Science

Watch live: SpaceX is launching a new Starship rocket prototype. The last 2 attempts ended in explosions.

SpaceX's Starship SN9 prototype failed to ignite one of its engines upon landing, so it slammed into the ground and exploded on February 2, 2021. Left: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters; Right: SPadre.com SpaceX plans to launch a new Starship rocket prototype tens of thousands of feet into the air on Wednesday. Elon Musk estimated a 60% chance of a successful landing. The last two prototypes blew up. Watch live feeds of the flight attempt below. Visit the Business section of Insider for more s...
Tags: Transportation, Spacex, Elon Musk, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Earth, Cnn, Spaceships, Mars, Faa, Rocket Launch, Federal Aviation Administration, Musk, South Padre Island

Watch live: SpaceX is about to reattempt a high-altitude flight of its Starship rocket. The last 2 prototypes blew up.

SpaceX's Starship SN9 prototype failed to ignite one of its engines upon landing, so it slammed into the ground and exploded on February 2, 2021. Left: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters; Right: SPadre.com SpaceX is preparing to launch its newest Starship prototype tens of thousands of feet into the air on Wednesday. Elon Musk estimated a 60% chance of a successful landing. The last two prototypes blew up. Watch live feeds of the flight attempt below. Visit the Business section of Insider for m...
Tags: Transportation, Spacex, Elon Musk, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Earth, Cnn, Spaceships, Mars, Faa, Rocket Launch, Federal Aviation Administration, Musk, South Padre Island

SpaceX is about to reattempt a high-altitude flight of its Starship rocket. The last 2 prototypes blew up.

SpaceX's Starship SN9 prototype failed to ignite one of its engines upon landing, so it slammed into the ground and exploded on February 2, 2021. Left: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters; Right: SPadre.com SpaceX is set to launch its newest Starship prototype tens of thousands of feet into the air as early as this week. Elon Musk estimated a 60% chance of a successful landing. The last two prototypes blew up. The launch window is fluid, so we will update this post once SpaceX confirms a planned...
Tags: Transportation, Spacex, Elon Musk, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Earth, Cnn, Spaceships, Mars, Faa, Rocket Launch, Federal Aviation Administration, Musk, Hannibal Hanschke Reuters

People in France, Germany, and the UK are turning down the AstraZeneca vaccine because they want the Pfizer one instead, reports say

A box containing vials of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on the start of a vaccination campaign for health workers in France on February 6. ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images During vaccine rollouts in France, Germany, and the UK, some are insisting on a particular shot.  In Europe, officials are struggling to give out AstraZeneca's jab, and cite concerns about performance.  In the UK, reports are mixed. The Washington Post suggested that some prefer the AstraZeneca vaccine, calling it t...
Tags: Europe, Post, UK, Science, London, Sweden, Washington Post, France, Germany, Berlin, Israel, Trends, Bbc, Austria, Britain, Italy

Kids represent a small fraction of overall COVID-19 deaths in the US but 75% of them are children of color

A temperature check is taken as students return to St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, California on November 16, 2020. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images There have been fewer than 250 children who have died from the coronavirus.  More than three-quarters of the deaths were in children of color.  Overall, kids make up about 13% of the coronavirus cases in the US.  Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories. Children make up a small percentage of the overall COVID-19 d...
Tags: Post, Science, Washington Post, Cdc, US, Trends, Alaska, Npr, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, University Of Michigan, Frederic J Brown, La Puente California, Preeti Malani, Coronavirus, Sarah Al Arshani, Kimora Kimmie Lynum

The world has lost 20.5 million years of life because of premature COVID-19 deaths, a new study found

Aracely Iraheta touches the casket of her husband, Jose Agustin Iraheta, who died from COVID-19 in Malden, Massachusetts. More than 20.5 million years of life may have been lost globally due to COVID-19, a new study found. To calculate years of life lost, researchers compared the ages of people who died of COVID-19 to their average life expectancy. People older than 75 represent one-quarter of the years of life lost to the pandemic, the study found. Men have lost more years than women. V...
Tags: UK, Science, News, Washington Post, US, Trends, Canada, Finland, Peru, Life Expectancy, Mortality, Afp, Lisbon Portugal, Scientific Reports, Tarzana California, Silver Spring Maryland

Texas winter storms brought such unusual cold that it confused the weather satellites

An image generated by the GOES-East weather satellite on February 16, 2021. The purple area is meant to show cloud cover, as on the left of the image, but instead shows the unusually frigid ground. College of DuPage/Insider The cold snap in Texas is so severe that it tricked a weather satellite into malfunctioning..  The GOES-East satellite mistook the ground in Texas for clouds because it was so cold. The glitch is a reminder of the extremity of the weather in the South, which has led to ...
Tags: Weather, Texas, Science, Cold, Washington Post, US, Trends, Joe Biden, Canada, South Dakota, News UK, Arctic, Satellite Images, South, Sioux Falls, Rochester New York

New daily COVID-19 cases in the US just hit their lowest levels since October

Emergency room nurse David Wilson receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, right, looks on outside the Chatham County Health Department on December 15, 2020 in Savannah, Georgia. Sean Rayford/Getty Images On Monday, the US reported the lowest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases since October.  Experts say falling rates may be due to social distancing, seasonal virus patterns, or dips in testing.  "We're nowhere out of the woods," former CDC ...
Tags: Science, Washington Post, Cdc, US, Trends, Georgia, Cnn, Forbes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, Tom Frieden, David Wilson, Johns Hopkins University, Frieden, Savannah Georgia, Brian Kemp, Sean Rayford Getty

Hair salons, dentist offices, and assisted living facilities are passing the costs of PPE and cleaning supplies on to customers, report says

There have been 510 complaints across 29 states over coronavirus-related charges at dentist offices, senior living facilities, hair salons, and restaurants, the Post reported. skaman306/Getty. Images Businesses like hair salons, dentist offices, and care homes are charging customers "Covid-19" fees.  The fees — which range from $5 to over $1,000 — are meant to cover the cost of cleaning and PPE. Covid-19 is not an excuse to "impose unauthorized costs" on customers, Michigan AG Dana Nessel ...
Tags: Post, Science, Washington Post, Trends, New York Times, The Times, Retail, Michigan, Times, American Medical Association, Michigan AG, American Dental Association, Dana Nessel, Nessel, Coronavirus, Sarah Al Arshani

The rich are gaming the system to get COVID-19 vaccines using hefty donations and cozy relationships with CEOs

Samantha Lee/Insider The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in America has been a discombobulated mess. The rich have taken advantage of these loopholes, using money and connections to jump the line. Low-income people and communities of color have been left behind, despite higher rates of COVID-19. If you have a story about tactics wealthy Americans are using to get a COVID-19 vaccine, email reporters Allana Akhtar and Julia Naftulin. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. In Florida, nursing h...
Tags: Health, Florida, New York, Science, Kim Kardashian, Washington Post, New York City, US, America, Los Angeles, Trends, Wealth, Analysis, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Cbs

Elon Musk blasted the FAA for canceling SpaceX's Starship flight following a reported launch license violation

Elon Musk, the founder, CEO, and chief designer of SpaceX. Susan Walsh/AP SpaceX was ready to attempt a Starship rocket test flight on Thursday, but it couldn't get clearance from the FAA. Elon Musk criticized the agency on Twitter, saying that with its rules "humanity will never get to Mars," but the FAA told Insider it was working with SpaceX to "resolve outstanding safety issues."  On Friday, The Verge reported the hold-up may be related to a launch-license violation with the first high...
Tags: Transportation, Twitter, Space, Spacex, Elon Musk, Texas, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Ars Technica, Earth, Mars, Faa, Spaceflight, Rocket Launch

A Baltimore man has the coronavirus variant found in South Africa - the 3rd confirmed US case. He 'likely' caught it locally, the state governor said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images Maryland officials said a Baltimore man caught the coronavirus variant first found in South Africa. The man had not traveled abroad and likely caught the variant locally, said Maryland's governor. The mutant variant is more contagious, but not thought to be more deadly.  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The US has identified its third case of the more contagious coronavirus variant fou...
Tags: Health, UK, Science, News, Maryland, Washington Post, Africa, US, Trends, Joe Biden, South Africa, Brazil, Pfizer, Baltimore, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, South Carolina

As Michigan hospitals reach capacity, restaurants rebel against coronavirus orders and remain open

FILE PHOTO: Restaurants reopen in Michigan Reuters At least 60 Michigan restaurants are defying state orders and remaining open for indoor dining.  Owners said they don't believe public health warnings about the dangers of coronavirus, The Washington Post reported. Many say they can't afford to operate without indoor dining.  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Some restaurants in Michigan are refusing to abide by state-mandated measures to quell the spread of the coronavir...
Tags: Post, Politics, Science, Washington Post, Restaurants, Trends, Michigan, Lansing, Detroit News, Sparrow, Sparrow Hospital, Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer, Vierling, Koloski, Coronavirus

Seattle health workers raced to inject 1,600 coronavirus vaccine doses in the middle of the night to whomever they could find after a freezer failed

Dado Ruvic/Reuters A freezer mishap resulted in a frantic effort to administer more than 1,600 vaccines overnight in Seattle, The Washington Post reported. Hundreds of people stood in the street in their robes and pajamas after Seattle's Swedish Health Services tweeted at 11 p.m. that it had vaccines that were about to expire within hours. Workers administered all the shots on time, and no doses went to waste. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Staff and volunteers at a S...
Tags: Post, Science, Nbc, Washington Post, Oregon, Kaiser Permanente, Trends, Vaccines, Seattle, King, Brooks, Kevin Brooks, KING TV, Brackett, UW Medicine, Coronavirus

The US is finally joining the push for global vaccine access. It's almost certainly not going to be enough.

A health worker prepares a syringe before applying it to the patient during a vaccination drill in Bogota, Colombia, in January 2021. Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images President Biden committed the US to COVAX, the scheme to help poorer nations get vaccines. But the project is already struggling, and the details of the US contribution are vague. Experts see the scheme as the bare minimum, that will leave deep inequality even if it works. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. As ...
Tags: Politics, Science, London, Washington Post, US, Trends, Joe Biden, Getty Images, Canada, News UK, Who, World Health Organization, Geneva, University of Pennsylvania, Pfizer, Biden

Elon Musk blasted the FAA for canceling a Starship test flight as the agency reportedly probes launch license violation

Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002. PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images SpaceX was ready to attempt a Starship rocket test flight on Thursday, but it couldn't get clearance from the FAA. Elon Musk criticized the agency on Twitter, saying that with its rules "humanity will never get to Mars," but the FAA told Insider it was working with SpaceX to "resolve outstanding safety issues."  On Friday, The Verge reported the hold-up may be related to the first high-altitude Starship flight, whic...
Tags: Transportation, Twitter, Space, Spacex, Elon Musk, Texas, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Ars Technica, Earth, Mars, Faa, Spaceflight, Rocket Launch

Elon Musk blasted the FAA for canceling a Starship test flight as the agency reportedly probes a SpaceX launch license violation

Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002. PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images SpaceX was ready to attempt a Starship rocket test flight on Thursday, but it couldn't get clearance from the FAA. Elon Musk criticized the agency on Twitter, saying that with its rules "humanity will never get to Mars," but the FAA told Insider it was working with SpaceX to "resolve outstanding safety issues."  On Friday, The Verge reported the hold-up may be related to the first high-altitude Starship flight, whic...
Tags: Transportation, Twitter, Space, Spacex, Elon Musk, Texas, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Ars Technica, Earth, Mars, Faa, Spaceflight, Rocket Launch

US officials increased COVID-19 risk when they were ill-prepared to meet first batch of US evacuees from Wuhan, watchdog says

Personnel in biological hazard suits await passengers evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of a growing outbreak of the deadly 2019 Novel Coronavirus shortly after the plane landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California on January 29, 2020. Getty Images US health officials did not take appropriate infectious disease management steps when they met the first batch of evacuees from Wuhan last year, The Washington Post reported.  The findings arose from investigation...
Tags: Post, Politics, Science, Washington Post, US, Trends, Joe Biden, Wuhan, Sen Dianne Feinstein, HHS, Department of Health and Human Services, Riverside California, The Post, Riverside County California, Office of Special Counsel, Henry Kerner

Elon Musk blasted the FAA for canceling a Starship test launch, but the agency said 'outstanding safety issues' were at play

Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002. PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images SpaceX was ready to attempt a Starship rocket test flight on Thursday, but it couldn't get clearance from the FAA. Elon Musk criticized the agency on Twitter, saying that with its rules "humanity will never get to Mars." However, the FAA told Insider it was working with SpaceX to "resolve outstanding safety issues."  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. SpaceX was ready to launch its latest prototype ...
Tags: Transportation, Twitter, Space, Spacex, Elon Musk, Texas, Science, News, Washington Post, Trends, Ars Technica, Earth, Mars, Faa, Spaceflight, Rocket Launch

Moderna is working on a new version of its COVID-19 shot designed to fight the South African variant

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is one of two that have been authorized for emergency use to fight the pandemic across the US. The other vaccine available is from Pfizer. Radek Mica /AFP via Getty Images Moderna said its current coronavirus shot can probably protect people against variants of the disease first found in South Africa and the UK. But the shot showed lower levels of antibodies in lab testing against the South African variant.  Moderna is now developing a new version of its vacc...
Tags: UK, Science, Washington Post, Massachusetts, Nbc News, US, Trends, South Africa, Healthcare, Biotech, Anthony Fauci, Polaroid, Fauci, US National Institutes of Health, Breaking, Moderna

First known US case of highly transmissible mutated coronavirus strain from Brazil reported in Minnesota

A North Dakota resident seals a self-administered COVID-19 saliva test sample at a testing site inside the former Thomas Edison Elementary School, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues in Moorhead, Minnesota, U.S., October 25, 2020. Bing Guan/Reuters The first known US case of a coronavirus variant from Brazil was reported in Minnesota on Monday. The new strain P.1, is another mutation of SARS-CoV-2 to be detected in the US, alongside a strain originating from the UK.  T...
Tags: UK, Science, News, Minnesota, Washington Post, US, Trends, South Africa, North Dakota, Brazil, Manaus, Malcolm, Moorhead Minnesota, MDH, Minnesota Department of Health MDH, Jan Malcolm

The US is seeing the consequences of the coronavirus' relatively unchecked spread. 3 people who supported that strategy now say they never did.

Hospital workers process COVID-19 specimens in the lab at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts on November 11, 2020. Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images The US's horrifying winter coronavirus surge offers a peek at the consequences of a no-lockdown, mass-infection approach. Some public figures — including Elon Musk and Scott Atlas — have advocated for protecting vulnerable people while encouraging everyone else to resume life as normal. Now they're either silent, de...
Tags: Elon Musk, Science, News, Sweden, California, Washington Post, White House, US, America, Trends, Georgia, Atlas, Washington Dc, New York Times, Finland, World Health Organization

Fauci says serving in the Trump administration was 'somewhat awkward'

President Donald Trump listens to Dr. Anthony Fauci at a press briefing. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Anthony Fauci told the Harvard Business Review that his experience serving in the Trump administration was "somewhat awkward." "It's not a happy day when you have to get up in front of national TV and contradict something that the President of the United States says," Fauci said. Trump has repeatedly undermined Fauci's assessments and guidance about the coronavirus pandemic.  Visit Business Insid...
Tags: Politics, Science, Washington Post, Washington, White House, Politico, US, Trends, Joe Biden, Ap, Cnn, Atlantic, United States, Ronald Reagan, US Senate, National Institutes of Health

Why America's vaccine rollout was a total disaster - and what it means for the next few months

Business Insider Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Samantha Lee/Insider The US developed coronavirus vaccines in record time last year. But the process of getting those shots into people's arms is going horrendously slow, just as more Americans are dying from the virus than ever before. The blame lies with a president who either forgot — or didn't care enough — to finish off the country's vaccination plan, setting the US on the back foot. There are promising signs that this vaccine drive ...
Tags: Facebook, Florida, New York, Texas, Science, News, Washington Post, Cdc, Washington, Oregon, White House, New York City, Brown University, Israel, US, Alabama

The US screwed up its vaccine roll out in part because it was too choosy about who should get shots first

A frontline healthcare worker receives a Moderna COVID-19 vaccination at the Park County Health Departments storefront clinic on January 5, 2021 in Livingston, Montana. Photo by William Campbell/Getty Images The US has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccinations per capita rates in the world. Israel has the best. Israel chose to prioritize its elderly. The US, by contrast, rolled out its doses using a complicated priority tier system based, in part, on people's employment. In order to fix the ...
Tags: Health, Florida, Texas, Science, News, Washington Post, Cdc, White House, Israel, US, San Francisco, West Virginia, Trends, Bloomberg, North Dakota, Astrazeneca

Get your COVID-19 vaccine at a New Jersey mall or Disneyland. Here are 15 places across the country that have transformed into mass vaccination sites.

A half-dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine initially could mean we have double the number doses available when it's approved by regulators. Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool via AP Disneyland Resort, a New Jersey mall, convention centers, and sports stadiums are opening their doors to the public as mass vaccination sites. Here are some of the locations across the country that are shifting their focus and opening up for the public-health effort.  Visit Business Insider's homepage for mo...
Tags: Health, Science, California, Washington Post, New York City, Trends, Chicago, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Healthcare, Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, Houston, Syracuse, Disneyland, Detroit

There are no extra COVID-19 vaccines doses left to send to states, despite Trump's health officials promising to release more 3 days ago

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Portage, Michigan on Sunday, December 13, 2020. AP/Morry Gash/Pool Federal officials promised earlier this week to stop stockpiling second doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, and instead use them to get more people their first shots. That statement prompted many states to open up vaccine distribution to a wider swath of the public thi...
Tags: Post, Science, News, Abc, Washington Post, Washington, Massachusetts, Brown University, America, Trends, Public Health, Connecticut, Pfizer, Biden, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, Trump

Oregon's governor blasts Operation Warp Speed, accusing the Trump administration of 'deception on a national scale' over lack of coronavirus vaccine reserve

President Donald Trump speaks during an "Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit" on the White House complex, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Washington. AP Photo/Evan Vucci Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown accused the federal government's coronavirus vaccine rollout of "deception on a national scale."  Trump's health secretary said Tuesday that Operation Warp Speed would start shipping out vaccine doses that were being held in reserve. But there are actually no extra doses in reserve, leaving stat...
Tags: Health, Politics, Science, Washington Post, Washington, Oregon, White House, US, Trends, Joe Biden, Healthcare, Food And Drug Administration, Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Health And Human Services

Florida is becoming a vaccine tourism destination as foreigners and out-of-staters head there to get a COVID-19 shot

Elderly Florida residents have dealt with long lines and wait times during the vaccine rollout. Octavio Jones/Getty Images Florida is offering COVID-19 vaccines to adults aged 65 and up, and it's not requiring proof of residency. Some part-time residents and well-connected people from out of state are flying south to get their shots. The governor discouraged vaccine tourism, but he said it's OK for out-of-staters who winter in Florida to get vaccinated. Visit Business Insider's homepage fo...
Tags: Florida, New York, Science, News, Washington Post, New York City, Trends, David, Canada, Tourism, New Jersey, Healthcare, Argentina, Miami, Vaccine, Firestone

Americans have been escaping to Mexico to avoid COVID-19 restrictions back home. Now, Mexico is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases.

A beach in Cancun, Mexico, on December 29, 2020. Alberto Valdez / Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media via Getty Images (edited) Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been flocking to Mexico either on vacation or to settle, according to multiple reports. In November, more than half a million Americans traveled to Mexico, The New York Times reported. The influx of Americans has been partly due to the relaxed restrictions at the Mexican border: while many countries require proof of a negat...
Tags: Travel, Post, Science, Washington Post, Mexico, US, Trends, Getty Images, New York Times, Mexico City, News UK, Npr, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, Cancun