Category: Feature Stories

In the first half of 2022, Austrian households collected a total of 522,870 tons of waste consisting of packaging and waste paper. This is a slight decrease of 2% compared to the previous year. According to Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA), this is mainly attributable to the economic situation, changes in consumption, and the avoidance of packaging. 522,870 tons of packaging and waste paper were collected from Austrian householdsWith the Austria-wide standardization of the yellow garbage can from 2023, the collection volume is expected to increase significantly, especially for plastic…

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2 Asteroids are approaching our planet next weekend – there is no impact risk. Two asteroids the size of multi-story buildings will fly by Earth this weekend. The first is designated 2016 CZ31, and the flyby will take place Friday at 1 a.m. CEST. According to calculations, the asteroid has a size of about 122 meters – about the height of one of the buildings of the Vienna UNO City (VIC – Vienna International Centre). There is no need to worry about an impact; according to NASA, the asteroid will…

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Lausanne University Hospital and EPF Lausanne have discovered a new antibody that neutralizes omicron variants of coronavirus. This finding, published in Nature Microbiology, opens new avenues for preventive and therapeutic applications. In monkeys, the new antibody has shown therapeutic activity and complete protection when used prophylactically. These results would offer new perspectives for protecting at-risk individuals, especially those with immune deficiencies. The antibody, called P2G3, had been isolated from an infected donor who had been vaccinated twice. It showed vigorous neutralizing activity against all Corona concern variants, including Omicron. Antibody…

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According to a U.S. study, one feels better and better from midlife. This applies to general life satisfaction and negative feelings such as stress, anger, and worry, which decrease from 50 at the latest. From a psychological perspective, personal well-being consists of at least two basic building blocks: overall life satisfaction and momentary emotional state. Studies suggest that the former tends to increase from midlife onward, regardless of culture and historical conditions, even as physical health declines. However, whether this is also reflected in emotional life and how this changes…

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Astronomers have found a particular black hole in a neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way. The object, located about 160,000 light-years from Earth, is “quiet” – that is, it does not reveal itself through radiation but only through its gravitational pull. According to experts, the quiet black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud is the first to be discovered outside the Milky Way. Moreover, it was apparently formed by a “direct collapse,” without an accompanying supernova explosion, they write in the journal Nature Astronomy. Different typesExperts suspect that there are…

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Sars-CoV-2 has already held a few surprises in this pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, few experts reckoned with the mutability of the virus, i.e., its ability to change. The changes in the spike protein are particularly crucial. This is the site with which the virus attaches to the human cell. Since this protein, in particular, has changed several times in the different variants, it is also difficult for our immune system to provide the correct response in the form of neutralizing antibodies in the long term. For this…

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Austria – Fraud calls are booming; last weekend, the RTR Reporting Office for Number Abuse received more than 500 complaints about so-called robocalls, in which an “Austrian Police Department” reports the call. Later, callers are confronted with real scammers after their data, such as addresses or bank details. “Just hang up” is the only tip in such a case. Criminals want to get hold of personal data.“In these robocalls, a tape-recorded voice initially answers with a request to press a certain key,” says Klaus M. Steinmaurer, Managing Director of RTR’s…

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High-risk individuals and those over 65 recommend a fourth partial vaccination against coronavirus in Austria. Sweden was early for a fourth corona vaccination starting in January 2022 for those over 80 years of age and nursing home residents. According to a new study by Swedish scientists, the result is Temporarily up to 71 percent fewer deaths. 4th Corona vaccination recommended in Austria for over-65sPeter Nordström and his co-authors from Umea University published their results a few days ago in The Lancet Regional Health. They had access to Swedish national registries.…

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The current Covid 19 summer wave is driving primarily the Omicron variant BA.5. The problem: its symptoms are similar to those of the common cold and flu. The shortest known interval between two Sars-CoV-2 infections is 23 days.The omicron variant BA.5 is causing a Covid-19 summer wave in Austria and other countries. For example, 138,213 new cases were registered in the United Kingdom as of July 21. The seven-day average was 39,673 cases, according to British government data. However, the official figures only include cases still detected and reported despite…

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