Science News Roundup: Japan billionaire Maezawa lands in Kazakhstan after 12-day space flight; Recreating Nativity Church's Mediaeval music and more

Omicron infections no less severe based on early UK data Chimes from Crusader times: Recreating Nativity Church's Mediaeval music Crusader-era bells and organ pipes from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem are inspiring researchers' efforts to re-create music as it may have sounded in the birthplace of Jesus during almost 800 years ago.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Omicron infections appear no less severe than Delta; COVID-19 lowers sperm count, motility

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Omicron infections no less severe based on early UK data

Chimes from Crusader times: Recreating Nativity Church's Mediaeval music

Crusader-era bells and organ pipes from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem are inspiring researchers' efforts to re-create music as it may have sounded in the birthplace of Jesus during almost 800 years ago. Worried they might otherwise be destroyed, mid-13th century Crusaders buried the 13 bronze bells near the church on the eve of a Muslim offensive, slathering them in animal fat to protect them from rust, said David Catalunya, who is leading a project to build facsimiles of them.

Japan billionaire Maezawa lands in Kazakhstan after 12-day space flight

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa returned to Earth on Monday after a 12-day journey into space, ending a practice run for his planned trip around the moon with Elon Musk's SpaceX in 2023. The 46-year-old fashion magnate and art collector, who launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 8 along with his assistant Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, landed on the Kazakh steppe.

(With inputs from agencies.)