Category: Feature Stories

Nearly four billion years ago, life developed on Earth. Despite many catastrophic events, it can survive and evolve. But at some point, life will also disappear. But when will it be? Many catastrophes have played havoc with life on Earth in the past. Mass extinctions decimated large parts of the animal kingdom – the impact of an asteroid, for example, ended the existence of the dinosaurs. Star explosions and gamma-ray bursts are also said to have had their share. But never did life disappear so completely. It always recovered and…

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Currently, the Corona forecasting consortium predicts that new infection numbers in Austria will remain at current levels into the summer. This is very high compared to previous years. It is “not expected that infection numbers will decrease to the levels of the summers of 2020 or 2021,” the experts of the forecasting consortium stressed in their weekly update on Wednesday. However, the two-week forecast for hospital-acquired infections shows a clear downward trend. Corona‘s new infection figures in Austria stagnate Until next Wednesday, the stagnation in new Corona infections is already…

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Smartphones enjoy great popularity among many people. It has to always be with them, even on the toilet. The days when men disappeared into the bathroom with the newspaper have had their day: now it’s time for the smartphone to replace the daily paper. However, cell phones have no place in the bathroom. Germs and bacteria on the cell phoneIf you take your cell phone with you to the bathroom, you need to be aware that this gives germs and bacteria the perfect opportunity to cavort and multiply on your…

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Do you suffer from withdrawal symptoms when you leave your cell phone? And can’t take it out of your hand even when watching TV? Then maybe you have nomophobia. Most of us know that we all spend far too much time glued to our digital devices. Especially when we’re working from home, it’s easier to answer a quick e-mail or send a WhatsApp message to a colleague. But this constant stress is not suitable for our bodies. Doctors call nomophobia the new widespread disease of the digital age. What is…

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The Bermuda Triangle is considered to be one of the most mysterious and, at the same time, fascinating enigmas of humanity. All the more exciting now that scientists claim they have the answers to some questions concerning this stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. Because one reason for the mysterious disappearance could be monster waves! Is the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle solved?There is a good reason why many have a queasy stomach feeling when they cross the sea area in the Atlantic Ocean in the notorious Bermuda Triangle. Because over…

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Do you think the left side of your face is more beautiful than the right? There is a conclusive explanation for this. Have you ever thought that your face looks completely different when viewed from one side than the other? We now know that beauty does not depend on perfect symmetry and that people with entirely equilateral facial features would even look rather strange. Still, there seem to be a great many people who would name the left side of their face, of all things, as their chocolate side: On…

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The Austrian federal government wants to be better prepared for the coming, now third pandemic autumn. On Friday, Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) and experts presented a so-called Variant Management Plan (VMP). Involving 80 experts, it contains four possible scenarios for the further development of the coronavirus. Rauch announced that the final VMP should be available at the beginning of June. “We need to prepare seriously for different scenarios in the fall,” Rauch said. “We simply don’t know which variant we will be dealing with in the fall,” the responsible…

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According to the Food Industry Trade Association, national origin labeling will continue to fuel food inflation. “We are experiencing the strongest wave of inflation in 40 years. Food costs are going through the roof. Right now is the worst possible time for new mandates, which are driving up costs even further for domestic producers. This is further fueling food inflation. Who is taking political responsibility for this?” criticizes Katharina Koßdorff, Managing Director of the Food Industry Association, on the occasion of the appraisal of two regulations for a purely national…

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So far, 36 cases of BA.4 and one point of BA.5 have been reported in Austria. In South Africa, the subvariants are even causing a new wave. One of the reasons for this is likely to be a change in the spike protein, which has not previously been found in Omicron. “We already know the L452 mutation from Delta, which means that antibodies can no longer bind to the virus. This could explain the high immune escape property of BA.4 and BA.5,” says molecular biologist Andreas Bergthaler in an interview…

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