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For those of you still wiping down groceries and other packages amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, breathe a sigh of relief: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now says the novel virus “does not spread easily” from "touching surfaces or objects" — but experts warn that doesn’t mean it’s no longer necessary to take "practical and realistic" precautions in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Although when the change was made is not currently clear, the federal health agency appears to have subtly shifted its guidelines from March which simply said it “may be possible” to spread the virus...

Mr Streeck is a professor for virology and the director of the Institute of virology and HIV Research at the University Bonn. He explained the methodology of his new study in Heinsberg, the “epicentre” of Germany’s COVID-19 outbreak, and talked about potential plans for a country to move forward gradually in getting back to a “normal” life. These research findings have already provided some indication on how the virus works, as Streeck clarified: “There is no significant risk of catching the disease when you go shopping. Severe outbreaks of the infection were always a result of people being closer together...

Washing hands frequently proves effective to reduce chances of contracting the virus TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Chinese health expert revealed that the novel coronavirus originating in Wuhan can survive five days outside of the human body and urged members of the public to wash their hands frequently for their own protection. Jiang Rongmeng (蔣榮猛), a doctor at the Ditan Hospital in Beijing and a member of the National Health Commission of China, said that the coronavirus 2019-nCoV can live up to five days at the right temperatures and humidity levels, reported CCTV. He made the revelation at a news...

The number of confirmed Ebola cases passed the 10,000 mark over the weekend, despite efforts to curb its spread. And while the disease typically dies on surfaces within hours, research has discovered it can survive for more than seven weeks under certain conditions. During tests, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) found that the Zaire strain will live on samples stored on glass at low temperatures for as long as 50 days.

Ebola can survive on surfaces for almost TWO MONTHS: Tests reveal certain strains survive for weeks when stored at low temperatures Research claims certain strains of Ebola can remain on surfaces for 50 days It survived the longest on glass surfaces stored at 4° (39°F) Centres for Disease Control and Prevention claims Ebola typically lives on a ‘dry’ surface for hours - including doorknobs and tables But when stored in moist conditions such in mucus, this is extended Survival time depends on the surface, and the room temperature Virus can be killed using household bleach and people must come into...

Billionaire financier and liberal activist George Soros has been financially linked to LightSquared, which is at the center of allegations that the White House pressured a Pentagon commander to change his prepared congressional testimony to benefit the Virginia-based telecom company that once received a $90,000 investment from President Obama. LightSquared is seeking to establish a new wireless broadband network that many, including Air Force Gen. William Shelton, believe could interfere with critical GPS systems used by the U.S. military. But Shelton, head of Space Command, confided to lawmakers that he thought his testimony had been leaked to LightSquared, and that...

Link to page with YouTube Video.(Video caption: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) speaking at a forum on national housing policy on December 11, 2006. Three weeks after making this speech at the Treasury Department, Frank became Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Frank on Democrats taking over regulatory reform:“You will see far less difference with Democrats taking over in the Financial Services regulatory area than in virtually any other area of public policy, because we did work together on things like regulatory relief and we have more to do yet in the deregulation. One of the things we did was...

Ancient roman navy soldier surfacesRavenna Classe site yields his first-ever image of imperial officer The first-ever image of a soldier in the Ancient Roman navy has surfaced on 17th September 2005 at the major imperial naval base at Ravenna Classe. The armour-clad, weapon-bearing soldier was carved on a funeral stone, or stele, in a waterlogged necropolis at Classe ('Classis' in Latin means Fleet), the now silted-up Ravenna port area where Rome's Adriatic fleet was stationed. Previous finds at the site have only shown people in civilian garb (toga). An inscription on the soldier's funeral slab says he was an officer...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - An FBI spy told a federal jury Wednesday that former strip club owner Michael Galardi paid bribes through a former southern Nevada lawmaker and another associate to a Las Vegas judge. The judge was not named, and U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller in San Diego struck the testimony from the record after defense lawyers objected that Tony Montagna's testimony was not relevant to the corruption trial of former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone and two San Diego city councilmen. Government prosecutors argued the testimony was relevant because it established that Galardi and Malone bribed public officials...

An image scanner built into a piece of flexible plastic little bigger than a credit card has been developed in Japan. The idea is that you will plug the scanner into a mobile phone which will both provide power for it and act as its display and storage medium. And because it is flexible, it will let you copy just about anything, even if it is on a curved surface such as an open book or the label on a wine bottle. The lightweight device, unveiled last week at an electronics conference in San Francisco, is the latest development in...

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is shown (obviously alive) on North Korean last night, (Korean time), on 17 November 2004, recently inspecting (date unclear) the North Korean Peoples Army "Unit 754".However, as South Korean TV reporters from YTN-TV in the voice-over in this clip note, the traditional Korean-language title of "Great Leader" is absent from the usual script. This is the first time that such an honorific title is missing, when describing Kim Jong-il, in their national press.The video clip starts with the South Korean TV female announcer for 30 seconds who introduces a very short file clip showing...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Yasser Arafat's wife Suha, long dismissed by Palestinians as a spoiled socialite, had not even seen her husband for years until he fell sick last month. But she has suddenly emerged as a major player in the succession struggle for Palestinian power. In a one-minute telephone call to the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera, she set off a political storm Monday, accusing her husband's top aides of conspiring to replace the 75-year-old leader in a behind-the-scenes power grab. The 41-year-old Mrs. Arafat, who until now remained largely outside the political scene, said top officials aimed to...

Afghanistan's legendary gold finally surfaces August 29 2003 at 02:45PM Kabul - Afghanistan's legendary 2 000-year-old Tillya Tepe Bactrian gold hoard is safe and sound after lying hidden in a bank vault for the past 14 years, President Hamid Karzai said on Friday. The priceless collection of gold ornaments dating back about 2 000 years was safely stored in a presidential palace vault throughout the civil war and Taliban regime. "Fortunately the gold exists. We opened one box and saw the gold," Karzai told reporters minutes after the vault was opened on Friday morning for the first time in more...

The SARS virus can survive on common surfaces at room temperature for hours or even days, which could explain how people can catch the deadly lung infection without face-to-face contact with a sick person, scientists have found. New laboratory studies, being released today, have produced the first scientific data on how long the SARS virus can live in various places and conditions, demonstrating for the first time that the microbe can linger outside an infected person's body. One study showed the virus survived for at least 24 hours on a plastic surface at room temperature, which suggests it might be...