Science News Roundup: Zimbabwe suspects bacterial disease behind elephant deaths; US astronaut crew on SpaceX's Crew Dragon and more

Zimbabwe suspects bacterial disease behind elephant deaths Zimbabwe suspects a bacterial disease called haemorrhagic septicaemia is behind the recent deaths of more than 30 elephants but is doing further tests to make sure, the parks authority said.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Zimbabwe suspects bacterial disease behind elephant deaths

Zimbabwe suspects a bacterial disease called haemorrhagic septicaemia is behind the recent deaths of more than 30 elephants but is doing further tests to make sure, the parks authority said. The elephant deaths, which began in late August, come soon after hundreds of elephants died in neighbouring Botswana in mysterious circumstances.

U.S. astronaut crew on SpaceX's Crew Dragon to cast ballots from space

Three NASA astronauts launching next month on SpaceX's first operational Crew Dragon mission plan to vote in the upcoming presidential election from the International Space Station, the crew said Tuesday as they named the spacecraft "Resilience." SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience capsule will carry NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi to the space station Oct. 31 as the company's first non-test mission after completing a successful two-man preliminary mission last summer.

Australian firm says its nasal spray reduced coronavirus growth in animal study

Australian biotech company Ena Respiratory said on Monday that a nasal spray it is developing to improve the human immune system to fight common cold and flu significantly reduced the growth of the coronavirus in a recent study on animals. A study on ferrets showed the product dubbed INNA-051, which could be used complementary to vaccines, lowered the levels of the virus that causes COVID-19 by up to 96%, the company said. The study was led by British government agency Public Health England.