Category: General Interest

It’s not just a matter of good manners: A study shows that having your finger up your nose can also bring health problems. According to “indy100”, an Australian study that examined the bacterium “Chlamydia pneumonia” now warns against picking the nose. This type of chlamydia mainly affects the respiratory tract and causes pneumonia. For the first time, however, the effects of infection with the pathogen on the human brain have now been studied. In the process, researchers came across astonishing results in Alzheimer’s research. Is nose-picking dangerous?Of course, picking the…

Read More

After the fantastic weekend, sunny and exceptionally mild weather is coming back to Austria. Already on Tuesday, sunshine is back on the daily schedule. Up to 18 degrees are expected. On Monday, a few scattered residual clouds will appear in the northern foothills of the Alps. Otherwise, the wind will blow mostly weakly. Early temperatures will reach up to 8 degrees. During the day, temperatures will range between 9 and 16 degrees. A highly mild southwesterly current moves over all of Austria on Tuesday. This will be accompanied by mostly…

Read More

According to company data, the booster with Biontech and Pfizer’s Corona vaccine adapted to BA.4/BA.5 is significantly more effective against the Omicron variant than the original vaccine. New data from an ongoing clinical trial showed an increase in neutralizing antibodies in the over-55 age group of about fourfold compared to people vaccinated with Biontech/Pfizer’s original Corona vaccine. Study on booster vaccination with Corona vaccine adapted to BA.4/BA.5Both measurements were reportedly obtained one month after the booster. Compared with the values before booster vaccination, a 9.5-fold increase in so-called antibody titers…

Read More

In western Austria, winter sends its greetings at higher altitudes. The extended “Indian summer” ends in Austria: a cold front brings rain and cold weather to Austria over the weekend. A cold front and an Italian low bring dense clouds and widespread rain on Friday, “higher up” temporarily also wintry conditions, for example, on mountain passes. According to the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG), by Sunday at the latest, the weather will be dry again in most of the country, and the sun will also show itself. A…

Read More

Clinical trials are starting in the U.S. for a combination vaccine made by German biotech company Biontech and its partner Pfizer against Corona and the flu. The combination vaccine candidate combines the already approved Corona vaccine against BA.4 and BA.5 from both Biontech and Pfizer with a flu vaccine candidate from Pfizer that is currently being tested in Phase 3 clinical trial. 180 people in the U.S. testing a combination of Corona and influenza vaccineThe Phase 1 trial of the combination vaccine is expected to enroll 180 people in the…

Read More

Starting November 3, WhatsApp is shipping its new Communities feature worldwide. As announced in April, “Communities” allows multiple groups to be placed “under one umbrella.” Since then, the quality has been tested in individual countries. However, it may take time before everyone can access the new function. The feature should be handy for schools, clubs, or neighborhoods. Different school groups, such as “homework,” “field trip,” “parent-teacher conferences,” etc., can be housed in the shared community “school,” for example. Administrators can also send out announcements to the community as a whole.…

Read More

Certain links popping up on WhatsApp inviting to Milka sweepstakes are a particularly dangerous scam. Year after year, supposed sweepstakes from the chocolate giant Milka pop up on WhatsApp, especially around holidays like Easter, Halloween, or Christmas. However, these links are anything but sweet; on the contrary, anyone who opens these lures in the form of messages is in for a bitter surprise. As the online portal “Mimikama” warns, such scams are circulating again. The sweepstakes promise participants the chance to win “Free Halloween gift baskets from Milka” or a…

Read More

An international team of astronomers has discovered an asteroid about 1.5 kilometers in size that, in the worst-case scenario, could collide with and devastate Earth in the distant future. 2022 AP7 is the giant asteroid “discovered in the past eight years that is potentially dangerous to Earth,” the Noirlab research group said. 2022 AP7 “crosses Earth’s orbit, making it a potentially hazardous asteroid,” said study lead author Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science. However, he said, the danger is low because the asteroid typically crosses its orbit “very…

Read More

Bad news for motorists! Vignette prices will be adjusted by 2.8 percent to the Consumer Price Index in 2023. Drivers will have to dig deeper into their pockets for the vignette in the future.According to legal requirements, vignette tariffs will be adjusted annually to the harmonized consumer price index (HICP) and increased by 2.8 percent for 2023. Thus, the annual vignette for passenger cars will cost 96.40 euros next year and for motorcycles 38.20 euros. As always, the new vignette will be available in the last days of November at…

Read More