Tag: ice
Heat Waves Set Off Record Ice Melt in Greenland Last Month
September heat waves across Canada and the U.S. were so bad that the high temperatures melted ice all the way in Greenland. Strong winds from North America carried the hot air to the northeast, raising average temperatures there more than 8 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to past Septembers, according…
FDA approves treatment funded by Ice Bucket Challenge donors
The FDA just approved a new drug funded by the infamous Ice Bucket Challenge
Remember the viral ice bucket challenge? Normal folks and celebs dumped huge buckets of ice-cold water on their heads in 2014, donated money to the ALS Association, and challenged others to join in, too.
Mark Zuckerberg challenged Bill Gates, Gates challenged Ryan Seacrest, and Seacrest chucked a tiny hotel room ice bucket over his head, donated a paltry $100, and called out David Beckham and Selena Gomez. It was quite a time.
Well, all that water throwing was worth it says the ALS Association, who announced that a drug partly funded by proceeds from the Ice Bucket Challenge was approved by the FDA on Sep. 29.
According to the association, the challenge raised $115 million from more than 17 million videos, $2.2 million of which went towards the development of the newly-approved medication Relyvrio, which slows the progression of ALS. It’s proof that “the Ice Bucket Challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS,” says the Association’s president and CEO Calaneet Balas.
The chill-inducing trend was created by Pat Quinn and Pete Frates, two young men who were living with ALS and passed away in 2020 and 2019 respectively. “We are thinking of Pat Quinn and Pete Frates,” said Balas, “who championed the Ice Bucket Challenge and changed the trajectory of ALS forever.”
In 2019, an independent research organization surveyed ALS researchers about the impact of resources provided by proceeds from the Ice Bucket Challenge. 84 percent of respondents said support from the Association since the Challenge accelerated their work “quite a bit or very much,” while 72 percent of respondents said funding improved their ability to receive additional funding.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that stiffens muscles and can impair brain function until someone is no longer able to move, eat, speak, or breathe. There is no known cure.
FDA Approves ALS Drug Whose Study Was Partly Funded By Ice Bucket Challenge
In November, Amylyx submitted a drug application to the FDA for the medication, then called AMX0035, as an oral ALS treatment, seeking approval based on a Phase 2 trial that included 137 people with ALS who received either the drug or a placebo for 24 weeks. The study was funded in part by a grant from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral social media campaign that started in 2014 involving people dumping buckets of ice water over themselves to raise awareness and money around ALS. The trial also showed that the drug was generally well-tolerated, but there was a greater frequency of gastrointestinal events in the group getting the medication. Amylyx is now continuing to study its safety and efficacy in a Phase 3 trial. In March, the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee voted 6-4 that a single Phase 2 trial did not establish the conclusion that the drug is effective in treating ALS.
One key difference between the FDA advisory committee’s March and September meetings is that in the later meeting, Amylyx indicated that if the drug was approved but its Phase 3 trial results fail to confirm the drug’s benefits, the company would consider withdrawing the drug from the market, Lynch said. She added, however, that the company didn’t say specifically what it would view as a failure. “So at the vote, the advisory committee members switched, and most of them said, ‘Yes, we are now convinced that this product should be approved.’ And when they were asked why they changed their minds, some of them said, ‘Well, the company said they would withdraw,'” she said. “And they were also convinced by patients’ testimonies that they very much want to try this drug.” But overall, the FDA’s approval was based on Phase 2 trial data, which, Lynch said, may send a message to other pharmaceutical companies that they don’t need robust Phase 3 trial data to get products on the market. Although people with ALS want access to this promising drug, there are concerns that such a message could open the door more broadly to the approval of medications that have not been proved to work, says Holly Fernandez Lynch, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania. “The FDA could later withdraw those products if needed, she said, but doing so without voluntary company agreement is ‘a huge pain’ and often requires a very lengthy process,” reports CNN.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Celebrities React to Death of Rap Veteran Coolio [Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Martin Lawrence, Michelle Pfeiffer, & More]
Music fans were stunned Wednesday (September 28) after reports rang out about the death of Hip-Hop veteran Coolio.
The GRAMMY winner, most famous for hits ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ and ‘Fantastic Voyage,’ was found dead at age 59. His manager, Jarez Posey, confirmed the news.
The post Celebrities React to Death of Rap Veteran Coolio [Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Martin Lawrence, Michelle Pfeiffer, & More] appeared first on ..::That Grape Juice.net::.. – Thirsty?.
Falklands ice hockey team to compete at international tournament despite never training on a rink
AN ice hockey team are to compete in an international tournament — despite never training on a rink.
Many of the under-20s squad have never even skated on ice before.
Instead, the members of the Stanley Penguins — based in the Falklands — use rollerblades to practise.
Their underdog story echoes the Jamaican bobsleigh team in 1993 film Cool Runnings.
The Penguins will compete at the Amerigol Latam Cup, which starts in Miami on Thursday, alongside teams from Central and South America, plus further afield.
The UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic has a population of just over 3,200 — making it the smallest country to field a side in the tournament.
READ MORE FALKLAND ISLANDS
Grant Budd, the Penguins’ coach and founder, said: “It has been three years since many of the team played on ice, but everyone is looking forward to playing again.”
Amanda Milling, Britain’s minister responsible for the Falkland Islands, said: “I have a feeling the Penguins will take to the ice like ducks to water.”
Most read in The Sun
Huge Ice Planets Could Be Dripping With Diamond Rain – CNET
I tried Miller High Life’s ice cream & it tastes like a DIVE BAR – there’s alcohol plus 3 unexpected ingredients inside
ICE cream and beer lovers can now enjoy the two treats at the same time after Miller High Life rolled out a unique offering.
The classic beer brand announced its new “Dive Bars” on Monday and they’re full of surprising flavors.
Miller High Life announced their ice cream in collaboration with Tipsy Scoop on Monday[/caption]
In the wake of ice cream trends that have reached brand new heights, such as ketchup ice pops from French’s and Grey Poupon’s frozen dessert, Miller High Life has teamed up with adult ice cream brand Tipsy Scoop.
The partnership aims to create their best alcohol-infused ice cream from the “champagne of beers,” Food & Wine writes.
The start of the process is infusing the beer itself into the dairy dessert.
Some of the flavor implementations are symbolic, like the inclusion of a “smoky tobacco flavor,” and the caramel added to represent the feeling of a sticky dive bar floor.
Others are literal, like the inclusion of peanuts, to remind the pallet of the essential dive bar snack, the outlet notes.
Carbonated candies are shuffled into the mix, intended to mimic the fizziness beer lovers crave.
Maybe Willy Wonka himself would approve of the treat, assuming he loved a nice cold one once in a while.
The smooth, dark chocolate finish is meant to evoke the familiar wood and intimate lighting many dive bars share.
Most read in Fabulous
The finished product boasts a 5percent ABV, as much as the beer itself.
On Tipsy Scoop, the bars are offered in a six-pack, just like their bottled counterpart.
Read More on The US Sun
Those who don’t want to take the $36 leap into the sweet, cold unknown can get their bars bodega style, a single bar available from the site for $6.
Tipsy Scoop also shows off three “Barlours” in NYC, a place where those with a sugar craving and a hankering for beer can chow down on the boozy dessert.
The Dive Bars are complete with the classic bar snack peanuts, and carbonated candy to replace the fizzle of a nice cold beer[/caption]