Lauran Neergaard

AP Medical Writer
Latest in Product Development
The Security Breach Podcast
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The Security Breach Podcast
June 19, 2026
In October 2025, Shield AI unveiled X-BAT, an AI-piloted, vertical takeoff and landing fighter jet.
GE Aerospace, Shield AI Pass Critical Milestone for AI-Piloted VTOL Fighter Jet
July 20, 2026
Ep579
Northwestern Engineers Made a 'Phantom' Drone That Vanishes in Plain Sight
July 17, 2026
This photo shared by Indian Ministry of Railways on X shows India's first indigenously built hydrogen-powered train named the “NaMo Green Rail,” at Jind, in the Indian state of Haryana, Thursday, July 16, 2026.
India Launches First Hydrogen-Powered Train Built in the Country
July 17, 2026
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This tag-less method of radio frequency identification leverages previous work showing that it is possible to classify objects by type (i.e. phone vs. TV vs. kitchen appliance, etc).
Product Development
EM Signals Used to Identify Devices
In this Thursday, March 13, 2014, file photo, Ken Lo, CEO of ANXBTC Bitcoin Exchange, points to the screen of his Bitcoin ATM during a demonstration in Hong Kong. For years, the question of who created bitcoin has been one of the biggest parlor games in some corners of cryptography and computer science.
Product Development
Who Created Bitcoin? The Search May Not Be Over
Tec Chat Boom 57276ae2b4382
Product Development
Raytheon Wants to Make Software Immortal
Building Your Multi-Mode Freight Strategy
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More from Lauran Neergaard
The Domino Effect of Procurement Delays in Manufacturing
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The Domino Effect of Procurement Delays in Manufacturing
How it leads to unplanned downtime and missed commitments.
July 15, 2026
In this Dec. 15, 2020, file photo, a sign for Moderna, Inc. hangs on its headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.
Safety
Moderna: Updated COVID Shot Boosts Omicron Protection
Updated boosters could better protect people against future coronavirus surges.
June 8, 2022
Full approval means FDA has completed the same rigorous, time-consuming review for Moderna’s shot as dozens of other long-established vaccines.
Regulation
Moderna Announces Full U.S. Approval for Its COVID-19 Vaccine
The decision was bolstered by evidence from the more than 200 million doses administered in the U.S.
January 31, 2022
Pfizer said Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may protect against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.
Safety
Pfizer Says COVID Booster Offers Protection Against Omicron
Lab tests showed a booster increased people's levels of virus-fighting antibodies 25-fold.
December 8, 2021
Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sit in a cooler before being thawed at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site in the Bronx borough of New York on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. On Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to allow boosters of its COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 18 or older.
Product Development
Pfizer Asks FDA to OK COVID-19 Booster Shots for All Adults
Pfizer’s new study concluded a booster could restore protection against symptomatic infection to about 95%.
November 10, 2021
A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic at the Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021.
Safety
FDA Strikes Cautious Tone Ahead of Vaccine Booster Meeting
Is there enough proof that a booster dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective?
September 16, 2021
In this Thursday, April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine sits on a table at a pop up vaccinations site the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The U.S. is recommending a “pause” in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots.
Safety
US Recommends J&J Vaccine 'Pause' Over Clot Reports
Investigation concerns unusual clots in six women that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination.
April 13, 2021
In this Dec. 22, 2020, photo, provided by Richard Chung, his son Caleb Chung receives the first dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine or placebo as a trial participant for kids ages 12-15, at Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C. Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12. The announcement Wednesday, March 31, 2021 marks a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before the next school year.
Safety
Pfizer: Vaccine Safe for Age 12+
This could be a first step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall.
March 31, 2021
Colleen Teevan, System Pharmacy Clinical Manager at Hartford HealthCare, administers the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 to healthcare worker Connor Paleski outside of Hartford Hospital on Monday, Dec. 14 in Hartford, CT.
Safety
Second COVID Shot Earns Positive Review as US Vaccinations Ramp Up
The first 3 million shots are being strictly rationed to front-line health workers and elder-care patients.
December 15, 2020
This March 16, 2020 file photo shows vials used by pharmacists to prepare syringes used on the first day of a first-stage safety study clinical trial of the potential vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday, July 27 with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it's one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.
Product Development
World's Biggest COVID-19 Vaccine Study Gets Underway
30,000 planned volunteers are helping to test shots created by the U.S. government and Moderna.
July 27, 2020
This March 16, 2020 file photo shows vials used by pharmacists to prepare syringes used on the first day of a first-stage safety study clinical trial of the potential vaccine for COVID-19.
Product Development
COVID-19 Vaccine Search Heats Up
Initial tests focus on safety, and researchers are trying out different doses of different types of shots.
April 15, 2020
This March 1931 file photo shows ampules of the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis in a laboratory at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, France. Dec. 2, 1947 file photo. Scientists are dusting off some decades-old vaccines against TB and polio to see if they could provide stopgap protection against COVID-19 until a more precise shot arrives.
Product Development
Could Old Vaccines Work?
Scientists are dusting off decades-old vaccines.
April 14, 2020
In this Wednesday, April 8, 2020 photo provided by the Center for Pharmaceutical Research, a participant in a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine trial receives an injection in Kansas City, Mo. This early safety study, called a Phase 1 trial, is using a vaccine candidate developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals.
Product Development
New COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate
Researchers have opened another safety test.
April 9, 2020
A man wears a mask while crossing in front of the Stockton Street Tunnel in San Francisco, Sunday, March 29, 2020.
Regulation
Should You Wear a Mask in Public?
For now, if you are not sick, you do not need to wear a face mask.
April 2, 2020
In this Feb. 18, 2020, file photo, Dr. Zhou Min, a recovered COVID-19 patient who has passed his 14-day quarantine, donates plasma in the city's blood center in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients contains antibodies that may help reduce the viral load in patients that are fighting the disease.
Product Development
Can Coronavirus Survivor Blood Treat Newly Ill?
It's a century-old treatment used to fight off flu and measles outbreaks.
March 24, 2020