Category: Feature Stories

Austria’s neighboring countries are in crisis mode. The number of new coronavirus infections is increasing everywhere, and in many places there is talk of new record levels. Despite stricter measures, the numbers continue to rise in the Czech Republic, for example. On Wednesday, 9,544 new cases were recorded, as the Ministry of Health in Prague announced on Thursday. This was the highest value on any day since the beginning of the pandemic. The government in Prague announced that it would buy about 4,000 hospital beds in order to be able…

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Europe is now expecting a longer wave in the corona crisis without a major peak. This is the assumption of the European Office of the World Health Organization WHO, as Regional Director Hans Kluge explained in an online statement in Copenhagen on Thursday. He called for targeted, regionally and temporally limited measures to avoid “collateral damage” to health and society. “The pandemic will not stop on its own, but we can do it,” he said. Local lockdownsKluge stressed that local “lockdowns” were still necessary. However, these no longer had anything…

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Emissions of the most serious air pollutants continue to decline in the European Union. In the case of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants, the values fell between 2017 and 2018 – in Austria even more than the EU average. This continues the slow but steady trend in emissions of these pollutants that has persisted since 1990, as the European Environment Agency EEA announced in Copenhagen. Before the coronavirusAccording to the EEA, the EU-wide decrease from 2017 to 2018 for particulate matter (PM2.5) was 3.8 percent, while nitrogen and…

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New study confirms increased psychological problems as well as a rethinking of personal values. Vienna. The Corona Crisis has in many ways affected all of our everyday lives. A new online survey conducted by the Market Institute on behalf of Allianz Austria shows how everyday life and health awareness among Austrians has changed so far. A total of 1,000 people aged 14 and over were surveyed. Great mental stressWhile the private and vocational stress decreased, the concerns of Austrians, according to the study, grew however clearly. Already 68% are affected…

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Do you always peel ginger before you use it? It would be better to leave the peel on Ginger is an all-rounder. The small yellow tuber helps with colds because it strengthens the immune system – it has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. But all this is actually best if ginger is allowed to keep its skin. As with other plants, the effective ingredients are located directly under the skin. So if you want to add ginger to your tea for colds, make an immune-boosting smoothie or ginger shots, you should…

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Now it’s certain: Apple will bring the next iPhone generation onto the market in October. However, due to the corona crisis, the new iPhone 12 was only presented on Tuesday and not in September as usual. At last month’s event, the IT-croesus from Cupertino presented instead a new version of his Smartwatch and adapted iPad models. After Apple settled conflicts with modem specialist Qualcomm, the new iPhone is now ready for super-fast, but also controversial, 5G wireless data transmission. This was already leaked in the run-up to the event and,…

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If the population supports measures such as keeping their distance and refrains from celebrating, a lockdown can be avoided. “A second lockdown can be avoided if the population supports restrictions such as hygiene and keeping distances, but also if it avoids as far as possible familiar risky activities such as private parties. This is the conclusion reached by complexity researcher Peter Klimek in an analysis published on Tuesday. To achieve this, politicians should “work with education, transparency and recommendations instead of threats and bans”. In the “Policy Brief”, Klimek used…

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One has to inhale an average of 500 corona viruses to become infected with Covid-19. According to a Viennese researcher, a relatively high number of coronaviruses is necessary to become really infected with Covid-19. The number of inhaled viruses could also determine weak and severe disease progression. A Covid-19 positive person has been infected with an average of 500 corona viruses, reports Andreas Bergthaler from the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) in Vienna. Only this relatively high number of viruses can cause the disease. This is probably why simple…

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US researchers have developed a rapid test that can detect corona within five minutes. The new process technology is based on the Crispr genetic scissors and should be able to detect a corona infection within five minutes. However, the data situation is still very thin – the study is based on only five samples. The method uses a short RNA molecule to find a viral gene that occurs exclusively in Sars-Cov-2. This lead RNA (crRNA) accumulates there. Then the gene of the virus is cut by the actual gene scissors,…

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