“The Good Shepherd.” A ring with one of the oldest images of Christ was discovered in Israel

The figure, apparently, symbolizes Jesus Christ, who in the Gospels calls himself “The Good Shepherd”. The ring was found among other artifacts discovered during the study of ships wrecked near the ancient port of Caesarea. Caesarea was home to one of the first Christian communities and, according to the New Testament, it was there that the Apostle Peter baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius. “This was the first time a non-Jew was accepted into the Christian community. From here Christianity began to spread all over the world,” says Jacob Sharvit from the Department of Marine Archaeology of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Among the remains of sunken ships, archaeologists also found figurines of the Roman era in the form of an eagle and a theater actor in a comic mask, bronze bells designed to protect against evil spirits, hundreds of silver and bronze Roman coins of the middle of the III century

US regulator approves Merck's COVID-19 drug

“Today, the FDA [fast track] issued an authorization for & nbsp; use in & nbsp; mdash conditions & nbsp; & nbsp; note TASS) molnupiravir [produced by the company] Merck for & nbsp; treatment of COVID-19 mild and & nbsp; moderate severity & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; said in & nbsp; the message. Earlier, the American regulator approved for the & nbsp; emergency use of the drug for the & nbsp; treatment of COVID-19 Paxlovid, developed by Pfizer.

Putin answered the question about the indexation of pensions above inflation

“The government of the Russian Federation will have to do everything to & nbsp; keep the promises of the past years. Until & nbsp; so far, we generally managed to do it, and & nbsp; we & nbsp; will definitely do it & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; he said, answering & nbsp; a question, will & nbsp; & nbsp; pensions in & nbsp; Russia be indexed at & nbsp; the actual level, and & nbsp; not & nbsp; planned inflation. According to him, next year, appropriate decisions will be made on the security bloc to equalize the incomes of people who work in law enforcement and security structures. Putin added. RBC asked for & nbsp; comments in the & nbsp; Ministry of Finance and & nbsp; Ministry of Labor. In & nbsp; in early December, the head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov said that & nbsp; the

Scientists have learned that lighting can affect the taste of food

Researchers from Murray University, USA, conducted a series of experiments to find out whether indoor lighting affects the process of eating. Scientists conducted three experiments with 300 volunteers. In the first case, the participants ate chocolate, in the second — snacks that had a sweet or salty taste and differed in texture and consistency (raisins, cookies, cheese, chips), and in the third – the food was mixed (ordinary salted popcorn as a “simple meal” and a sandwich with peanut butter and jelly, which served as a “complex food”). In the first two experiments, participants ate either with darkened sunglasses or glasses with ordinary transparent lenses. And in the third experiment, the volunteers ate without glasses, but with dimmed lights. After completing all three experiments, participants were asked to rate the taste of food on a seven-point scale. After calculating the results, the scientists found that the taste sensations depend on the

“Saving the people is one of the most important tasks”

About & nbsp; economic outlook after the crisis caused by the covid “The whole world has been fighting the & nbsp; coronavirus infection. This fight continues. We & nbsp; know about the dangers of spreading omicron, a new strain. As you & nbsp; know, a group of our scientists is located in South Africa, where this strain was discovered. '' As for how this affected the Russian economy. We have already talked about this many times. Our economy, faced with the challenges of coronavirus infection and the necessary restrictions in the economy and the social sphere, nevertheless turned out to be more mobilized and ready for such shock events than the economies of other countries. “ The rate of economic decline was 3%, which is & nbsp; much lower than & nbsp; in & nbsp; many other developed countries. And & nbsp; we recovered much faster than & nbsp; other

Putin supported J.K. Rowling on new ethics

According to the & nbsp; Russian leader, in & nbsp; this question, he & nbsp; follows the traditional approach: & laquo; mdash & nbsp; this is a man, and & nbsp; woman & nbsp; & mdash; this is a woman. ” He also expressed the hope that society has internal moral protection dictated by the confessions of Russia. “ In the West, develop and & nbsp; & ldquo; be on the & nbsp; march & rdquo; & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; added & nbsp; he. Earlier, Rowling condemned the Scottish police's decision to call transgender rapists women. The Creator of Harry Potter shared a link to an & nbsp; article in the & nbsp; Times, & nbsp; which states that & nbsp; law enforcement agencies in Scotland will register rape men as women if they identify themselves that way. The writer commented on the news, recalling the lines from

Putin called the most important task for Russia

“Saving the people, about & nbsp; which [Alexander] Solzhenitsyn spoke about, is becoming, is one of the & nbsp; most important tasks and & nbsp; one of the & nbsp; growth drivers & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; said & nbsp; he. & nbsp; we & nbsp; but & nbsp; hands are & nbsp; enough! & raquo; & nbsp; & mdash; the head of state emphasized. In & nbsp; Russia from & nbsp; 15 & nbsp; October to & nbsp; 14 & nbsp; November 2021, the All-Russian Population Census was held. In & nbsp; this year, Russians could take part in the & nbsp; census not & nbsp; only in person by filling out a questionnaire with a & nbsp; census or at a stationary site, but & nbsp; and & nbsp; online on the & nbsp; Pavel Smelov said that 99% of the country's inhabitants took part in the

A 134-year-old time capsule was opened in the USA

?TIME CAPSULE: Here’s a closer look at the contents – which are three book, a cloth envelope and a coin. It appears there’s a printed page and photo stuck in the envelope. One of the books appears to be an almanac from 1875. @NBC12 pic.twitter.com/iu50fHEXUU — Desiree Montilla NBC12 (@desmontilla) December 22, 2021 In the American city of Richmond, Virginia, employees of the Department of Historical Resources, together with Governor Ralph Northam, opened a time capsule in 1887. The 134-year-old box was discovered in mid-December under the statue of General Robert E. Lee. It is reported that it took almost four hours to remove the box from the granite block. The opening of the capsule itself also took almost five hours. The fact is that the lead box itself is of interest to historians, and therefore specialists had to very carefully clean off rust and mortar from it so as

Putin: 80% collective immunity can be achieved in the first half of 2022

According to & nbsp; he said, now this figure is 59.4%, this includes both vaccinated and & nbsp; recovered from COVID- 19. “ It's not enough. We need herd immunity somewhere & nbsp; under 80%. Hopefully next year, somewhere at the & nbsp; end of the first quarter & nbsp; & mdash; in the second quarter we will & nbsp; reach this level & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; said the president. “ Unfortunately, we have the same & nbsp; as many other countries have low vaccination rates '', & nbsp; & mdash; acknowledged Putin. According to & nbsp; & nbsp; 17 & nbsp; December, 76.52 & nbsp; million Russians were vaccinated with the first component of the vaccine, 70.83 & nbsp; million people were vaccinated. Putin added that in some countries there are already 90 to 95% of herd immunity. Earlier in & nbsp; December, Minister of Health Mikhail

Russian scientists will create monoclonal antibodies against Omicron

This is a recombinant (created in the laboratory) human antibody HFB30132A, which is now entering the second stage of clinical trials. Therapy based on genetically engineered antibodies will be shown to patients with moderate severity of the disease who have comorbidities, such as diabetes. “As soon as samples of the virus [the Omicron variant] are obtained, we will examine our antibody. Because it is already clear that the vaccines against it work somewhat worse—” Alexander Gabibov, director of the IBH RAS, told Izvestia. – We plan to conduct tests together with the 48th Institute of the Ministry of Defense. Their specialists, after receiving the “Omicron” strain, will check the effect of the antibody on the cells. And we have our own genetically modified mice that are 100% infected with coronavirus (COVID-19 is not dangerous for ordinary mice. – “Izvestia”). After checking the work of the antibody to neutralize Omicron in