Adobe Stock
Pfizer and BioNTech announced they have developed a COVID-19 vaccine that offers over 90 percent effectiveness in preventing coronavirus infection; why physical distancing is more important than masks, and more news.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced a “great day for science and humanity” as they unveiled a new COVID-19 vaccine the two firms developed jointly that they say is over 90 percent effective at preventing coronavirus infection, the BBC reported.
Pfizer says the vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries, without any safety concerns being raised.
The companies announced that they plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine, hopeful of rolling it out by the end of the month. To obtain approval, Pfizer and BioNTech say that, by the third week of November, they will have gathered enough safety data to present their vaccine to regulators.
For the vaccine to be effective, two doses taken three weeks apart are required. The trials demonstrated 90 percent protection is achieved seven days after the second dose.
In the test trials, the vaccine provided protection two patients for seven days after they had received the second dose and 28 days after receiving the initial dose, CNN reported.
Apparent President-elect Joe Biden said that one of his first priorities will be implementing nationwide mask mandates. Biden plans to work with governors to apply the mandate to all states.
He further adds that if state governors refuse, he will then work at the municipal levels, through mayors and county executives in order to create local masking requirements.
Dr. Marc Siegel told Fox that while masks are “the icing on the physical distancing cake” and should be worn properly both indoors and outdoors, especially when people are too close together, physical distancing is the most important action people can take to protect themselves.
“I think physical distancing is more important than masks,” Siegel says. “If you’re 10 feet away from someone, you’re not going to get the virus. If you’re one foot away with a mask, you might.”
“I think masks are quite useful, but they have a place and they’re not the be all and end all,” Siegel added. “I’m worried that mandating this with fines and such may actually lead to more of a rebellion against it.”
Scientists have discovered a strange “hell planet” that rains rocks from the sky and has oceans of swirling lava, CBS reported. The announcement was made by scientists from McGill University, York University, and the Indian Institute of Science Education and published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
While scientists have discovered other so-called “lava planets,” they describe the newly found planet K2-141b as a bizarre, hellish exoplanet. They describe K2-141b as being Earth-sized with a surface, ocean, and atmosphere that are all made out of the same ingredients: Rocks.
The planet is in close proximity to its star, with the same side always facing the star, putting roughly two-thirds of the planet in perpetual daylight. Scientists say a part of the planet reaches 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to actually vaporize rocks, and which creates a thin atmosphere.
On the dark side of the planet, which is in never-ending darkness, temperatures reach a frigid -320 degrees Fahrenheit. The planet appears to achieve two clichés at the same time: Hotter than hell and colder than hell.
