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Are Wormholes real?

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     Are Wormholes real? Wormholes can be described by General Relativity. This suggests that a wormhole could exist. However, since the conditions needed for a wormhole to be created are hugely difficult to create - it needs things like 'exotic matter', matter with negative mass or pressure - they are not expected to exist in the universe. If they did, they would be detectable, and this is what this paper is exploring. The paper is not reporting on a detection of a wormhole, rather it is describing a method by which a wormhole, if it did exist, could be detected When light passes by a massive object, the gravity of the object (or more accurately, the warping of the space around the object) bends the path of the light. The resulting distortion, and the bending itself, is known as gravitational lensing. When light is travelling from a background object to us and is bent by a massive object, the amount by which, and the way in which, the light is lensed tells us about the i...
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How low-income countries can tailor their COVID-19 response

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How low-income countries can tailor their COVID-19 response Low-income countries will have a much harder time putting their economies in the “ medically induced coma ” of a full lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. They are home to many of the extreme poor, who, for the most part, have no option but to live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to  clean water and sanitation . They work in the informal sector, often for a daily wage, depend heavily on public services, and have limited savings and no access to credit. For many,  staying at home is not a viable option , and not working comes at the expense of food and other necessities. The net benefits are even less clear once we recognize that: Lockdowns have had  less impact on mobility in LICs , requiring a significant security response. Current safety nets have  very low coverage  in low-income countries, with less than 4% of people covered by a cash transfer program. Fiscal ou...
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