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Russian authorities are "partially" restricting calls in messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet. From a report: In a statement, government media and internet regulator Roskomnadzor justified the measure as necessary for fighting crime, saying that "according to law enforcement agencies and numerous appeals from citizens, foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have become the main voice services used to deceive and extort money, and to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities."

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An anonymous reader New Atlas: An engineered protein that acts like a molecular sponge has the potential to change how carbon monoxide poisoning is treated, chasing down CO molecules in the bloodstream and helping the body flush them out in just minutes, without the risk of short- or long-term health issues that come with the current frontline treatment, pure oxygen. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) were focused on a natural protein known as RcoM, found in the bacterium Paraburkholderia xenovorans. In bacteria, RcoM detects trace amounts of CO in the environment, so the engineers believed this could be harnessed to scavenge for CO molecules attached to red blood cells instead. The re-engineered protein is the basis of the therapy they call RcoM-HBD-CCC. While it's not exactly a catchy name, it possesses somewhat of a superpower when it comes to cleaning out CO. It selectively binds tightly to the poisonous CO molecules, while ignoring oxygen (O2) and other critical chemical compounds, such as blood-pressure-regulating nitric oxide (NO), in the body. [...] In mouse models, RcoM-HBD-CCC therapy was able to clear CO from the blood in minutes, with it safely flushed out of the body through urine. The engineered antidote acts like a sponge, seeking out and soaking up CO attached to red blood cells. In mice, half the CO in the bloodstream was cleared out in less than a minute, freeing the hemoglobin on the cells to once again start carrying O2. Importantly, other experimental scavenger hemoproteins haven't been able to selectively target CO, and as a result also bind to NO – so infusions of such hemoproteins can lead to a reduction of NO in the blood, tightening blood vessels and spiking blood pressure. In the study, RcoM-HBD-CCC showed it didn't have this affinity with the vital molecule. "Unlike other protein-based treatments, we found the compound caused only minimal changes in blood pressure, which was an exciting finding and raised the potential for this new molecule to have clinical applications," said study corresponding author Dr Mark T. Gladwin, Dean of UMSOM. "This has the potential to become a rapid, intravenous antidote for carbon monoxide that could be given in the emergency department or even in the field by first-responders." The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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