Category: Feature Stories

Microplastics are everywhere: on mountain tops, deep in the ocean – and already in our blood. We don’t see it, yet it could become a massive problem for us – and the planet. What is microplastic?Microplastic refers to plastic particles that are between five millimeters and 1000 nanometers in size. It comes from common plastic particles, for example, and has been scrubbed small over the years by wind and weather. The problem: carelessly discarded bags, bottles, or packaging do not decompose. Aging and decay processes create microplastics. It is in…

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Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its U.S. partner Pfizer say they have developed an effective vaccine against the new variants of the coronavirus. Biontech said Saturday that data on the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the two vaccines adapted to the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants are positive. The company is aiming for rapid approvalBased on the data, the companies are confident they have two “very strong” vaccine candidates in the fight against Omikron, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. Biontech and Pfizer now plan to share the data with the…

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At a depth of almost 7000 meters, researchers have discovered the wreck of a U.S. warship sunk off the Philippine coast during World War II. The wreck of the “USS Samuel B Roberts” is the deepest wreck ever found, according to the US company Caladan Oceanic. For comparison: The wreck of the “Titanic” lies about 4000 meters in depth. The destroyer of the U.S. Navy had sunk on October 5, 1944, in a naval battle with the Japanese Navy off the Philippine island of Samar. The Philippines was a U.S.…

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The European Union is ordering 110,000 monkeypox vaccines in light of the current virus outbreak. An agreement to this effect has been reached with the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic. Delivery to EU states could start at the end of June, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg. According to Bavarian Nordic, it should start immediately. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had recently said it was in talks with Bavarian Nordic, that could see approval of its smallpox…

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There are more and more detections of monkeypox worldwide. Europe is the hardest hit. “Human-to-human transmission is probably underestimated,” says WHO chief Ghebreyesus. Experts are now consulting in an emergency committee in Geneva. Worldwide, nearly 5000 monkeypox infections have been reported in humans this year. In more than 40 countries outside Africa, where monkeypox was virtually unknown until May, there were 3308 cases, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s in addition to about 1,600 suspected or confirmed cases in eight African…

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In the first year of the Corona vaccination, the vaccines reduced deaths from SARS-CoV-2 infections by about 20 million worldwide. That’s according to a model calculation by British experts now published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The scientists from Imperial College in London analyzed the period between Dec. 8, 2020 – the first day of availability of a Corona vaccine – and Dec. 8, 2021. Only a portion of Corona deaths recorded worldwideThis model calculation differs from the officially reported deaths due to the Corona pandemic. Previously, more than 540…

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Compulsory vaccination has officially been abolished. Now the government has decided to cancel it. A corresponding motion was introduced on Thursday in a special session of the National Council. It will be decided in July. Criticism of the abolition of the previously only suspended duty was absent. The government argued the step, on the one hand, with the lack of acceptance, on the other hand, with the fact that the general conditions had changed with the less-lethal Omicron variant: “The vaccination obligation does not bring anyone to vaccinate,” said Health…

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All adults living in Austria will get 500 euros starting in October – but there’s a prerequisite. Inflation continues to be a significant burden for people in Austria. The population feels it in daily shopping, fueling up, and especially in heating, hot water, and electricity costs. To compensate for the increase in energy costs and fuel prices, the climate bonus was initiated as a measure, the increase of which was decided on Wednesday in the meeting of the Environment Committee. This will be increased from the original 100 to 200…

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The summer vacations are just around the corner – and with them, once again, the question of which Corona regulations apply when entering various vacation destinations. A look at other European countries shows: Despite mostly rising case numbers, the Corona measures have largely been lifted. However, there are still some rules to be observed. DENMARK was one of the first countries in Europe to get rid of all corona restrictions in February. This has not changed to this day: Life in the capital Copenhagen, on the Danish North Sea coast,…

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