We have a lot of great stuff happening this week, including a gorgeous new jewelry piece and a virtual convention appearance this Friday! And don’t forget: We also have a cosplay contest running, a series read-along on Goodreads, discounts going on the first three Dresden novels, and a mini-giveaway of coloring pages in exchange for [...]

via http://the-wiretap.com/

via http://the-wiretap.com/

The covid-19 pandemic has led to rushed guidelines for doctors making treatment decisions, and has encouraged more people to make advance decisions on CPR and ventilation

The UK government says its coronavirus strategies are based on science, but the scientific advice it has received won’t be made public until after the pandemic

Coronavirus will overshadow Earth Day's golden anniversary, but the movement's successes are worth celebrating, says Gary Paul Nabhan

Even if we find drugs that are effective against the coronavirus, that doesn't necessarily mean they will change the wider situation and help end lockdowns

Thousands of babies were born with severe brain damage after the 2015 Zika outbreak. New findings could tell us which therapies could help them most

The US Navy is researching how to use lasers to form plasma into 2D or 3D infrared images of aeroplanes that can distract heat-seeking missiles

We need to scale up testing efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, and looking for signs of virus RNA in our sewage could provide a shortcut

Many people are turning to virtual therapy and mental health apps to cope with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic, but they may not be as helpful as talking face to face

We need to be very cautious about preliminary studies estimating how many people have already been infected by the coronavirus

Half a million people taking part in the UK Biobank, which gathers genetic information for researchers to study, won't be told if they turn out to be genetically vulnerable to the coronavirus

The membership of the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has so far been kept secret, but a list of names will soon be published, the UK's chief scientific adviser has said

The ongoing spread of bluetongue virus among European farm animals may have started when a cow was inseminated with infected bull semen stored from an earlier outbreak

Humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and bats have evolved to be good at metabolising alcohol, according to a study that suggests many mammals can get drunk

Trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines are already under way, but it’s still likely to be years before one is ready and vaccination may not even be possible

Many studies suggest coronavirus has low transmission rates among children, but there are still risks to reopening schools that were closed due to social distancing policies

The UK government has refused to say how many covid-19 contact tracers it has employed, with less than three weeks to go until its target of recruiting 18,000 of them by mid-May

Lockdown measures and pandemic-related anxiety may be making you have more vivid dreams. Evidence suggests talking about them can help

Vampire bats are social creatures that build relationships through grooming and food-sharing, but when they feel ill, they self-isolate and call out for contact far less

Australia recorded just 229 flu cases this April, compared with 18,705 last April, probably due to lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus

We tend to overestimate our height and underestimate our weight to fit society’s ideals, or because we think we're still the same as our younger selves

Weird blasts of radio waves from space called fast radio bursts have been baffling astronomers since they were discovered, but after finding one in our galaxy we may finally know what creates them

SpaceX’s first crewed launch is planned for 27 May and will be run from a mission control with desks set six feet apart to comply with social distancing protocols

A fresh look at the world’s oldest religious texts suggests ancient Egyptians saw the sky as a water-filled iron container from which chunks fell to Earth as meteorites

With social media, newspapers and politicians all espousing unverified covid-19 findings, use these seven signs to tell if a study should be treated with caution

A study of brain cells in a dish adds to growing evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be caused by herpes viruses, but antiviral treatment may help stop it

This story is a bit on the nose. Hello, Peter Ludlow here, CEO of InGen, the company behind the wildly successful dinosaur-themed amusement park, Jurassic Park. As you’re all aware, after an unprecedented storm hit the park, we lost power and the velociraptors escaped their enclosure and killed hundreds of park visitors, prompting a two-month […]

New York has released more details into who has tested positive for the coronavirus in the state, and Governor Andrew Cuomo said the per cent of healthcare workers with Covid-19 is not higher than the general public.“That is amazingly good news,” Mr Cuomo said during his press briefing on Thursday.

South African Fredie Blom celebrated his 116th birthday on Friday unfazed by the coronavirus crisis, over 100 years since the Spanish flu pandemic killed his sister. "I have lived this long because of God's grace," said Blom, possibly one of the oldest men in the world. Lighting a cigarette, he recalled the 1918 pandemic that left tens of millions dead worldwide including his sister.

Experts still aren't sure why some coronavirus cases are so much worse than others, but the answer may lie in patients' genetic differences.

From the moment COVID-19 started spreading in the U.S., you probably heard recommendations to wash your hands after contact with what are called high-touch surfaces: elevator buttons, public fauc...

Using DNA to track down 67-year-old James E. Zastawnik, police made an arrest in the 1987 murder of an Ohio girl.

Despite President Trump's statements that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory in Wuhan, scientist say the evidence points to a natural origin.

On Thursday, the country reported its largest one-day increase in new cases of 11,231 — yet President Putin already has his eyes on reopening.

Hundreds of Pakistanis who were repatriated from the Middle East -- where many lost jobs amid coronavirus shutdowns and were living in cramped conditions -- have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Friday. Pakistan has so far brought about 20,000 nationals home, among them a large number of unskilled workers who had been labouring in Gulf nations only to see their jobs disappear as lockdowns slowed economic activity. Of the 2,069 Pakistanis returning from the Middle East to the southern province of Sindh, more than 500 tested positive for the coronavirus, Murad Ali Shah, Sindh's chief minister, told a press conference.

More than 90% of the families, children and single adults that Border Patrol encountered in April were swiftly expelled under a public health order.

Coronavirus has robbed the Democrat of his typical back-slapping approach as he faces growing scrutiny and a third-party challengeThe Tampa, Florida, rally for Joe Biden on Thursday evening began as it normally might have, before a once-in-a-century pandemic transformed all aspects of American life, including the presidential campaign. A local high school student recited the pledge of allegiance, a campaign organizer pleaded with supporters to volunteer and a local DJ spun R&B music between speakers.But in a sign of how profoundly the coronavirus crisis has reshaped American politics, that was where the similarities ended.With much of the US still in lockdown, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been forced to take his campaign to unseat Donald Trump online. It has not always been easy.His campaign’s first attempt to recreate a traditional rally – part of a virtual swing through the battleground state of Florida – was later described by his opponents as an “unmitigated technological failure”. The video stream was glitchy and pixelated. The audio was choppy, rendering some remarks nearly incomprehensible. And there were lengthy delays between speakers and at one point, the feed went dark for several minutes.“Am I on?” asked Biden, beaming into the telecast from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, where he has been isolated since the middle of March. An off-camera voice replied that he was. Biden removed a pair of aviator sunglasses as he walked toward the camera.“Good evening, Tampa. Thanks so much for tuning in,” he continued, a hint of irritation in his voice. “I wish we could have done this together – and it had gone a little more smoothly.”For nearly two months, Biden has been the test subject in a novel political experiment: running for president in the age of Covid-19.Social distancing restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the virus have already starved the campaign of a victory tour to mark his ascent to the Democratic nomination. It may well deny Democrats the chance to formally nominate him in person at the party’s national convention this summer. Endorsements from former rivals and party leaders occur online to varying degrees of fanfare. . The remote set-up, anathema to Biden’s back-slapping, glad-handing approach to politics, has left the candidate walled off from voters and competing for visibility.Yet, technical difficulties aside, his campaign of confinement seems to be working.In recent weeks, Biden has widened his lead over Trump as the president’s support slips amid growing disapproval of his response to the pandemic. Surveys from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina and Arizona – key battlegrounds that Trump won in 2016 – show Biden ahead. At a recent virtual fundraiser last week, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, his new campaign manager, expressed optimism about Biden’s prospects in Florida and Arizona.“The natural state of this race is to be a referendum on Donald Trump and every time Donald Trump steps to the microphone he hurts himself,” said Mark Mellman, a veteran Democratic pollster. “That’s a pretty good position for Joe Biden to be in.”Biden initially struggled to adapt to his cloistered reality. In March, the campaign turned a recreation room in the basement of his home into a studio, though not fast enough for his critics, who launched a “Where’s Joe” campaign to mark the candidate’s relative disappearance from the national stage.But since then, Biden has been busy. Nearly every day he makes appearances on local TV news channels or national talkshows. He launched a podcast, where he has hosted conversations with prominent Democratic governors and potential vice-presidential candidates. He spends time each day speaking with a voter – a frontline worker, campaign volunteers – and he participated in what the campaign billed as a “virtual rope line”.“So what’s up?” he said to Ashley Ruiz of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, one of several voters on the rope line. “Tell me about your situation, Ash.”•••Biden’s rise in the polls comes as he contends with an allegation from Tara Reade, a former aide in his Senate office who accused him of sexual assault in 1993. In an interview this week with Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC television host, Reade said he should withdraw from the presidential race.Biden has forcefully denied the allegation. “It’s not true, I am saying unequivocally. It never, never happened,” he said last week, in an interview addressing her claim for the first time publicly.Publicly, Democrats, including prominent MeToo advocates, have rallied around Biden, though privately some in the party have expressed concern about the continuous drip of reporting on the matter.So far the allegation appears to have marginally dented his reputation, but not his lead. Most voters – 86% – are aware of the allegation, according to a Monmouth poll, which found the electorate divided over whether they viewed the claim as credible. At the same time, the poll showed Biden nine points ahead of Trump.Despite Trump’s falling electoral fortunes, many Democrats remain anxious about Biden’s position – and his strategy.David Axelrod and David Plouffe, two of Barack Obama’s top campaign strategists, implored Biden’s campaign to expand its digital footprint in a joint New York Times op-ed that compared the atmospherics of the candidate’s home videos to “an astronaut beaming back to earth from the International Space Station”.“Online speeches from his basement won’t cut it,” they wrote.Lis Smith, the former top adviser to Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, followed with an op-ed on Thursday that offered a blueprint for turning Biden into the “hottest bad boy and disrupter in the media game”. She suggested his campaign use TV appearances and digital content to highlight Biden’s empathy, a trait even supporters say the president has lacked in response to the rising coronavirus death toll.Part of the campaign’s evolving digital strategy includes partnering with groups that already have an online presence, like JoeMamas2020, a national coalition of “moms, caregivers, moms to be, aunts & all the parental figures in between” with about 27,000 Facebook and 1,200 Twitter followers. The group has helped amplify Biden’s appearances and policy proposals while spreading the word about upcoming events.Julie Zebrak, the group’s co-founder, said the online army is growing with women energized to help elect a candidate who would end the Twitter presidency.“We are all extremely enthusiastic for Joe Biden to beat Donald Trump,” she said.Yet the same traits that endear Biden to a growing coalition of suburban women and Never Trump Republicans have largely failed to excite younger, progressive voters. It’s not that they prefer Trump – they don’t – but a lack of enthusiasm among those voters could spell trouble in November if they stay home or vote for a third-party candidate.The campaign has also ramped up its outreach to young people, who overwhelmingly supported Biden’s rival Bernie Sanders. On Friday, Biden presented his economic pitch in an appearance on NowThis, a social-media-heavy news outlet with a young, progressive audience.“This crisis hit harder and will last longer because Donald Trump spent the last three years undermining the core pillars of our economic strength,” Biden said in remarks that attacked Trump’s stimulus efforts a kind of “cronyism” and corporate welfare. Before he began speaking, Biden removed a face mask, a pointed rebuke of the president who had refused to wear one.Still, new research conducted on behalf of NextGen America found many young people weren’t convinced Biden’s policies meet the scale of the challenges bearing down on their generation.This makes the efforts of groups like Progressive Turnout Project, which endorsed him this week, all the more important. In the coming months, the group is investing more than $52m to turn out low-propensity Democratic voters – including young people and people of color – in 17 key battleground states.“The best thing we can do is go and knock on doors and have face-to-face conversations with voters,” said Alex Morgan, the group’s executive director. “We are still looking to do that. But it’ll be knocking on that door and then taking a few big steps back and having a more distant conversation.”•••Biden’s campaign also faces another looming threat. The Michigan congressman Justin Amash, who left the Republican party last year after voting to impeach Trump, recently announced that he would seek the Libertarian party nomination.His entrance has alarmed Democrats, who fear he could siphon off Never Trump voters who might otherwise back Biden, particularly in Amash’s home state of Michigan, where third-party candidates pulled away a combined 5% of the vote share in 2016. Hillary Clinton lost the state by just 10,704 votes, less than 0.25%.Many Democrats believe Biden’s fate may well rest on his ability to persuade their own side to vote.“Trump has shown no desire or ability to moderate for those swing voters in this election,” said Addisu Demissie, who served as Cory Booker’s presidential campaign manager. “So those voters are now likely going to end up either Biden voters or non-voters or third-party voters, and that’s the competition.”This week, Trump traveled to the battleground state of Arizona, where he toured a medical mask facility without wearing one himself. The visit was a symbolic show of his administration’s push to reopen the US economy but there were unmistakable elements of his signature campaign rallies, including the music that played when Trump finished his remarks (the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want).Trump’s cross-country venture stood in striking contrast to Biden’s virtual swing through Florida – which included a rally, a roundtable in Jacksonville and an appearance on the local news in Tampa. The technical glitches only further highlighted the limitations of his confinement.But the coronavirus has also upended Trump’s strategy, erasing the booming economy he has made a centerpiece of his re-election campaign. In recent weeks, his campaign has all but abandoned championing the president’s leadership, instead focusing its efforts on diminishing Biden.Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, previewed the onslaught on Twitter this week, comparing the Trump re-election juggernaut to the Death Star from the Star Wars movies. “In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time,” he wrote.As Trump prepares to make even greater use of the advantages of incumbency, Biden faces his biggest test yet. Can he really lead a Rebel Alliance from his basement?

An Indianapolis man was fatally shot by police after a high-speed chase in an incident that appeared to have been broadcast on Facebook Live, sparking outcry and protests throughout the night.More than 100 people from the community gathered at the scene of the shooting to express their outrage Wednesday night, chanting “No justice, no peace!” as they demanded answers from police about the latest officer-involved death. Protestors continued demonstrating Thursday, with dozens marching through the streets before congregating outside of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. “We deserve better,” one community activist told The Indianapolis Star. “I am disgusted, horrified, tired, and angry.”‘You’re Gonna Kill Me’: Body-Cam Footage Shows Cops Mocking Dallas Man as He DiesThe Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the incident began around 6 p.m. when officers began pursuing a man who they observed to be driving recklessly. After the driver exited the car, an officer chased him on foot before gunfire was “exchanged” at around 6:14 p.m., police said in a press release, without revealing who fired first. In the unconfirmed Facebook video of the incident, at least 13 or 14 gunshots can be heard. In another video obtained by The Indianapolis Star, a detective who arrived after the shooting can be heard saying: “Looks like it’s going to be a closed casket, homie.” “We are aware of inappropriate comments made by an IMPD detective” on the live stream, Indianapolis MPD Chief Randal Taylor said at a Thursday press conference. “Let me be clear: These comments are unacceptable and unbecoming of our police department.” While Taylor did not confirm the authenticity of the Facebook live stream, he did stress he was “concerned with the things on social media,” stating he thinks that some comments online “lack trust as to what occurred.” Authorities have not yet identified the name of the driver but said he and the officer who shot him were both black men. Family members identified the driver to local media outlets as 21-year-old Dreasjon “Sean” Reed. The officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.“I feel like to lose a life, especially at a young age, there’s never going to be justice,” Jazmine Reed, the 21-year-old’s sister, told WISH, adding that her family watched the pursuit and shooting on Facebook as it happened. “Cause he’s gone—there’s never justice for that. Even if somebody was to get time or whatever for it, it’s never going to be justice because he’s never coming back.” The sister said she drove to the scene after watching the video, not knowing whether her brother was still alive. “I shouldn’t have to bury my little brother,” she added.The Indianapolis MPD said the incident began after two officers saw a Toyota Corolla being driven “recklessly.” They followed the driver in unmarked cars and asked for assistance as they said the vehicle continued “at a high rate of speed” and the operator was “disobeying all traffic signals” and nearly hit another car. In the Facebook video, titled “High-speed case lol,” Reed, who is shirtless, appears nervous as he speaks to his 2,000 viewers and points his camera to show the moving police cars behind him.“Almost lost him y’all!” he says. “Almost got rid of his ass!”Video Shows Florida Deputy Violently Yanking Middle Schooler’s Hair During ArrestAt one point, he appears to pull over and stop his car. Authorities say the driver disregarded “the officers’ verbal commands to stop” and ran out of the car, prompting an officer to chase him on foot.“I’m on 62nd and Michigan,” Reed says in the video, just before exiting the vehicle. “I just parked... I’m gone.” He added: “Please come get me! Please come get me! Please come get me!”Reed can then be heard running for approximately 30 seconds, as a voice behind him yells: “Stop! Stop!”“Fuck you,” Reed replies. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Chris Bailey said during a Wednesday news conference that the officer first used his taser, but it’s unclear if it worked and is not seen on the purported video from the scene.“It is believed at this time that shots were fired by both the officer and the suspect,” Bailey said.In the video, Reed appears to start screaming before collapsing on the ground. About eight seconds later, 11 or 12 gunshots can be heard in rapid succession. The live stream did not show Reed talking about a gun or firing a weapon. After a brief pause, two more shots can be heard as the camera faces the sky while the opening lyrics of Young Dolph’s “16 Zips” appears to be playing off the phone. By the end of the gunfire, more than 4,000 people had tuned in to watch the live stream, according to the Star.Bailey said Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services arrived shortly after and pronounced the driver dead at the scene. The officer was uninjured.Taylor on Thursday stated that a “loaded gun” was recovered at the scene that appeared to have been fired twice and that it belonged to the driver. He added that disciplinary action will be taken against the detective who made the “casket” comment.After the incident, the Facebook Live video, which has been widely shared on social media, was removed from the victim’s account, Bailey said. Bailey added that authorities are aware of Facebook videos.Cop Charged With Assault After Video Shows Him Slamming Suspect’s Head Into Pavement“Both the officers and the detectives have done their due diligence in preserving that evidence through the proper legal channels, and if it’s associated that there’s information on there that’s appropriate for the investigation, they’ll utilize it,” he said.Taylor added Thursday the police officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras, but he has no reason to believe they acted inappropriately. But after the press conference, dozens of protesters took to the streets demanding more police action, shouting “all lives matter,” as drivers stopped their cars and put their fists out their windows in solidarity.About eight hours after that shooting, Indianapolis police fatally shot another man during an investigation into a burglary at an apartment complex. Authorities said that around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, four officers responded to the apartment and were immediately fired upon by a man with a rifle. All four officers “returned fire” and hit the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said in a news release. In response to both incidents, Taylor stressed at a Thursday press conference that he will provide residents with “the truth whether we are right or wrong.”“We have long talked about the kind of police department we want to be—one that serves with the community, that's not policed at—a police department that is trusted, one where every resident feels a comfortable calling,” Taylor said. “We recognize and are saddened that this mutual trust that is so valued has been eroded over the last 24 hours.”Investigators are now conducting a separate investigation into that shooting, and police said there’s evidence the victim called 911 with the intent of ambushing the responding officers. “Our hearts this morning are with the families who lost loved ones during these tragic events. All of us are trying to make a new normal in an un-normal time. Incidents like these do not help restore normalcy to our community,” Chrystal Ratcliffe, the president of the NAACP branch in Indianapolis said in a statement.The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on Thursday called for a “prompt, thorough, and transparent investigation” into Reed’s death.“Whether someone is unarmed or armed, compliant or resistant, police officers should be properly trained in de-escalation tactics and turn to the use of force only as a last resort, not a first option,” the statement read. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

At his daily press conference on Friday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he feels like, for the first time, the state is “ahead” of the coronavirus because of efforts made to control the outbreak.

“I want you to know he died in the hospital alone, isolated, and scared,” she wrote in an Instagram message to Smithfield Foods.

A person died Thursday night after being hit by a plane as it was landing at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to airport officials.