China

550 Million Chinese Traveling In Biggest Holiday Since COVID-19 48

hackingbear shares a report from CNN: As October 1 arrives, hundreds of millions of people in China are expected to pack highways, trains and planes for the National Day holiday, one of the busiest times for travel in the world's most populous country. In a sign of the government's confidence in keeping the virus under control, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that domestic travels can be arranged "as normal" for the upcoming holiday, given all cities in mainland China are marked as low risk for the coronavirus. The expected 550 million trips during the 8-day holiday will be a much-awaited boost to Chinese economic recovery. "I think China has (the virus) under pretty good control," said a 29-year-old traveler flew from Guangzhou to Shanghai. "I'm wearing masks and bringing alcohol wipes with me to clean my hands, especially before eating -- although in Shanghai, few people wear masks now." More than eight months on, China's restrictions on domestic movement have all been lifted. Officially, some cities still require passengers to produce a green health code on their smartphones at train stations and airports to show they're safe to travel, but implementation can be lax in practice. China has not reported any locally transmitted symptomatic case since mid-August, and is rigorously screening overseas arrivals and workers at risk of exposure to the virus. In other coronavirus-related news, vaccine trial participants are reporting day-long exhaustion, fever and headaches -- but say it's worth it. Slashdot reader gollum123 shares a report from CNBC: Luke Hutchison woke up in the middle of the night with chills and a fever after taking the Covid-19 booster shot in Moderna's vaccine trial. Another coronavirus vaccine trial participant, testing Pfizer's candidate, similarly woke up with chills, shaking so hard he cracked a tooth after taking the second dose. High fever, body aches, bad headaches and exhaustion are just some of the symptoms five participants in two of the leading coronavirus vaccine trials say they felt after receiving the shots. While the symptoms were uncomfortable, and at times intense, they often went away after a day, sometimes sooner, according to three participants in the Moderna trial and one in Pfizer's as well as a person close to another participant in Moderna's trial. Hutchison said he's concerned that the pharmaceutical manufacturers have not sufficiently informed the public about potential side effects. If the vaccines are approved, he fears, it might cause a widespread backlash if word spreads, which is why he decided to go public now.
Medicine

Professor Kevin Fu Answers Your Questions About Medical Device Security 21

Almost a year ago you had a chance to ask professor Kevin Fu about medical device security. A number of events (including the collapse of his house) conspired to delay the answering of those questions. Professor Fu has finally found respite from calamity, coincidentally at a time when the FDA has issued guidance on the security of medical devices. Below you'll find his answers to your old but not forgotten questions.

Virtual Worlds and ESP 310

Yesterday's post about an experiment using virtual worlds in an attempt to investigate the possibility of telepathic ability elicited nearly 400 comments from readers who had points to raise about experimental design, skepticism and credulity, and quantum mechanics. Read on for the Backslash summary of the discussion.
Books

Everything and More 290

Chris Cowell-Shah writes "If David Foster Wallace can't explain infinity to us, nobody can. At least, that's what I told myself while anxiously waiting for his Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity. The book promised to be an intellectual history of the mathematical concept of infinity, with heavy doses of history, math, and philosophy. And while it proves heavy going at times, I'm pleased to say that it delivers admirably on this promise." Read on for Cowell-Shah's lengthy review of Everything and More.

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