The Daily Populous

Wednesday December 29th, 2021 night edition

image for US home prices surge 18.4% in October

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices surged again in October as the housing market continues to boom in the wake of last year’s coronavirus recession.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, out Tuesday, climbed 18.4% in October from a year earlier.

The gain marked a slight deceleration from a 19.1% year-over-year increase in September but was about in line with what economists had been expecting.

It remains unclear if that shift is permanent or an aberration, said Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“More data will be required to understand whether this demand surge represents an acceleration of purchases that would have occurred over the next several years, or reflects a more permanent secular change.″.

Last week, mortgage rates fell — to 3.05% for the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate and 2.66% for the 15-year fixed-rate home loan.

The persistently low rates signal that credit markets appear more concerned about the omicron variant depressing economic growth than about the highest inflation rates in nearly 40 years. »

Broadly neutralizing antibodies overcome SARS-CoV-2 Omicron antigenic shift

Authored by nature.com
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This accepted manuscript will continue through the processes of copy editing and formatting to publication of a finalized version of record on nature.com.

Please note there may be errors present in this version, which may affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Here, we show that the Omicron RBD binds to human ACE2 with enhanced affinity, relative to the Wuhan-Hu-1 RBD, and binds to mouse ACE2. »

NASA Paid Priests to Figure Out How to Deal With Aliens

Authored by futurism.com

Whether it’s angels coming down from heaven or ET coming in peace, NASA wants to know how exactly world religions would react if it finds evidence of alien life.

The group was tasked with addressing how exactly religions would respond to the discovery of alien life.

It’s delightful that NASA would bring together a group of religious leaders to talk about aliens for a year. »

What Putin Really Wants in Ukraine

Authored by foreignaffairs.com
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If Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting as if he has the upper hand in this standoff, that’s because he does.

According to U.S. intelligence services, Russia has nearly 100,000 troops and a great deal of heavy weaponry stationed on the Ukrainian border.

Not coincidentally, that could serve as a useful record to run on in 2024, when Putin would be up for re-election. »