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Science

Mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccine trial results to be available by summer

Results of a world-first study that will mix and match COVID-19 vaccines are expected by the summer, according to a senior member of the research team.

Volunteers are to be recruited from today for the study, with more than 800 people over the age of 50 being asked to help.

The trial will compare the effect of giving a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine followed a few weeks later by the Pfizer/BioNTech jab – or vice versa.

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has been shown to reduce virus transmission and sustain protection (iStock)

The interval between the doses will be either four or 12 weeks to test whether giving the immune response a longer time to mature can improve the result.

Professor Matthew Snape, a vaccinologist at Oxford University and part of the Oxford vaccine team, told Sky News: “We are looking to unroll the trial this month and then would start to get results through, probably in June or July looking at the antibody levels at least.

“That’s our target and it would be in time to influence the second dose of vaccines for the rollout that’s happening over the next few months.”

ASTRAZENECA-OXFORD COVID-19 VACCINE DROPS VIRUS TRANSMISSION RATE, SUSTAINS PROTECTION: STUDY

The study, run by the National Immunisation Schedule Evaluation Consortium (NISEC), will be run at eight hospital centers around England. Volunteers will be recruited over the next two to three weeks through the COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry.

They will have regular blood tests to assess their levels of antibodies and T-cells, which help to clear infections and act as an immune memory.

Further vaccines could also be added to the mix once they are approved by the medical regulator.

Prof Snape said the ability to use different jabs would guard against any supply problems.

CASES OF ‘COVID ARM’ FOLLOWING VACCINATION BEING DOCUMENTED BY DERMATOLOGISTS

He said: “If we do show that these vaccines can be used interchangeably in the same schedule this will greatly increase the flexibility of vaccine delivery, and could provide clues as to how to increase the breadth of protection against new virus strains.”

Minister for COVID-19 vaccine deployment Nadhim Zahawi said: “This is a hugely important clinical trial that will provide us with more vital evidence on the safety of these vaccines when used in different ways.”

There are no current plans to alter the current vaccine schedule, which has a gap of up to 12 weeks between two doses of the same jab.

Dr. Peter English, a consultant in communicable disease control at Public Health England, said: “Many vaccines work better if a different vaccine is used for boosting – an approach described as heterologous boosting.

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“Examples include hepatitis B, where some people respond poorly to vaccination but better if a heterologous booster is given.”

SpaceX delays launch of 143 satellites on single rocket

SpaceX’s attempt to launch a record 143 satellites on a single Falcon 9 rocket was stopped Saturday due to poor weather conditions. 

“Due to unfavorable weather, we are standing down from today’s launch,” the Elon Musk-owned company said in a tweet. 

NASA TEST FOR ‘MOST POWERFUL ROCKET IN THE WORLD’ HAS COMPONENT FAILURE

“Another launch attempt is available tomorrow, January 24 with a 22-minute window opening at 10:00 a.m. EST,” SpaceX wrote. 

According to Ars Technica, the weather “violated the electrical field rule for a safe launch.” 

SpaceX had been scheduled to launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday morning at approximately 9:40 a.m. ET.

The launch will be the fifth flight for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first-stage booster, but the team’s first mission of a rideshare program, carrying 10 Starlink internet satellites and 133 other small satellites.

In its rideshare program, SpaceX allows small satellite operators to book a fraction of a payload on a Falcon 9 launch.

SpaceX production supervisor Andy Tran said the mission will break the record for most satellites deployed from a single rocket.

Tech Crunch reported Saturday that the previous record was from the Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C37 launch in February 2017.

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SpaceX has seen success over the past year, including the flawless launch of the company’s first-ever crewed launch to the International Space Station

Buzz Aldrin receives first COVID-19 shot, urges Americans to vaccinate ‘as soon as possible’

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine just days before his 91st birthday, and he urged more Americans to follow his example.

Aldrin thanked the many people involved with the development and distribution of the vaccine.

“I urge everyone to sign up for a vaccination as soon as possible when eligible to do, so that life can return to normal soon,” Aldrin tweeted.

COVID-19 VACCINES WON’T BE ‘IN EVERY PHARMACY’ BY LATE FEB., CDC DIRECTOR PREDICTS

Aldrin received the shot in Florida, where he lives in his retirement, according to Florida Today. Aldrin served as a member of the Apollo 11 mission, during which he became one of the first humans to land and walk on the surface of the moon. 

As a member of the Apollo mission in 1969, Aldrin was no stranger to vaccinations: the astronauts for the mission took a number of vaccines for diphtheria, typhoid, tetanus, influenza, mumps, poliomyelitis, rubella, rubeola, smallpox and yellow fever, according to NASA. 

“Getting the COVID-19 vaccine was painless,” Aldrin said of the experience this week.

His tweet included a picture of himself sporting an Apollo 11 shirt while he received the shot.

“As we move forward into 2021, I want to send a message of hope and inspiration to the American people and to all the world — help is here,” Buzz Aldrin said in a press release.

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“I am proud to step forward to take this safe coronavirus vaccine that is provided — in record time — for all the world; this effort truly is a miracle.”

UFO documents released by CIA are ‘real-life X-Files,’ expert says

The CIA’s decision to declassify more than three decades worth of UFO documents is a “real-life X-Files,” according to one expert.

Nick Pope, a former employee and UFO investigator for Britain’s Ministry of Defense, said there are some “fascinating” documents in the files, which are more than 2,700 pages. However, the odd manner in which they were released and difficulties searching them will “fuel conspiracy theories.”

“There’s an irony in the UFO community expecting to find a smoking gun in material released by an organization they believe is part of a cover-up, and recent revelations about the Pentagon’s AATIP program and the [Unidentified Aerial Phenomena] Task Force suggest anyone looking in CIA files for the answer to the UFO mystery is looking at the wrong agency,” Pope said in an email to Fox News. “Perhaps these are the documents the government wants people to see, a bit like a magician who does something flamboyant with one hand, to draw people’s attention, while the important thing is going on in his other hand, behind his back.”

CIA RELEASES UFO ‘BLACK VAULT’ DOCUMENTS EARLY HOW TO SEE THEM ONLINE

The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was formed in 2007 at the behest of former Sen. Harry Reid, Fox News previously reported. It reportedly ceased operations in 2012, but in 2017 The New York Times reported the Department of Defense was still investigating potential episodes of unidentified flying objects.

The recently released documents were uploaded to The Black Vault, a government-centric website run by John Greenewald Jr., who obtained them via a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests over the past few decades.

Last year, Greenwald purchased the CD-ROM that was created by the CIA. In a statement on his website, Greenwald said the CIA “claims this is their ‘entire’ declassified collection,” but added there is no way to verify that. “Research by The Black Vault will continue to see if there are additional documents still uncovered within the CIA’s holdings.”

There are a number of individual documents in the release, including the 1976 story of a government official being handed intelligence on  countless UFO sightings.

2020: A YEAR OF UFO NEWS ALMOST TOO STRANGE TO BELIEVE

Perhaps coincidentally, the U.K. also released its so-called “X-files,” a document trove of reported UFO-related sightings early last year. The Royal Air Force ran a UFO unit for 50 years but shut it down in 2009 after coming to the conclusion that none of the reports offered evidence of a real threat.

After the U.K.’s decision to publish reported UFO sightings online, 61% of Americans surveyed said they wanted the U.S. government to do the same. 

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The release of the nearly 2,700 pages of declassified documents comes just a couple of weeks after the New York Post reported that the latest COVID-19 relief and government funding bill gave the Pentagon six months to reveal what they know about UFOs. 

In August, the Pentagon announced it was establishing a task force to “detect, analyze and catalog” unidentified aerial phenomena.

California earthquake reported north of Monterey area

An earthquake initially measured at magnitude 4.5 rattled Northern California on Saturday night, according to reports.

The quake was felt throughout much of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Mercury News of San Jose reported.

The epicenter of the quake was near Aromas, about 30 miles northeast of Monterey, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website.

No tsunami was expected to result from the quake, the National Weather Service wrote on Twitter.

Injuries or major structural damage resulting from the quake were not immediately known.

The Mercury News reported the quake as a 4.2 shaker, slightly less powerful than a 4.3 quake that struck the same region Jan. 2. The two quakes were the strongest in California in 2021, reporter Robert Salonga tweeted.

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Social media users in San Francisco reported being rattled by the quake, which struck around 8 p.m. local time. (San Francisco is about 95 miles north of Aromas.)

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

NASA finds an alien planet with 3 suns

NASA has discovered an exoplanet with three stars, one with a bizarre orbit that has left astronomers baffled.

The planet, known as KOI-5Ab was discovered in 2009 by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, but it was “abandoned” by scientists because the space telescope had easier candidates to identify.

“KOI-5Ab got abandoned because it was complicated, and we had thousands of candidates,” said David Ciardi, chief scientist of NASA’s Exoplanet Science Institute, in a statement. “There were easier pickings than KOI-5Ab, and we were learning something new from Kepler every day, so that KOI-5 was mostly forgotten.”

This illustration shows the planet KOI-5Ab transiting across the face of a Sun-like star, which is part of a triple-star system located 1,800 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation. (Credits: Caltech/R. Hurt Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, or IPAC.)

‘SUPER EARTH’: NASA DISCOVERS 10B YEAR-OLD PLANET UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN DEEP SPACE

KOI-5Ab is approximately 1,800 light-years from Earth. A light-year, which measures distance in space, is approximately 6 trillion miles.

However, thanks to NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and other Earth-based telescopes, KOA-5Ab has been given new life, with researchers discovering its perplexing orbit.

Due to its size, KOA-5Ab is likely a gas giant, similar to Jupiter or Saturn, but it circles a star in its star system, KOA-5A, once every five days. It’s also out of alignment from at least one of the other two stars and possibly both. 

“We don’t know of many planets that exist in triple-star systems, and this one is extra special because its orbit is skewed,” Ciardi added. “We still have a lot of questions about how and when planets can form in multiple-star systems and how their properties compare to planets in single-star systems. By studying this system in greater detail, perhaps we can gain insight into how the universe makes planets.”

MYSTERIOUS PLANET NINE DISCOVERY MAY BE FORTHCOMING AFTER BIZARRE EXOPLANET FOUND IN DEEP SPACE

In contrast, KOI-5A orbit KOI-5B each other, once every 30 years. KOI-5C orbits the two once every 400 years, leaving the four celestial objects in a skewed orbit as a result of different planes.

It’s unclear what caused the skewed orbit, though they “believe that the second star gravitationally kicked the planet during its development, skewing its orbit and causing it to migrate inward,” the NASA statement added. It’s believed that triple-star systems are roughly 10% of all star systems.

The findings were recently presented at a virtual meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Researchers have discovered other planets with three stars in recent memory. In July 2019, exoplanet LTT 1445Ab was found to orbit one of the three suns, all of which are described as mid-to-late-life red dwarfs.

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In September 2020, researchers discovered that the GW Orionis star system, which is located at the edge of the Orion constellation, has two stars that orbit one another with the third orbiting the two siblings at a distance of approximately 740 million miles. Inside the rings could be dust, or the beginnings of a young exoplanet, which could explain the misalignment of the system’s gravitational pull.

More than 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered by NASA in total, approximately 50 of which were believed to potentially be habitable as of September 2018. They have the right size and the right orbit of their star to support surface water and, at least theoretically, to support life.

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon departure from space station postponed because of weather

The departure of SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon from the International Space Station was postponed on Monday morning because of weather in the splashdown zone off the east coast of Florida.

The uncrewed spacecraft was initially scheduled to undock at 9:25 a.m. ET. but was pushed back to 10 a.m. ET on account of bad weather off Daytona. The departure was scratched for the day shortly before 10 a.m. ET.

“A new undocking date and time is currently being evaluated,” tweeted NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S CYGNUS SPACECRAFT DEPARTS SPACE STATION, WILL TEST NEW TECH BEFORE DESTRUCTION

This image shows the SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing international docking adapter.
(Credit: NASA TV)

If undocking had proceeded as planned, Cargo Dragon was scheduled to make a parachute-assisted splashdown around 9 pm E.T. Monday.

“Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the science aboard the capsule to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility, and back into the hands of the researchers,” explained NASA in a note released on Jan. 4. “This shorter transportation timeframe allows researchers to collect data with minimal loss of microgravity effects.”

The CRS-21 cargo craft launched to the International Space Station on Dec. 6, 2020, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cargo ship delivered over 6,400 pounds of hardware, research and crew supplies.

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Last week, Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft departed the space station. Cygnus will remain in orbit until Jan. 26, testing new technologies before its fiery destruction on reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

New details revealed about Megalodon’s shocking size: They ate their siblings in the womb

A new study may explain why Megalodon went extinct

A new study suggests that Megalodon, the largest marine predator to ever live, may have gone extinct due to the giant shark’s body temperature. As the oceans cooled, the sharks may have been forced to lower latitudes where ocean temperatures were warmer, while its prey evolved to withstand cooler temperatures of higher latitudes.

Megalodon, the apex predator of the seas, was the largest shark to ever live, at nearly 60 feet in length. A recently published study suggests the massive shark reached its epic size because of oophagy: a kind of intrauterine cannibalism behavior.

The research, published in the scientific journal Historical Biology, suggests that these massive sharks were born more than 6 feet in length, thanks to eating undeveloped siblings while still developing during pregnancy. 

“The gigantism of O. megalodon is attributed to the evolution of regional endothermy, possibly along with the inferred live-bearing reproductive mode involving intrauterine cannibalism in the form of oophagy,” researchers wrote in the study. “Yet, exactly how O. megalodon developed throughout its lifetime has remained largely in the realm of speculations.”

MEGALODON FOSSILS DISCOVERED ALL OVER THE WORLD

In-utero cannibalism is not uncommon among sharks. In November 2019, a species of shark discovered in Kansas also portrayed in-utero “cannibalistic behavior.”

In September, a separate group of researchers determined the true size of the megalodon’s body, including its huge fins, based on fossils. A 52.5-foot-long megalodon likely had a head 15.3 feet long, a dorsal fin approximately 5.3 feet tall and a tail around 12.6 feet high, the scientists found.

The scientists, led by Kenshu Shimada, used a number of methods to come up with their findings, including CT scans with multiple X-rays to reconstruct fossils and get an idea of how large a megalodon was at birth.

Shimada and the other experts also determined that the massive shark grew 6.3 inches per year for the first 50 years of its life. Megalodons had a life expectancy of around 88 years and could have reached 100 years old, the experts suggested.

“As one of the largest carnivores that ever existed on Earth, the evolution and extinction of O. megalodon must have contributed to shaping the present-day marine ecosystem,” the researchers added. “Hence, deciphering such growth parameters of O. megalodon is critical to understand the role large carnivores play in the context of ecology and evolution.”

The megalodon may have become extinct thanks to being outmaneuvered and outdone by its smaller, more agile cousin, the great white.

PREHISTORIC SHARK WITH ‘SPACESHIP-SHAPED TEETH’ DISCOVERED ALONGSIDE MOST FAMOUS TYRANNOSAURUS

Other theories suggest the megalodon was killed off by an exploding star approximately 2.6 million years ago.

Another theory that has gotten a lot of attention in recent memory is that the megalodon simply was unable to regulate its body temperature. Cooler ocean temperatures during the Pliocene era led its preferred food, whales, to adapt, while the megalodon was unable to,

During the Pleistocene extinction event, many animals larger than 80 pounds went extinct, according to the Illinois State Museum. At roughly 50 feet in length and a weight approaching 120,000 pounds, megalodons would have been a prime candidate to be affected by the cosmic blast.

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Fox News’ James Rogers contributed to this story.

SpaceX completes first rocket launch of 2021, sending up communications satellite

Following a very busy 2020 that saw it make a number of achievements, including the launch of the first astronauts to space from American soil since 2011, SpaceX completed its first rocket launch of 2021 on Thursday.

The Elon Musk-led company sent a communications satellite for Turkey into orbit via its Falcon 9 rocket, lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. at 9:15 p.m. EST.

Shortly thereafter, SpaceX confirmed it successfully deployed the Turksat 5A satellite, which is said to be used to increase Turkey’s presence in space.

SPACEX LAUNCHES SIRIUSXM SATELLITE FROM CAPE CANAVERAL

Later this year, SpaceX will also send the Turksat 5B satellite into space, according to Space.com.

SpaceX, which has helped Musk become the richest person in the world, was also able to successfully land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on the Just Read The Instructions droneship, which floated in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the fourth launch for this particular first stage. It had previously been used to send up a GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force and the company’s growing Starlink Internet satellite business, once in September and then again in October. 

Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX is also intending to recover both parts of the nose cone as well.

SPACEX’S STARSHIP TEST FLIGHT ENDS IN MASSIVE FIREBALL, BUT MUSK SAYS IT WAS STILL A SUCCESS

SpaceX is expected to have a jam-packed calendar in 2021, including the testing of its Starship SN9 prototype, which could come as early as this weekend.

The aerospace company conducted a triple Raptor Static Fire Test of the next-generation spaceflight system on Wednesday at SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas, which briefly showed the test vehicle’s three engines light up.

Starship is a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is expected to be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tons to Earth orbit.

According to Spaceflightnow.com, SpaceX will launch more than 40 rockets this year, with some coming out of Florida and the rest out of California.

The company’s next mission will be a Transporter-1 mission, slated to occur on Jan. 14 out of Cape Canaveral.

Initially set for Dec. 16, this launch will see SpaceX send up the Falcon 9 to transport “dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers,” Spaceflightnow noted.

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FOX Business’ Lucas Manfredi contributed to this story.

Forget the Christmas Star: Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn will form rare ‘triple conjunction’

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captures shocking fiery images of Jupiter’s moon Io

Jupiter’s moon lo was once again partially illuminated with a fiery red glow in late December as a volcano erupted, spewing plumes of gases and lava. NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured images of the volcanic plume during its 17th flyby of the planet. The gas giant’s moon is considered the most active volcanic body in existence.

The “Christmas star,” a rare celestial event that occurs when Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in the Solar System, form what looks like a double planet, was one of the highlights of 2020.

True to form, 2021 promises to top that.

This weekend, Mercury will join the two gas giants in what is being dubbed a “triple conjunction,” as the three planets will be within a couple of degrees from one another in the night sky.

Photo credit: NASA

CHRISTMAS STAR IS COMING: JUPITER AND SATURN ARE ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING NOT SEEN FOR NEARLY 800 YEARS

“From Friday evening to Monday evening, the planet Mercury will appear to pass first by Saturn and then by Jupiter as it shifts away from the horizon, visible each evening low in the west-southwest and setting before evening twilight ends,” NASA wrote on its website.

According to Forbes, the three planets will be in the same two degrees of the sky in the Capricorn constellation.

EarthSky.org notes skywatchers may need binoculars to catch some of the planets, but the event can be seen by looking for Jupiter first, then spotting Saturn and Mercury. Jupiter will be the brightest of the trio.

JUPITER, SATURN SPOTTED OVER LEGENDARY BRONZE AGE STRUCTURE

The science website adds that it is best to “find an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset” to see these planets, starting stargazing no less than 45 minutes after sundown.

Unlike the “Christmas star,” this triple conjunction of planets has happened recently, last occurring in October 2015. By comparison, Jupiter and Saturn form a double conjunction once every roughly 20 years, though the most recent event was the closest the two had been to each other since 1226 A.D.

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After this weekend, the next time the trio will form a triple conjunction is Feb. 13, 2021, just before Valentine’s Day.

The next two triple conjunctions are set for April 20, 2026 (Mercury, Mars, Saturn) and June 16, 2028, when Mercury, Venus and Mars make up the event.

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