Category Archives: Transhuman News

The first human trials of a designed-in-Canada Ebola vaccine suggest it is safe and triggers a rapid immune response, studies published Wednesday reveal.

The work, based on six different clinical trials in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Gabon and Kenya, found the vaccine quickly generates antibodies in people who receive it. Whether those antibodies protect against infection remains to be seen, but early evidence suggests that is a strong possibility.

The vaccine is called rVSV-ZEBOV and was designed by scientists at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, part of the Public Health Agency of Canada. It is being developed by U.S. biotech NewLink Genetics and pharma giant Merck.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the research describes Phase 1 clinical trials and shows for the first time what happens when this vaccine is given to a number of people.

Phase 1 trials are designed to show if an experimental product is safe and to help determine what an appropriate dose should be. They are too small to answer the question: Does this vaccine work?

It is hoped the answer will come from larger Phase 3 trials currently underway in West Africa.

The research, grouped into two reports, shows people who received the vaccine started to generate antibodies quickly. That is an attractive feature in a vaccine that would be used to quell future Ebola outbreaks, if it makes it through the licensing process.

There were pretty positive signals of immunogenicity at 14 days post vaccination across both of the (vaccine) doses that are reported, said Col. Stephen Thomas, a senior author of the article describing the findings of the two U.S. trials. Those two trials were conducted at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, both located in Bethesda, Md.

By Day 28, all the vaccinated volunteers had shown an antibody response.

The article reporting on data from the European and African trials revealed that blood from vaccinated subjects contained antibodies that neutralized or killed Ebola virus a finding that adds weight to the belief that this vaccine should protect against infection.

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First human studies promising for made-in-Canada Ebola vaccine

Mighty Box is a game design studio from Malta. The team has taken the development of Posthuman as far as their resources will allow, spending countless hours playtesting the game, polishing the artwork and refining the design. They have teamed up with the folks at Mr. B. Games to help with the production, shipping, fulfillment and distribution, but need your help to fund the actual printing of the game. We have lots of plans for expansion possibilities, and we feel Kickstarter is the perfect platform to realize the full potential of this game.

In Posthuman you play as one of the last human survivors in a world where nature is reclaiming the planet and our mutated offspring are working to eradicate us. Will you resist mutation and survive, or give in to the inevitable and join the mutants?

In the game, players start off as humans on a solitary journey to a rumored fortress harbouring a community of humans. To reach the fortress the players need to complete ten zones successfully. These zones are found on tiles of varying terrain that are drawn by the players as they explore the world. On their travels the players have the opportunity to meet other human players to trade items and use beneficial skills on each other. They will also encounter randomly drawn mutant adversaries and be assailed by players who have switched to the mutant side. Encounters with mutants may inflict scars, and the more scars players have, the closer they will be to mutating and switching sides. Will they strive to cling to their humanity and make a run for the fortress, thus winning the game? Or will they give in to the ever more tempting mutation, join the mutants, and deny the win from the rest of the humans?

Want to know more about how Posthuman works? Check out these in depth previews!

First up is a preview courtesy of The Undead Viking!

Next we have a 3 part preview from Rahdo! Below is part 1.

Part 2 - The Extended Gameplay from Rahdo.

Part 3 - Final Thoughts from Rahdo!

Big thanks to both of these fine gentlemen for their efforts!

More stuff for the Defiant Expansion!!

Go here to read the rest:
Posthuman by Mr. B. Games Kickstarter

It's not just people who love the food in New York City. So do certain ants.

The most common species of ant found on the pavements of New York City and in cities around the world has a taste for human food more than other ant species found primarily in parks and other green spaces, a study says.

"The ants that live alongside us in our cities also seem to be those same species that can eat the same food that we do, and do so the most," said Clint Penick, a post-doctoral fellow at North Carolina State University and lead researcher of the study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The researchers gathered up samples of more than 20 species of ants from the sidewalks, medians and parks of Manhattan, and tested them to see how much of a particular carbon isotope was in their bodies. That isotope is linked to corn and sugar cane found in much of what people eat, from meat to junk food. Researchers determined that ants eating more human food would have higher isotope levels.

The ant with the highest levels was the pavement ant, Tetramorium species e, which researchers said is the predominant ant on city sidewalks and medians. Among the samples, ants that were from park areas had lower isotope levels than ants that were taken from street medians.

Eating human food could be an advantage for the pavement ants, allowing them to thrive in areas where their natural diet of dead insects and things might not be so prevalent, Penick said.

"Humans bring a ton of general resources," he said. "The species that can take advantage of these resources the best, sort of wins."

Penick said further research would look into whether the ants have a preference for human food even if their natural food sources are available.

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Study: Some Ants Have More Taste for Human Food Than Others