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Researches found that wrist-worn health devices can be combined with machine learning to detect COVID-19 infections as early as two days before symptoms appear, and this could open the door to applying the use of wearable health tech for the early detection of other infectious diseases. Wrist-worn health devices can be combined with machine learning to detect COVID-19 infections as early as two days before symptoms appear, McMaster researcher David Conen and a team of experts from across Europe have determined. The COVI-GAPP study, born out of a larger research project based in Lichtenstein, was conducted by researchers from McMaster, the Dr. Risch Medical Laboratory, the University of Basel in Switzerland and Imperial College London. Based on the team’s findings, which were published last month in BMJ Open , another group of researchers have begun a larger study, which could open the door to applying the use of wearable health tech for the early detection of other infectious diseases....

A 55-year-old Oregon man will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his 3-year-old biological son and the boy’s 25-year-old mother three years ago. A state judge on Wednesday ordered Michael John Wolfe to serve a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murders of Karissa Alyn Fretwell and young William “Billy” Fretwell, Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry confirmed to Law&Crime. Wolfe last month admitted to the double murder, pleading guilty to one count of aggravated murder in Billy’s death and one count of murder in the second degree constituting domestic violence in Karissa’s death. According to Berry, Oregon Circuit Court Judge Eric J. Bergstrom sentenced Wolfe to life with the possibility for parole in 30 years for the aggravated murder charge and life with the possibility for parole in 25 years for the second-degree murder charge. The sentences will run concurrently. In exchange for pleading guilty, prosecutors took the d...

The acting police chief on the day of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas has been placed on administrative leave amid review of law enforcement's response to the tragedy. Lt. Mariano Pargas' suspension was announced Sunday by Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, The Texas Tribune reported. According to the Austin-American Statesman, officials did not disclose if the leave would be paid. The Uvalde Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. The announcement followed the Sunday release of a 77-page report by a Texas House Investigative Committee reviewing the actions taken by law enforcement on May 24, when it took officers 77 minutes to confront a gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers. One of the revelations made in the report was that the police response disregarded its own active shooting training. "They failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety," the document said. ...

Political correctness in the workplace is a prominent and controversial topic in the United States. But surprisingly little research has examined the consequences of engaging in self-censorship to avoid marginalizing or offending others. According to new findings published in the Journal of Applied Psychology , people are motivated to be politically correct out of a sense of kindness and consideration for their coworkers, but being politically correct can also lead to mental fatigue. The new research represents one of the first attempts to systematically investigate the topic. “Our interest in this topic stemmed from the fact that the modern workplace has become quite diverse in both observable and non-observable ways. This is important and something that should be celebrated, as increasing diversity comes with numerous benefits to individuals, organizations, and society,” explained study authors Joel Koopman , the TJ Barlow Professor of Business Administration at Texas A&M, and Kl...

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” So says Hamlet to his school chum after a chilling encounter with a ghost. The line went through my mind as I looked at the first image released by NASA from the James Webb Space Telescope , the marvel of engineering and audacity recently parked and unfolded in an orbit roughly 1 million miles from home. Operating so far away gives the Webb supersensitivity to infrared light that cannot be seen by the human eye. It can see much, much farther than the low-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope . And because light travels at a constant speed, seeing farther in distance is the same as looking more deeply back in time. The image is a picture from 4.6 billion years ago. This is only the first of many mind-boggling concepts contained in the spellbinding frame. A pitch-black background is speckled with thousands of distinct lights, some starlike in their brilliance, others smudgy, and still others smaller...

Amazon has an internal team developing cancer vaccines, in partnership with the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and the initiative is currently recruiting patients to participate in an FDA-approved clinical trial, Insider has learned. The clinical test aims to develop personalized vaccines for treatment of breast cancer and a form of skin cancer called melanoma, according to a public filing and people familiar with the efforts. If successful, the new vaccine would offer a more personalized, precise cancer treatment at a more affordable price, becoming a better alternative to chemotherapy, which takes a more generalized, one-size-fits-all approach. Amazon and Fred Hutchinson first shared information about the test in late October, according to a summary posted on Clinicaltrials.gov, an online database of clinical studies run by the US National Library of Medicine. The actual study start date was June 9, 2022 and the estimated primary completion date of the trial is Novembe...

A 10-year-old Virginia girl was physically assaulted by a strange man as she walked her dog through her quiet neighborhood one afternoon. The would-be kidnapper had no idea the canine was quite capable of having the child’s back, but he was about to learn the hard way. The unnamed 10-year-old Woodbridge girl was walking a dog through the Prince William County neighborhood at a little before 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon when she found herself in a nightmare scenario. While on the 1800 block of Heather Glen Court, as people were arriving home from work, the child was approached by a stranger. In broad daylight, the man grabbed the girl by the arm, attempting to abduct her. Luckily, the child wasn’t alone, and the horror that had begun to unfold was quickly ended. According to Prince William County police, the child’s faithful companion decided to step in and defend her. Stock image for visual representation only. (Photo Credit: Pixabay) Before the would-be abductor could make off with th...

A new anti-hangover supplement has just gone on sale in the UK. It is marketed by Swedish firm Myrkl as “the pre-drinking pill that works”. The pill is said to break down up to 70% of alcohol after 60 minutes. This means that if someone drinks 50ml of 40% spirits, which contains 20ml of pure alcohol, as little as 6ml of the alcohol will enter the bloodstream. This is the same as the person only drinking 15ml of spirits. This reduction in the amount of alcohol absorbed by the body is mirrored by a reduction in the short-term effects of alcohol, such as euphoria and reduced anxiety. The company that makes this supplement recommends that two pills are taken one to 12 hours before drinking alcohol. The probiotic supplement contains two gut-friendly bacteria – Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans – produced from fermented rice bran. These bacteria naturally break down alcohol into water and carbon dioxide. An acid-resistant capsule protects the bacteria from the stomach’s natural acids...