Science News Roundup: WHO takes aim at cervical cancer to reduce cases, deaths; Moderna vaccine is second to exceed expectations; mutated virus may be more vulnerable to new vaccines

Vaccine from Moderna is second to exceed expectations in pivotal trial 'SpaceX, this is Resilience': Four astronauts begin six-month stay on space station Four astronauts riding a newly-designed spacecraft from Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX greeted their new crewmates aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday after successfully docking in a landmark achievement for private space travel.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

WHO takes aim at cervical cancer to reduce cases, deaths

Vaccinating nine in 10 girls under 15 against cervical cancer, and improved screening and treatment of women could reduce infections by 40% and save 5 million lives by 2050, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer among women globally, is a preventable disease but strikes at least 570,000 each year and kills 311,000, the U.N. agency said.

Moderna vaccine is second to exceed expectations; mutated virus may be more vulnerable to new vaccines

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Vaccine from Moderna is second to exceed expectations in pivotal trial 'SpaceX, this is Resilience': Four astronauts begin six-month stay on space station

Four astronauts riding a newly-designed spacecraft from Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX greeted their new crewmates aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday after successfully docking in a landmark achievement for private space travel. In NASA's first full-fledged mission ferrying a crew into orbit on a privately-owned spacecraft, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Resilience opened its hatch door shortly after 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT), two hours after docking and 27 hours after launching atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

(With inputs from agencies.)