Happy Buddha Purnima

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Composite image via Swami Krishnananda in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.

Our friend Swami Krishnananda captured an image of last night’s moon (May 6, 2020) – and created this composite – and wrote:

I was able to shoot the supermoon with clear skies. We will be celebrating Buddha Purnima i.e. Lord Buddha’s birthday. So I felt it would be nice to greet all the EarthSky community and wish them all a Happy Buddha Purnima by superimposing the face of Lord Buddha on the supermoon.

Thank you, Swami Krishnananda!

According to the May 7, 2020 HindustanTimes:

The birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, is celebrated as Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti with much fervour across the world. It falls on a full moon day in the month of Vaisakh (April/May) according to the Hindu calendar. This year Buddha Purnima will be celebrated on May 7. In Theravada Buddhism, it is also observed as the day when Buddha, born as Prince Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563-483 BCE) attained Nirvana (salvation) under the Mahabodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, Bihar, as well as his death anniversary. The Vesak full moon day is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar. Several Buddhists go to the pagodas to pour water at the foot of the sacred tree in remembrance of the Buddha’s Enlightenment.

Buddha Purnima is a major festival celebrated with great pomp and fervor in countries like Sri Lanka (where it is called Vesak), India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Tibet, China, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia, though celebrations vary from country to country.

Read more from HindustanTimes … Buddha Purnima 2020: Here’s everything you need to know about Gautam Buddha’s birth anniversary

Bottom line: A composite photo and some information about the May 7, 2020 Buddha Purnima.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3fsagwO

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Composite image via Swami Krishnananda in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.

Our friend Swami Krishnananda captured an image of last night’s moon (May 6, 2020) – and created this composite – and wrote:

I was able to shoot the supermoon with clear skies. We will be celebrating Buddha Purnima i.e. Lord Buddha’s birthday. So I felt it would be nice to greet all the EarthSky community and wish them all a Happy Buddha Purnima by superimposing the face of Lord Buddha on the supermoon.

Thank you, Swami Krishnananda!

According to the May 7, 2020 HindustanTimes:

The birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, is celebrated as Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti with much fervour across the world. It falls on a full moon day in the month of Vaisakh (April/May) according to the Hindu calendar. This year Buddha Purnima will be celebrated on May 7. In Theravada Buddhism, it is also observed as the day when Buddha, born as Prince Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563-483 BCE) attained Nirvana (salvation) under the Mahabodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, Bihar, as well as his death anniversary. The Vesak full moon day is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar. Several Buddhists go to the pagodas to pour water at the foot of the sacred tree in remembrance of the Buddha’s Enlightenment.

Buddha Purnima is a major festival celebrated with great pomp and fervor in countries like Sri Lanka (where it is called Vesak), India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Tibet, China, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia, though celebrations vary from country to country.

Read more from HindustanTimes … Buddha Purnima 2020: Here’s everything you need to know about Gautam Buddha’s birth anniversary

Bottom line: A composite photo and some information about the May 7, 2020 Buddha Purnima.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3fsagwO

What are zoonotic diseases and what can we do about them?

Photograph of a Lohmann Brown hen via Konstantin Nikiforov. Backyard chickens have been linked to outbreaks of salmonellosis in people.

As the world grapples with the current coronavirus pandemic driven by a virus named SARS-CoV-2, many scientists and public health experts are emphasizing that more work needs to be done to prevent the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases that leap from animals to humans can wreck havoc on society, as the current pandemic amply demonstrates. Please read on for a quick overview of how zoonotic diseases are defined and the strategies being used to combat them.

A zoonotic disease is an infectious disease that is transmissible under normal conditions from animals to humans, according to Harvard Health. The pathogens responsible for causing zoonotic diseases include viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Zoonotic diseases are very common throughout the world. The World Health Organization reports that around 75% of new infectious diseases detected in humans over the past few decades originated in animals.

One of the first steps to effectively combat zoonotic diseases involves identifying which ones are the most problematic in certain regions. At a workshop held in Washington, D.C., during December 5–7, 2017, U.S. experts were asked to use a prioritization tool to rank 56 zoonotic diseases according to factors such as their potential to cause epidemics and pandemics, disease severity, and prevalence. The top 8 zoonotic diseases of concern in the U.S. were identified as (1) zoonotic influenza viruses, (2) salmonellosis, (3) West Nile virus, (4) plague, (5) emerging coronaviruses, (6) rabies virus, (7) brucellosis, and (8) Lyme disease. Many people are familiar with these diseases because such illnesses are problematic in other countries too. By 2018, over 20 countries had likewise prioritized their top zoonotic diseases of concern by using a similar approach, according to the workshop report.

People can be exposed to the pathogens responsible for zoonotic diseases in a variety of settings. For example, exposures can occur through food and water contamination (e.g., the bacteria Escherichia coli better known as just E. coli), farming (e.g., bird flu and swine flu viruses), direct contact with wildlife (e.g., rabies virus and coronaviruses), insect vectors (e.g., the bacteria that cause Lyme disease), and pets (Salmonella bacteria). Direct contact with wildlife is the presumed transmission pathway for the coronavirus that caused the first cases of COVID-19 in humans, an outbreak which has now progressed to a global pandemic.

Generally speaking, public health officials use prevention, education, surveillance, and outbreak control measures to fight zoonotic diseases. The goal of prevention efforts is to disrupt the transmission pathways to humans. In the case of rabies, that involves widespread vaccination of dogs and cats that can carry the rabies virus and infect humans they come into contact with. With other zoonotic diseases, the most effective strategies will depend on the pathogen, the animals that host the pathogen, and the human behaviors that put them at risk of exposure. Closures of wildlife markets where coronaviruses reside will be important in preventing future coronavirus outbreaks.

Infographic of factors that are increasing the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Image via UNEP.

In an April 5, 2020 essay, Inger Andersen, head of the United Nation’s Environment Program (UNEP), reflected on important ways to prevent zoonotic diseases. She wrote:

The “wild” must be kept “wild.” It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products. Where the legal wildlife trade chain exists, we need to do a far better job of improving hygiene conditions. And of course, there is the urgent need to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, the fourth most common crime committed worldwide.

She and others are also urging countries to green their economies as they take steps to recover from the current pandemic. This could help to mitigate the climate changes that are pushing dangerous mosquito-borne zoonotic diseases like dengue and Zika into new regions around the world.

Bottom line: Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases that are naturally transmitted between animals and humans. These diseases are very common. General strategies for preventing zoonotic diseases include reducing deforestation, ending the illegal wildlife trade, and improving hygiene in settings were interactions with animals are commonplace.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3c7zWNj

Photograph of a Lohmann Brown hen via Konstantin Nikiforov. Backyard chickens have been linked to outbreaks of salmonellosis in people.

As the world grapples with the current coronavirus pandemic driven by a virus named SARS-CoV-2, many scientists and public health experts are emphasizing that more work needs to be done to prevent the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases that leap from animals to humans can wreck havoc on society, as the current pandemic amply demonstrates. Please read on for a quick overview of how zoonotic diseases are defined and the strategies being used to combat them.

A zoonotic disease is an infectious disease that is transmissible under normal conditions from animals to humans, according to Harvard Health. The pathogens responsible for causing zoonotic diseases include viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Zoonotic diseases are very common throughout the world. The World Health Organization reports that around 75% of new infectious diseases detected in humans over the past few decades originated in animals.

One of the first steps to effectively combat zoonotic diseases involves identifying which ones are the most problematic in certain regions. At a workshop held in Washington, D.C., during December 5–7, 2017, U.S. experts were asked to use a prioritization tool to rank 56 zoonotic diseases according to factors such as their potential to cause epidemics and pandemics, disease severity, and prevalence. The top 8 zoonotic diseases of concern in the U.S. were identified as (1) zoonotic influenza viruses, (2) salmonellosis, (3) West Nile virus, (4) plague, (5) emerging coronaviruses, (6) rabies virus, (7) brucellosis, and (8) Lyme disease. Many people are familiar with these diseases because such illnesses are problematic in other countries too. By 2018, over 20 countries had likewise prioritized their top zoonotic diseases of concern by using a similar approach, according to the workshop report.

People can be exposed to the pathogens responsible for zoonotic diseases in a variety of settings. For example, exposures can occur through food and water contamination (e.g., the bacteria Escherichia coli better known as just E. coli), farming (e.g., bird flu and swine flu viruses), direct contact with wildlife (e.g., rabies virus and coronaviruses), insect vectors (e.g., the bacteria that cause Lyme disease), and pets (Salmonella bacteria). Direct contact with wildlife is the presumed transmission pathway for the coronavirus that caused the first cases of COVID-19 in humans, an outbreak which has now progressed to a global pandemic.

Generally speaking, public health officials use prevention, education, surveillance, and outbreak control measures to fight zoonotic diseases. The goal of prevention efforts is to disrupt the transmission pathways to humans. In the case of rabies, that involves widespread vaccination of dogs and cats that can carry the rabies virus and infect humans they come into contact with. With other zoonotic diseases, the most effective strategies will depend on the pathogen, the animals that host the pathogen, and the human behaviors that put them at risk of exposure. Closures of wildlife markets where coronaviruses reside will be important in preventing future coronavirus outbreaks.

Infographic of factors that are increasing the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Image via UNEP.

In an April 5, 2020 essay, Inger Andersen, head of the United Nation’s Environment Program (UNEP), reflected on important ways to prevent zoonotic diseases. She wrote:

The “wild” must be kept “wild.” It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products. Where the legal wildlife trade chain exists, we need to do a far better job of improving hygiene conditions. And of course, there is the urgent need to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, the fourth most common crime committed worldwide.

She and others are also urging countries to green their economies as they take steps to recover from the current pandemic. This could help to mitigate the climate changes that are pushing dangerous mosquito-borne zoonotic diseases like dengue and Zika into new regions around the world.

Bottom line: Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases that are naturally transmitted between animals and humans. These diseases are very common. General strategies for preventing zoonotic diseases include reducing deforestation, ending the illegal wildlife trade, and improving hygiene in settings were interactions with animals are commonplace.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3c7zWNj

Earth’s biggest iceberg breaks off smaller berg

Iceberg A-68A on April 9, 2020. Image via NASA Earth Observatory.

By Kathryn Hansen/ NASA Earth Observatory

Antarctic iceberg A-68A, which broke from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017, has been floating solo in recent years. Not anymore. The colossal iceberg finally fractured in late April 2020, spawning a new companion named A-68C.

The break was not exactly surprising. A few weeks ago, we published the image above showing Iceberg A-68A on April 9, 2020. The iceberg on that day was still intact, but it had drifted north into dangerously warm waters. Christopher Readinger of the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) noted at the time:

I’m surprised at how well it’s sticking together. It’s been in warmer water for a few months now and it’s not exactly a very thick berg, so I expect it will break up sometime soon, but it’s showing no signs of that yet.

Less than two weeks later, that’s exactly what happened. Satellite images on April 22 showed that a new iceberg had broken off from A-68A. The pair is now drifting at the edge of the Weddell Sea and South Atlantic Ocean, near the South Orkney Islands, as shown in the image below.

The icebergs on May 3, 2020. This image was acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NASA-NOAA Suomi-NPP satellite. Image via NASA Earth Observatory.

Iceberg A-68C measures about 11 nautical miles long and 7 nautical miles wide (20 by 13 kilometers). That’s small compared to its parent berg A-68A, which now measures 82 by 26 nautical miles (152 by 48 kilometers), but it is large enough to be named and tracked by the U.S. National Ice Center.

Even after shedding the sizable piece of ice, A-68A is still the largest iceberg currently floating anywhere on Earth. It has calved only one other named berg, forming A-68B in July 2017 just after the initial calving event from the ice shelf.

Bottom line: Colossal iceberg A-68A from Antarctica’s Larsen-C Ice Shelf finally fractured in April, generating a new 51-square-nautical-mile iceberg.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2A1O38B

Iceberg A-68A on April 9, 2020. Image via NASA Earth Observatory.

By Kathryn Hansen/ NASA Earth Observatory

Antarctic iceberg A-68A, which broke from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017, has been floating solo in recent years. Not anymore. The colossal iceberg finally fractured in late April 2020, spawning a new companion named A-68C.

The break was not exactly surprising. A few weeks ago, we published the image above showing Iceberg A-68A on April 9, 2020. The iceberg on that day was still intact, but it had drifted north into dangerously warm waters. Christopher Readinger of the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) noted at the time:

I’m surprised at how well it’s sticking together. It’s been in warmer water for a few months now and it’s not exactly a very thick berg, so I expect it will break up sometime soon, but it’s showing no signs of that yet.

Less than two weeks later, that’s exactly what happened. Satellite images on April 22 showed that a new iceberg had broken off from A-68A. The pair is now drifting at the edge of the Weddell Sea and South Atlantic Ocean, near the South Orkney Islands, as shown in the image below.

The icebergs on May 3, 2020. This image was acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NASA-NOAA Suomi-NPP satellite. Image via NASA Earth Observatory.

Iceberg A-68C measures about 11 nautical miles long and 7 nautical miles wide (20 by 13 kilometers). That’s small compared to its parent berg A-68A, which now measures 82 by 26 nautical miles (152 by 48 kilometers), but it is large enough to be named and tracked by the U.S. National Ice Center.

Even after shedding the sizable piece of ice, A-68A is still the largest iceberg currently floating anywhere on Earth. It has calved only one other named berg, forming A-68B in July 2017 just after the initial calving event from the ice shelf.

Bottom line: Colossal iceberg A-68A from Antarctica’s Larsen-C Ice Shelf finally fractured in April, generating a new 51-square-nautical-mile iceberg.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2A1O38B

New closest-known black hole lies in a visible star system

Artist’s concept of a black hole via ESO.

Originally published on May 6, 2020, by the European Southern Observatory.

A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1,000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our solar system than any other found to date and forms part of a triple system that can be seen with the unaided eye. The team found evidence for the invisible object by tracking its two companion stars using the 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. They say this system could just be the tip of the iceberg, as many more similar black holes could be found in the future.

Prior to this discovery, the closest-known black hole was A0620-00 in the constellation of Monoceros at a distance of 3,000 light years.

Petr Hadrava of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, a co-author of the research, said:

We were totally surprised when we realized that this is the first stellar system with a black hole that can be seen with the unaided eye.

Located in the constellation of Telescopium, the system is so close to us that its stars can be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope.

ESO scientist Thomas Rivinius, who led the study published May 6, 2020, in Astronomy & Astrophysics (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202038020), said:

This system contains the nearest black hole to Earth that we know of.

This chart shows the location of the HR 6819 triple system, which includes the closest black hole to Earth, in the constellation of Telescopium. This map shows most of the stars visible to the unaided eye under good conditions and the system itself is marked with a red circle. While the black hole is invisible, the two stars in HR 6819 can be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope. Image via ESO/ IAU/ Sky & Telescope.

The team originally observed the system, called HR 6819, as part of a study of double-star systems. However, as they analyzed their observations, they were stunned when they revealed a third, previously undiscovered body in HR 6819: a black hole. The observations with the FEROS spectrograph on the 2.2-meter telescope at La Silla showed that one of the two visible stars orbits an unseen object every 40 days, while the second star is at a large distance from this inner pair.

Dietrich Baade of ESO in Garching and co-author of the study, said:

The observations needed to determine the period of 40 days had to be spread over several months …

The hidden black hole in HR 6819 is one of the very first stellar-mass black holes found that do not interact violently with their environment and, therefore, appear truly black. But the team could spot its presence and calculate its mass by studying the orbit of the star in the inner pair. Rivinius, who is based in Chile, commented:

An invisible object with a mass at least 4 times that of the sun can only be a black hole.

Astronomers have spotted only a couple of dozen black holes in our galaxy to date, nearly all of which strongly interact with their environment and make their presence known by releasing powerful X-rays in this interaction. But scientists estimate that, over the Milky Way’s lifetime, many more stars collapsed into black holes as they ended their lives. The discovery of a silent, invisible black hole in HR 6819 provides clues about where the many hidden black holes in the Milky Way might be. Rivinius explained:

There must be hundreds of millions of black holes out there, but we know about only very few. Knowing what to look for should put us in a better position to find them.

Baade added that finding a black hole in a triple system so close by indicates that we are seeing just “the tip of an exciting iceberg.”

Already, astronomers believe their discovery could shine some light on a second system. Marianne Heida, a postdoctoral fellow at ESO and co-author of the paper, said:

We realized that another system, called LB-1, may also be such a triple, though we’d need more observations to say for sure. LB-1 is a bit further away from Earth but still pretty close in astronomical terms, so that means that probably many more of these systems exist. By finding and studying them we can learn a lot about the formation and evolution of those rare stars that begin their lives with more than about 8 times the mass of the sun and end them in a supernova explosion that leaves behind a black hole.

The discoveries of these triple systems with an inner pair and a distant star could also provide clues about the violent cosmic mergers that release gravitational waves powerful enough to be detected on Earth. Some astronomers believe that the mergers can happen in systems with a similar configuration to HR 6819 or LB-1, but where the inner pair is made up of two black holes or of a black hole and a neutron star. The distant outer object can gravitationally impact the inner pair in such a way that it triggers a merger and the release of gravitational waves. Although HR 6819 and LB-1 have only one black hole and no neutron stars, these systems could help scientists understand how stellar collisions can happen in triple star systems.

Bottom line: An invisible object has 2 companion stars in the triple star system HR 6819. The 2 companion stars can be seen with the unaided eye. The invisible object can only be a black hole, these astronomers said. It’s located only 1, 000 light-years from Earth, closer than any other black hole found so far.

Source: A naked-eye triple system with a nonaccreting black hole in the inner binary

Via ESO

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2Lb6QR7

Artist’s concept of a black hole via ESO.

Originally published on May 6, 2020, by the European Southern Observatory.

A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1,000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our solar system than any other found to date and forms part of a triple system that can be seen with the unaided eye. The team found evidence for the invisible object by tracking its two companion stars using the 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. They say this system could just be the tip of the iceberg, as many more similar black holes could be found in the future.

Prior to this discovery, the closest-known black hole was A0620-00 in the constellation of Monoceros at a distance of 3,000 light years.

Petr Hadrava of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, a co-author of the research, said:

We were totally surprised when we realized that this is the first stellar system with a black hole that can be seen with the unaided eye.

Located in the constellation of Telescopium, the system is so close to us that its stars can be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope.

ESO scientist Thomas Rivinius, who led the study published May 6, 2020, in Astronomy & Astrophysics (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202038020), said:

This system contains the nearest black hole to Earth that we know of.

This chart shows the location of the HR 6819 triple system, which includes the closest black hole to Earth, in the constellation of Telescopium. This map shows most of the stars visible to the unaided eye under good conditions and the system itself is marked with a red circle. While the black hole is invisible, the two stars in HR 6819 can be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope. Image via ESO/ IAU/ Sky & Telescope.

The team originally observed the system, called HR 6819, as part of a study of double-star systems. However, as they analyzed their observations, they were stunned when they revealed a third, previously undiscovered body in HR 6819: a black hole. The observations with the FEROS spectrograph on the 2.2-meter telescope at La Silla showed that one of the two visible stars orbits an unseen object every 40 days, while the second star is at a large distance from this inner pair.

Dietrich Baade of ESO in Garching and co-author of the study, said:

The observations needed to determine the period of 40 days had to be spread over several months …

The hidden black hole in HR 6819 is one of the very first stellar-mass black holes found that do not interact violently with their environment and, therefore, appear truly black. But the team could spot its presence and calculate its mass by studying the orbit of the star in the inner pair. Rivinius, who is based in Chile, commented:

An invisible object with a mass at least 4 times that of the sun can only be a black hole.

Astronomers have spotted only a couple of dozen black holes in our galaxy to date, nearly all of which strongly interact with their environment and make their presence known by releasing powerful X-rays in this interaction. But scientists estimate that, over the Milky Way’s lifetime, many more stars collapsed into black holes as they ended their lives. The discovery of a silent, invisible black hole in HR 6819 provides clues about where the many hidden black holes in the Milky Way might be. Rivinius explained:

There must be hundreds of millions of black holes out there, but we know about only very few. Knowing what to look for should put us in a better position to find them.

Baade added that finding a black hole in a triple system so close by indicates that we are seeing just “the tip of an exciting iceberg.”

Already, astronomers believe their discovery could shine some light on a second system. Marianne Heida, a postdoctoral fellow at ESO and co-author of the paper, said:

We realized that another system, called LB-1, may also be such a triple, though we’d need more observations to say for sure. LB-1 is a bit further away from Earth but still pretty close in astronomical terms, so that means that probably many more of these systems exist. By finding and studying them we can learn a lot about the formation and evolution of those rare stars that begin their lives with more than about 8 times the mass of the sun and end them in a supernova explosion that leaves behind a black hole.

The discoveries of these triple systems with an inner pair and a distant star could also provide clues about the violent cosmic mergers that release gravitational waves powerful enough to be detected on Earth. Some astronomers believe that the mergers can happen in systems with a similar configuration to HR 6819 or LB-1, but where the inner pair is made up of two black holes or of a black hole and a neutron star. The distant outer object can gravitationally impact the inner pair in such a way that it triggers a merger and the release of gravitational waves. Although HR 6819 and LB-1 have only one black hole and no neutron stars, these systems could help scientists understand how stellar collisions can happen in triple star systems.

Bottom line: An invisible object has 2 companion stars in the triple star system HR 6819. The 2 companion stars can be seen with the unaided eye. The invisible object can only be a black hole, these astronomers said. It’s located only 1, 000 light-years from Earth, closer than any other black hole found so far.

Source: A naked-eye triple system with a nonaccreting black hole in the inner binary

Via ESO

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2Lb6QR7

Last full supermoon of 2020

Above: Stefano Sciarpetti created this composite image of a full supermoon (full moon closest to Earth) with a micro-moon (full moon farthest from Earth). It was the Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 21, 2014.

On both May 6 and 7, 2020, the moon will appear round and full to the eye as it lights up the night from dusk until dawn. This May full moon is 2020’s third and final full supermoon, and it’s also the third-closest, third-biggest and third-brightest supermoon of 2020. The first supermoon of 2020 was on March 9. The second was on the night of April 7-8; it was April when the full moon and lunar perigee (the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit) aligned most closely for the year 2020, giving us the biggest and brightest full supermoon of the year.

This May 2020 supermoon isn’t the biggest or brightest, but it is, by definition, a supermoon: a full moon or new moon within 90% of its closest approach to Earth. That definition isn’t official in any sense, but it’s become engrained in popular culture.

In North America – according to the popular culture of earlier times, what we now call folklore, or skylore – we’ll also call this May 2020 supermoon by the names the Flower Moon, Planting Moon or Milk Moon. It’ll shine in front of the constellation Libra the Scales.

Moon’s present position in front of the constellations of the zodiac via Heavens-Above

Full moon supermoons in 2020:

March 9, 2000: 222,081 miles (357,404 km)

April 8, 2020: 221,851 miles (357,035 km)

May 7, 2020: 224,429 miles (361,184 km)

This month, the moon turns precisely full on May 7, at 10:45 UTC. Although the full moon happens at the same instant worldwide, the clock reads differently by time zone. At North American and United States time zones, the moon reaches the crest of its full phase on May 7, at 7:45 a.m. ADT, 6:45 a.m. EDT, 5:45 a.m. CDT, 4:45 a.m. MDT, 3:45 a.m. PDT, 2:45 a.m. AKDT and 12:45 a.m. HST.

The moon always appears full to the eye for two to three days in a row. Twelve hours before and after this May full moon, the moon is still 99.6% illuminated by sunshine (according to The Moon Tonight).

Meanwhile, astronomers regard the moon as full at the instant that it’s exactly 180 degrees opposite the sun in ecliptic longitude. In other words, the moon-sun elongation at full moon equals 180 degrees. Click on The Moon Tonight to find out the present moon-sun elongation, remembering that a positive number refers to a waxing (increasing) moon and a negative number to a waning (shrinking) moon.

From one month to the next – unless you’re a very experienced observer – you’re not likely to discern a size difference between full moons.

On the other hand, full supermoons might be noticeably brighter. A full moon at perigee (closest point to Earth in the moon’s monthly orbit) is about 15 percent brighter than a full moon at its average distance from Earth, and about 30 percent brighter than a full moon at apogee (farthest point from Earth in the moon’s monthly orbit). This May 2020 supermoon, though … it’ll be a bit brighter than non-supermoons, but perhaps not noticeably so.

So it’ll be a fairly ordinary-looking moon that ascends in your sky around sunset on May 6 and 7, 2020 and that shines brightly in your sky all night on these nights. And indeed some skywatchers object to the term supermoon, because the size differences of full moons aren’t readily discernible to the eye. That’s true. They aren’t. On the other hand, few – if any – sky gazers can tell the exact moment of a 100-percent-illuminated full moon with the eye, either. And yet astronomical almanacs give the full moon times to the minute. A photo finish to determine the winner of a contest doesn’t make the event any less exciting.

Here’s a comparison between the December 3, 2017, full moon at perigee (closest to Earth for the month) and the year’s farthest full moon in June 2017 at apogee (farthest from Earth for the month) by Muzamir Mazlan at Telok Kemang Observatory, Port Dickson, Malaysia. More photos of the December 2017 supermoon.

The full moon’s distance only changes incrementally from month to month, as we show on the listing below. For instance, a full moon that aligns with lunar apogee (the moon’s most distant point in its orbit) never precedes or follows a full moon aligning with perigee. In fact, the smallest full moon of the year on October 31, 2020, comes exactly 7 lunar months (7 full moons) after the year’s biggest full moon on April 8, 2020:

Full moon distances:

April 8, 2020: 221,851 miles (357,035 km)

May 7, 2020: 224,429 miles (361,184 km)

June 5, 2020: 229,285 miles (368,999 km)

July 5, 2020: 235,586 miles (379,140 km)

August 3, 2020: 242,254 miles (389,871 km)

September 2, 2020: 248,051 miles (399,200 km)

October 1, 2020: 251,747 miles (405,147 km)

October 31, 2020: 252,380 miles (406,166 km)

Source: The Moon Tonight

And guess what? Exactly 7 lunar months (7 full moons) after the year’s farthest and smallest full moon on October 31, 2020, it’ll be next year’s closest and largest full moon on May 26, 2021! Moreover, this May 2021 full moon will pass right through the Earth’s dark umbral shadow, to stage the first total lunar eclipse since January 21, 2019.

Here’s something fun to think about. Illustration via Phil Plait. Phil explains: “The guy at the top of the Earth in the diagram sees the moon on his horizon, and the guy on the side of the Earth sees it overhead. But you can tell the distances aren’t the same: the moon is closer to the guy who sees it as overhead (by an amount roughly equal to the Earth’s radius).” Cool!

Bottom line: Enjoy the last full moon supermoon of the year on May 6 and 7, 2020. The moon turns precisely full on May 7 at 10:45 UTC; translate UTC to your time.

Read more: What is a supermoon?

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2L13r7H

Above: Stefano Sciarpetti created this composite image of a full supermoon (full moon closest to Earth) with a micro-moon (full moon farthest from Earth). It was the Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 21, 2014.

On both May 6 and 7, 2020, the moon will appear round and full to the eye as it lights up the night from dusk until dawn. This May full moon is 2020’s third and final full supermoon, and it’s also the third-closest, third-biggest and third-brightest supermoon of 2020. The first supermoon of 2020 was on March 9. The second was on the night of April 7-8; it was April when the full moon and lunar perigee (the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit) aligned most closely for the year 2020, giving us the biggest and brightest full supermoon of the year.

This May 2020 supermoon isn’t the biggest or brightest, but it is, by definition, a supermoon: a full moon or new moon within 90% of its closest approach to Earth. That definition isn’t official in any sense, but it’s become engrained in popular culture.

In North America – according to the popular culture of earlier times, what we now call folklore, or skylore – we’ll also call this May 2020 supermoon by the names the Flower Moon, Planting Moon or Milk Moon. It’ll shine in front of the constellation Libra the Scales.

Moon’s present position in front of the constellations of the zodiac via Heavens-Above

Full moon supermoons in 2020:

March 9, 2000: 222,081 miles (357,404 km)

April 8, 2020: 221,851 miles (357,035 km)

May 7, 2020: 224,429 miles (361,184 km)

This month, the moon turns precisely full on May 7, at 10:45 UTC. Although the full moon happens at the same instant worldwide, the clock reads differently by time zone. At North American and United States time zones, the moon reaches the crest of its full phase on May 7, at 7:45 a.m. ADT, 6:45 a.m. EDT, 5:45 a.m. CDT, 4:45 a.m. MDT, 3:45 a.m. PDT, 2:45 a.m. AKDT and 12:45 a.m. HST.

The moon always appears full to the eye for two to three days in a row. Twelve hours before and after this May full moon, the moon is still 99.6% illuminated by sunshine (according to The Moon Tonight).

Meanwhile, astronomers regard the moon as full at the instant that it’s exactly 180 degrees opposite the sun in ecliptic longitude. In other words, the moon-sun elongation at full moon equals 180 degrees. Click on The Moon Tonight to find out the present moon-sun elongation, remembering that a positive number refers to a waxing (increasing) moon and a negative number to a waning (shrinking) moon.

From one month to the next – unless you’re a very experienced observer – you’re not likely to discern a size difference between full moons.

On the other hand, full supermoons might be noticeably brighter. A full moon at perigee (closest point to Earth in the moon’s monthly orbit) is about 15 percent brighter than a full moon at its average distance from Earth, and about 30 percent brighter than a full moon at apogee (farthest point from Earth in the moon’s monthly orbit). This May 2020 supermoon, though … it’ll be a bit brighter than non-supermoons, but perhaps not noticeably so.

So it’ll be a fairly ordinary-looking moon that ascends in your sky around sunset on May 6 and 7, 2020 and that shines brightly in your sky all night on these nights. And indeed some skywatchers object to the term supermoon, because the size differences of full moons aren’t readily discernible to the eye. That’s true. They aren’t. On the other hand, few – if any – sky gazers can tell the exact moment of a 100-percent-illuminated full moon with the eye, either. And yet astronomical almanacs give the full moon times to the minute. A photo finish to determine the winner of a contest doesn’t make the event any less exciting.

Here’s a comparison between the December 3, 2017, full moon at perigee (closest to Earth for the month) and the year’s farthest full moon in June 2017 at apogee (farthest from Earth for the month) by Muzamir Mazlan at Telok Kemang Observatory, Port Dickson, Malaysia. More photos of the December 2017 supermoon.

The full moon’s distance only changes incrementally from month to month, as we show on the listing below. For instance, a full moon that aligns with lunar apogee (the moon’s most distant point in its orbit) never precedes or follows a full moon aligning with perigee. In fact, the smallest full moon of the year on October 31, 2020, comes exactly 7 lunar months (7 full moons) after the year’s biggest full moon on April 8, 2020:

Full moon distances:

April 8, 2020: 221,851 miles (357,035 km)

May 7, 2020: 224,429 miles (361,184 km)

June 5, 2020: 229,285 miles (368,999 km)

July 5, 2020: 235,586 miles (379,140 km)

August 3, 2020: 242,254 miles (389,871 km)

September 2, 2020: 248,051 miles (399,200 km)

October 1, 2020: 251,747 miles (405,147 km)

October 31, 2020: 252,380 miles (406,166 km)

Source: The Moon Tonight

And guess what? Exactly 7 lunar months (7 full moons) after the year’s farthest and smallest full moon on October 31, 2020, it’ll be next year’s closest and largest full moon on May 26, 2021! Moreover, this May 2021 full moon will pass right through the Earth’s dark umbral shadow, to stage the first total lunar eclipse since January 21, 2019.

Here’s something fun to think about. Illustration via Phil Plait. Phil explains: “The guy at the top of the Earth in the diagram sees the moon on his horizon, and the guy on the side of the Earth sees it overhead. But you can tell the distances aren’t the same: the moon is closer to the guy who sees it as overhead (by an amount roughly equal to the Earth’s radius).” Cool!

Bottom line: Enjoy the last full moon supermoon of the year on May 6 and 7, 2020. The moon turns precisely full on May 7 at 10:45 UTC; translate UTC to your time.

Read more: What is a supermoon?

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2L13r7H

Global experts call for mental health science to combat pandemic's impacts

Emory anthropologist Carol Worthman is among 25 mental health experts who issued a call for global action on mental health science surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Carol Clark

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 infected about 8,000 people and killed hundreds. Although SARS was stamped out relatively quickly, and before it could spread globally, it left a lingering impact. One study found that most SARS survivors in two major hospitals had high levels of psychological distress a year after the outbreak.

“Just surviving the pandemic was not the end of the story,” says Carol Worthman, professor of anthropology at Emory University. “And the COVID-19 pandemic is much more pervasive than SARS. It affects everybody, worldwide. Even those who do not get COVID-19 will have to live with the fallout.”

Worthman is among 25 mental health experts who issued a call for global action on mental health science surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, recently published by The Lancet Psychiatry. In a position paper, they stress the immediate need for creating neuro-psychological databases concerning the pandemic’s impacts on brain health, mental health and overall well-being. These databases are needed to support evidence-based responses to the pandemic and to develop longer-term strategies to promote mental health and well-being.

Even as nations mobilize to treat patients, develop drugs and vaccines, and salvage economies, coordinated efforts on a similar scale are needed for mental health, Worthman says. Her research focuses on how cultural and social factors interact with human health, for better or for worse.

“We’re used to thinking about physical diseases and mental illnesses as two separate things,” Worthman says, “but the two actually go hand-in-hand. Mental illness doesn’t just affect the lives of individuals, but of those around them. And like a virus, mental illness is invisible, in a way, and can be even harder to test and screen for.” Before the pandemic, depression already ranked in the top 10 causes of poor health worldwide and had climbed to the top four health problems related to healthy years of life lost.

The impacts of the lockdowns and social isolation on the mental health of vulnerable people are among the key questions that need to be tackled in an international response to COVID-19, the experts write. Their paper also stresses the need to research the best ways to move people to follow the advice of public health messages without unduly increasing stress and anxiety.

“People are especially hurting right now, they’re suffering, and they’re looking for ways to feel better,” Worthman says. “If we don’t develop pro-social ways to help people cope now and, in the future, we’re going to be living with the consequences for a long time.”

She points out that the 1918 flu pandemic, following on top of the first world war, helped set the stage for the social disruption and sense of hopelessness that fueled political movements and nationalism leading to the second world war.

One critical need is to gather data and develop strategies to support people currently working in high-intensity, high-risk settings during the pandemic, such as healthcare workers. “Burnout and higher suicide rates among healthcare providers had already been a growing problem for years,” Worthman says.

She cites the mental health effects of massive unemployment as another critical area. “Work is a huge part of peoples’ identities, not to mention their livelihoods,” she says. “Depression, anxiety, stress and lack of control are all things that undermine resilience. What can we do to help people stay resilient when they’re losing their sense of dignity and self-worth and predictability for their futures?”

Youth and adolescent mental health is another vital area to consider, Worthman says. “Young people are having to watch a remapping of the social-economic political world and try to find their way through it. Their future is our future and they need to be part of the solution. How do we mobilize youth to help them make their future as great as possible? Do we make supporting youth as important as saving airlines and other industries?”

COVID-19 is revealing and widening existing fault lines in social, economic and political systems. “We now have the challenge and opportunity to heal those ruptures even as we seek to heal ourselves of COVID-19,” Worthman says.

Related:
The importance of puberty: A call for better research models
How family stories help children weather hard times



from eScienceCommons https://ift.tt/3fmFTYB

Emory anthropologist Carol Worthman is among 25 mental health experts who issued a call for global action on mental health science surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Carol Clark

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 infected about 8,000 people and killed hundreds. Although SARS was stamped out relatively quickly, and before it could spread globally, it left a lingering impact. One study found that most SARS survivors in two major hospitals had high levels of psychological distress a year after the outbreak.

“Just surviving the pandemic was not the end of the story,” says Carol Worthman, professor of anthropology at Emory University. “And the COVID-19 pandemic is much more pervasive than SARS. It affects everybody, worldwide. Even those who do not get COVID-19 will have to live with the fallout.”

Worthman is among 25 mental health experts who issued a call for global action on mental health science surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, recently published by The Lancet Psychiatry. In a position paper, they stress the immediate need for creating neuro-psychological databases concerning the pandemic’s impacts on brain health, mental health and overall well-being. These databases are needed to support evidence-based responses to the pandemic and to develop longer-term strategies to promote mental health and well-being.

Even as nations mobilize to treat patients, develop drugs and vaccines, and salvage economies, coordinated efforts on a similar scale are needed for mental health, Worthman says. Her research focuses on how cultural and social factors interact with human health, for better or for worse.

“We’re used to thinking about physical diseases and mental illnesses as two separate things,” Worthman says, “but the two actually go hand-in-hand. Mental illness doesn’t just affect the lives of individuals, but of those around them. And like a virus, mental illness is invisible, in a way, and can be even harder to test and screen for.” Before the pandemic, depression already ranked in the top 10 causes of poor health worldwide and had climbed to the top four health problems related to healthy years of life lost.

The impacts of the lockdowns and social isolation on the mental health of vulnerable people are among the key questions that need to be tackled in an international response to COVID-19, the experts write. Their paper also stresses the need to research the best ways to move people to follow the advice of public health messages without unduly increasing stress and anxiety.

“People are especially hurting right now, they’re suffering, and they’re looking for ways to feel better,” Worthman says. “If we don’t develop pro-social ways to help people cope now and, in the future, we’re going to be living with the consequences for a long time.”

She points out that the 1918 flu pandemic, following on top of the first world war, helped set the stage for the social disruption and sense of hopelessness that fueled political movements and nationalism leading to the second world war.

One critical need is to gather data and develop strategies to support people currently working in high-intensity, high-risk settings during the pandemic, such as healthcare workers. “Burnout and higher suicide rates among healthcare providers had already been a growing problem for years,” Worthman says.

She cites the mental health effects of massive unemployment as another critical area. “Work is a huge part of peoples’ identities, not to mention their livelihoods,” she says. “Depression, anxiety, stress and lack of control are all things that undermine resilience. What can we do to help people stay resilient when they’re losing their sense of dignity and self-worth and predictability for their futures?”

Youth and adolescent mental health is another vital area to consider, Worthman says. “Young people are having to watch a remapping of the social-economic political world and try to find their way through it. Their future is our future and they need to be part of the solution. How do we mobilize youth to help them make their future as great as possible? Do we make supporting youth as important as saving airlines and other industries?”

COVID-19 is revealing and widening existing fault lines in social, economic and political systems. “We now have the challenge and opportunity to heal those ruptures even as we seek to heal ourselves of COVID-19,” Worthman says.

Related:
The importance of puberty: A call for better research models
How family stories help children weather hard times



from eScienceCommons https://ift.tt/3fmFTYB

COVID-19: The Cancer Research UK scientists manufacturing PPE

COVID-19 is delaying cancer research and treatment. We catch up with some of the cancer researchers who are using their expertise, experience and equipment to help tackle COVID-19 and get cancer services back on track.

The shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers has been a headline issue in the UK.  

Standard PPE kit includes an apron, gloves, a surgical mask and eye protection, which is vital to the safety of those working at the front line of the coronavirus crisis and they people they’re looking after. Without it, they’re at a higher risk of catching COVID-19.

Alongside widespread COVID-19 testing, PPE is essential to protect healthcare workers and ensure cancer care can continue during the pandemic.

It’s in exceptional times like these that people across the country have been motivated to respond, doing everything from sewing scrubs and facemasks at home to donate to the NHS to volunteering to deliver medicines or food to people at risk.

We spoke to two of our scientists who are doing their bit to help COVID-19 efforts – using their expertise in 3D printing to help provide essential PPE to health workers around the country.  

Steve Bagley, Manchester: ‘I wondered how I could help’ 

The 3D printer at the Manchester Institute is being used by Steve Bagley to produce essential PPE.

Steve Bagley is a cancer scientist from our Manchester Institute. He normally works with microscopes and X-ray machinery to analyse cancer cells, but became increasingly aware of the lack of PPE for our frontline staff. “I saw that there was a need for more protective equipment for those working in the NHS, so I wondered how I could help.”   

Bagley has produced over 200 head straps.

While the Institute’s labs at Alderley Park have been temporarily closed for research, Bagley has been tasked with the job of looking after and maintaining the specialist lab equipment, including a 3D printer.  

“I’m very familiar with the 3D printer, as it’s a piece of kit we use regularly to create parts for microscopes and other lab equipment,” says Bagley. “And it occurred to me that I could use this to create plastic headbands for protective face masks.” 

Once Bagley had worked out a template, with correct dimensions for the headbands, he began a mini production line, printing the plastic headbands in the lab.  

So far, Bagley has produced over 200 protective face masks for frontline healthcare staff. The PPE will be distributed to hospitals across the North West, including The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester. 

“I really wanted to do something to support all those who are working so hard on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19. And the sooner we beat this virus, the sooner we can return to beating cancer.” 

Marcel Gehrung, Cambridge: ‘It was like a domino of requests for PPE’ 

Some of the protective visors manufactured by Marcel Gehrung.

“There is this very public discussion about the lack of personal protective equipment for different health care professionals in the NHS,” says Marcel Gehrung, a PhD student at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, investigating machine learning applications in healthcare, with a focus on medical imaging. Whilst completing his PhD in Cambridge, Gehrung co-founded Cyted, a new diagnostics company that uses artificial intelligence to detect cancers earlier.  

And it was this work that drew him into the discussions around PPE.  

The company has been involved with the commercialisation of the Cytosponge – a ‘sponge-on-a-string’ test that can detect oesophageal cancer earlier. Cytosponge was developed to help pick up Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition that can develop into oesophageal cancer, but plans were adapted in the face of  the COVID-19 outbreak. 

“We were contacted by a lot of trusts saying they don’t have endoscopy capacity anymore, and their waiting lists for people who are being referred for endoscopy are getting very long,” Gehrung explains. To help mitigate this reduction in endoscopies the Cytosponge – the test used to diagnose oesophageal conditions, such as Barrett’s oesophagus and cancer – has been piloted in Addenbrooke’s hospital as an emergency response. 

His involvement in rolling out the Cytosponge test has given him a real insight into the needs of healthcare workers. 

Gehrung and his team were asked about sourcing protective equipment by the nurses running the Cytosponge testing facility at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge. The Cytosponge test requires nurses to retrieve the device from the patient’s stomach, which sometimes involves coughing as it passes the throat, “so it is very important for the healthcare staff to have face shields”.  

After a couple of days of thinking about where they could source face masks, Gehrung took matters into his own hands. “I started talking to our Institute Director and Director of Operations and said that we could actually use the Institute’s printers to make more visors.” 

Gehrung transported the equipment, which wasn’t being used at the time, from the Institute to his home in Cambridge, and is now producing visors using multiple 3D printers in his living room.  

“So far we just have produced them on demand,” says Gehrung, “we had this domino reaction happening where people would say ‘oh yeah I need another two and I have a few colleagues who are trying to source them as well’”.   

Although it’s hard to say exactly, Gehrung estimates he’s made between 150–250 protective visors.  

Gehrung notes the importance of thinking beyond the area you’re working in to find solutions to tricky situations. “If someone talks about academia and science, they tell you it’s about vertical depth, and having maximum understanding of a topic, but breadth is very helpful for this situation, as it helps you think outside of the box.” 

Lilly

Read more:

• Marcel Gehrung- the many hats of an entrepreneur at home

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2YDDh2K

COVID-19 is delaying cancer research and treatment. We catch up with some of the cancer researchers who are using their expertise, experience and equipment to help tackle COVID-19 and get cancer services back on track.

The shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers has been a headline issue in the UK.  

Standard PPE kit includes an apron, gloves, a surgical mask and eye protection, which is vital to the safety of those working at the front line of the coronavirus crisis and they people they’re looking after. Without it, they’re at a higher risk of catching COVID-19.

Alongside widespread COVID-19 testing, PPE is essential to protect healthcare workers and ensure cancer care can continue during the pandemic.

It’s in exceptional times like these that people across the country have been motivated to respond, doing everything from sewing scrubs and facemasks at home to donate to the NHS to volunteering to deliver medicines or food to people at risk.

We spoke to two of our scientists who are doing their bit to help COVID-19 efforts – using their expertise in 3D printing to help provide essential PPE to health workers around the country.  

Steve Bagley, Manchester: ‘I wondered how I could help’ 

The 3D printer at the Manchester Institute is being used by Steve Bagley to produce essential PPE.

Steve Bagley is a cancer scientist from our Manchester Institute. He normally works with microscopes and X-ray machinery to analyse cancer cells, but became increasingly aware of the lack of PPE for our frontline staff. “I saw that there was a need for more protective equipment for those working in the NHS, so I wondered how I could help.”   

Bagley has produced over 200 head straps.

While the Institute’s labs at Alderley Park have been temporarily closed for research, Bagley has been tasked with the job of looking after and maintaining the specialist lab equipment, including a 3D printer.  

“I’m very familiar with the 3D printer, as it’s a piece of kit we use regularly to create parts for microscopes and other lab equipment,” says Bagley. “And it occurred to me that I could use this to create plastic headbands for protective face masks.” 

Once Bagley had worked out a template, with correct dimensions for the headbands, he began a mini production line, printing the plastic headbands in the lab.  

So far, Bagley has produced over 200 protective face masks for frontline healthcare staff. The PPE will be distributed to hospitals across the North West, including The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester. 

“I really wanted to do something to support all those who are working so hard on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19. And the sooner we beat this virus, the sooner we can return to beating cancer.” 

Marcel Gehrung, Cambridge: ‘It was like a domino of requests for PPE’ 

Some of the protective visors manufactured by Marcel Gehrung.

“There is this very public discussion about the lack of personal protective equipment for different health care professionals in the NHS,” says Marcel Gehrung, a PhD student at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, investigating machine learning applications in healthcare, with a focus on medical imaging. Whilst completing his PhD in Cambridge, Gehrung co-founded Cyted, a new diagnostics company that uses artificial intelligence to detect cancers earlier.  

And it was this work that drew him into the discussions around PPE.  

The company has been involved with the commercialisation of the Cytosponge – a ‘sponge-on-a-string’ test that can detect oesophageal cancer earlier. Cytosponge was developed to help pick up Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition that can develop into oesophageal cancer, but plans were adapted in the face of  the COVID-19 outbreak. 

“We were contacted by a lot of trusts saying they don’t have endoscopy capacity anymore, and their waiting lists for people who are being referred for endoscopy are getting very long,” Gehrung explains. To help mitigate this reduction in endoscopies the Cytosponge – the test used to diagnose oesophageal conditions, such as Barrett’s oesophagus and cancer – has been piloted in Addenbrooke’s hospital as an emergency response. 

His involvement in rolling out the Cytosponge test has given him a real insight into the needs of healthcare workers. 

Gehrung and his team were asked about sourcing protective equipment by the nurses running the Cytosponge testing facility at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge. The Cytosponge test requires nurses to retrieve the device from the patient’s stomach, which sometimes involves coughing as it passes the throat, “so it is very important for the healthcare staff to have face shields”.  

After a couple of days of thinking about where they could source face masks, Gehrung took matters into his own hands. “I started talking to our Institute Director and Director of Operations and said that we could actually use the Institute’s printers to make more visors.” 

Gehrung transported the equipment, which wasn’t being used at the time, from the Institute to his home in Cambridge, and is now producing visors using multiple 3D printers in his living room.  

“So far we just have produced them on demand,” says Gehrung, “we had this domino reaction happening where people would say ‘oh yeah I need another two and I have a few colleagues who are trying to source them as well’”.   

Although it’s hard to say exactly, Gehrung estimates he’s made between 150–250 protective visors.  

Gehrung notes the importance of thinking beyond the area you’re working in to find solutions to tricky situations. “If someone talks about academia and science, they tell you it’s about vertical depth, and having maximum understanding of a topic, but breadth is very helpful for this situation, as it helps you think outside of the box.” 

Lilly

Read more:

• Marcel Gehrung- the many hats of an entrepreneur at home

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2YDDh2K