Without intervention, a large outbreak of monkeypox with over 10,000 cases among MSM is highly likely
Sexual networks among men who have sex with men (MSM) are not different in nature from those of other groups, Lilith Whittles, an infectious disease modeller at Imperial College London, stresses, but a core group of people are much more densely connected than people outside the MSM community. They change...
New study links rapid spread of monkeypox to highly interconnected sexual networks in gay community
Ever since monkeypox started to sicken thousands of people worldwide this spring, two big questions have loomed: Why is a virus that has never managed to spread beyond a few cases outside Africa suddenly causing such a big, global outbreak? And why are the overwhelming majority of those affected men...
How aging and changes in sexual organs affect intimacy and available medical support – report
Research conducted by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) says the normal aging process brings about changes that may affect sex. It says the sexual organs change with age. In females, the vagina may become narrower, with less lubrication. Menopause may also affect sexual desire. In males, erectile problems may...
During a tour of Russia, American musicians were tailed by Soviet agents and repeatedly questioned
While someone could technically have played the code as music, it would have sounded less like a tune and more like a cat walking across piano keys, says American saxophonist Merry Goldberg, who duped Russian spies with musical codes. “I picked a note to start, and then I created the...
Espionage: How an American saxophonist hoodwinked Russian spies by encrypting secrets in music
In 1985, saxophonist Merryl Goldberg found herself on a plane to Moscow with three fellow musicians from the Boston Klezmer Conservatory Band. She had carefully packed sheet music, reeds and other woodwind supplies, along with a soprano saxophone, to bring into the USSR. But one of her spiral-bound notebooks, lined...
How biometrics is evolving from fingerprints to the way you walk, patterns of veins in your wrist and replace passwords
For more than 100 years, recording people’s fingerprints has involved them pressing their fingertips against a surface. Originally this involved ink but has since moved to sensors embedded in scanners at airports and phone screens. The next stage of fingerprinting doesn’t involve touching anything at all. So-called contactless fingerprinting technology...
Mental healthcare consumes significant portion of health budgets in Syria and Jordan, experts say
With over a decade of conflict in Syria, and the Ukrainian war overshadowing crises in the Middle East, international assistance is being cut and humanitarian programmes are shutting down. Mental healthcare in Jordan is already underfunded in the public sector, too. Experts say less than two per cent of the...
‘Amman is a prison’: How and why many young Syrian and Jordanian refugees are committing suicide
Adam Jawad escaped Iraq with his family following the US-led invasion in 2003, living in Syria until war forced him to flee again a decade later, this time to Jordan, where he eked out a living doing odd jobs and working at a cultural centre in the capital, Amman. Jawad...
Social vulnerability: Don’t try to be everything to everyone or to catch every ball that is thrown at you
It’s not healthy or productive, for instance, to try to be everything to everyone – letting in every piece of input or criticism you receive, and believing it – and allowing it to pierce your heart. In other words, “You don’t have to catch every ball that is thrown at...
Scientists say they are making headway in getting to know how Covid supresses sense of smell
Researchers are finally making headway in understanding how the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causes loss of smell. And a multitude of potential treatments to tackle the condition are undergoing clinical trials, including steroids and blood plasma. Once a tell-tale sign of Covid-19, smell disruption is becoming less common as the virus evolves....
