No uterus, no problem: Mouse embryos grown in bottles form organs and limbs

Want to bet in about 20-40 years women don't have to give birth anymore! I blogged here, here about it.

"Developmental biologists have devised a method for growing mouse embryos outside a uterus for longer than ever before, giving them an unprecedented view of how mammalian organs and limbs form—a process previously hidden inside a mother’s body. Researchers in Israel report today that the new system, which includes rotating bottles filled with nutrients, kept the mouse embryos alive from roughly day five of development until day 11, about halfway through the animals’ 20-day gestation. By that time the embryos have formed hind limbs and all their major organs. ..."

"... Histological, molecular, and single-cell RNA-seq analyses validate that the ex utero cultured embryos recapitulate in utero development precisely. This culture system is amenable to introducing a variety of embryonic perturbations and micro-manipulations that can be followed ex utero for up to six days. Establishment of a system to robustly grow normal mouse embryos ex utero from pre-gastrulation to advanced organogenesis represents a valuable tool to investigate embryogenesis, eliminating the uterine barrier to mechanistically interrogate post-implantation morphogenesis and tissue specification in mammals."

No uterus, no problem: Mouse embryos grown in bottles form organs and limbs | Science | AAAS

Here is the link to the preprint version of the underlying research paper:

Ex utero mouse embryogenesis from pre-gastrulation to late organogenesis

Israeli Scientists Grow Mouse Embryos Outside The Womb With Innovative Method

Lab-Grown Mouse Embryos Form Limbs and Organs The embryos completed one-third of their total gestation outside of a uterus.

Vaccination by inhalation

Very recommendable! This seems to make a lot of sense and it has great potential! Will my next flu shot be inhalable? I will not hold my breath! 😄

"Many viruses infect their hosts through mucosal surfaces such as the lining of the respiratory tract. ...
The researchers showed that they could induce a strong memory T cell response in the lungs of mice by giving them a vaccine modified to bind to a protein naturally present in mucus. This can help ferry the vaccine across mucosal barriers, such as the lining of the lungs. ...
In addition to protecting against pathogens that infect the lungs, these types of inhaled vaccines could also be used to treat cancer metastasizing to the lungs or even prevent cancer from developing in the first place ...
Most vaccines are given as an injection into the muscle tissue. However, most viral infections occur at mucosal surfaces such as the lungs and upper respiratory tract, reproductive tract, or gastrointestinal tract. ...

the researchers attached an albumin-binding lipid tail to a peptide vaccine against the vaccinia virus. The vaccine also included a commonly used adjuvant called CpG, which helps to provoke a stronger immune response.

The vaccine was delivered intratracheally, which simulates inhalation exposure. The researchers found that this type of delivery generated a 25-fold increase in memory T cells in the mouse lungs, compared to injecting the albumin-modified vaccine into a muscle site far from the lungs. They also showed that when mice were exposed to the vaccinia virus months later, the intramuscular vaccine offered no protection, while all of the animals that received the vaccine intratracheally were protected. ...
The researchers also tested a mucosal vaccine against cancer. In that case, they used a peptide found on melanoma cells to immunize mice. When the vaccinated mice were exposed to metastatic melanoma cells, T cells in the lungs were able to eliminate them. The researchers also showed that the vaccine could help to shrink existing lung tumors. ..."

Vaccination by inhalation | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Delivering vaccines directly to the lungs can boost immune responses to respiratory infections or lung cancer, study finds.

India's World : India-UK Bilateral Ties

Recommendable! "UK PM Boris Johnson will visit India in April to ‘unlock opportunities." Reshaping the world order!

The global fight over water

What a lousy documentary paid for by German taxpayers! This is leftist ideology gone wild! "You can't eat money!" you will be reminded of in this documentary! The subject of global water scarcity is very serious. I just blogged here about it!

Notes on Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision

Very recommendable! A very comprehensive, impressive research paper (48 pages) by OpenAI (and authored by well known researchers like Alec Radford and Ilya Sutskever and collaborators)!

It features many evaluations on dozens of variations. "Studying 66 different models on 27 different datasets requires tuning 1782 different evaluations". The authors also tried to capture and document the historic evolution/progress of their research from early beginnings. They also created a new massive dataset of 400 million image/text pairs. What is a little surprising is that they used quite a bit of hand engineering!

Unfortunately, their research is tainted by allowing prominent leftist ideologies of the day to infiltrate it. When political, ideological indoctrination messes with the minds of researchers science is compromised! E.g. on page 24 you read following peculiar footnote "Note: The CelebA dataset is more representative of faces with

lighter skin tones. Due to the nature of the dataset, we were not

able to control for race, gender, age, etc." Had this been African researchers using an African version of CelebA, would they have noted faces with darker skin tones? Kind of absurd, definitely annoying!

[2103.00020] Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision

China’s problematic solution to its water-security woes

Recommendable! Very serious stuff! Wars have been fought over water! China, a giant on clay feet/Achilles heel? What about desalination?

"Beijing has long understood that China has a water-security problem that could pose an existential threat. ... Former premier Wen Jiabao observed that water shortages threaten ‘the very survival of the Chinese nation’.

China has 20% of the world’s population but only 7% of its fresh water. And 80% of China’s water is in the south, whereas half of its population and two-thirds of its farmland are in the north. While total water usage in China increased by only 35% between 1980 and 2010, water usage in households increased elevenfold and in industrial sectors, threefold. But per capita available water in China amounts to only a quarter of the world average. ...
A three-year survey of its river system completed by Beijing in 2013 indicated that the number of rivers in China had decreased by 28,000 from previous estimates. The flow of the Yellow River, which provides water to a significant proportion of China’s population, is a tenth of what it was 80 years ago. In addition, groundwater aquifers, critically important to northern parts of China, are being depleted at a rate of 1 to 3 metres a year. A 2015 study of the country’s groundwater found that 80% was contaminated by toxic metals and other pollutants, rendering supply unfit for human consumption. ...
Given this context, Beijing’s announcement late last year that it was moving ahead with plans to construct the world’s largest hydropower dam at Motuo on the Yarlung Tsangpo river ...

The new dam, one of at least eleven to be constructed along the Yarlung Tsangpo, ... When complete, it will generate up to 60 gigawatts of electricity. Nevertheless, China’s decision to proceed with the project now is curious for two reasons.

First, analysts see such projects as unfeasible given the prohibitive costs associated with dam-building in the region and with the transmission network that would be required to get the electricity to distant population centres.

Second, existing installed hydropower already far outstrips demand in China and Southeast Asia. ...

Beijing’s decision to proceed with the dam makes more sense in light of the likelihood of its being integrated into China’s South–North Water Transfer Project. This project is designed to resolve the water shortage problem in China’s north by moving water through 1,500-kilometre-long canals.

The completed eastern and middle routes of the transfer project can transfer 20.9 billion cubic metres of water each year. In 2018, Beijing started exploring options for the controversial western route of this project. This may result in tens of millions of cubic metres of water being diverted from the Yarlung Tsangpo and other transnational river systems in Tibet to the Yellow River. ...

The consequences of the new dam for downstream countries like India and Bangladesh could prove catastrophic. The Yarlung Tsangpo is a transnational river system that becomes the Brahmaputra River in India, which provides 30% of the country’s water. The project could reduce water flows to India by 60%.

The environmental impacts in Tibet and downstream will be devastating. ... could devastate the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau, and would withhold the river’s sediments from the fertile floodplains of Assam in north-east India, and Bangladesh.’ ...
China controls the sources of 10 major rivers that flow through 11 countries and supply 1.6 billion people with water. ... "

China’s problematic solution to its water-security woes | The Strategist

Ultracold atoms permit direct observation of quasiparticle dynamics

Recommendable! Amazing stuff! Some fascinating research coming out of Aarhus, Denmark! These quasiparticles, besides e.g. gravity, may also pose a challenge to the Standard Model (just blogged here about it).

"Theories of how quasiparticles form have been around for more than 80 years, but direct observations of the process have remained elusive due to experimental challenges. ...
Due to the high densities and fast timescales of this system, however, experiments cannot directly probe such quasiparticle behaviour in solids. The Aarhus team instead studied an analogue system: a quasiparticle called a polaron in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). This dilute gas of ultracold atoms offers a pristine, controlled environment in which to study the quantum dynamics of many-body phenomena. ...
“Quasiparticles are exceedingly interesting to study since they may be composed by numerous particles and their excitations,” ... “The Bose polaron is an excellent example of such a challenging quasiparticle that nonetheless holds great potential for helping us to understand exotic technologies like organic semiconductors and superconductors. ..."

"... These results offer a systematic picture of polaron formation from weak to strong impurity interactions. They reveal three distinct regimes of evolution with dynamical transitions that provide a link between few-body processes and many-body dynamics. Our measurements reveal universal dynamical behaviour in interacting many-body systems and demonstrate new pathways to study non-equilibrium quantum phenomena."

Ultracold atoms permit direct observation of quasiparticle dynamics – Physics World

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

Non-equilibrium quantum dynamics and formation of the Bose polaron

Direct in-muscle bioprinting can treat massive trauma injuries

Good news! Amazing stuff!

"... patients who have undergone volumetric muscle loss injuries may be interested in a novel technology ... a handheld printer to deliver hydrogel-based bioinks for treatment of such injuries. ...
The researchers developed a novel “Muscle Ink” for printing directly into large muscle-loss wounds. Within this specialized ink, vascular endothelial growth factor – key to inducing the angiogenesis and vascularization needed for muscular regeneration – is attached to 2D nanoclay discs, allowing for its continuous release over multiple weeks. The team incorporated these growth factor-bound discs into a biocompatible hydrogel that can adhere to wet tissue, such as the remaining musculature. The resulting scaffold has mechanical properties conducive to cellular regeneration and natural deformation during movement. ..."

"Extremity skeletal muscle injuries result in substantial disability. Current treatments fail to recoup muscle function, but properly designed and implemented tissue engineering and regenerative medicine techniques can overcome this challenge. In this study, a nanoengineered, growth factor‐eluting bioink that utilizes Laponite nanoclay for the controlled release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and a GelMA hydrogel for a supportive and adhesive scaffold that can be crosslinked in vivo is presented. ..."

Direct in-muscle bioprinting can treat massive trauma injuries – Physics World

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

In Vivo Printing of Nanoenabled Scaffolds for the Treatment of Skeletal Muscle Injuries (behind paywall)

Faster drug discovery through machine learning

Good news! Recommendable!

"... The new technique, dubbed DeepBAR, quickly calculates the binding affinities between drug candidates and their targets. The approach yields precise calculations in a fraction of the time compared to previous state-of-the-art methods. The researchers say DeepBAR could one day quicken the pace of drug discovery and protein engineering. ...

The affinity between a drug molecule and a target protein is measured by a quantity called the binding free energy ...

Methods for computing binding free energy fall into two broad categories, each with its own drawbacks. One category calculates the quantity exactly, eating up significant time and computer resources. The second category is less computationally expensive, but it yields only an approximation of the binding free energy. Zhang and Ding devised an approach to get the best of both worlds. ...
The “BAR” in DeepBAR stands for “Bennett acceptance ratio,” a decades-old algorithm used in exact calculations of binding free energy. Using the Bennet acceptance ratio typically requires a knowledge of two “endpoint” states (e.g., a drug molecule bound to a protein and a drug molecule completely dissociated from a protein), plus knowledge of many intermediate states (e.g., varying levels of partial binding) ...

DeepBAR slashes those in-between states by deploying the Bennett acceptance ratio in machine-learning frameworks called deep generative models. “These models create a reference state for each endpoint, the bound state and the unbound state,” ... These two reference states are similar enough that the Bennett acceptance ratio can be used directly, without all the costly intermediate steps. ...
“We’re sort of treating each molecular structure as an image, which the model can learn. ... “But here we have proteins and molecules — it’s really a 3D structure. So, adapting those methods in our case was the biggest technical challenge we had to overcome.” ..."

Faster drug discovery through machine learning | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology New technique speeds up calculations of drug molecules’ binding affinity to proteins.

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

DeepBAR: A Fast and Exact Method for Binding Free Energy Computation (behind paywall)

Six fabulous facts about the Standard Model

The U.S. Department of Energy is selling some rosy colored science glorification to the general public! The Standard Model may have served well, but it probably is insufficient or even wrong!

"... scientists build mathematical models that predict everything from the economy to the weather. ..." 

What a nonsense!

"Today in Symmetry, learn six fabulous facts about one of the most robust scientific models in the world. ..."

What a nonsense! "“A big open question is gravity,” Bose says. “We don’t have any way to account for gravity on subatomic scales.”"

Six fabulous facts about the Standard Model | symmetry magazine

Radikale Veranstaltungen des Goethe-Institut

Weiss der deutsche Steuerzahler was sein/ihr Geld bezahlt? In der Bananenrepublik Deutschland unter SED Kanzlerin Merkel!

Virtual Screenings & Discussion: Cultural Resistance: Standing Up to Nuclear Power Through the Arts - Goethe-Institut USA

The series will showcase different examples of both mass protest and deeply personal resistance. This series explores how the performing and visual arts, including film, music, theatre, fashion and painting — along with protest and resistance — can make a powerful statement of opposition to nuclear power and propel action against climate change.

Discussion: Radical Diversity: New York - Goethe-Institut USA Right-wing extremism, everyday racism and racialized microaggressions, and pressure to “assimilate” – all of these constructs affecting racialized minorities result from an inability and unwillingness to respect and appreciate the radical diversity that underscores our societies.

How SARS-CoV-2 evades immune system defenses

Very recommendable! This research seems to suggest that targeting the viral spike is probably not good enough and that repeated vaccinations may be necessary! Hopefully, this intense global research on SARS-CoV-2 will lead to better vaccinations/treatments against e.g. the flu and the common cold!

"he vast majority of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 clear the virus, but those with compromised immunity — such as individuals receiving immune-suppressive drugs for autoimmune diseases — can become chronically infected. ...
The research, published March 16 in Cell, shows that a mutated SARS-CoV-2 from a chronically infected immunocompromised patient is capable of evading both naturally occurring antibodies from COVID-19 survivors as well as lab-made antibodies now in clinical use for treatment of COVID-19. ...
Interestingly, the [chronically infected immunocompromised] patient-derived virus contained a cluster of changes on its spike protein —  the current target for vaccines and antibody-based treatments — and some of these changes were later detected in viral [variant] samples in the U.K. and South Africa, where they appear to have arisen independently, the researchers said. ...
Some of the changes found in the patient-derived virus have not been identified yet in dominant viral variants circulating in the population at large. ...
The researchers emphasize that variants initially detected in the U.K. and South Africa remain vulnerable to currently approved mRNA vaccines, which target the entire spike protein rather than just portions of it. Nonetheless, the study results could also offer a preview into a future, in which current vaccines and treatments may gradually lose their effectiveness against next-wave mutations ...
the need to design next-generation vaccines and therapies that target less mutable parts of the virus. ...

[researchers] created lab-made, noninfectious replicas of the patient virus that mimicked the various structural changes that had accumulated in the span of five months.

In a series of experiments, the researchers exposed the dummy virus to both antibody-rich plasma from COVID-19 survivors and to pharmaceutically made antibodies now in clinical use. The virus dodged both naturally occurring and pharmaceutical-grade antibodies.

Experiments with a monoclonal antibody drug that contains two antibodies showed the virus was entirely resistant to one of the antibodies in the cocktail and somewhat, although not fully, impervious to the other. The second antibody was four-times less potent in neutralizing the mutated virus. ...
In a final experiment, the researchers created a super antibody by cobbling together proteins from naturally occurring antibodies that had evolved over time to become more attuned to and better at recognizing SARS-CoV-2 and capable of latching onto it more tightly. The process, known as antibody affinity maturation, is the principle behind vaccine booster shots used to fortify existing antibodies. One specific variant containing mutations that had occurred late in the course of the patient’s infection was capable of withstanding even this super-potent antibody. But the super-potent antibody did manage to neutralize viral mutations detected at a different time in the course of the infection. ...
Long-term, this means that scientists should pivot toward developing therapies that go beyond antibody immunity and include also so-called cellular immunity, which is driven by T cells — a separate branch of the immune system that is independent of antibody-based immunity."

How SARS-CoV-2 evades immune system defenses – Harvard Gazette Highlights need for vaccines to aim at multiple targets to minimize risk of resistance

Here is the links to the underlying research paper:

SARS-CoV-2 evolution in an immunocompromised host reveals shared neutralization escape mechanisms (open access)

The Life And Magic Of The Real Harry Houdini

Not recommendable! The comedian host is unbearable! He tries to be a wannabe Houdini!

‘This is the most important Trump story you never heard’

Recommendable! About a phony story in the Washington Post/Compost that was then spread by left wing media across the globe!

"A correction issued by the Washington Post has revealed former President Donald Trump did not tell Georgia’s top elections investigator to “find the fraud” or that she would be a “national hero” if she did during a controversial phone conversation, says Sky News host James Morrow.

Two months after the publication of the story the Georgia Secretary of state released an audio recording of Mr Trump’s December phone call which showed the Washington Post misquoted the former president’s comments. ..."

Arizona GOP to perform 'full hand count' on 2.1 million Maricopa ballots in presidential election

Great news! About time! Finally, a full recount and forensic audit! As I blogged here "... Biden (1,672,143 votes) won [Arizona] only by 10,457 votes over Trump (1,661,686). For Maricopa county: Biden (1,040,774), Trump (995,665, difference 45,109 votes (The libertarian candidate received 31,705 votes). ..." 

"... Arizona Senate President Karen Fann said in a statement released by Arizona Senate Republicans that state GOP leaders have decided on a “preferred forensic audit” the final details of which are currently being worked out. ..."

Arizona GOP to perform 'full hand count' on 2.1 million Maricopa ballots in presidential election | Just The News "The audit will be broad and detailed,” state Senate President Karen Fann says.

ImageNet creators find blurring faces for privacy has a 'minimal impact on accuracy'

Is this perhaps not a case of circular reasoning fallacy? They use computer vision to detect faces before blurring them. Or is this a case of disproportional concern for privacy?

"The makers of ImageNet, one of the most influential datasets in machine learning, have released a version of the dataset that blurs people’s faces in order to support privacy experimentation. Authors of a paper on the work say their research is the first known effort to analyze the impact blurring faces has on the accuracy of large-scale computer vision models. For this version, faces were detected automatically before they were blurred. Altogether, the altered dataset removes the faces of 562,000 people in more than a quarter-million images. ..."

ImageNet creators find blurring faces for privacy has a 'minimal impact on accuracy' | VentureBeat

Der Frühling vermag die Pandemie vermutlich nicht merklich abzuschwächen

Absurditäten werden von Medien gerne unkritisch weitergegeben! Was wissen die Wetterfrösche was die Covid-19 Pandemie angeht? Oder wollen die Wetterfrösche einfach mitquaken? 😄

Da wir dank massiver Anzahl von Genesenden und Impfungen bald Heteroimmunität (ca. 60%-80% Immunisierte (natürlich oder geimpft)) erreicht haben, sind solche Wetterspekulationen ehedem eher hinfällig.

Natürlich die Bürger sollen weiter in Angst und Schrecken leben, um die Umwelt und das Klima zu schützen!

Der Artikel beruft sich vermutlich auf:

Report examines meteorological and air quality factors and COVID-19 

"A World Meteorological Organization Task Team has issued its first report on Meteorological and Air Quality factors affecting the COVID-19 pandemic. It cautions that weather and climate conditions, including the onset of higher temperatures in the northern hemisphere spring, should not be used as a trigger to relax measures to halt the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 transmission dynamics in 2020 and early 2021 appear to have been influenced primarily by government interventions such as mask mandates and travel restrictions rather than meteorological factors, according to the 16-member panel of experts in earth and medical sciences and public health. ..."

Corona und Wetter: Der Frühling lindert Pandemie nur wenig (behind paywall) Hält milderes Wetter bald die Coronaviren in Schach? Darauf sollten sich Regierungen nicht verlassen, heißt es in einem Bericht der Weltorganisation für Meteorologie [der Vereinten Nationen mit Sitz in Genf]. Auch zwei andere Studien deuten darauf hin, dass der meteorologische Effekt eher klein ist.

A modest plan to help Native American elders amid COVID draws $18M

What an inspiring story!

"... The Navajo & Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund has raised nearly $18 million, which includes a recent $10 million gift from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

The fund, which ranked among last year’s top five projects on GoFundMe, has distributed food supplies, water, and personal protective equipment to more than 350,000 people in the Navajo and Hopi reservations, covering all 12 Hopi villages and 93 of 110 chapters in the Navajo Nation. ...
The country’s 6.7 million Native Americans are among the hardest-hit communities by COVID-19 despite the fact that most of the 574 federally recognized tribal nations enforced curfews and strict safety protocols in the early days of the pandemic. ...
Another silver lining has been the participation of Irish citizens in the fundraising campaign. In May, an Irish reporter tweeted about the fund, and since then, donations from Ireland have kept coming. In comments left on the GoFundMe page, Irish donors said they made contributions in remembrance of a donation made in 1847 by Choctaw leaders who collected $170 to help the Irish during the Potato Famine. U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., donated $100,000, but many other Irish citizens have made small donations with comments such as “It’s only fair,” “Repaying an Irish debt,” “We Remember,” and “For Kindness Shown to Ireland.” A woman who has donated five times wrote, “The Choctaw Nation helped my ancestors in Ireland when they themselves had so little. It’s the least I can do.” ..."

Making gifts that keep on giving Native COVID-19 relief fund plans to use excess funds to build community resilience

Sängerin Vera Little - Die "schwarze Carmen" von Berlin

Teilweise empfehlenswert! Ein sehr dämlicher journalistischer Artikel der von ideologischer Indoktrination nur so trieft! Das rassistische Narrativ musste dominieren! Schade und sehr störend! "Vera Little wird es nie schaffen, dem Rassismus ganz zu entkommen.": Das Leitmotiv des Artikels!

"... Vera Little. Mezzosopranistin. US-Amerikanerin. Berliner Kammersängerin. Lyrikerin. Diva. ..." Die Frau war wahrscheinlich ein frühe Bahnbrecherin (trailblazer) als Sängerin und Oper.

Aber wir lernenen auch:

"... Man sagte, Sie können nie so singen ohne Unterricht, und dann haben wir in der Stadt gesucht und wir fanden eine Lehrerin. [Warum erfahren wir nicht, dass diese erste, möglicherweise sehr entscheidende  Musiklehrerin sehr wahrscheinlich eine weiße Frau in Memphis, TN war. Schade, dass wir nicht mehr über diese erste Lehrerin erfahren!] Das war so teuer und wir hatten gedacht, das wird nicht gehen, aber langsam, aber sicher hat die Dame mich auch persönlich gern gehabt und sie gab mir sieben Wochen Unterricht. ...

Um 1950 geht Vera Little nach New York. Irgendwann in dieser Zeit nimmt sie an einer „Blind Audition“ teil. Ein wohl damals progressives Novum im Kulturbetrieb [was für eine dumm arrogante Anmerkung].

„Es hieß, dass man hinter einem Vorhang singen soll, und dann man hat gedacht, diese Frau, die die Königin von Saba von Gounod gesungen hat, soll vorkommen. Ich bin vorgekommen und ich war schwarz, aber trotzdem hab ich es bekommen. Man hat mich gewählt nicht wegen Hautfarbe oder sowas, sondern wegen meiner Stimme.“ ...

Dort, in Talladega [anscheinend hat die Journalisten keine Ahnung was das Talladega College ist] , gibt es das älteste US-amerikanische Kunst-College für Schwarze. Einer ihrer [weiß häutigen] Lehrer – ein jüdischer Emigrant aus Deutschland. Er macht Vera Little mit der Sprache bekannt und mit den Liedern von Brahms und Schumann. ...
Zurück in den USA bewirbt sie sich um ein Fulbright-Stipendium. ... Und erhält den Zuschlag, weil ihr Talent überzeugt. ..."

Sängerin Vera Little - Die "schwarze Carmen" von Berlin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Little

COVID-Impfstoff: Bundesverdienstkreuz das BioNTech Dreamteam

Eine deutsche Tradition Pour Le Merite! Wenigstens hat in diesem Fall, die Bananenrepublik Deutschland mal schnell und richtig gehandelt! Bravo!

Man beachte, das beide Ausgezeichneten Einwander aus der Türkei sind! 

"As a result of the company's [BioNTech] increase in value, Şahin and Türeci became the first Germans with Turkish roots among Germany's top 100 wealthiest people list."

COVID-Impfstoff: Bundesverdienstkreuz für ein Dreamteam | DW Nachrichten | DW | 19.03.2021 Noch bevor die WHO vor der weltweiten Gefahr des Coronavirus warnte, trafen Özlem Türeci und Ugur Sahin eine vorausschauende Entscheidung. Die Gründer des Pharmaunternehmens BioNTech begannen mit der Arbeit an einem Impfstoff. Nun wurden sie mit dem Bundesverdienstkreuz geehrt.

Hier die offizielle Mitteilung dazu des Bundespräsidenten:

Verdienstorden an Özlem Türeci und Uğur Şahin

U.S. House Democrats Propose 4,350 Earmarks A Year Costing $13 Billion

The Dimocratic Party back in power revives the horrible practice of earmarks thereby undoing important budget reforms!

"Congressional earmarks are back. The Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives will allow up to $13 billion in earmarks on House appropriations bills, 10 per member, for a total of up to 4,350 earmarks for fiscal year 2022.

House Republicans released a statement arguing that earmarks are a pathway to congressional corruption. One member of the caucus, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), argued that earmarks are “little more than legislative bribery.”

The late Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) frequently called earmarks “the gateway drug” to corruption and overspending, and spearheaded the 2011 ban. ..."

U.S. House Democrats Propose 4,350 Earmarks A Year Costing $13 Billion

CRISPR-based gene therapy dampens chronic pain in mice

Good news! Why not eliminate pain genes or sneeze genes etc.? Or convert pain associated genes into laugh genes? 😄

Remember the animals (mice) that suffered for this progress to be achieved (I blogged here, here about it)!

"A gene-silencing technique based on CRISPR can relieve pain in mice, according to a study. ... it is a promising approach for squelching chronic pain that lasts for months or years. ...
The new version of CRISPR doesn’t edit genes directly — it stops them from being expressed — and so shouldn’t cause permanent changes, although it’s unclear how long its effects last for. ...
Although there are many types of ion channel, studies have suggested that a sodium channel called Nav1.7 could play a central part in chronic pain. When people have mutations in the gene coding for this channel, they either experience extreme, constant pain, or can’t feel any pain at all. ...
[researchers] thought they might be able to stop pain signals travelling to the brain by preventing neurons from producing Nav1.7. Chemists have been trying to block Nav1.7 with small-molecule drugs and antibodies, but have struggled because these therapies also interact with structurally similar sodium channels in the body, causing side effects including numbness and poor coordination. ...

The researchers attached to the modified Cas9 a second, ‘repressor’ protein that stops the Nav1.7 gene from being expressed. The researchers packaged this system in a small, inactive virus called an adeno-associated virus that could shuttle it into cells.

They gave mice a spinal injection of the gene-silencing therapy, then tried to induce chronic pain by injecting the animals with chemotherapy drugs or inflammatory agents. ...
The pain relief seemed to last, in some cases, for as long as 44 weeks after the injection. ..."

"... In particular, a hereditary loss-of-function mutation in NaV1.7, a sodium channel protein associated with signaling in nociceptive sensory afferents, leads to insensitivity to pain without other neurodevelopmental alterations. However, the high sequence and structural similarity between NaV subtypes has frustrated efforts to develop selective inhibitors. ..."

CRISPR-based gene therapy dampens pain in mice Targeted approach could lead to an opioid-free way of treating chronic pain.

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

Long-lasting analgesia via targeted in situ repression of NaV1.7 in mice

What Climate Change Is Really About

Recommendable! Learn e.g. who gets rich off global emissions trading schemes! The biggest wealth redistribution scheme ever devised! Socialist economic central planning on a global scale!

Die „German Angst“ vor Atomstrom

Sehr empfehlenswert! U.a. wird darin erinnert das ein langstrecken Urlaubsflug im Flugzeug oder auch verschiedene medizinische Strahlenbehandlungen oder Diagnostik mit Strahlen eine Person einer höheren Strahlenbelastung aussetzt als Fukushima oder Tschernobyl!

In der Bananenrepublik Deutschland ist der Deutsche Michel König so unkt die Kröte SED Kanzlerin Merkel! 

Der abrupte und irrationale Ausstieg Deutschlands aus der friedlichen Nutzung der Kernenergie ist eine der grössten von mehreren unglaublichen Fehlleistungen der SED Kanzlerin Merkel

"In diesen Tagen haben deutsche Medien viel getan, um die Angst der Menschen vor der Kernkraft, vor dem „Atomstrom“ zu verfestigen. Den Anlass dafür boten die Stichworte Fukushima und Tschernobyl. ...
Mit diesen Folgen hat sich anlässlich der beiden Jahrestage der Physiker und Strahlenschutzexperte Dr. Lutz Niemann befasst. ...

Es wurde durch den [Fukushima] Unfall Radioaktivität freigesetzt ... Allerdings handelte es sich um so wenig Radioaktivität, dass kein Mensch dadurch in seiner Gesundheit zu Schaden kommen konnte. Aber es wurden über 100.000 Menschen aus der Umgebung evakuiert, da die Strahlenschutzgesetze das verlangte. Als Folge der Evakuierungen kamen über 1.000 Menschen zu Tode, insbesondere durch die Evakuierungen von Altenheimen. ...
Zur noch größeren Reaktorkatastrophe in Tschernobyl hält Lutz Niemann Folgendes fest: „Durch den Unfall sind etliche Brände entstanden, die Feuerwehr hatte zu löschen. Aber in der Hektik und vermutlich auch durch Unwissenheit wurde nicht auf die Strahlengefährdung geachtet. 134 Helfer der ersten Stunde erkrankten an der Strahlenkrankheit, 28 Personen starben daran. Hätte man die Helfer der ersten Stunde gegen Strahlung geschützt beziehungsweise mit dem Löschen der Brände einige Stunden gewartet, so hätte es auch in Tschernobyl keine Todesopfer durch Strahlung gegeben.“ ...
Wie war das Unglück entstanden? ... „In Tschernobyl wurde beim Abfahren des Reaktors ein Experiment durchgeführt, bei dem ein Fehler gemacht worden war. Anstatt das Experiment wegen Xenon-Vergiftung sofort abzubrechen, wie es in jeder Ausbildung gelehrt wird, wurde versucht, es dennoch zu Ende zu bringen. Dabei wurde mehrmals gegen die Betriebsvorschriften verstoßen. ...
Lutz Niemann erinnert daran, wie man begann, die ionisierende Strahlung zu nutzen, als man die Röntgen-Strahlung und die Strahlung aus dem Atomkern entdeckte. Dabei sei man zur Einsicht gekommen, dass mit dieser Strahlung eine Gefährdung einhergehe. Das sei in den 1920er Jahren gewesen: „Es wurden erste Grenzwerte eingeführt, zu einer Zeit, wo kaum verlässliche Messgeräte zur Verfügung standen und der Zusammenhang zwischen Dosis und Wirkung der Strahlung noch unbekannt war. Die Dosis-Wirkung-Beziehung wurde erst viel später bekannt, noch heute ist ihr Verlauf höchst umstritten. Die Grenzwerte wurden im Laufe der Jahre immer weiter erniedrigt.“ ...
Niemann erinnert ferner an das „Gesetz über die friedliche Verwendung der Kernenergie und den Schutz gegen ihre Gefahren“ (kurz: Atomgesetz), das Ende 1959 beschlossen wurde, und an die Strahlenschutzverordnung von Mitte der 1960er Jahre. Beides gelte nur in der Kerntechnik und nicht für Höhenstrahlung oder im medizinischen Bereich, obwohl dort viel höhere Strahlendosen aufträten. ...
Im medizinischen Bereich wird geröntgt, und es wird in der Krebstherapie bestrahlt. Aus der Anzahl der Röntgenuntersuchungen mit Dosen im Millisievert-Bereich werden gern die hypothetischen Krebstoten als Folge berechnet, in einem Beispiel 5.000 zusätzliche Krebstodesfälle in Deutschland pro Jahr – nicht verifizierbar und nicht falsifizierbar. Würde man die Berechnung der hypothetischen Todesopfer auch im Bereich der Krebstherapie anstellen, wo in der Regel mit 60 Sievert bestrahlt wird, dann ergäbe sich für jeden bestrahlten Patienten das Risiko, mit 300-prozentiger Wahrscheinlichkeit an dessen Folgen zu sterben – aber durch diese Bestrahlung werden die Patienten geheilt. ...

Die Strahlenangst wird als ein Mittel der Politik benutzt. Deutschland steigt als weltweit einziges Land weitgehend aus seiner Stromversorgung aus. ... Kernkraftwerke lassen sich sicher betreiben, deutsche in Deutschland allemal. Wenn die Deutschen aus Angst auf eigene Kernkraftstromerzeugung verzichten, ohne damit die befürchtete Gefahr beseitigen zu können, dann ist das eine Torheit ohnegleichen. Zusätzlich töricht ist es, stattdessen auf Wind- und Sonnenkraft zu setzen, weil der Strom mit ihr unverantwortlich künstlich verteuert wird und weil wegen der dann zu komplizierten Regeltechnik Zusammenbrüche der Stromversorgung Realität werden. Die Angst vieler, vielleicht der meisten, aber bei Weitem nicht aller Deutschen vor Kernkraftwerken hat geradezu hysterische Züge und zeigt ein Nicht-Wahrhaben-Wollen von Realität und Lebenswirklichkeit. Sie merken auch nicht, dass sie von politischen Gruppierungen und Profiteuren eines geschürten CO2-Wahns und einer vorgeblichen Klimaschutzpolitik manipuliert und instrumentalisiert werden. ...
Es ist absurd, Deutschland kernkraftfrei machen zu wollen, während sich die anderen Länder der Kernkraft weiterhin bedienen und sich ihr sogar verstärkt zuwenden. ..."

Zukunft der Kernenergie in Deutschland/Die beiden Katastrophen/Die „German Angst“ vor Atomstrom

Tucker Carlson: Chinese government using Black Live Matter as a weapon against us

Very recommendable! Tucker Carlson is so spot on! President Trump would have walked out of the room and had ended the meeting right there had Chinese diplomats dared to utter such nonsense! You wonder whether China has not been financing and supporting such efforts as Black Lives Matter to sow discontent in Western countries!

Tucker Carlson goes at length to explain the Chinese term Baizuo to its viewers. Very interesting! The Chinese have clearly figured out how stupid the leftist ideologues are!

He does not fail to mention the discrimination against Asian-American students at elite U.S. universities and other schools regarding admission tests etc.

The folly of vaccination passports

Some countries are in a mad rush to issue vaccination passports!

There are several issues with that: 

1. At this time no one knows for sure how long the vaccine is effective! It is much too early for that!
2. What about the 80-95% of infected people who have recovered from Covid-19 without vaccination and are now naturally immune? Will they get a passport too?
3. Conveying privileges or benefits to passport holders is dubious and too expedient! 

Globale Erwärmung: Mensch oder Sonne?

Beschränkt Empfehlenswert! Langer Artikel, leider sehr technisch! Fakt ist das die Wissenschaft immer noch sehr wenig weiß, was den Einfluss der variablen Sonne und die langfristigen Oszillationen u.v.m. der Ozeane angeht!

"... Die zweite Schwierigkeit ist die zwingende Einbeziehung der Ozeane. Die Ozeane absorbieren den größten Teil des einfallenden Sonnenlichtes, haben einen intensiven Energieaustausch mit der Atmosphäre und besitzen die bereits erwähnte überwältigend hohe Wärmekapazität, 1000mal größer als die der Atmosphäre und erst recht höher als die obere Landkruste (nur etwa 1.8 ZJ/K – selbst, wenn man eine Tiefe von bis zu 10 m als relevant für den Wärmeaustausch ansetzt). ...
Immerhin zeigt das S-Modell [Solareinstrahlung], dass man mit vernünftigen physikalischen Annahmen ohne Zuhilfenahme eines starken anthropogenen Effektes die heutige Warmperiode zum erheblichen Teil als Naturphänomen erklären kann und dies in Übereinstimmung mit der mittelalterlichen Warmzeit, der kleinen Eiszeit und der ozeanischen Wärmeaufnahme. ...
Seit der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts laufen Sonne und Treibhauseffekt im Gleichklang, dazu auch noch die AMO (Atlantische Multidekadische Oszillation), allesamt Effekte, die einen Temperaturanstieg bewirken können. Man konnte daher hinsichtlich der globalen Erwärmung den Haupteffekt kaum feststellen. In den nächsten dreißig Jahren sieht es wohl so aus, dass die Sonnenaktivität rückläufig sein wird, die Treibhausgaskonzentrationen aber weiter ansteigen. ..."

Globale Erwärmung: Mensch oder Sonne? - Kalte Sonne Das IPCC („Weltklimarat“) vertritt bekanntlich die Auffassung, dass die gesamte globale Erwärmung seit Mitte des 19ten Jahrhunderts durch menschliche Aktivitäten verursacht wurde. In dieser Vorstellungswelt kommt das 11000jährige Aktivitätshoch der Sonne ebenso wenig vor, wie die sich im Warmmodus befindlichen Meeresoszillationen ... Nur die Treibhausgase, nichts anderes, sollen monokausal die Klimaveränderungen bestimmen

10 Jahre nach dem Tsunami – die deutschen Medien haben nichts dazu gelernt

Wen wundert es mit der Kröte im Kanzleramt! Die SED Kanzlerin Merkel hat einfach mal schnell die sofortige Abschaltung der deutschen Kernkraftwerke angeordnet!

10 Jahre nach dem Tsunami – die deutschen Medien haben nichts dazu gelernt Viele Medien legen noch immer nahe, dass die 20.000 Tsunami-Opfer 20.000 Atom-Tote waren. Medienanalysen ergeben, dass die deutschen Medien im Gegensatz zu anderen seit Jahrzehnten systematisch Stimmung gegen Atomkraft gemacht haben.

Bundesregierung macht im »Feindeslisten«-Gesetz Ausnahmen für Antifa

In der Bananenrepublik Deutschland ist man gerne auf dem linken Auge blind. Nicht zuletzt können wir dafür der Kröte SED Kanzlerin Merkel danken!

Bundesregierung macht im »Feindeslisten«-Gesetz Ausnahmen für Antifa Eigentlich sollte es ein Teil des Pakets gegen Rechtsextremismus und Hasskriminalität im letzten Sommer werden. Nun kommt das Feindeslisten-Verbot von Justizministerin Christine Lambrecht als Solitär mit Ausnahmen. Antifa-Gruppen sollen ihre Feinde weiterhin in "Outing Bulletins" bloßstellen dürfen.

China Buys More Iranian and Venezuelan Oil, in a Test for Biden

And the obviously cognitively impaired (stupid) 46th President of the United States has cancelled the Key Stone pipeline on his first day in office! Thus, he has irresponsibly and totally unnecessarily endangered U.S. energy independence and raised prices at the pump for consumers!

China will probably purchase a lot more crude oil (plus coal) around the world going forward to sustain their economic growth!

"... China has sharply increased its imports of oil from Iran and Venezuela in a challenge to two Biden administration foreign-policy priorities, according to U.S. officials, undermining key diplomatic leverage Washington needs to restart long-stalled negotiations.

China is expected to import 918,000 barrels a day from Iran in March, which would be the highest volume since a full U.S. oil embargo was imposed against Tehran two years ago, according to commodities-data company Kpler.

That trend is confirmed by other shipping trackers, some of which see those sales at 1 million barrels a day. ..."

China Buys More Iranian and Venezuelan Oil, in a Test for Biden - WSJ Increased sales and higher prices are helping Tehran and Caracas resist U.S. pressure

The first COVID-19 lockdowns improved air quality. Where are we a year later?

What a lunatic and dangerous article published by the University of California Los Angeles! Dreaming of an authoritarian Big Government to clean the air by eliminating traffic etc.!

"The air quality gains of spring 2020 couldn’t overpower the return to driving, record-high heat waves [followed by a record cool winter] or [man made] apocalyptic wildfires, but they did offer a glimpse of what is possible, researchers say. ...
One of the few uplifting developments in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic was the remarkable boost in air quality around the world. As restrictions stilled cars, planes and boats ... that Los Angeles, at least for a day, had the cleanest air in the world ...

But it didn’t last. ... Did the clean air mean anything? Was it evidence that collective action could clean the air faster than many thought possible ..."

The first COVID-19 lockdowns improved air quality. Where are we a year later? | UCLA Getting cars off the road helped, but a brief reduction in traffic only went so far

Der Verfassungsschutz als Repressionsinstrument

Sehr empfehlenswert! Nichts Ungewöhnliches diese totalitären Anwandlungen in der Bananenrepublik unter der Kröte SED Kanzlerin Merkel!

The Inside Story of How Spygate Was Uncovered—Lead Investigator Kash Patel Tells All

Recommendable! More on the Trump Derangement Syndrome exposed! Or was it actually a coup d'etat attempt by the swamp and the Democratic Party? And how the FISA court was intentionally duped/abused (I blogged here about it). 14 high level officials were fired because of it, but none was indicted so far!

Iowa House Passes Bill Letting Residents Carry, Buy Guns Without Permits

Great news! Bravo! Let freedom ring! "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof" (Source)

Iowa, where America is still exceptional!

"Iowa’s General Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill that would let residents carry and purchase guns without a permit.

House File 756 passed 60–37, with all Republicans voting for it, along with Democrat state Rep. Wes Breckenridge.

The bill was immediately messaged to the state Senate, where Republicans have a majority and previously passed a similar piece of legislation through a committee. ...

Under the legislation, that requirement would be annulled. Individuals would still have to follow federal law and go through an instant background check to buy from licensed sellers each time they purchase a gun. They could choose to get a permit instead, which is issued by sheriff departments and is good for five years.

Sales between individuals wouldn’t require a background check. Additionally, to carry a weapon, people would not need to have a permit. ..."

Iowa House Passes Bill Letting Residents Carry, Buy Guns Without Permits

Some Major Lessons of SARS-CoV-2

 The pandemic has most likely lasting, the course of history changing effects:

1. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed how seriously unprepared Western countries are to biological warfare. This was only a fairly harmless virus!
2. The West's kowtowing to China (Communist Party of China) as a superpower although the pandemic originated in that country and China has actively covered it up to this day. President Trump was the only Western leader who credibly warned and stood up to the CPC!
3. The exploitation of the pandemic for all kinds of political purposes including to influence the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election in the U.S.
4. The very draconian, one size fits all and unreasonable measures taken by many countries in response to the pandemic instead of focusing on the vulnerable. These measures should have been reduced or mostly eliminated several months ago.  
5. The irresponsible rush to vaccinate everybody instead of focusing on the vulnerable!
6. On the positive side, the super fast development and approval of several different effective vaccines in various countries. Bravo President Trump!

Wenn Frauen regieren wird die Welt nicht besser!

Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), Katrin Göring-Eckhardt (Grüne), Claudia Roth (Grüne), Angela Merkel (CDU): Wo sind überhaupt noch politische Unterschiede?

Credits: CDU nach historischem Wahldebakel im freien Fall / Schafft es die AfD ihre eigenen Verluste wieder aufzuholen?

Biological male wins female beauty Miss Silver state pageant in Nevada

When political correctness, the fads of our time, a few moments of fame and sensationalism win! On the other hand for men to compete with women for beauty is a new concept! In this topsy turvy gender identity/transgender world is it not correct or safe to say that men are prettier than women? (Caution: irony) 😄 

"... Kataluna Enriquez, a biological male, won the Miss Silver State USA pageant this week, an event considered the biggest preliminary competition for the Miss Nevada USA pageant ..."

Biological male wins female beauty pageant in Nevada - TheBlaze 'A celebration of womanhood and diversity' 

Troubled US-China ties face new test in Alaska meeting

Why does the cognitively impaired 46th President of the United States meet in Alaska of all places? CNN fake news even raises it to a summit meeting!

Troubled US-China ties face new test in Alaska meeting The United States and China will face a new test in their increasingly troubled relations when top officials from both countries meet in Alaska on Thursday [3/18/2021]

Months after Trump complaints, some courts are finding irregularities in 2020 elections

We have not yet seen the whole story about the November 2020 presidential elections regarding election integrity/fraud! Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court completely failed in this respect (I blogged here about it).

"... some courts in battleground states are beginning to declare the way widespread absentee ballots were implemented or counted violated state laws.

The latest ruling came this month in Michigan, where the State Court of Claims concluded that Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's instructions on signature verification for absentee ballots violated state law. Benson had instructed local election clerks a month before the Nov. 3 election to start with a “presumption” that all signatures on absentee ballots were valid and only reject those that had “multiple significant and obvious” inconsistencies. ...
In neighboring Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court handed down a significant ruling in December when the justices concluded that state and local election officials erred when they gave blanket permission allowing voters to declare themselves homebound and skip voter ID requirements in the 2020 elections. ...
Meanwhile in Virginia, a judge in January approved a consent decree permanently banning the acceptance of ballots without postmarks after Election Day, concluding that instructions from the Virginia Department of Elections to the contrary in 2020 had violated state law. ...
Several more legal challenges remain in states, as well as two audits/investigations of voting machine logs that are pending in Georgia and Arizona. And while there has been no proof the elections were impacted by widespread fraud, there are still significant disputes over whether rule changes and absentee ballot procedures in key swing states may have been unlawful. ..."

Months after Trump complaints, some courts are finding irregularities in 2020 elections | Just The News

Challenging the lateral-to-sagittal shift in mammalian locomotion

Very recommendable! Just a reminder that science is rarely ever settled! Karl Popper Falsifiability!

"... Nonmammalian synapsids, the extinct forerunners to mammals, like living reptiles, had limbs splayed out to the side instead of beneath like today’s mammals. So scientists believed that they must have also moved in similar ways, with spines more suited to the side-to-side flexing of a sashaying lizard instead of the up-and-down bending typical of a mammal in motion. The transition is known as the lateral-to-sagittal paradigm. It’s an explanation that’s been taught in college textbooks on anatomy and evolution for decades....
The analysis demonstrates that the three lineages differ from one another other when it comes to the morphology, function, and characteristics of their spines, and suggests that mammal backbones didn’t evolve from a reptile-like ancestor. There had to have been a completely different type of backbone function not observed in today’s living vertebrates. ..."

"Highlights

• “Lateral-to-sagittal” paradigm is too simple to explain mammal vertebral evolution

• Extant reptiles are a poor functional model for extinct non-mammalian synapsids

• Non-mammalian synapsid vertebral joints are characterized by high stiffness

• Mammal backbone evolution involved acquisition of multiple vertebral functions"

Challenging the lateral-to-sagittal shift in mammalian locomotion – Harvard Gazette Findings point to the importance of checking the fossil record

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

Adaptive landscapes challenge the “lateral-to-sagittal” paradigm for mammalian vertebral evolution (open access)

Democrats and Republicans live in partisan bubbles, study finds

This new study states/confirms the obvious! Just the fact that Biden won only in about or less than 500 counties (many of them with big cities) out of 3,000 total tells you that the U.S. is divided!

"... For instance the typical Democrat has “almost zero interactions” with Republicans in their neighborhood ...
Using geolocation data and the exact addresses of all 180 million registered voters in the U.S. as of June 2018, the two were able to precisely map, for the first time, where Democrats and Republicans live in relation to each other in every town, city, and state in the U.S. ...
No area of the country is immune to the segregation, but its intensity varies. Democrats in large, densely populated cities like New York are the most politically isolated, with 10 percent of them encountering a Republican only one out of 10 times in their neighborhood. Republicans in rural areas are similarly segregated."

"Segregation across social groups is an enduring feature of nearly all human societies and is associated with numerous social maladies. In many countries, reports of growing geographic political polarization raise concerns about the stability of democratic governance. ...
Loving County, Texas, a county of about 200 people along the New Mexico border, is the only tract in the entire U.S. where Democrats and Republicans mix freely, the researchers found. ...
Whether in small to mid-size cities, the suburbs or ex-urbs in between, the data showed that Republicans stick close to other Republicans, and Democrats stick close to other Democrats. ...
High levels of partisan segregation pose a number of “negative consequences for democracy,” the researchers say. Exposure to different sociopolitical ideas and viewpoints has long been shown to reduce prejudice and to improve social cooperation. Not only does partisan segregation help fuel a never-ending cycle of legislative stalemates, it affects whether voters, and the policy choices made on their behalf, are accurately and fairly represented in government, as heavily gerrymandered congressional districts already demonstrate. ...
The self-reinforcing nature of partisan isolation can easily open the door to extreme views and radicalized behavior, so the views of our neighbors really matter. ... and can result in events like the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol [says the coauthor and probably leftist researcher from the leftist Harvard University! What bubble does this researcher live in? What about the Antifa/Black Lives Matter riots?] ...

Democrats and Republicans live in partisan bubbles, study finds – Harvard Gazette

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

The measurement of partisan sorting for 180 million voters (behind paywall)

Ein Berliner Arzt klagt an: «Ich bin fassungslos, mit welchem Leichtsinn bei uns geimpft wird»

Ich würde auch behaupten, die übereilte Massenimpfung der gesamten Bevölkerung ist verantwortungslos und unnötig! Nicht zuletzt ist der Coronavirus verhältnismäßig harmlos! Statt sich sorgfältig auf den anfälligen Teil der Bevölkerung zu konzentrieren, soll jeder geimpft werden!

Es wird wohl auch massenweise missachtet Personen vor der Impfung zu prüfen, ob sie nicht durch die Impfung gefährdet werden könnten. Es wird den zu impfenden Personen quasi selbst überlassen ihr Risiko selbst einzuschätzen.

Sicheres Impfen in Deutschland? Ein Berliner Arzt klagt an (behind paywall) Hustende und schniefende Mediziner, die ohne Schnelltests und eigene Impfung auf Patienten losgelassen werden

China's Monetary Tradition and the Origins of Money

Very recommendable! This article covers more than just the invention of paper money in the history of China! Money ranks among the most important inventions/developments of human civilization!

"... China was one of the first countries to develop a metallic money that was valued and exchanged by weight. Evidence suggests that this monetary regime originated during the Shang Dynasty (1766–1122 BC) or the Zhou Dynasty (1122–221 BC). China was also one of the first countries to use precious metals as money and may have invented coined money. ...
It is therefore not surprising that China developed a rich tradition of monetary thought, which extended over nineteen centuries (roughly 700 BC to 1200 AD). This literature on monetary theory and policy embodied ideas, insights, and controversies that would appear in European writings only centuries later. In particular, some contributors to this Chinese monetary tradition formulated the conceptual foundations of the theory of sound money ...
Sima Qian (104~91 BC), Luo Mi (1165~1173 AD) and Ye Shi (1150~1223 AD) basically argued that money grew out of the trading of commodities and could not have emerged in the absence of commodity exchange. Money was only later adopted by kings as an aid in ruling their countries. ...
The first step in theorizing correctly about money is to understand that the value of money, like that of commodities, is never fixed and unchanging. ...
In investigating the market conditions that determined the purchasing power of money, two eighth-century Chinese writers, Liu Zhi (734 AD) and Lu Zhi (794 AD), clearly formulated the quantity, or supply-and-demand, theory of money—eight centuries before the theory was introduced into European thought by Jean Bodin and the Spanish Scholastics. ..."

China's Monetary Tradition and the Origins of Money | Mises Wire

Lucas: Be careful who you call Neanderthal, Mr. President

This opinion piece in the Boston Herald compares the Dimocratic Party with the Talibans in Afghanistan! Not such a bad idea!

Lucas: Be careful who you call Neanderthal, Mr. President Outside of the Democrats, the only other people I know who shut down schools are the Taliban.

The Democrats not only shut down schools like the Taliban did in Afghanistan, but they have adopted a Taliban-like cancel culture.

MAGIS-100: The quantum search for dark matter and gravitational waves

Very recommendable!

India Fights Back : Vaccine Diplomacy: Ending Global Inequity

Quite impressive! Quite a contrast!

"India continues to lead in assisting other countries under its 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under this initiative, India has been providing coronavirus vaccines to its neighbouring countries. As on 17 March 2021 India has supplied 'Made in India' vaccines to 72 Nations [over 16 million doses]"

India plans to have over 300 million people of its population to be vaccinated by August 2021!

"... The Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, founded over 50 years ago by now-multibillionaire Cyrus Poonawalla. It will likely provide not only almost all the vaccines administered in India, but many elsewhere in the world too, once exports are permitted later in the year. ..."

India’s Vaccine Colossus Is a Model for the World to Follow Serum Institute to manufacture vaccines not just for the world’s second-most populous country, but likely many others too

Luck or Miracle? Samoset and the Pilgrims, 400 years later - Foundation for Economic Education

Recommendable! What a story! So the Pilgrims met perhaps the only two English speaking indigenous people! The article also stresses that not all encounters between European settlers and indigenous people were hostile. On the contrary, some of the tribes apparently traded with the settlers, had defensive alliances and so forth.

"... Four hundred years ago—on March 16, 1621—an English-speaking Indian from the Abenaki tribe strode into the new settlement of Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. He greeted the astonished Pilgrims and requested a beverage brewed from fermented cereal grains.

“Welcome, Englishmen!” proclaimed Samoset, whose name meant “he who walks over much.” ... “Do you have beer?” ..."

Luck or Miracle? Samoset and the Pilgrims, 400 years later - Foundation for Economic Education The Plymouth colonists met what were perhaps the only two English-speaking Indians on the eastern seaboard.

Who and What Killed George Floyd?

Will the truth come out during the jury trial or will the jury be tainted by among other things the outrageous $27 million pre-trial settlement by the city of Minneapolis? Will this be a fair trial or become a travesty of justice?

The widespread demagoguery surrounding the death of Mr. Floyd is disgusting! 

I presume, the following account is backed by facts:

"... An autopsy showed Floyd's neck muscles were not even bruised. Floyd died when his heart stopped. Yet, he was already suffering from an enlarged heart with constricted arteries, one of five of which was 90 percent blocked and two others were 75 percent blocked.
An autopsy found heavy concentrations of fentanyl in Floyd's system and traces of methamphetamines. If Floyd had collapsed and died in the street while being wrested into the squad car, his death would have been attributed to a drug overdose and a bad heart. ...
Also, a videotape of the minutes prior to Floyd's being put on the pavement, his neck under Chauvin's knee, shows Floyd crying, repeatedly, "I can't breathe," while resisting the two rookie cops trying to put him in the patrol car. Moreover, there is testimony from those with Floyd when he was stopped for passing an allegedly phony $20 bill, that he had passed out in the car before the cops arrived. And the arresting cops claim he was foaming at the mouth before being restrained. ...
What was Chauvin trying to do when he arrived to see two rookie cops trying to cope with a powerfully built, six-foot-four-inch, 220-pound man violently resisting arrest? ...
In a motion to dismiss the charges he himself faces in the death of Floyd, former police officer Thomas Lane included 30 pages of Minneapolis PD training materials including information on the "maximal restraint technique." Lane included a photo of an officer with a knee on a suspect's neck, similar to the hold used by Chauvin. ..."

Who and What Killed George Floyd? | Intellectual Takeout

High performance fabric that can be made from plastic bags

Plastic scare meets human ingenuity! If you can turn polyethylene into human wearable fabrics, could it be turned into something else as well?

"... In the new research, however, [researchers] discovered that the hydrophobicity can be mitigated simply by melt-spinning the polymer into micrometre-diameter fibres. This partially oxidises the surface, making it barely hydrophilic. ‘It’s just enough to make it wick water through by capillary force, but the interior of the fibre is still deeply hydrophobic,’ ...
Moreover, the structural simplicity of polyethylene gives the textiles much higher infrared transparency than fabrics woven from more complex polymers, allowing for better radiative cooling. ..."

"... The team’s dry-coloring process contributes to the relatively small ecological footprint that polyethylene would have if it were used to make textiles, the researchers say. ...
“It doesn’t get dirty because nothing sticks to it,” Boriskina says. “You could wash polyethyelene on the cold cycle for 10 minutes, versus washing cotton on the hot cycle for an hour.” ..."

"... We engineered PE fibres, yarns and fabrics to achieve efficient water wicking and fast-drying performance which, combined with their excellent stain resistance, offer promise in reducing energy and water consumption as well as the environmental footprint of PE textiles in their use phase. ..."

High performance fabric that can be made from plastic bags could slash fashion’s huge emissions | Research | Chemistry World A new textile produced by US researchers from polyethylene – the simplest and cheapest of all polymers – shows superior cooling properties to cotton or linen, is more stain resistant than polyester, is easily recyclable and can potentially be made from recycled materials.

Could we recycle plastic bags into fabrics of the future? Engineers have developed self-cooling fabrics from polyethylene, a material commonly used in plastic bags.

Here is a link to the underlying research paper:

Sustainable polyethylene fabrics with engineered moisture transport for passive cooling