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Long standing fans of LSS will recall our earlier pieces comparing SARS-CoV-2 with flu viruses, which are a bit like distant cousins. SARS viruses give you colds and flu gives you, well, flu. Chillingly it’s the flu class that is starting to seriously worry some Chinese scientists. We are running a link from El Pais by Jaime Santirso, so you’ll need your translators. We post the paper as well from PNAS.

Like most things El Pais notice, it’s good peer-reviewed science. 30000 samples from 10 provinces found no less than 179 new viruses. It’s the one with the tongue tripping name G4EAH1N1 which is raising eyebrows. It’s in pigs; it can infect humans, but fortunately there’s no evidence yet of human to human transmission. So far. Yet. Fingers crossed. Don’t forget the last type A flu H1N1 back in 2019, which killed at least 150,000 people, but maybe more like 575 000.

What do we think? If you want to stop worrying about all these pandemics, and the hits they give the world economy, maybe it’s time to stop eating factory meat. Yep, you eat a little less meat, a little more expensively, but that will far from kill you. Stop people from smashing into forests, tearing down all the trees because they think it makes them look big and macho, and thereby releasing goodness knows what viruses into our food chains. And maybe spend a little more on medical research and a bit less on new toys like cars and shoes?

https://elpais.com/ciencia/2020-06-30/cientificos-chinos-alertan-de-la-pandemia-potencial-de-un-nuevo-virus-q

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/23/1921186117

#influenzavirus #h1n1 #sarscov2 #covid19 #pigs #china

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Ok, Ok, maybe the response of the UK to coronavirus hasn’t been all it should be. And the finger goes round and round, pointing the blame and everyone gets hot under the collar. We can all find a good reason to throw some mud at someone we don’t like. We at LSS really, truly do believe in hearing both sides and getting to the truth. It all goes back to a guy called Bertrand Russell, but more of him another day.

Oddly enough, the man who introduced us to Bertrand Russell was well known broadcaster and entrepreneur Mr Lindsay Charlton. And that same Mr Charlton has brought a well written Reuters article to our attention, which makes the point that it was the scientists who were to blame, not the government. This is what Lindsay says

….how UK scientists were slow to respond to Coronavirus and the disastrous decision to end contact tracing. This detailed Reuter’s report makes sobering reading. British politicians may have “followed the science”, but early advice was flawed. Whitehall’ obsession with secrecy excluded local health teams from decision making, and the narrow definition of covid symptoms allowed the virus to spread. Required Reading!

Anyway, its a great piece, with the lovely title Into the fog. There’s a whole group of Reuterfolk, so get your credits off of the link. All we will say is-we love to see good reporting with dedicated teams of professionals. Required reading indeed.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/health-coronavirus-britain-tracing/

#coronavirus #covid19 #reuters #ukgovernment #sage #bertrandrussell

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We at LSS have recently purchased a new telescope, which we keep in the summerhouse next to the bay tree and the forsythia. It’s such an important contribution to human learning (when we can get it to work) that we have re-named the summerhouse Observatory Earthstation One (OE-1). But astronomy is very difficult to do! There’s loads of things like right ascension, eccentricity, aphelion, ascending node and argument of perihelion that are so tricky it would take someone intelligent to understand them.

Until that is you think of the solar system as a sort of giant football league. In English terms the eight major planets are like the Premiership. In which case Jupiter is like Liverpool, Saturn is like Manchester City, and so on. Earth is mid table, like Spurs or Arsenal. We are sure you can do the same for your own country. Poor old Pluto were admitted in 1930, but were disastrously relegated in 2006, being put in the same league as the minor planets like Ceres and Eris.

It can’t be much fun being a supporter of a minor planet. Cold, empty stadiums. Long distances to travel to see results like Sedna 2 Makemake 1, only of interest to the diehards. No mentions on Sports radio or the Sky at Night. And now worse is to come.

According to scientists Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo, new planet called Planet X is on the point of discovery. It’s only going to take research with the new Vera C Rubin telescope to prove the existence of a candidate for the premier league which may be two to fifteen times the size of Earth. If true, it will be difficult to get to away matches, as it could orbit between 250-1500 astronomical units, Stuart Clark has the full story in the Guardian.*

And as for Pluto? Well not even the genius of a Sam Allardyce could have kept them up. They remind us of one of those teams who seemed to be established in the top flight for a few seasons, even got into Europe, but are now orbiting in the lower leagues with small crowds, peeling paint on the terraces, and the fading pictures of former stars as a constellation of memories on the clubhouse wall. To paraphrase the old Terry Jacks song

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun

But the joy that we had was tempered by the knowledge of our impending relegation

To the Vanarama National League

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jun/28/beyond-pluto-the-hunt-for-our-solar-system-new-ninth-planet

#astronomy #football #premier league #planetx

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Remember the novel Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley? You have to be pretty bright to create a concept that’s selling centuries later. Well, oddly enough her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), may have been even brighter. If you want to know more about her colourful life look at the Wiki link below.* Suffice to say she was a pioneering and accomplished writer, best known today for her Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). She did one for men too. After a madcap early life as a single mother dodging the guillotine in the French Revolution, she settled down and found true happiness when she married the philosopher William Godwin, father of her second daughter, Mary.

Happy ever after? Afraid not. As Mary the elder gave birth, her placenta ruptured and septicaemia (sepsis) soon set in. There were no antibiotics in those days, and she died. It was a fairly common fate for women in the eighteenth century, always had been, and always would be, until the advent of modern antibiotics. Men can get it too, so we include a list of the more or less famous who have gone this painful and unpleasant way.*

Sepsis* is what happens when you get an infection, and your immune system overreacts, causing an inflammation throughout the body. Obviously the best way to avoid it is not to get the infection, But if you do, try not to be: over 75; under 1; diabetic; have a weak immune system; get pneumonia, an abdominal infection or live in a world without effective antibiotics or vaccines. These last two are the biggest risk factors, so next time someone tries to spiel you with some anti vaccine propaganda, just remind them of Mary Wollstonecraft. As for antibiotics, there is a real danger they won’t be with us much longer, and the fate awaiting millions of mothers is grim.

Howver, someone is really trying to help. That someone is Professor Garner and the Charity Antibiotics Research UK http://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk. We beg you to visit their site, and donate if you can. Women around the world will thank you for it.

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

https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-people-who-died-of-sepsis/reference

What is Sepsis

https://www.bing.com/search?q=antibiotics+research+uk&form=ANNTH1&refig=c656529095bc43c9a4a4cff31f02ef28&s

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

#marywollstonecraft #rightsofwomen #antibioticresearchuk #vaccines #childbith

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Champagne quiz

1 How many bottles of champagne were shipped in 2018?

A 203 million   B 302 million   C 906 million    D 23 million

 B 302 million

2 Theobald II was the brother of which English King?

A Henry B William C Stephen D Richard

C Stephen

3 What are the ingredients of a Cheshire Cat?

Brandy, Sweet vermouth, Champagne, ice, orange juice

4 What does CM Mean?

Cooperative de manipulation

5 How many Jeroboams is one Melchizidek?

Ten

6 Pick the odd one out

Pinot Grigio   Pinot Noir    White Chardonnay    Pinot Meunier

Pinot grigio-not used in champagne

7 According to Etymologists, the name “champagne” is related to which Italian region?

Campania

8 What was the vintage year and brand of Champagne used at the wedding of Price Charles and Lady Diana Spencer?

Dom Perignon 1961

9 What is the connection between the popular musical singing group Queen and Formula 1 racing?

Moet et Chandon   Lyrics to Killer Queen and used as prize for winner

10 Which of the following is not used in a traditional champagne cocktail?

A Brandy B Sugar Syrup C Angostura Bitters   D Sugar lump

B Sugar syrup

#cocktails #champagne

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Something for you to do with Friday Night Cocktails. Answers tomorrow.

1 How many bottles of champagne were shipped in 2018?

A 203 million   B 302 million   C 906 million    D 23 million

2 Theobald II was the brother of which English King?

A Henry B William C Stephen D Richard

3 What are the ingredients of a Cheshire Cat?

4 What does CM Mean?

5 How many Jeroboams is one Melchizidek?

6 Pick the odd one out

Pinot Grigio   Pinot Noir    White Chardonnay    Pinot Meunier

7 According to Etymologists, the name “champagne” is related to which Italian region?

8 What was the vintage year and brand of Champagne used at the wedding of Price Charles and Lady Diana Spencer?

9 What is the connection between the popular musical singing group Queen and Formula 1 racing?

10 Which of the following is not used in a traditional champagne cocktail?

A Brandy   B Sugar Syrup    C Angostura Bitters   D Sugar lump

#champagne #cocktails

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Something for you to do with Friday night cocktails.

1 How many bottles of champagne were shipped in 2018?

A 203 million   B 302 million   C 906 million    D 23 million

2 Theobald II was the brother of which English King?

A Henry B William C Stephen D Richard

3 What are the ingredients of a Cheshire Cat?

4 What does CM Mean?

5 How many Jeroboams is one Melchizidek?

6 Pick the odd one out

Pinot Grigio   Pinot Noir    White Chardonnay    Pinot Meunier

7 According to Etymologists, the name “champagne” is related to which Italian region?

8 What was the vintage year and brand of Champagne used at the wedding of Price Charles and Lady Diana Spencer?

9 What is the connection between the popular musical singing group Queen and Formula 1 racing?

10 Which of the following is not used in a traditional champagne cocktail?

A Brandy   B Sugar Syrup    C Angostura Bitters   D Sugar lump

answers tomorrow

#champagne #cocktails #fridaynight

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Don’t say it out loud, but the current wave of racial disputes sweeping through western societies is missing the point. Of course people feel their identities deeply, and want justice for themselves (not others, of course), but that is exactly the problem.

Anyone who did a little police or forensic work back in the last century will have been familiar with the anonymous letter rant. Pages of hate-filled invective defending the imagined superiority of one racial group over another, and why mixing with them would lead to degeneration. One anxiety was the sickle cell gene, which evolved in some west African populations as a defence against malaria. We wonder what our anonymous correspondents would say now to the news that CRISPR technology is developing so fast that it can wash away sickle cell problems with the same ease that penicillin washed away tuberculosis. (well, until now!)

Nature Briefings has a delightful story of how a brave lady called Victoria Gray has become the first successful recipient of a CRISPR treatment for sickle cell. This link is packed with good scientists and companies, too numerous to name here. The point is they all think hard, unlike haters. Here are the precis and the links:

As the one year anniversary of her receiving a ground-breaking treatment for sickle-cell disease approaches, it’s good news for Victoria Gray — the first person in the United States to undergo CRISPR gene therapy to treat a genetic disorder. It’s too soon for scientists to reach firm conclusions about the long-term safety and effectiveness of the approach. But for Gray, life is very different from the severe pain attacks and frequent blood transfusions she experienced before. “It’s hard to put into words the joy that I feel — being grateful for a change this big. It’s been amazing,” said Gray.NPR | 7 min read or 6 min listen
Read more: Gene therapy is facing its biggest challenge yet: sickle-cell disease (Nature | 13 min read, from December)

So if CRISPR can modify our genes, what price racial identity in the twenty first century? Except maybe this. One day, people will colonise Mars and the Moon, Both bodies have very different gravitational fields, making it hard for them to return to earth. Humans being what they are, they will start breeding among themselves. And that could very quickly produce new races,maybe even new species.

Species which will regard all the races of earth as amazingly similar. And hostile.

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

#crispr #sicklecell #npr #davidaltshuler #vertexpharmaceuticals #crisprtherapeutics

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It is easy to laugh at nostalgia addicts, who bury themselves in the past because the present is bewildering and the future fearsome. Well, we think they are absolutely right. Because coming down the tracks is a piece of future so awesome that it puts the invention of bronze tools on about the same level of significance as the June 1973 edition of Smash Hits. It’s called quantum computing and it could give us computing abilities millions of times faster than today’s supercomputers.

We assume most of you will know the basics. It’s all based on everyday run of the mill quantum mechanical phenomena like superposition and entanglement, which will let us solve those tricky little problems like integer factorization and RSA encryption. Alright, we haven’t got a clue either, so here’s a link to a splendid Wikipedia article which does*

Writing in El Pais (attention all Brits, Catalans, Basques and Galicians- you’ll need your translator) Patricia Fernandez de Lis* describes how the heat is on. In Santa Barbara, Google have actually got one to work, if only foe three minutes and twenty seconds. But hey, wasn’t that longer than the Wright brothers? While over in New York, IBM are hard at it too. Governments are also being busy bees-the usual suspects are China, the USA and the EU via CERN. So we get faster downloads of your favourite movies like Footloose and Ice Age XXVI. What’s not to like?

Well, up to now, we, that is to say Homo sapiens, have been the cleverest thing on the planet. We come out top on IQ tests, not those smelly chimps and cuddly killer whales. Remember the one about the stupid farmer, the sack of grain and the goose, or something? No parrot could solve that! And what about adding the next three negative integers in a fibonnacci sequence- can you see an eagle handling that? No we’re Homo sapiens, buddy, the wise ones. Look at us, and admire. Please?

In his rather readable book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century *Israeli futurologist Yural Noah Harari gives many pages to his disquiet about the arrival of artificial intelligence. It’s quicker than us. It knows more. It learns better. Governments can use it to spy on you in the toilet. Combine that with the new superpower of quantum computing, and we could start to look very past it indeed.

Anyone for a return to nostalgia?

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

https://elpais.com/elpais/2020/06/16/eps/1592305195_758219.html

Yual Noah Harari 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Vintage

https://www.bing.com/search?q=song+the+heat+is+on&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&ghc=1&pq=song+the+heat+is+on

#quantumcomputing #artificialintelligence #nostalgia #encryption

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We at LSS have always suffered from mental collapse when confronted with Immunology. The proliferation of entities, processes and concepts is just sheer too much for us. All those different T cells, lymphocytes, feedback loops, and molecules! Then one thing starts if something else doesn’t, but doesn’t if a third one infects you on a Wednesday with an R in the month……..

But one person not so fazed is Sophie Goodchild of the Mail.* She has combed through an enormous quantity of experts and journals, including the formidable Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology *to ask the question “are people with allergies less likely to get a Covid-19 infection? And if so why?” There’s a lot of fascinating stuff here, so we will get out of Sophie’s way, inviting you to the link. However, we would note that the key seems to be in the number of ACE2 receptors on the membranes in the lung cells of allergy sufferers. But please read it for your selves.

Meanwhile, an extra ration of tuna for our favourite pet on Saturday night, with thanks?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8448447/Could-cat-allergy-save-severe-case-Covid-19.html

https://www.jacionline.org/

#sophiegoodchild #allergy #cat #covid19 #coronavirus #ace2