Some really amazing new finds in France’s Ardeche valley are reported in Nature( see below)

Nature is probably among the top ten most intelligent things on the planet, so I won’t spoil it too much for you. The impressive thing is that Hardy, Moncel and their team have direct evidence of Neanderthals weaving cords. And if you can do this with your tools, you can do it to make baskets, shelters, maybe even boats. Trouble is, all these things are “soft” , and they rot in the ground before we can dig them up.

For a long, long time it was our conceit that stupid, primitive Neanderthals were pushed out by oh- so- clever Homo sapiens. It shows how huge castles of shell knowledge can be erected on tiny foundations of fact. As more and more discoveries are made, we learn we were breeding with them. They had art and decorations. Now they have weaving. As the authors conclude:

It is difficult to know how we can regard Neanderthals as anything other than cognitive equals to modern humans

There are two things here. First, and smaller. have specialists got to re-think their whole classification of the most modern humans? Like, what is a species, and what isn’t? Well, that that’s one for them. But I would strongly council that we change our name from Homo sapiens (Wise man), as it gives too many people a puffed up sense of pride. How about Homo neohumilis? (the man who learned his lesson)

The second is larger: how many other castles of dodgy knowledge are raised up before all the facts are in? Most damage is done to the world by people who think they know the answers.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61839-w

#Neanderthal #sapiens #neanderthalcord #humans #Nature

A couple of days ago, our attention was drawn to the problem of new positive tests for corona virus SARS COV 2 in South Korea (whose response as a country has been exemplary)

A lot of the problem lies in the accuracy of the antibody test. The general consensus is that most tests are about 90% accurate. Sounds pretty good, huh? Sadly, no. Will Bedingfield of Wired gives a masterly insight into why this is so, with the help of Professor Robert West of UCL.

I post the link in true humility below, but here is a scenario they offer

Assume you have a test that picks up 95% positive. And 95% negative ( Kh-And that ain’t bad, folks!)

Assume you have a population of 1000, of whom 5% get Covid 19.

The test which should pick up 50 positives, picks up 48 (Will points out you can’t have 47.5 people)

Two people are told-“you ain’t had it, my old son!”

950 people are really antibody negative. So 903 (or 902 , see above) get a correct negative test

that leaves 47 who receive a positive test when they are really negative

This is a big, hole. But heartfelt thanks to Will Bedingfield and Wired for giving an answer to a question that’s been really bugging me. Great stuff.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/coronavirus-antibody-tests-uk-accuracy

#WillBedingfield #Wired #Coronavirustests #SARS-Cov-2tests #falsepositive #specificity#sensitivity

Nick Cohen is one of the finest writers currently working in English journalism. Clear, logical and utterly honest, especially with himself, he is the nearest we have to a latter day George Orwell. He finds a home in both Observer and Spectator, so what more proof do you need that his integrity is way above partisanship? I shall clear the decks so as not to get in the way of this article:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/11/surely-the-link-between-abusing-animals-and-the-worlds-health-is-now-clear

#meat #NickCohen #evidence #coronavirus #vegan #humanimpact

We thank Mr Peter Seymour of Hertfordshire for drawing our attention to a truly remarkable piece of journalism from the Telegraph, written by Rozina Sabur.

For it raises the following questions, to which we shall be returning again in the next blog. Essentially, Rozina asks

What does Recovered mean? What tests were done initially? Are the same tests used now? How reliable are tests? Does the disease come back? Or can you be infected again? If so, why? What exactly are the tests picking up? And how many people have not been “re-infected”-if that is what is truly going on?

Questions, questions, and more questions. Yet the article is trying to explain what we may expect in the next couple of years. With massive implications for movement of people, and how quickly we can resume economic activity. And remember this- South Korea is our example of best practice. What happens when this thing hits poorer countries?

I post this article below. I beg you to read it. We shall try to look at some of the issues raised in due course.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/recovered-coronavirus-patients-test-positive-again-in-blow-to-immunity-hopes/ar-BB12rSb0?ocid=msedgntp

#SouthKorea #coronavirustesting #reinfection #SARSCOVID2 #RozinaSabur

What wine did Jesus and his disciples drink at the last supper? Did they really drink wine? Would you like it if you tried it today?

Below, we link to two excellent articles which give a delightful insight into what must have really happened. For me, the key points are that wine making was such an old tradition in Jerusalem-it preceded Jesus by at least 2000 years. Secondly, that the Roman Empire possessed a vast network of vineyards, grape varieties and wine trading. And that the rich imagery of the Bible, which abounds in metaphors of wine, lambs and harvests evokes a simple Mediterranean agricultural economy-wine, bread, cheese, olives, and abundances of fruits and vegetables. Rather like we find when we go on holiday to Greece or Spain today. (well…yesterday!) Spoiler alert: the wine may well have been flavoured with herbs and spices, a bit like Vermouth or Dubonnet!

here are your references. Happy Reading

Robin Shreeves at Mother Nature Network suggests the wine was a bit like modern Italian Amarone

https://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/blogs/what-wine-did-jesus-drink-last-supper

Kashmira Gander of the Independent also has a charming article, and has really gone to town on the experts.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/last-supper-wine-serve-easter-jesus-apostles-jerusalem-grapes-bread-miracle-blood-transubstantiation-a7681516.html

and if you want a good discussion on wine in the Roman Empire, there’s always good ol’ Wikipedia, one of the great institutions of the twenty first century

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

#LastSupperwine #Roman wine

It is not often that we see an article so well written , passionate and scintillating that you HAVE to read it. Yet such is the case of Dr Richard Horton (editor of The Lancet) who writes in today’s Guardian. See link below.

It is not our place to agree or disagree with every point which Dr Horton makes. But every concerned citizen should think about these points that he makes.

Were repeated warnings ignored? (1994, 1998, 2004(Sars), 2013, 2014(Ebola)

Was the famous policy of Austerity to blame for fatally undermining the public realm?

Did UK Government Committee Nervtag make a fatal wrong call on 21st February 2020?

Have NHS workers been pushed too far, both physically and psychologically?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/09/deadly-virus-britain-failed-prepare-mers-sars-ebola-coronavirus

#coronavirus #sars #RichardHorton #Lancet

we wish all tigers who have caught corona virus a speedy recovery

#tiger #coronavirus

For technical reasons the link we provided to Graham’s superb article didn’t seem to work. here it is again

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/how-did-the-coronavirus-start-where-did-it-come-from-how-did-it-spread-humans-was-it-really-bats-pangolins-wuhan-animal-market

apologies to him and all our readers

#wuhanwetmarket #bats #origins corona virus #pangolin

It’s really important to know about the origins of the SARS Coronavirus 2. If only to predict the next one, and avoid another crash. Zoonoses(diseases that jump from animals to humans) have been occurring for thousands of years. We will be returning to this theme in future blogs. To get the ball rolling, here is an excellent article from the Guardian by Graham Redfearn. Excellent for the clarity of writing. Excellent for the questions it asks

Was it the Wuhan Animal Market?

What is the role of bats? And pangolins?

How easily does it jump species?

Will it hit cats? Pigeons? Sheep? What else?

Is it still evolving? And where?

Graham gives a superb kick off for anyone who wants to follow these questions

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/how-did-the-coronavirus-start-where-did-it-come-from-how-did-it-spread-humans-was-it-really-bats-pangolins-wuhan-animal-market-how-did-it-spread-humans-was-it-really-bats-pangolins-

#Coronavirus #Pangolins #WuhanWetMarket #OriginsCoronavirus

all our images are from the excellent Pixabay site check it out!

Spoiler alert: my IT people have asked me to run this again

The stunning advances in antibiotic research of the nineteen forties and fifties were followed by stagnation as resistance developed, and funding dried up. Now we have to look desperately for new ones. There is some hope of this. However, is there a chance that we could also recycle some from our existing stocks? AntibioticResearch UK seem to think so. Below is a summary of their work, beautifully presented.

#Antibiotics #AntibioticResearch #ResistanceBreakers

Antibiotic Resistance Breakers (ARBs)