbers of newly confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday. The Health Department reported that confirmed cases rose by 4,599, the second-highest daily increase to date, to reach an accumulated total of 154,863. Deaths rose by 730, the third-highest […]

‘Trigger warnings’ may do more harm than good, study finds

Trigger warnings are meant to alert trauma survivors about unsettling text or content that they might find potentially distressing. But these words of caution at the start of films or books may provide no help at all—and might even hamper a traumatized person’s ability to grapple with deep psychological scars, a new study reports. “We […]

Norway contact tracing app temporarily banned

Norway’s contact tracing app Smittestopp has been temporarily banned in response to privacy concerns from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (NDPA). The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) who developed the app with Simula research laboratory, expressed their disappointment with the NDPA’s decision, underlining that any setbacks with the app will only stall the country’s […]

Mum's panic attacks were actually symptoms of brain tumour growing for 20 years

Back in December 2018, Catherine Wilcockson, 37, suffered a blackout, felt tired and panicked at her daughter’s nativity play. Initially, she was diagnosed with panic attacks and derealisation and prescribed antidepressants. But six months later, she discovered it was actually due to a brain tumour, which had been growing in her head for 20 years. […]

Coronavirus update: Scientists discover ‘breakthrough’ treatment – latest

New hope has been ignited in the fight against coronavirus today as scientists in the UK reveal they have made a “major breakthrough” with a drugs treatment. The common steroid drug dexamethasone was shown to reduce death rates by a third for patients on ventilators, and by a fifth for patients needing oxygen. The results […]

Brain ‘atlas’ maps mouse synapses over time

Scientists have created an “atlas” of synapses in the mouse brain, potentially helping other researchers better understand neurological disorders in humans. The findings, which feature in the journal Science, provide a visual demonstration of the development of synapses across the brain’s life. Synapses connect brain cells, or neurons, in the brain. Although the types of […]