Dear SMU Community,
Throughout the pandemic, SMU has based our safety protocols and campus operations on guidance from local, state and federal health officials. These measures, backed by our Pledge to Protect, have enabled the University to safely offer in-person classes and host important events such as commencement ceremonies and other celebrations on campus.
SMU will continue to follow our current guidelines requiring masks and social distancing on campus through the remainder of the Spring semester. In light of the Governor’s executive order to lift the state mandate on masks as well as other restrictions, we will continue to monitor and review industry-specific guidance and recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and state public health authorities before implementing any changes to our safety guidelines. We are carefully listening to and considering concerns expressed by our campus community – our students, faculty, and staff – as well as parents who have entrusted us with their children’s wellbeing and education.
As reflected on the Mustang Strong website, the numbers of SMU positive COVID-19 cases, which rose as expected following winter break, are now dropping dramatically. We continue to request vaccines from the state, and we are fully prepared to begin vaccinating our campus community in a specially-designated vaccine site once we receive an allotment. We’re pleased that many faculty and staff members, as well as some students, have already received the vaccine at various off-campus locations. We are looking forward to an outdoor commencement ceremony in the spring and returning to a normal semester in the fall.
In the meantime, let’s keep doing what we have been doing. Stay the course, and Stay Mustang Strong.
]]>In this episode:
00:45 Probing the proton’s interior
Although studied for decades, the internal structure of the proton is still throwing up surprises for physicists. This week, a team of researchers report an unexpected imbalance in the antimatter particles that make up the proton.
Research Article: Dove et al.
News and Views: Antimatter in the proton is more down than up
07:08 Research Highlights
How an inactive gene may help keep off the chill, and Cuba’s isolation may have prevented invasive species taking root on the island.
Research Highlight: Impervious to cold? A gene helps people to ward off the chills
Research Highlight: Marauding plants steer clear of a communist-ruled island
09:48 A new way to grow a small intestine
Short Bowel Syndrome is an often fatal condition that results from the removal of the small intestine. Treatment options are limited to transplantation, but donor intestines are hard to come by and can be rejected by the body. Now researchers may have developed a method to grow a replacement small intestine using stem cells and a small section of colon.
Research Article: Sugimoto et al.
15:50 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the landing of Perseverance on Mars, and the researchers speaking with lucid dreamers.
Nature News: Mars video reveals Perseverance rover’s daring touchdown
Nature News: Touch down! NASA’s Mars landing sparks new era of exploration
Nature News: The hunt for life on Mars: A visual guide to NASA’s latest mission
Science: Scientists entered people’s dreams and got them ‘talking’
Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The post Pfizer's COVID Vaccine first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.
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This episode was reported and produced with help from Bethel Habte and Latif Nasser.
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.
]]>And we’ve news of a breakthrough - new tests looking at Covid 19 antibodies, These should help provide a picture of developing immunity to the virus.
However as growing numbers of people fall ill there are concerns over a potential shortage of hospital ventilators globally, These are needed to treat the most severe cases. However a crowdsourcing project has been set up to try and kick start the manufacturing of a variety of different types of ventilator that could be built around the world. If you have knowledge of ventilators or their use and would like to get involved more information is available here. http://bit.ly/frontiertech4COVIDaction
Many of us are fascinated by our ancestry: knowing where our families came from can give us a sense of identity and roots. Tracing your family tree is a time-honoured tradition, but several companies now sell DNA tests that offer you insights into your heritage: so you might find out you’re 70% Nigerian, 39% Italian, or 11% South Asian, for example.
There’s no doubt that genes contain clues about your family history, but how reliable are these commercial tests? That’s what CrowdScience listener Karen wondered after an update of her test results showed her going from 39% Scandinavian to 2% Norwegian. How confident can she be in her results now? And what does it actually mean to be 2% Norwegian, in terms of your family tree?
Presenter Alex Lathbridge delves into his own African and European ancestry, talks to some of the companies offering these tests, and unpicks the complex relationship between genetic science and family trees. We meet a woman who found her long-lost uncle with a combination of a DNA test and old-fashioned archive research; and look to the Americas to ask whether genetic testing can restore ancestral ties erased by the inhumanity of the transatlantic slave trade.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
]]>Background reading:
Guests:
Due to rapidly changing issues related to the spread of Coronavirus, SMU will move students from classrooms to online instruction for the first two weeks following Spring Break, beginning Monday, March 23. The University is requesting that as many students as is possible leave the residence halls during Spring Break and remain home until April 5, as we expect normal operations to resume on April 6.
International and other students who need to remain living in the residence halls should formally request approval from the Office of Residence Life and Student Housing to stay on campus. RLSH will send a message directly to residents containing additional information outlining the process. The campus will remain open and operational. Limited food service will still be available, the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center, the Meadows Museum and the SMU Childcare Center will remain open, as will Fondren Library. However, Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports will close during this period.
Faculty and staff should plan to report to campus as usual during this period. As a reminder, the University is providing training March 18-19 to upgrade faculty skills in delivering online instruction. We also recognize that some faculty or staff members may have medical vulnerability or childcare issues to consider moving forward, and we will direct you to the process for requesting special accommodations via this website.
Some types of instruction may not be fully deliverable online, as in the visual and performing arts and laboratory sciences, and these will be addressed individually. Our goal is to prevent interruption of anyone’s degree plan – particularly graduating seniors.
Student advising for May term, summer, August and fall classes will also be handled online during the two-week period following Spring Break.
In addition to moving classroom instruction online, SMU is canceling or postponing on-campus gatherings of more than 50 people through the end of April. We are establishing an appeals process to consider exceptions for some types of events. At this time, we still intend to hold Commencement Convocation on May 16.
These decisions raise questions for many of you, and we will continue to address them in coming days. Please continue to monitor this site and the FAQ section.
We do not make these decisions lightly, but out of an abundance of caution. As I noted previously, we are currently planning for normal classroom instruction to resume April 6, but everyone is asked to remain patient and flexible as we work through this challenging time. We are determined to deliver on our education mission while maintaining the priority of the health and well-being of our campus community. Please understand that if circumstances mandate further change, we will continue to adjust. SMU is a community of smart, motivated and compassionate people who will work through this.
Thank you all for your patience, and stay healthy.
Sincerely,
R. Gerald Turner
President
]]>In this week's episode, Jim Underdown speaks with Ben Radford to debunk the most common myths and pieces of misinformation surrounding the coronavirus. How did it really begin? What can be done to prevent it? How has racism and xenophobia contributed to the spreading of various myths? Radford has also recently published an article on CFI where he goes into more detail on the virus's myths and conspiracies.
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written thousands of articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy.
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The suit against Walmarts comes just a few months after the Center for Inquiry filed a similar lawsuit against CVS for fraud over the sale of fake homeopathic drugs. In this episode of Point of Inquiry, Kavin Senapathy speaks with Nick Little, Center for Inquiry's legal director and general counsel, on the history of homeopathy and how it differs from other kinds of alternative medicines, and why CFI is bringing a suit against the nation's largest retailer. They also discuss the responsibility retailers have to provide truthful information to their consumers, and what exactly is in the homeopathic flu remedy Oscillococcinum.
Continue below to find the links mentioned in this episode.
McGill Homeopathy Study
Fast Company profiling the Center for Inquiry's suit against Walmart
NPR interview with Nick Little
Women scientists are under-represented in science awards with large monetary value, but over-represented in *service* awards.
]]>The 25-foot-long swimming lizards sit alone in the dark. A few weeks ago, they drew thousands of visitors a day at the Washington, D.C., National...
]]>Scientists say the iceberg is one of the largest seen by satellites. But the full implications of its separation off remain to be seen.
(Image credit: John Sonntag/NASA)
]]>Reading, writing and fracking? Oklahoma's oil industry is spending millions on science lessons for public schools. But environmentalists say omitting climate change leaves students unprepared.
(Image credit: Joe Wertz/StateImpact Oklahoma)
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