Biochemical secrets of tarantula’s painful bite could point to perfect painkillers

Amazing stuff! This is a rather speculative outlook, but who knows ...

"... A team ... has for the first time shown that the venom’s effect is likely due to one peptide attacking several pain receptors at once. ...
‘The real challenge ... will be to redesign the peptide to reverse its activity – blocking sodium channels and opening of potassium channels,’ ... ‘If this can be achieved, that would be a new generation of potential analgesics.’ ... calls a molecule that could perform this opposite function ‘the perfect analgesic’. ...
Despite several decades of research, venoms are still an untapped source of pharmacological treasures ... ‘[Some venoms] have taught us, for example, which targets are important to treat in irritable bowel syndrome ..."

From the abstract:

"The King Baboon spider, Pelinobius muticus, is a burrowing African tarantula. Its impressive size ... Hyperalgesia is the most prominent symptom after bites from P. muticus, but the molecular basis by which the venom induces pain is unknown. Proteotranscriptomic analysis of P. muticus venom uncovered a cysteine-rich peptide, δ/κ-theraphotoxin-Pm1a (δ/κ-TRTX-Pm1a), that elicited nocifensive behavior when injected into mice. In small dorsal root ganglion neurons, synthetic δ/κ-TRTX-Pm1a (sPm1a) induced hyperexcitability by enhancing tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium currents, impairing repolarization and lowering the threshold of action potential firing, consistent with the severe pain associated with envenomation. The molecular mechanism of nociceptor sensitization by sPm1a involves multimodal actions over several ion channel targets, including NaV1.8, KV2.1, and tetrodotoxin-sensitive NaV channels. The promiscuous targeting of peptides like δ/κ-TRTX-Pm1a may be an evolutionary adaptation in pain-inducing defensive venoms."

Biochemical secrets of tarantula’s painful bite could point to perfect painkillers | Research | Chemistry World

Multitarget nociceptor sensitization by a promiscuous peptide from the venom of the King Baboon spider (open access)

Asteroid impacts Earth just two hours after it was discovered

Just a friendly reminder, a larger asteroid hitting earth is a real threat compared to the Global Warming Hoax and the Climate Change Religion!

"... Asteroids are potentially one of the most dangerous natural disasters the planet could experience, especially since there is currently no immediate way to stop them.
According to research ... an asteroid over 140 meters in diameter would release an amount of energy at least a thousand times greater than that released by the first atomic bomb if it impacted Earth. ..."

Asteroid impacts Earth just two hours after it was discovered - The Jerusalem Post The asteroid, 2022 EB5, was small and burnt up in the atmosphere. However, more asteroids are coming, one flying by closer to the Earth than the Moon.

John Huston: A New Perspective On Directing

Recommendable! I don't think, there are any directors like him anymore in the U.S. or any movies like those directed by John Huston!

Recent research into the microbiome

Amazing stuff! How long will it take so humans can exploit this research to improve human brain function?

Metabolites produced by bacteria in the gut can travel to the brain and alter emotional behavior or promote plasticity.

Brain Plasticity

"Now, a study published January 11 in Cell Reports finds that the environment could act indirectly: living in enriched environments changes the animals’ gut microbiota, which appears to modulate plasticity. ...
Conversely, when the researchers transferred feces, with their associated microbes, from donor mice living in an enriched environment to mice living in standard housing, they found that doing so “made the recipient mice plastic even if they did not experience the enriched environment ...
Conversely, plasticity, as measured using monocular deprivation, was promoted when mice reared in standard cages were fed with a mixture of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), metabolites produced by gut microbes. ..."

From the abstract:

"... Here, we ... revealing that gut microbiota signals are crucial for E[nriched]E[nvironment]-driven plasticity. Developmental analysis reveals striking differences in intestinal bacteria composition between EE and standard rearing (ST) mice, as well as enhanced levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in EE mice. Depleting the microbiota of EE mice with antibiotics strongly decreases SCFA and prevents activation of adult ocular dominance plasticity, spine dynamics, and microglia rearrangement. SCFA treatment in ST mice mimics EE induction of ocular dominance plasticity and microglial remodeling. Remarkably, transferring the microbiota of EE mice to ST recipients activates adult ocular dominance plasticity. Thus, experience-dependent changes in gut microbiota regulate brain plasticity."

Tinkering with Gut Microbes Boosts Brain Plasticity in Mice | The Scientist Magazine® Intestinal bacteria contribute to the effect of stimulating environments on the brain’s ability to adapt, a study concludes.

The gut microbiota of environmentally enriched mice regulates visual cortical plasticity

Emotional Behaviors

"... studies in the last few years have linked the microbiome to brain function and mood. People with certain neurological conditions have distinctly different gut bacteria communities. Further, studies in mice have shown that manipulating these communities can alter neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative states, either ameliorating or exacerbating symptoms. ..."

From the abstract:

"... In mice, the gut microbiota impacts behaviour, modulates neurotransmitter production in the gut and brain, and influences brain development and myelination patterns. ... Here we identified biosynthetic genes from the gut microbiome that mediate the conversion of dietary tyrosine to 4-ethylphenol (4EP), and bioengineered gut bacteria to selectively produce 4EPS in mice. 4EPS entered the brain and was associated with changes in region-specific activity and functional connectivity. ... Mice colonized with 4EP-producing bacteria exhibited reduced myelination of neuronal axons. Altered myelination dynamics in the brain have been associated with behavioural outcomes. Accordingly, we observed that mice exposed to 4EPS displayed anxiety-like behaviours, and pharmacological treatments that promote oligodendrocyte differentiation prevented the behavioural effects of 4EPS. These findings reveal that a gut-derived molecule influences complex behaviours in mice through effects on oligodendrocyte function and myelin patterning in the brain."

A Microbial Compound in the Gut Leads to Anxious Behaviors in Mice A Caltech-led team of researchers has discovered that a small-molecule metabolite, produced by bacteria that reside in the mouse gut, can travel to the brain and alter the function of brain cells, leading to increased anxiety in mice. The work helps uncover a molecular explanation for recent observations that gut microbiome changes are associated with complex emotional behaviors.

A gut-derived metabolite alters brain activity and anxiety behaviour in mice

COVID’s true death toll of some 18 million: much higher than official records propaganda

The demagogues are not giving up inflating the death toll of the global Covid-19 pandemic! This latest attempt was published by none other than Nature journal!

Given the fact that everyone was counted has having died from Covid-19 who was infected with Covid-19 irrespective of other causes.

"... That far outstrips the 5.9 million deaths that the study says were reported to various official sources for the same period. ...
To estimate COVID-19 deaths, the IHME study uses a measure called excess mortality, which is a convenient tool to overcome variation in the ways that countries identify and record deaths from the virus. Researchers estimate excess deaths by comparing the total deaths reported in a region or country, from all causes, with how many deaths would be expected given trends in recent years. ...
But he stresses that such estimates also include deaths from other causes. More research is needed, he says, to separate deaths caused directly by COVID-19 from those that are the indirect results of the pandemic ..."

COVID’s true death toll: much higher than official records Modelling suggests that by the end of 2021, some 18 million people had died because of the pandemic.

Rediscovering Newton's law with machine learning purely from observational data

Interesting and promising approach! This is only the beginning!

From the abstract:

"... We train a "graph neural network" to simulate the dynamics of our solar system's Sun, planets, and large moons from 30 years of trajectory data. We then use symbolic regression to discover an analytical expression for the force law implicitly learned by the neural network, which our results showed is equivalent to Newton's law of gravitation. The key assumptions that were required were translational and rotational equivariance, and Newton's second and third laws of motion. Our approach correctly discovered the form of the symbolic force law. Furthermore, our approach did not require any assumptions about the masses of planets and moons or physical constants. They, too, were accurately inferred through our methods. Though, of course, the classical law of gravitation has been known since Isaac Newton, our result serves as a validation that our method can discover unknown laws and hidden properties from observed data. More broadly this work represents a key step toward realizing the potential of machine learning for accelerating scientific discovery."

[2202.02306] Rediscovering orbital mechanics with machine learning

Credits: Synced Global AI Weekly

Central Asia: New Global Turf War

Very recommendable!

Judaism in India (68 CE-present)

Very recommendable! Fascinating! In particular, there was apparently little persecution of Jews in India or in other words the historical general tolerance towards different religions in India also was extended to Judaism.

Is Turkey waging another genocide? This time against the Yezidis

Recommendable! An article by Michael Rubin.

"While Erdogan seeks international praise for hosting millions of Syrian refugees, his actions are not altruistic. Not only does he weaponize the threat of refugees to extract concessions from European states, but he also selectively settles and bestows citizenship upon Sunni Arab refugees to dilute Turkey’s Kurdish and Alevi populations. Sectarian Sunni Islamists such as Erdogan despise Alevism, a sect similar to Shi’ism that is dominant in portions of eastern and central Turkey.

However, the victims of the genocide are Yezidi. Historically, the United States has ignored the Yezidis, adherents to a pre-Islamic religion whose population traditionally spans the area where Turkey, Syria, and Iraq meet. ...Still, many Yezidis remain in captivity. Visiting Sinuni, just miles from the Syrian border, I met Yezidis who showed me proof-of-life videos of relatives who remained in captivity in Turkey and Syria regions controlled by Turkish proxy groups. ...

The cost of such apathy goes beyond condemning Yezidi girls to suffer years more rape. In recent years, Turkey has waged a relentless bombing campaign against Yezidi villagers and farmers in the Sinjar region of northwestern Iraq. While Turkish diplomats say their bombing is rooted in a counterterrorism campaign, the reality is that the targets are more often farmers and families. ...
Turkish bombardment of Yezidi communities has increased as the Ukraine crisis and the fight against the Islamic State distracts the world. On Feb. 1 and 2, for example, 60 aircraft took off from air bases across Turkey. Accompanied by drones, these aircraft hit almost two dozen locations across Sinjar, killing numerous civilians across the region. ..."

Don’t let Turkey get away with another genocide | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Recent research on the weight of neutrinos

Amazing stuff!

"In a milestone that will bear on future discoveries in nuclear and particle physics, today an international team including scientists from MIT announced that they have established a new upper limit on the mass of the neutrino subatomic particle: 0.8 eV/c2. ...

The team’s first reported measurement in 2019 yielded a result of 1.1 eV/c2. Scientists later broke the 1 eV/c2, a testament to the precision of the technique. Further measurement of the neutrino’s mass will continue through 2024.

To measure neutrino mass, KATRIN makes use of the beta decay of tritium, an unstable hydrogen isotope. The team was able to determine the mass of the neutrino via the measured energy of electrons released in the decay process. But to do so has necessitated a major technological effort: The experiment houses the world´s most intense tritium source as well as a giant spectrometer to measure the energy of decay electrons with unprecedented precision.

... “[Enrico] Fermi himself devised the technique back in the 1930s. But only now do we have the capabilities to make use of the technique to extract the neutrino mass with such precision.” ..."

"... When a tritium nucleus transmutes into a helium one, it ejects an electron and a neutrino (or, more accurately, a particle with an equal mass called an antineutrino). The neutrino is lost, but the electron is channelled into a 23-metre-long, steel vacuum chamber shaped like a Zeppelin airship, where its energy is measured precisely.

The electron carries almost all of the energy released during the tritium’s decay, but some is lost with the neutrino. The value of this shortfall can be used to calculate the particle’s mass. ..."

From the abstract:

"Since the discovery of neutrino oscillations, we know that neutrinos have non-zero mass. However, the absolute neutrino-mass scale remains unknown. Here we report the upper limits on effective electron anti-neutrino mass, mν, from the second physics run of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment. In this experiment, mν is probed via a high-precision measurement of the tritium β-decay spectrum close to its endpoint. This method is independent of any cosmological model and does not rely on assumptions whether the neutrino is a Dirac or Majorana particle. By increasing the source activity and reducing the background with respect to the first physics campaign, we reached a sensitivity on mν of 0.7 eV c–2 at a 90% confidence level (CL). The best fit to the spectral data yields m2ν = (0.26 ± 0.34) eV2 c–4, resulting in an upper limit of mν < 0.9 eV c–2 at 90% CL. By combining this result with the first neutrino-mass campaign, we find an upper limit of mν < 0.8 eV c–2 at 90% CL."

A new upper limit on the mass of neutrinos Researchers with the KATRIN experiment determine that neutrinos are lighter than 0.8 eV/c2.

How light is a neutrino? The answer is closer than ever

Direct neutrino-mass measurement with sub-electronvolt sensitivity (open access)

Great Moments in Unintended Consequences (Vol. 6)

Recommendable! Human follies and government failures!

In der Bananenrepublik Deutschland herrscht vielerorts ein Brückennotstand

Typisch Bananenrepublik! Gut funktionierende Kernkraftwerke werden unsinnigerweise abgeschaltet, die Infrastruktur wird jahrelang vernachlässigt 

"Seit dem 2. Dezember ist Lüdenscheid das Epizentrum des deutschen Infrastrukturnotstands. An diesem Tag wurde die dortige Rahmedetal-Autobahnbrücke der A 45 komplett gesperrt: Einsturzgefahr. Inzwischen ist klar, das Bauwerk muss abgerissen und ersetzt werden. Rund 64 000 Fahrzeuge, davon 13 000 Lastwagen, haben die Brücke jeden Tag genutzt. ..."

Wie die Sperrung der Rahmedetalbrücke die Region ins Chaos stürzt In Deutschland herrscht vielerorts ein Brückennotstand. Tausende sind marode, einige musste man wegen Einsturzgefahr sogar sperren. Der jüngste Fall ist die Rahmedetal-Autobahnbrücke bei Lüdenscheid im Sauerland. Die Blechlawine mit Tausenden Lastwagen wälzt sich nun durch die Innenstadt.

About fragile deep-sea jellies living in the ocean midwater

Amazing stuff! What little we still know about what is going on in our oceans!

"The ocean’s midwater is considered to be the largest habitable space for life on earth, yet it is also one of the most minimally explored marine environments. Collecting specimens in this region is incredibly challenging, as many open ocean species are quick, fragile, and small. Keeping a midwater animal alive for study at the surface is a difficult task due to changes in pressure or damage that may occur during collection. ..."

"... But two new imaging systems developed by a team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in California promise to make these intangible creatures tangible at last. The systems, called DeepPIV and EyeRIS, create 3D renderings of gelatinous deep-sea creatures. Together, they can capture an animal’s every feature on a millimeter scale—the structure of internal organs, even food moving through its digestive tract. The MBARI team believes the scans will help researchers describe these fragile species for the first time and perhaps even reduce the time between the first discovery of a creature and its formal introduction to science—which a 2012 study calculated takes an average of 21 years. ..."

From the abstract:

"... However, the phylum Ctenophora (comb jellies) has historically been difficult to study due to divergent mitochondrial sequences and the corresponding inability to amplify COI with degenerate and standard COI “barcoding” primers. As a result, there are very few COI sequences available for ctenophores, despite over 200 described species in the phylum. Here, we designed new primers and amplified the COI fragment from members of all major groups of ctenophores, including many undescribed species.
Phylogenetic analyses of the resulting COI sequences revealed high diversity within many groups that was not evident from more conserved 18S rDNA sequences, in particular among the Lobata (Ctenophora; Tentaculata; Lobata). The COI phylogenetic results also revealed unexpected community structure within the genus Bolinopsis, suggested new species within the genus Bathocyroe, and supported the ecological and morphological differences of some species such as Lampocteis cruentiventer and similar undescribed lobates (Lampocteis sp. “V” stratified by depth, and “A” differentiated by colour). ..."

The cameras that capture fragile deep-sea jellies in their element | MIT Technology Review The detailed 3D models they make possible could be all that’s needed to describe a new species

Genetic probes give new clues about the stunning diversity of comb jellies

The future of ocean midwater exploration

Hidden diversity of Ctenophora revealed by new mitochondrial COI primers and sequences (open access)

MBARI researchers prepared a “tree” of relationships using COI sequences to show species differences between comb jellies. They used this tree to help other researchers determine which DNA primers would work best for a group of interest. Major branches include the lobed comb jellies (pink), beroids (blue), and the seafloor-dwelling platyctenes (green)

Tesla will continue paying salaries of Ukrainian employees who return home to fight

Bravo Elon Musk!
Will the Ukrainian people reciprocate by buying more Tesla cars in the future?

"As a way to support Ukraine in its fight against invading Russian forces, Tesla has announced that it will continue paying the salaries of Ukrainian employees asked to return to their homeland to fight for at least three months.

The announcement was disclosed in an internal email to employees in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa ... it wasn’t immediately clear whether the policy had been or would be extended to employees in North America and elsewhere around the globe. ...

"For any Tesla employees who is a Ukrainian national and has been asked to return to Ukraine for active duty as a reservist, we will maintain their employment and salary for 3 months, with a view to assessing after this period as needed," read the email, sent by Axel Tangen, Tesla's director of Northern Europe. ..."

Tesla will continue paying salaries of Ukrainian employees who return home to fight - TheBlaze

Ballot Bombshells: 20 episodes exposing fraud, illegalities and irregularities in 2020 election

Very recommendable!

The November 2020 general elections in the U.S. were anything but fair and legal! The article below contains a long list of what went wrong!

Ballot Bombshells: 20 episodes exposing fraud, illegalities and irregularities in 2020 election | Just The News

Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir is a hero to Ukrainians in the fight against Russia

Amazing stuff! Wars are not won by military force alone!

"The most prominent Jewish figure in Ukraine right now is the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The runner-up may well be another country’s famous Jewish leader.

Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel [1969-1974] and a native of Kyiv whose family fled amid antisemitic violence, has loomed large ever since Russia launched its war on Ukraine late last month. Her words have appeared in pro-Ukrainian memes, been quoted by Ukrainian diplomats and even been pulled from the backpack of a battle-ready Ukrainian soldier.

Almost as soon as the war began, memes riffing on a quote often attributed to Meir, adapted to the current conflict, began circulating online.

“If Russia lays down its weapons, there is no war. If Ukraine lays down its weapons, there is no Ukraine” ...

But it is actually an adaptation of a quote widely attributed to Meir, who led Israel during and after the 1973 Yom Kippur War ...

“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel,” goes the quote, which has been attributed to Meir on memes for more than a decade. Benjamin Netanyahu, then speaker of Israel’s government, uttered those words in a speech to lawmakers in 2006. ..."

Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir is a hero to Ukrainians in the fight against Russia - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

The AI historian: A new tool to decipher ancient texts

Very recommendable! This is only the beginning of AI supported archaeology!

Restoring and attributing ancient texts using deep neural networks (open access)

Johann Sebastian Bach - Aria "Mein Gott, ich liebe dich von Herzen" from Cantata BWV 77

Very recommendable!

Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman

Very recommendable! 

The Death of Socrates 1787

Tucker Carlson: Why are we funding this biological research in the Ukraine? ( A total screw up by him!)

As much as I like to watch his show, but this time Tucker Carlson completely screwed up! He sounded like an idiot! He did not present any tangible facts that indeed there was biological weapons research going on in the Ukraine or that this was financed or supported by the U.S. He was totally speculative about this subject!

It is quite possible that there has been biological research going on for civilian purposes. This research could even have originated during the occupation of the Ukraine by the former Soviet Union.

He played even a video from Communist Party of China spokesperson demanding verification of biological/chemical weapons in the U.S. as if China did not have such programs of its own and totally unverified!

Hierarchical Graph Representation Learning with Differentiable Pooling

Recommendable! Well written paper! 

Two things that surprised me:

1. The researchers used the COLLAB dataset to exemplify some of the results although it has only a single level cluster structure ("This is because many collaboration graphs in COLLAB show only single-layer community structures, which can be captured well with pre-computed graph clustering algorithm"). Given that the researchers used so several other chemical and social network datasets.
2. The researchers used only maximal two DiffPool layers for all experiments

Hierarchical Graph Representation Learning with Differentiable Pooling (NIPS not NeurIPS 2018)

Researchers discover unique lysin capable of killing multidrug-resistant bacteria

Good news! Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is destined to become history!

"Researchers ... have identified a novel phage lysin — Abp013 — that could be used as an alternative antimicrobial agent against two of the most deadly bacteria: Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. 

Lysins — enzymes produced by bacteriophages — have displayed great potential as a novel class of antimicrobials as their properties allow them to quickly and directly target key structural components of a bacteria’s cell walls, and in doing so, reduce the bacteria’s ability to develop resistance. ...
Lysins have been highly effective in fighting Gram-positive bacteria — which do not have an outer lipid membrane and are thus easily killed by lysins. Conversely, in Gram-negative bacteria, the presence of an outer membrane impedes many lysins from killing the bacteria efficiently. Hence, the discovery of novel lysin Abp013 is crucial in advancing treatment methods against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. ...
Abp013 is the first Gram-negative lysin found to display host selectivity. Prior to the discovery of Abp013, no other lysins are capable of targeting Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae, but not Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Understanding the mechanism behind such selectivity will help guide the development of lysin variants customized to only target pathogenic bacteria, for more precise treatment of bacterial infections ..."

From the abstract:

"... Lysins are bacteriophage-encoded peptidoglycan hydrolases that display great potential as a novel class of antimicrobials for therapeutics. While lysins against Gram-positive bacteria are highly effective when applied exogenously, it is challenging for lysins to access and cleave the peptidoglycan of Gram-negative bacteria due to their outer membrane. In this study, we identify a novel phage lysin Abp013 against Acinetobacter baumannii. Abp013 exhibited significant lytic activity against multidrug-resistant strains of A. baumannii. Notably, we found that Abp013 was able to tolerate the presence of human serum by up to 10% ..."

SMART researchers discover unique lysin capable of killing multidrug-resistant bacteria | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Novel lysin Abp013 has shown promising antimicrobial ability against Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Novel Phage Lysin Abp013 against Acinetobacter baumannii (open access)

Scientists report first drone-assisted meteorite recovery in desert of Western Australia

Amazing stuff! A tiny meteorite was recovered in a desert landscape! Like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack!

I suspect, this is only the beginning of more successful hunts for meteors/meteorites!

"Scientists in Western Australia have carried out the first recovery of an observed meteorite fall with the help of drones and machine-learning techniques. The finding could pave the way for more falls to be located and studied, helping scientists explore the make-up of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. ...

The discovery was made after a bright meteor fireball was spotted in April last year by cameras belonging to the Australian Desert Fireball Network. Following examination of the fireball, researchers determined that meteorites could have been scattered in an area near to Kybo Station in Western Australia. A team was then deployed to the predicted “strewn field” to begin searching the area using two drones. ..."

From the abstract:

"... A convolutional neural network, trained on previously-recovered meteorites with fusion crusts, processed the images on our field computer after each flight. meteorite candidates identified by the algorithm were sorted by team members using two user interfaces to eliminate false positives. Surviving candidates were revisited with a smaller drone, and imaged in higher resolution, before being eliminated or finally being visited in-person. The 70 g meteorite was recovered within 50 m of the calculated fall line using, demonstrating the effectiveness of this methodology which will facilitate the efficient collection of many more observed meteorite falls."

'Huge leap' as scientists report first drone-assisted space rock recovery after observed meteorite fall – Physics World

Successful Recovery of an Observed Meteorite Fall Using Drones and Machine Learning (open access)

The ‘Adam Smith of the North': Meet Finland's Founding Father of Classical Liberalism by Lawrence Reed

Recommendable! If you want to better understand the people of Scandinavia, here is some food for thought!

"... Intellectually a product of the Enlightenment, Chydenius was a Lutheran priest from Finland who served in the legislature of Sweden. (Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809, as was Norway until 1905). He was also much more, enough to earn him the description of “Renaissance Man” in some quarters. Aside from being a pastor, politician, and writer, he was a scientist, inventor, musician, eye surgeon, a vaccination pioneer and founder of a respected orchestra. ...

Anders Chydenius laid out his economic prescription for mercantilist [Sweden-Finland] in The National Gain in 1765, suggesting a concept of spontaneous order eleven years before Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations: “Every individual spontaneously tries to find the place and the trade in which he can best increase National gain, if laws do not prevent him from doing so.” For Chydenius, freedom and diligence were the foundations of an economically prosperous nation; direction from the government only gummed up the gears of a natural system of human interaction."

The ‘Adam Smith of the North': Meet Finland's Founding Father of Classical Liberalism - Foundation for Economic Education Anders Chydenius championed freedom of the press, free trade, and equal rights before the law regardless of race, and freedoms of speech and religion.

Carbon removal factory on Iceland

More reasons why it is high time to bury the Global Warming Hoax/Climate Change Religion as on of the many human follies of history!

We already clean water on a very large scale every day around the globe, why not the air we breathe!

"In September, Climeworks flipped the switch on Orca, the largest plant to date that is designed to remove carbon dioxide from the air. 

The facility, outside Reykjavik, Iceland, can capture 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. Large fans suck air through a filter, where materials bind with CO2 molecules. The company’s partner, Carbfix, then mixes the carbon dioxide with water and pumps it underground, where it reacts with basalt rock and eventually turns into stone. The facility runs entirely on carbon-free electricity, mainly from a nearby geothermal power plant. 

To be sure, 4,000 tons isn’t that much. It’s less than the annual emissions of 900 cars. ...

Far larger facilities are in the works as well. Carbon Engineering, based in Squamish, British Columbia, plans to start construction this year on a plant in the US Southwest with the capacity to remove 1 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. With various partners, it’s also begun engineering or design work on plants in Scotland and Norway that would capture 500,000 to 1 million tons per year. ..." 

https://tribunecontentagency.com/article/carbon-removal-factory/

Ukraine war: Attacks on hospitals and ambulances are increasing according to WHO

Other sources say the toll is higher! More war crimes are happening in the Ukraine!

"The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Ukraine's health system is under "severe pressure" amid the war with Russia.

The head of the WHO's Europe office says the number of attacks on hospitals and ambulances in Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent days.

Dr Hans Kluge told reporters that it had confirmed 16 separate attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities since 24 February. ..."

Ukraine war: Attacks on hospitals and ambulances 'increasing rapidly', says WHO | Euronews

Georgians challenging Russia's border encroachment

Georgia suffers daily encroachments on its borders and slow progressive annexation of border lands by Russia since about 2008. The Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are occupied by Putin the Terrible!

"... By the 1980s, an independence movement emerged and grew quickly, leading to Georgia's secession from the Soviet Union in April 1991. For most of the subsequent decade, post-Soviet Georgia suffered from economic crisis, political instability, ethnic conflict, and secessionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Following the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia strongly pursued a pro-Western foreign policy; it introduced a series of democratic and economic reforms aimed at integration into the European Union and NATO. The country's Western orientation soon led to worsening relations with Russia, at one point even resulting in a brief war in 2008. ..." (Source)

Milankovitch cycles and climate change

One should not assume solar radiation coming from the sun to be constant as most Global Warming/Climate Change pseudoscientists have us believe!

 

Neither is the earth movements around the sun and other earth rotational features exactly the same every time. You can bet that we humans do not yet fully understand the long-term implications on climate, seasons, and weather! E.g. currently it is assumed that these Milankovitch cycles operate over long timespans over tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. However, is this assumption correct or will find also shorter timespans?

"Milankovitch cycles describe the collective effects of changes in the Earth's movements on its climate over thousands of years.  ... The Earth's rotation around its axis, and revolution around the Sun, evolve over time due to gravitational interactions with other bodies in the Solar System. The variations are complex, but a few cycles are dominant. ...

Orbital eccentricity

... The major component of these variations occurs with a period of 413,000 years (eccentricity variation of ±0.012). Other components have 95,000-year and 125,000-year cycles (with a beat period of 400,000 years). They loosely combine into a 100,000-year cycle (variation of −0.03 to +0.02). ...

Axial tilt (obliquity)

22.1–24.5° range of Earth's obliquity.

The angle of the Earth's axial tilt with respect to the orbital plane (the obliquity of the ecliptic) varies between 22.1° and 24.5°, over a cycle of about 41,000 years. The current tilt is 23.44°, roughly halfway between its extreme values. The tilt last reached its maximum in 8,700 BCE. It is now in the decreasing phase of its cycle, and will reach its minimum around the year 11,800 CE.[7] Increased tilt increases the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in insolation, providing more solar radiation in each hemisphere's summer and less in winter. However, these effects are not uniform everywhere on the Earth's surface. Increased tilt increases the total annual solar radiation at higher latitudes, and decreases the total closer to the equator.[7]

The current trend of decreasing tilt, by itself, will promote milder seasons (warmer winters and colder summers), as well as an overall cooling trend. ...

Axial precession

Axial precession is the trend in the direction of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the fixed stars, with a period of 25,771.5 years. Also known as the precession of the equinoxes, this motion means that eventually Polaris will no longer be the north pole star. This precession is caused by the tidal forces exerted by the Sun and the Moon on the rotating Earth; both contribute roughly equally to this effect.

Currently, perihelion occurs during the southern hemisphere's summer. This means that solar radiation due to both the axial tilt inclining the southern hemisphere toward the Sun, and the Earth's proximity to the Sun, will reach maximum during the southern summer and reach minimum during the southern winter. These effects on heating are thus additive, which means that seasonal variation in irradiation of the southern hemisphere is more extreme. In the northern hemisphere, these two factors reach maximum at opposite times of the year ...

Apsidal precession

The orbital ellipse itself precesses in space, in an irregular fashion, completing a full cycle every 112,000 years relative to the fixed stars. ...

Apsidal precession combines with the 25,771.5-year cycle of axial precession (see above) to vary the position in the year that the Earth reaches perihelion. Apsidal precession shortens this period to 23,000 years on average (varying between 20,800 and 29,000 years). ... 

Effects of precession on the seasons (using the Northern Hemisphere terms)

As the orientation of Earth's orbit changes, each season will gradually start earlier in the year. ...

Orbital inclination

The inclination of Earth's orbit drifts up and down relative to its present orbit. This three-dimensional movement is known as "precession of the ecliptic" or "planetary precession". Earth's current inclination relative to the invariable plane (the plane that represents the angular momentum of the Solar System—approximately the orbital plane of Jupiter) is 1.57°. Milankovitch did not study planetary precession. It was discovered more recently and measured, relative to Earth's orbit, to have a period of about 70,000 years. When measured independently of Earth's orbit, but relative to the invariable plane, however, precession has a period of about 100,000 years. This period is very similar to the 100,000-year eccentricity period. Both periods closely match the 100,000-year pattern of glacial events. ..."

"... Earth’s axis is currently tilted 23.4 degrees, or about half way between its extremes, and this angle is very slowly decreasing in a cycle that spans about 41,000 years. It was last at its maximum tilt about 10,700 years ago and will reach its minimum tilt about 9,800 years from now. As obliquity decreases, it gradually helps make our seasons milder, resulting in increasingly warmer winters, and cooler summers that gradually, over time, allow snow and ice at high latitudes to build up into large ice sheets. As ice cover increases, it reflects more of the Sun’s energy back into space, promoting even further cooling. ...
Axial precession makes seasonal contrasts more extreme in one hemisphere and less extreme in the other. Currently perihelion occurs during winter in the Northern Hemisphere and in summer in the Southern Hemisphere. This makes Southern Hemisphere summers hotter and moderates Northern Hemisphere seasonal variations. ...
The small changes set in motion by Milankovitch cycles operate separately and together to influence Earth’s climate over very long timespans, leading to larger changes in our climate over tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. ...
He calculated that Ice Ages occur approximately every 41,000 years. Subsequent research confirms that they did occur at 41,000-year intervals between one and three million years ago. But about 800,000 years ago, the cycle of Ice Ages lengthened to 100,000 years, matching Earth’s eccentricity cycle. While various theories have been proposed to explain this transition, scientists do not yet have a clear answer. ..."

Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles and Their Role in Earth's Climate

Milankovitch cycles - Wikipedia

Biden Bans Imports of Russian Oil, Natural Gas

The demented and senile 46th President forgot or omitted to restart domestic fossil fuel exploration and production! Incredible!

Either he screws up totally or at least 50% like in this case!

"President Biden banned imported oil and other energy sources from Russia to punish the country as it intensified its military campaign in Ukraine, a move that will add pressure to already record U.S. gasoline prices and the economic recovery.

The U.S. immediately prohibited new Russian shipments of oil, certain petroleum products, liquefied natural gas and coal under an executive order Mr. Biden signed Tuesday [3/8/2022]. Washington will give companies 45 days to wind down existing contracts for Russian energy supplies, a senior Biden administration official said. The order also bars new U.S. investment in Russia’s energy sector and blocks Americans from financing foreign companies that invest in the sector. ..."

Biden Bans Imports of Russian Oil, Natural Gas - WSJ The move could further boost gasoline prices as the Biden administration responds to the Ukraine invasion

MIT Study: Higher minimum wages raise voter turnout

This study states the obvious: Populist politicians try to bribe voters to vote for them!

A minimum wage is a perfect tool for politicians to gain favor with some voters!

Like with a magic wand you redistribute income to your favorite voters!

This is another good reason to abolish minimum wage laws altogether!

Government price controls like minimum wage are unconstitutional! The minimum wage is a serious impediment to labor market entry or participation for many who need a job, but cannot easily find one.

Study: Higher minimum wages raise voter turnout | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Low-wage workers, who vote infrequently, gain a participation boost when their salaries increase.

More Money, More Turnout? Minimum Wage Increases and Voting (No public access. This journal does not even provide access to the abstract!)

Cornell University: A case study in house deconstruction and building material recycling

Does building material recycling really make dollars and sense? The premise, i.e. the Global Warming Hoax is already wrong!

Will government mandate the recycling of building materials in the near future?

"... But two doors down at 206 College Ave., Felix Heisel, assistant professor of architecture in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP), watched in a yellow hard hat as an alternative process unfolded – deconstruction.

Dozens of volunteers salvaged original wood flooring, utilities and other elements from the 11 homes being taken down at the Catherine Commons site.

Over five days there, a crew of up to eight workers methodically carved the 4,500-square foot, 13-bedroom structure into sections from top to bottom. Panels of roof, walls and floor as large as 8 by 18 feet were then hauled to an Ithaca warehouse for the materials to be salvaged and eventually resold.

“It’s fantastic to see this building slowly being unbuilt, story by story, and learning the techniques involved,” Heisel said. “You see a potential reactivation of the materials into a marketplace, and with that a second life in a new application.”

Heisel hopes the deconstruction project spearheaded by his Circular Construction Lab and a team of community partners – supported by a grant from the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement – serves as a local case study promoting a more sustainable approach to building materials across the region. ...
Globally, Heisel said, buildings over their life cycle are responsible for about 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, making them a major factor in climate change. ..."

Unbuild better: a Collegetown case study in deconstruction | Cornell Chronicle

Ex vivo enzymatic treatment converts blood type A donor lungs into universal blood type lungs

Good news! These results are preliminary and have not been tested in vivo! Can these promising results be extended to other cases, where a universal blood type matters? 

"A major challenge in lung transplantation is the need for ABO blood group matching. To address this challenge, Wang et al. used two enzymes, FpGalNAc deacetylase and FpGalactosaminidase, to convert blood group A lungs to blood group O lungs during ex vivo lung perfusion. The authors demonstrated successful removal of blood group A antigen with no overt changes in lung health. In an ex vivo simulation of transplantation, the authors showed reduced antibody and complement deposition, suggesting that this technique may reduce antibody-mediated injury in vivo. ..."

From the abstract:

"Donor organ allocation is dependent on ABO matching, restricting the opportunity for some patients to receive a life-saving transplant. The enzymes FpGalNAc deacetylase and FpGalactosaminidase, used in combination, have been described to effectively convert group A (ABO-A) red blood cells (RBCs) to group O (ABO-O). Here, we study the safety and preclinical efficacy of using these enzymes to remove A antigen (A-Ag) from human donor lungs using ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP). ... An ABO-incompatible transplant was then simulated with an ex vivo model of antibody-mediated rejection using ABO-O plasma as the surrogate for the recipient circulation using three donor lungs. The treatment of donor lungs minimized antibody binding, complement deposition, and antibody-mediated injury as compared with control lungs. These results show that depletion of donor lung A-Ag can be achieved with EVLP treatment. This strategy has the potential to expand ABO-incompatible lung transplantation and lead to improvements in fairness of organ allocation."

Ex vivo enzymatic treatment converts blood type A donor lungs into universal blood type lungs (no public access)

Die globale Covid-19 Pandemie wurde wahrlich ausgebeutet für verschiedene politische Zwecke

Westliche Politiker und Elite haben über zwei Jahre lang ihre Bürger ungeheuerlichen Einschränkungen der Freiheit wegen einer relativ harmlosen Krankheit aufgezwungen. 

Eine Motivation war sicherlich die "Rettung des Planeten" vor dem Global Warming Hoax und Climate Change Religion!

Einen längeren blog post dazu siehe: Why global SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic became the biggest scandal of the 21st century!

Quelle: Deutschland und Österreich als „Musterschüler“ der neuen Ordnung

Ukraine couple marries at Kyiv checkpoint during Russia invasion

What a marriage of convenience! God bless this marriage!

"A Ukrainian couple were married near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kyiv amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

Lesia Ivashchenko and Valerii Fylymonov, Ukrainian territorial defense members, tied the knot on Sunday. The bride carried flowers and wore a white veil. 

“We decided to get married because we live in challenging times, and you never know what’s going to happen to you tomorrow. That’s why it is better do it sooner than later,” Fylymonov, the groom, said, as translated in a video from The Guardian. 

The couple said they have been together for more than 20 years, but they were never officially married until this week.  

"We decided – who knows what will happen tomorrow – we should get married in front of the state, in front of God," the bride said. 

Until the ceremony, she had not seen Fylymonov since the start of Russia's invasion.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, attended the wedding. He shared a video from the event on Twitter. "

Ukraine couple marries at Kyiv checkpoint during Russia invasion

Credits: Global Health NOW

Scaremongers: SARS-CoV-2 - The Brain Changer

Although the global Covid-19 pandemic is largely over, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will not stop scaremongering the public!

This elite school wants you to live in fear!

Today, their opening article of their daily Global Health NOW newsletter wants us to believe that Covid-19 causes brain damage! No mentioning whether our dynamic and flexible brain can repair any of those reported damages or whether these changes are transient or permanent.

Whether Covid-19 was the cause of these brain changes is also questionable. Two years of isolation due to government mandated lockdowns etc. can also mess up a human brain! It is also unclear from the abstract of the paper whether age differences were properly taken care of.

Further down in the article we read "Older participants had more changes than those who are younger." And indeed Covid-19 has primarily affected only older people (> older than 70).

"SARS-CoV-2 alters the brain’s structure in “significant, deleterious” ways—even in those who experienced mild disease, according to a first-of-its-kind brain imaging study in the UK published in Nature yesterday. 

Oxford researchers and colleagues imaged nearly 800 participants, including 401 people who tested positive for the coronavirus between 2 scans. 

MRI scans revealed specific physical changes to the brains of COVID-19 participants, including a greater reduction in gray matter.

Those who had been infected also had a larger cognitive decline than the uninfected. ..."

From the abstract:

"There is strong evidence for brain-related abnormalities in COVID-19. It remains unknown however whether the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection can be detected in milder cases, and whether this can reveal possible mechanisms contributing to brain pathology. Here, we investigated brain changes in 785 UK Biobank participants (aged 51–81) imaged twice, including 401 cases who tested positive for infection with SARS-CoV-2 between their two scans, with 141 days on average separating their diagnosis and second scan, and 384 controls. The availability of pre-infection imaging data reduces the likelihood of pre-existing risk factors being misinterpreted as disease effects. We identified significant longitudinal effects when comparing the two groups, including: (i) greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue-contrast in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus, (ii) greater changes in markers of tissue damage in regions functionally-connected to the primary olfactory cortex, and (iii) greater reduction in global brain size. The infected participants also showed on average larger cognitive decline between the two timepoints. Importantly, these imaging and cognitive longitudinal effects were still seen after excluding the 15 cases who had been hospitalised. These mainly limbic brain imaging results may be the in vivo hallmarks of a degenerative spread of the disease via olfactory pathways, of neuroinflammatory events, or of the loss of sensory input due to anosmia. Whether this deleterious impact can be partially reversed, or whether these effects will persist in the long term, remains to be investigated with additional follow up."

Global Health NOW: SARS-CoV-2—The Brain Changer; Florida Flies in the Face of CDC; and Polio Setbacks in Africa

SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank (no public access)

There are ‘signs’ the Ukrainians could win war

Very recommendable!

What is the mental state of Putin the Terrible?

Assuming the photo below is not doctored, then this is not the first time that Putin the Terrible is officially photographed sitting at one end of a long table while the other parties are seated at the other end. 

What does this tell?

What does he fear? Assassins? Virus?

China’s approval of gene-edited crops energizes researchers

Good news! Western countries are way too risk averse to a point to be self defeating! On the other hand totalitarian dictatorships like the Communist Party of China are too careless and risk seeking!

Humans have what it takes to accelerate natural evolution on much shorter time scales! What takes natural evolution perhaps millions of years can be done in months or years. All we have to fear is fear itself!

"... Since China’s agriculture ministry released preliminary guidelines on 24 January, researchers have been hurrying to submit applications for the use of their gene-edited crops. These include the development of wheat varieties resistant to a fungal disease called powdery mildew, which are described in a paper in Nature this week ...
China’s new rules are more conservative than those in the United States — which does not regulate gene-edited crops that incorporate small changes similar to those that could occur naturally — but are more lenient than the tough European Union stance of treating all gene-edited crops as genetically modified (GM) organisms. ...
Currently, it can take up to six years to get biosafety approval for a GM crop in China. But researchers say the new guidelines — which lay out the process for receiving a biosafety certificate for gene-edited crops — could reduce the approval time to one to two years. ..."

From the abstract:

"... Here we describe Tamlo-R32, a mutant with a 304-kilobase pair targeted deletion in the MLO-B1 locus of wheat that retains crop growth and yields while conferring robust powdery mildew resistance. We show that this deletion results in an altered local chromatin landscape, leading to the ectopic activation of Tonoplast monosaccharide transporter 3 (TaTMT3B), and that this activation alleviates growth and yield penalties associated with MLO disruption. Notably, the function of TMT3 is conserved in other plant species such as Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, precision genome editing facilitates the rapid introduction of this mlo resistance allele (Tamlo-R32) into elite wheat varieties. This work demonstrates the ability to stack genetic changes to rescue growth defects caused by recessive alleles, which is critical for developing high-yielding crop varieties with robust and durable disease resistance."

China’s approval of gene-edited crops energizes researchers Scientists say newly published guidelines will spur research into crops that have increased yields and greater resilience to climate change.

Genome-edited powdery mildew resistance in wheat without growth penalties (no public access)

Reprogrammed bacterium turns carbon dioxide into important basic chemicals on industrial scale

Good news! It is long overdue to end all this manufactured paranoia about Global Warming Hoax and Climate Change religion!

It is only a matter of time that human ingenuity comes up with a solution e.g. to convert atmospheric CO2 into something else at any scale!

"Industrial scale carbon-negative production of two commodity chemicals has been achieved for the first time using a genetically modified bacterium that can turn waste carbon dioxide into acetone and isopropanol. ...
To do this, the team mined C. autoethanogenum’s genome for enzymes that enable production of acetone or isopropanol from acetyl-CoA, a common intermediate that’s formed during metabolism. The genes that encode these enzymes were then introduced and tested in different strains of the bacterium to optimise production of acetone and isopropanol. ...
The team eventually created a process that operated at high rates for weeks at a time. This was then piloted at an industrial scale in a 120 litre loop reactor connected to a carbon dioxide waste stream from a steel plant. Analyses revealed that the process locks in 1.79kg and 1.17kg of CO2 into acetone and isopropanol, respectively per kilogram of end product after offsetting carbon emissions during the process."

From the abstract:

"... Here we describe the development of a carbon-negative fermentation route to producing the industrially important chemicals acetone and isopropanol from abundant, low-cost waste gas feedstocks, such as industrial emissions and syngas. Using a combinatorial pathway library approach, we first mined a historical industrial strain collection for superior enzymes that we used to engineer the autotrophic acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum. Next, we used omics analysis, kinetic modeling and cell-free prototyping to optimize flux. Finally, we scaled-up our optimized strains for continuous production at rates of up to ~3 g/L/h and ~90% selectivity. ... Unlike traditional production processes, which result in release of greenhouse gases, our process fixes carbon. These results show that engineered acetogens enable sustainable, high-efficiency, high-selectivity chemicals production. We expect that our approach can be readily adapted to a wide range of commodity chemicals."

Reprogrammed bacterium turns carbon dioxide into chemicals on industrial scale | Research | Chemistry World

Carbon-negative production of acetone and isopropanol by gas fermentation at industrial pilot scale (open access)

Viral Cover-Up: SARS-CoV-2 Cap Offers New Target for Antivirals

Good news! SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 is history!

I just blogged here about the recent discovery of another promising vulnerability of coronaviruses. 

"... An investigation into how SARS-CoV-2 camouflages itself from cells has unmasked a potential vulnerability in the virus that scientists hope to exploit. ... lab has delineated key steps by which SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, disguises one end of its genome. Without this cover-up, the virus can no longer hijack cells to cause an infection. ..."

From the abstract:

"The SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome contains a 5’-cap that facilitates translation of viral proteins, protection from exonucleases and evasion of the host immune response1-4. How this cap is made is not completely understood. Here, we reconstitute the SARS-CoV-2 7MeGpppA2’-O-Me-RNA cap using virally encoded non-structural proteins (nsps). ... nsp9 identified key interactions that mediate the capping reaction. Furthermore, we demonstrate in a reverse genetics system8 that the N-terminus of nsp9 and the kinase-like active site residues in the NiRAN domain are required for successful SARS-CoV-2 replication. Collectively, our results reveal an unconventional mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 caps its RNA genome, thus exposing a new target in the development of antivirals to treat COVID-19."

Viral Cover-Up: SARS-CoV-2 Cap Offers New Target for Antivirals | HHMI

The mechanism of RNA capping by SARS-CoV-2 (open access)

Scripps Research discovery could enable broad coronavirus vaccine

Good news! SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 is history! The defeat of coronaviruses is imminent! This is just the latest example how human ingenuity conquers pathogenic viruses!

It appears that this new, common virus site mutates less rapidly than the top of the viral spike protein and that this site is crucial for the virus to fuse with the target cell membrane. 

"The COVID-causing virus SARS-CoV-2 harbors a vulnerable site at the base of its spike protein that is found also on closely related coronaviruses, according to a new study from Scripps Research. The discovery, published Feb 8 in Science Translational Medicine, could inform the design of broad-acting vaccines and antibody therapies capable of stopping future coronavirus pandemics. ...
The scientists had previously isolated an antibody from a COVID-19 survivor that can neutralize not only SARS-CoV-2 but also several other members of the family of coronaviruses known as beta-coronaviruses. In the new work, they mapped at atomic scale the site, or “epitope,” to which the antibody binds on the SARS-Cov-2 spike protein. They showed that the same epitope exists on other beta coronaviruses, and demonstrated with animal models that the antibody is protective against the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection. ...
In the new study, the team used X-ray crystallography and other techniques to precisely map the antibody’s binding site on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. They showed that the same site is found on most other beta coronaviruses—which helps explain the antibody’s broad effect on these viruses. ...
In the new study, the team used X-ray crystallography and other techniques to precisely map the antibody’s binding site on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. They showed that the same site is found on most other beta coronaviruses—which helps explain the antibody’s broad effect on these viruses."

Unfortunately, the abstract of the respective research paper is hard to understand for lay people.

From the discussion:

"The spike S1 subunit shows considerable variation on HCoVs, whereas the S2 subunit is relatively more conserved, especially across the β-HCoVs, and appears to be promising for developing pan-CoV bnAb vaccine strategies. Accordingly, we recently isolated a SARS-CoV-1/2 cross-neutralizing Ab, CC40.8, that exhibits broad reactivity with human β-CoVs (51). In this study, using epitope mapping and structural studies, we determined the spike epitope recognized by CC40.8. The epitope is located in the S2 stem-helix region, which is conserved across β-coronaviruses and may thus serve as a promising target for pan-β-coronavirus vaccine strategies. The epitope is highly enriched in hydrophobic residues as well as some charged residues. The bnAbs targeting this region may neutralize by sterically interfering with the fusion machinery (52, 53), suggesting a potential target for fusion inhibitors ..."

Scripps Research discovery could enable broad coronavirus vaccine | Scripps Research

A human antibody reveals a conserved site on beta-coronavirus spike proteins and confers protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection (open access)

Who lives on our bodies? A microscopic safari

Recommendable! Do you know what is going on in your belly button? 

There are face mites living in your facial pores and having sex on your face while you sleep. You will watch such a face mite giving birth.

Pubic hair lice are specifically adopted. Why do humans even still have pubic hairs.

Did NATO push Russia into the war with the Ukraine?

Recommendable! The enlargement of NATO after 1990 towards and around  Russia was surely a mistake. However, NATO is a purely defensive organisation. 

Experimental evidence found for long-distance intermolecular forces

Recommendable! This could be a major breakthrough!

"Experimental evidence of long-range attractive forces between cellular proteins has been obtained by researchers in France more than 50 years after the idea was first proposed. The forces are mediated by electromagnetic radiation, and they could explain how molecules find their targets inside the crowded interiors of living cells.

At any given time, around 130,000 pairwise interactions may be occurring between proteins in a living cell. These are mediated by a range of phenomena including van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding. Biochemical reactions work on a “lock and key” setup, whereby molecules must find and bind to receptors to trigger the processes of life. For this to occur efficiently inside a cell, molecules must find their cognate partners (keys must find the right lock) much more quickly than is possible by simple Brownian motion. However, how this happens so quickly and efficiently is a mystery. ...

Now in a new paper published in Science Advances, the researchers demonstrate that electrodynamic forces can indeed excite phase transitions in biomolecules. They first use a refined version of their nanowire-based technique to study both the labelled BSA and a second, algal protein that naturally absorbs light. This time, instead of looking simply for collective oscillations in the proteins, the researchers looked at how these oscillations changed when they varied the laser power.

They found that, on increasing the laser power, the frequency of the oscillations shifted, showing that the interaction between the proteins was becoming stronger, as predicted by theory. When they reduced the power, the process was reversed. Moreover, for the algal protein, they used a new, independent spectroscopic technique to show that at high laser powers, the proteins form large clusters"

From the abstract:

"Both classical and quantum electrodynamics predict the existence of dipole-dipole long-range electrodynamic intermolecular forces; however, these have never been hitherto experimentally observed. The discovery of completely new and unanticipated forces acting between biomolecules could have considerable impact on our understanding of the dynamics and functioning of the molecular machines at work in living organisms. Here, using two independent experiments, on the basis of different physical effects detected by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and terahertz spectroscopy, respectively, we demonstrate experimentally the activation of resonant electrodynamic intermolecular forces. This is an unprecedented experimental proof of principle of a physical phenomenon that, having been observed for biomacromolecules and with long-range action (up to 1000 Å), could be of importance for biology. ..."

Experimental evidence found for long-distance intermolecular forces – Physics World

Experimental evidence for long-distance electrodynamic intermolecular forces (open access)