Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 735

Temperature sensors will help keep COVID-19 vaccines potent,

When scientists and pharmaceutical companies clear the hurdle of developing a safe, effective, COVID-19 vaccine, they won’t be able to rest on their laurels. Instead, they’ll face another enormous challenge — making millions of doses and keeping those doses extremely cold. They’ll get an assist, though, from temperature-monitoring tech that’s advanced dramatically in the past few years.

Vaccines, like most pharmaceuticals, have to be stored within a certain temperature range in order to stay potent. During a future COVID-19 vaccine’s journey from factory to pharmacy, small temperature sensors will monitor the conditions that the vaccines will encounter en route and at their final destination. They’ll be embedded in packaging, freezers, and refrigerators at nearly every point of the vaccines’ journey, and some will constantly transmit the vaccines’ temperature to the officials tracking their path — a technological advancement that wasn’t there five years ago.

“The industry has just expanded on a crazy level,” says Michal Chojnacky, a member of the Thermodynamic Metrology Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “All of that has kind of been, whether we knew it or not, preparing us for this moment.”

We’ll need billions of doses of an effective vaccine to make a dent in the COVID-19 pandemic, but early on, shots will be limited. Every single one matters and could keep someone from setting off a new chain of coronavirus infections. But vaccines are fragile: by some estimates, around a quarter of vaccines show some signs of degradation by the time they end up at a doctor’s office. That doesn’t mean they’re unsafe, but it could mean they don’t trigger a strong enough immune reaction to protect people from disease. If vaccines warm up, it contributes to that breakdown. For two of the COVID-19 vaccines furthest along in the development process, it’s even trickier — they have to be stored at ultracold temperatures, as cold as negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

Just a decade ago, a large-scale effort to distribute these vaccines would be far more difficult. Back then, most temperature monitoring of pharmaceuticals was done manually, says Kevin Riley, the president of the sensor company SmartSense. “Every few hours, someone would have to go and record that temperature. They were doing it on a pen and paper and clipboard,” he says.

For products like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine candidates that have to be stored at ultracold temperatures, that more traditional process could actually introduce damaging amounts of heat to the freezers. “You’d have to open the door for a temperature check, and then the temperature changes — and a small percentage of product integrity goes away,” says Joe Mundell, the chief revenue officer at the wireless monitoring company Sonicu.

Many pharmacies, drug companies, and doctors’ offices have started switching to automated data loggers, which sit inside of a freezer or transport container to continuously monitor the temperature inside. But that data still has to be physically downloaded off the device. “You’d have to plug it into a computer to download the data to look at the temperature records,” says Mark Sawicki, chief commercial officer of Cryoport Systems, which makes cold chain products.

Companies like SmartSense and Cryoport make the next generation of internet-connected cold chain sensors. The small devices slot inside transport devices and freezers and continuously transmit data on the temperature to pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy managers. “We can actually see now when there is an event that occurs in the field that compromises the integrity of the packaging,” Sawicki says. In some cases, that lets companies make changes (like adding dry ice) to keep the product at the right temperature.

Part of the most recent push to automate temperature sensors actually started with a completely different development in medical technology that left no room for error. Gene therapies are made specifically for each patient, and they’re irreplaceable — losing a product because of a temperature issue isn’t an option. “It forced the industry to create platforms that are more suitable to supporting those types of things,” Sawicki says.

Gene therapies and other treatments with extremely tight temperature ranges are still pretty rare, at least compared to vaccines, so there are still plenty of companies that haven’t adopted the new tech yet. “There are still a lot of manual data loggers out there,” says Mundell. Still, the pharmaceutical industry is a bit ahead of other industries in adopting digital and internet-connected monitors, he says. In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandated that vaccines in the Vaccines for Children Program, which distributes vaccines to low-income children, be tracked using digital data loggers. That pushed a lot of doctors and pharmacies to make the switch, Chojnacky says.

Riley says many SmartSense customers, like pharmacies and drug distribution centers, have upped their freezer capacity in anticipation of both a COVID-19 vaccine and higher flu vaccine demand. They’ve been preparing since the summer. Temperature-monitoring devices have to be regularly calibrated to make sure that they’re taking accurate temperature measurements, and that process happens on a regular cycle. Many of the customers went through that calibration earlier than they had to, so that they wouldn’t have to calibrate over the winter when they’d be working to distribute a vaccine. “We’ve been rolling that out, over the summer, and for some of them in an accelerated fashion,” Riley says.

Distributing COVID-19 vaccines still won’t be easy — officials need to manage the logistics of millions of doses and figure out how to get people to show up at a vaccination site. But as the search for a vaccine heats up, the tech innovations over the past decade are ready to help keep the final products cold.

The post Temperature sensors will help keep COVID-19 vaccines potent, appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

SpaceX now targeting Nov. 14 for next astronaut launch, ,

SpaceX will launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Nov. 14, the agency announced Monday (Oct. 26).

The post SpaceX now targeting Nov. 14 for next astronaut launch, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Inspiring future space explorers: Q&A with former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, ,

Space.com recently caught up with Melvin to chat about his life, his spaceflight experiences and what he hopes to teach all the youngsters out there.

The post Inspiring future space explorers: Q&A with former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE = A NEW WORLD – FACT OR FICTION?

TODAY DEMANDS THAT WE ADAPT QUICKLY OR BE LEFT BEHIND

As an author, I write about science fiction. As a futurist, I observe and envision what will be. For the last several years, I have watched as the global digital landscape is slowly dismantling what we know and replacing it with a robust and yet unknown infrastructure. It alters everything we rely upon and transform how we work, behave, relate, and connect.

The latest change with COVID 19 catapulted us into tomorrow faster than we are ready for… Some of us are barely hanging on to the technological changes that manifest every day in our lives. Yet, there is no choice. We must adapt or be left behind. It is why I am introducing myself to you. I wish to bridge the gap between today and tomorrow.

I aspire to help, contribute, and facilitate an adjustment to a new way of life during this phase of transformation. What is going on today is perhaps the most significant change we have seen in centuries, and its impact will be far-reaching. It is yet to be fully realized and will not be for years, but this transmutation will gain speed and velocity beyond what we can expect. By connecting us to the changes ahead, we can better anticipate and prepare ourselves for the fundamental alterations in our way of life in the next several years. But before I do this, I would like you to get to know me.

Get the story behind the story… Listen to the Journey.

The post THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE = A NEW WORLD – FACT OR FICTION? appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Will We Have A Planet In 2098?

#grid-9689 .tg-nav-color:not(.dots):not(.tg-dropdown-value):not(.tg-dropdown-title):hover,#grid-9689 .tg-nav-color:hover .tg-nav-color,#grid-9689 .tg-filter-active span,#grid-9689 .tg-page-number.tg-page-current{color:#ffffff}#grid-9689 .tg-filter:not(.tg-dropdown-item),#grid-9689 .tg-search-holder,#grid-9689 .tg-dropdown-holder,#grid-9689 .tg-sorter-order,#grid-9689 .tg-left-arrow,#grid-9689 .tg-right-arrow,#grid-9689 .tg-search-holder,#grid-9689 .tg-page-number:not(.dots),#grid-9689 .tg-pagination-prev,#grid-9689 .tg-pagination-next,#grid-9689 .tg-ajax-button{background:#ffffff}#grid-9689 .tg-filter:not(.tg-dropdown-item):hover,#grid-9689 .tg-filter.tg-filter-active,#grid-9689 .tg-sorter-order:hover,#grid-9689 .tg-left-arrow:not(.tg-disabled):hover,#grid-9689 .tg-right-arrow:not(.tg-disabled):hover,#grid-9689 .tg-page-number.tg-page-current,#grid-9689 .tg-page-number:not(.dots):hover,#grid-9689 .tg-pagination-prev:hover,#grid-9689 .tg-pagination-next:hover,#grid-9689 .tg-ajax-button:hover{background:#7255f4}.tg-nav-bg input[type=text].tg-search{height:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-nav-font,.tg-nav-bg input[type=text].tg-search{font-size:13px;line-height:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-search::-webkit-input-placeholder{font-size:13px;line-height:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-search::-moz-placeholder{font-size:13px;line-height:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-search:-ms-input-placeholder{font-size:13px;line-height:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-page-number.dots,.tg-nav-bg .tg-slider-bullets{height:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-search-icon,.tg-nav-bg .tg-search-clear,.tg-nav-bg .tg-sorter-order,.tg-nav-bg .tg-page-number,.tg-nav-bg .tg-left-arrow i,.tg-nav-bg .tg-right-arrow i{min-width:34px}.tg-nav-bg .tg-dropdown-item{font-weight:normal}.tg-nav-bg .tg-dropdown-item{text-transform:none}#grid-9689 .tg-nav-color,#grid-9689 .tg-search-icon:hover:before,#grid-9689 .tg-search-icon:hover input,#grid-9689 .tg-disabled:hover .tg-icon-left-arrow,#grid-9689 .tg-disabled:hover .tg-icon-right-arrow,#grid-9689 .tg-dropdown-title.tg-nav-color:hover{color:#444444}#grid-9689 input.tg-search:hover{color:#444444 !important}#grid-9689 input.tg-search::-webkit-input-placeholder{color:#444444}#grid-9689 input.tg-search::-moz-placeholder{color:#444444;opacity:1}#grid-9689 input.tg-search:-ms-input-placeholder{color:#444444}.grid-9689 .tg-dropdown-item{color:#777777;background:#ffffff}.grid-9689 .tg-filter-active,.grid-9689 .tg-dropdown-item:hover{color:#ffffff;background:#874ad3}#grid-9689 .tg-slider-bullets li.tg-active-item span{background:#59585b}#grid-9689 .tg-slider-bullets li span{background:#DDDDDD}#grid-9689 .tg-grid-area-top1{text-align:center}#grid-9689 .tg-grid-area-top2{text-align:center;margin-bottom:60px}#grid-9689 .tg-grid-area-bottom1{text-align:center;margin-top:60px}.lisboa a,.lisboa a:active,.lisboa a:focus,.lisboa .tg-item-title,.lisboa .tg-item-excerpt,.lisboa .tg-cats-holder{text-decoration:none;border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none;box-shadow:none;-webkit-transition:opacity 0.25s ease,color 0.25s ease,-webkit-transform 0.3s ease-in-out;-moz-transition:opacity 0.25s ease,color 0.25s ease,-moz-transform 0.3s ease-in-out;-ms-transition:opacity 0.25s ease,color 0.25s ease,-ms-transform 0.3s ease-in-out;-o-transition:opacity 0.25s ease,color 0.25s ease,-o-transform 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:opacity 0.25s ease,color 0.25s ease,transform 0.3s ease-in-out}.lisboa.tg-item{cursor:pointer}.lisboa .tg-center-holder{text-align:center}.lisboa .tg-item-inner{overflow:hidden}.lisboa .tg-center-holder{opacity:0}.lisboa:hover .tg-center-holder{opacity:1}.lisboa .tg-center-holder{padding:20px 10px}.lisboa .tg-item-title{-webkit-transform:translateY(-20px);-moz-transform:translateY(-20px);-ms-transform:translateY(-20px);-o-transform:translateY(-20px);transform:translateY(-20px)}.lisboa .tg-item-excerpt,.lisboa .tg-cats-holder{-webkit-transform:translateY(20px);-moz-transform:translateY(20px);-ms-transform:translateY(20px);-o-transform:translateY(20px);transform:translateY(20px)}.lisboa:hover .tg-item-title,.lisboa:hover .tg-item-excerpt,.lisboa:hover .tg-cats-holder{-webkit-transform:translateY(0);-moz-transform:translateY(0);-ms-transform:translateY(0);-o-transform:translateY(0);transform:translateY(0)}.lisboa .tg-media-button i{display:none !important}.lisboa .tg-media-button,.lisboa .tg-item-media-holder,.lisboa .tg-item-overlay{position:absolute;display:block;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0}.lisboa:hover .tg-item-overlay{opacity:1}.lisboa.tg-force-play .tg-media-button,.lisboa.tg-is-playing .tg-media-button{opacity:0;visibility:hidden}.lisboa .tg-item-title,.lisboa .tg-item-title a,.lisboa .tg-item-excerpt{position:relative;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:18px;font-weight:600;margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;text-align:center}.lisboa .tg-item-excerpt{font-size:12px;line-height:16px;font-weight:normal;padding:8px 4px 0 4px !important}.lisboa .tg-cats-holder{position:relative;display:block;margin:0;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;padding:6px 0 0 0;font-weight:600}.lisboa .tg-cats-holder *{font-size:12px;line-height:16px;font-weight:600}.lisboa .tg-cats-holder a:hover{opacity:0.7}.tg-item .tg-dark div,.tg-item .tg-dark h1,.tg-item .tg-dark h1 a,.tg-item .tg-dark h2,.tg-item .tg-dark h2 a,.tg-item .tg-dark h3,.tg-item .tg-dark h3 a,.tg-item .tg-dark h4,.tg-item .tg-dark h4 a,.tg-item .tg-dark h5,.tg-item .tg-dark h5 a,.tg-item .tg-dark h6,.tg-item .tg-dark h6 a,.tg-item .tg-dark a,.tg-item .tg-dark a.tg-link-url,.tg-item .tg-dark i,.tg-item .tg-dark .tg-media-button,.tg-item .tg-dark .tg-item-price span{color:#444444;fill:#444444;stroke:#444444;border-color:#444444}.tg-item .tg-dark p,.tg-item .tg-dark ol,.tg-item .tg-dark ul,.tg-item .tg-dark li{color:#777777;fill:#777777;stroke:#777777;border-color:#777777}.tg-item .tg-dark span,.tg-item .tg-dark .no-liked .to-heart-icon path,.tg-item .tg-dark .empty-heart .to-heart-icon path,.tg-item .tg-dark .tg-item-comment i,.tg-item .tg-dark .tg-item-price del span{color:#999999;fill:#999999;stroke:#999999;border-color:#999999}.tg-item .tg-light div,.tg-item .tg-light h1,.tg-item .tg-light h1 a,.tg-item .tg-light h2,.tg-item .tg-light h2 a,.tg-item .tg-light h3,.tg-item .tg-light h3 a,.tg-item .tg-light h4,.tg-item .tg-light h4 a,.tg-item .tg-light h5,.tg-item .tg-light h5 a,.tg-item .tg-light h6,.tg-item .tg-light h6 a,.tg-item .tg-light a,.tg-item .tg-light a.tg-link-url,.tg-item .tg-light i,.tg-item .tg-light .tg-media-button,.tg-item .tg-light .tg-item-price span{color:#ffffff;fill:#ffffff;stroke:#ffffff;border-color:#ffffff}.tg-item .tg-light p,.tg-item .tg-light ol,.tg-item .tg-light ul,.tg-item .tg-light li{color:#f5f5f5;fill:#f5f5f5;stroke:#f5f5f5;border-color:#f5f5f5}.tg-item .tg-light span,.tg-item .tg-light .no-liked .to-heart-icon path,.tg-item .tg-light .empty-heart .to-heart-icon path,.tg-item .tg-light .tg-item-comment i,.tg-item .tg-light .tg-item-price del span{color:#f6f6f6;fill:#f6f6f6;stroke:#f6f6f6;border-color:#f6f6f6}#grid-9689 .tg-item-content-holder{background-color:#ffffff}#grid-9689 .tg-item-overlay{background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.85)}NEWDAWN ()Videos ()Dominique Factor ()Cool SciFi ()Series Stories ()Future Life ()ND Buzz ()Character Chat ()Writing ()SciTech ()Innovation ()Science ()Technology ()THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE = A NEW WORLD – FACT OR FICTION?

TODAY DEMANDS THAT WE ADAPT QUICKLY OR BE LEFT BEHIND As an author, I write about science...

Future Life, NEWDAWN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL LANDSCAPE PAVES A NEW REALITY – FACT OR FICTION?

A New Workplace The changes brought by COVID 19 are indeed immediate and begin to shape new...

Future Life, NEWDAWN, Podcast THE NEWDAWN SAGA – FACT OR FICTION?

Science Fiction has never felt so real.  Living in a pandemic, by yourself watching the news of...

NEWDAWN, Science, SciTech, Technology A New World Beats Down Our Doors… COVID 19 Changed The Entire Global Landscape And Shapes A Present We Are Not Ready For…

As an author and futurist, writing about science fiction and science fact, it seems appropriate...

Future Life What They Say…

NEWDAWN ROAMERS Reviews NEWDAWN ROAMERS has garnered five start reviews from readers. We are...

Featured Fan, ND Buzz, NEWDAWN, Videos What Is NEWDAWN? A Look Into the Future

The First Novel of the Saga… What is Newdawn if not a look into the future and the first...

ND Buzz, Story The Fall Of Power

The Fall of Power began the year when the unthinkable happened… The year where the voices of...

Dominique Factor, Series Stories NewDawn Saga: A New Frontier in Production

Based on the novel, NewDawn Diaries - Reboot, written by Director/Producer, Dominique Luchart,...

Producing DAINN Is Present Everywhere!Character Chat, ND Buzz 12345678910111213@-webkit-keyframes ball-beat{50%{opacity:.2;-webkit-transform:scale(.75);transform:scale(.75)}100%{opacity:1;-webkit-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1)}}@keyframes ball-beat{50%{opacity:.2;-webkit-transform:scale(.75);transform:scale(.75)}100%{opacity:1;-webkit-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1)}}.ball-beat>div{background-color:#fff;width:15px;height:15px;border-radius:100%;margin:2px;display:inline-block;-webkit-animation:ball-beat .7s 0s infinite linear;animation:ball-beat .7s 0s infinite linear}.ball-beat>div:nth-child(2n-1){-webkit-animation-delay:-.35s!important;animation-delay:-.35s!important}#grid-9689 .tg-grid-preloader-inner>div{background:#f99958}#grid-9689 .tg-grid-preloader-scale{transform:scale(1)}What Will Our Lives Look Like?

What will our lives look like in 2098? Dominique Luchart, a multi-faceted creative trailblazer calls on her experience as a futurist, filmmaker, and science fiction author to address these questions in a lively conversation with Phil and Nabeel as part of the Podcast Nomad Futurist. Check it out: https://www.nomadfuturist.com/will-we-still-have-a-planet-in-2098/.

Looking Ahead

“I always felt at home relating to tomorrow,” she shares, citing Isaac Asimov and French sci-fi author René Barjavel as major influences. “I liked how they addressed the human issues, the moral implications with regard to technology, what we will fight against as well as welcome.”

A Digital World

The global digital landscape evolution is changing everything around us and the transformation takes place faster than we ever anticipated. The bottom line is that no one is ready for it. With science and technology moving as quickly as they are, it is easy to believe that unless we set the right checks and balances we may go off the rail.

We will have a new world, a new way of life, and we must prepare but first, we must conquer this pandemic.

Issues We Need To Solve First

The Pandemic is making things move even faster than predicted and many people are at a loss on how to adapt to this new world. “We need to catch up to the new technology and for that governments must develop programs to train people so that they learn new ways to work, to communicate, to create, to earn a living.”

This shift is not going away. It is here to stay and unless the population as a whole is provided with knowledge on how to adapt, they will be left behind. It will be a watershed for the economies worldwide. Perhaps it is even more so here in the United States because our country is so big, so disparate, and currently so divided. Of course, we need to stabilize from this pandemic and give financial support to those who need it the most first, and ensure that the support reaches them.

It is the imperative of the moment.

Author: Dominique Luchart

The post Will We Have A Planet In 2098? appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

5 ways families can enjoy astronomy during the pandemic, ,

The night sky is, and always has been, safe and free.

The post 5 ways families can enjoy astronomy during the pandemic, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Artificial intelligence helps classify new craters on Mars, ,

An innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by NASA has helped identify a cluster of craters on Mars that formed within the last decade.

The post Artificial intelligence helps classify new craters on Mars, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Space photos: The most amazing images this week!, ,

See the best photos on Space.com this week.

The post Space photos: The most amazing images this week!, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

The top space stories of the week!, ,

These are the top space stories this week from Space.com.

The post The top space stories of the week!, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites, lands rocket at sea in 2nd flight this week, ,

SpaceX successfully launched its latest fleet of Starlink internet satellites into orbit Saturday (Oct. 24), marking the second such mission this week.

The post SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites, lands rocket at sea in 2nd flight this week, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.