Astronomers May Have Spotted the First Known Exoplanet in Another Galaxy:
· Scientists have confirmed observations of the first-ever exoplanet in another galaxy, 28 million light-years away. Though this planet is incredibly far away, it will help scientists understand how planets form around their stars in different gravitational conditions, especially since its orbit is around a black hole. Normally, the identification of an exoplanet is done when the continual measurements of light coming from a star in our galaxy are briefly interrupted consistently, represented by the orbit of the exoplanet eclipsing it for a moment. At 28 million light-years away, this strategy was repeated, but with X-rays instead of visible light. Through this investigation, the planet was found to be of similar size to Saturn and seemed to be orbiting around a neutron star (precursor to a black hole) or a black hole, almost twice the distance of Saturn from the sun. However, the orbiting patterns found cannot be confirmed until 70 more years pass, where the planet will pass in front of the star it orbits.
The antidepressant fluvoxamine can keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital:
· The antidepressant fluvoxamine can keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital. Taking the antidepressant fluvoxamine within days of showing symptoms of an infection can dramatically cut the risk of hospitalization and death, suggests the largest trial to date of this FDA-approved generic drug as a COVID-19 treatment. In newly infected COVID-19 patients at high risk of complications, a 10-day course of the antidepressant fluvoxamine cut hospitalizations by two-thirds and reduced deaths by 91 percent in patients who tolerated the medicine, researchers report October 27 in The Lancet Global Health. Fluvoxamine, a drug usually used for managing the obsessive-compulsive disorder, seems to have other biological properties that cut the effects of Covid on the body. This drug has a long-standing safety record and has a much lower cost than all other medical preventatives for Covid, only costing $10 for a ten-day program of the drug at any pharmacy in the U.S. According to Boulware, the expert panel that develops U.S. COVID-19 treatment guidelines was briefed on the data in mid-September and could decide soon about recommending fluvoxamine as an early treatment.
Scientists identify the cause of Alzheimer's progression in the brain:
· For the first time, researchers have used human data to quantify the speed of different processes that lead to Alzheimer's disease and found that it develops in a very different way than previously thought. An international team, led by the University of Cambridge, found that instead of starting from a single point in the brain and initiating a chain reaction that leads to the death of brain cells, Alzheimer's disease reaches different regions of the brain early. After its spread, how fast the disease creates a buildup of toxic protein clusters (Tau Clusters) to kill cells determines the progression of the disease overall. This discovery was made possible through the use of human brain data, improvements in PET scanning, and chemical kinetics which allows the processes of aggregation and spread of disease in the brain to be modeled. This study has now debunked the idea of a chain reaction disease and instead seems to share many of the properties of the spread of cancer. The researchers are now planning to look at the earlier processes in the development of the disease, and extend the studies to other diseases such as Frontal temporal dementia, traumatic brain injury, and progressive supranuclear palsy where tau aggregates are also formed during disease.
Sources:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-drug-hospital-death
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-scientists-alzheimer-brain.html