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There’s a dangerous killer lurking inches from you feet as you stand in your shower. No it’s not a new type of spider, or even rats. It turns out that drains, dishwashers, shower pipes and all the other outflows are perfect breeding grounds for all sorts of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Writing in New Scientist, Alice Klein reports on a recent German study which found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in no less than 82% of the sites they sampled.* The outfalls are ideal breeding grounds because they are warm, shady and supply endless nutrients in the form of your dead skin and your organic products. Yeech! The cause seems to be that manufacturers are pouring antibacterial agents into soaps and cleaning products, so giving a carte blanche to all those nasty little organisms in the pipes to develop their resistant ways.

Why does all this worry us? Because as they breed, super-resistant bacteria and their genes will get into the food chain and start to spread. According to John Naish in the Mail,* two new genes called MCR-1 and NDN-1 ,which confer the ability to resist the strongest antibiotics available, are now spreading rapidly. They can spread between different types of bacteria. They are potentially lethal.

The death toll from antibiotic resistant infections is now rising at 10% a year. last year in the USA there were 35000 such deaths. There were 800 000 world wide. By 2050 there will probably be 10 million a year. We will be back to the days when even a sore throat could kill you, depending of course on things like your age and other health factors.

We post your links below, and also one to that excellent charity antibiotic research uk, who are trying to contend with this terrible problem. Before modern medicine as we know it literally goes down the drain

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2246672-our-shower-drains-are-a-breeding-ground-for-drug-resistant-bacteri

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8495545/Superbugs-pose-grave-threat-Britains-cancer-patients-experts-f

https://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk/

#antibioticresistance #antibioticresearchuk #superbugs

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Long term followers of LSS will recall several blogs discussing the prevalence of coronavirus strains in wild populations. (LSS passim). We relayed the thoughts of those far more erudite writers at places like Nature and New Scientist, which pointed to a fascinating ecosystem of viruses, small mammals and dank dirty caves along the wild borderlands of China, Laos and Myanmar.

Fascinating for the scientist; but now things down there may suddenly have global geopolitical significance, gentle readers. As you know, there is a massive blame game going on as to whose fault all this is. At the moment, the two chief protagonists are the United States of America and the Peoples Republic of China. And the following story, which today we source from Mail writer Sam Blanchard, will only add fuel to the fire.

Back in 2012 (that’s seven years before the outbreak, gentle reader) Chinese scientists became aware of a virus in bats in a place called Mojiang in South western China. It was a coronavirus. It produced nasty symptoms, some of which were lethal. It was 96.2% similar to SARS-CoV-2. They wrote it up in a paper, giving it the catchy name of RaBtCoV/4991,and you can-should, actually-read the rest in Sam’s story.

Our aim at LSS is always to stand back from the stories, and ask questions. As this has explosive political significance, we think all citizens need answers to the following questions

1 What does “96.2% similarity “mean? Where are the differences in the other 3.8%? Is it in the spikes? Or the RNA-or what?

2 How many other viruses are in wild bat populations? What about other mammals? How much time and money will it take to find out?

3 Did any samples from Mojiang travel to other parts of China-or elsewhere? Under what conditions of storage, transport and security?

4 How can the rest of us stop the two most powerful nations in the world from playing and endless blame game, and instead show leadership on this as well as many other problems, like antibiotic resistance and climate change?

Don’t send your answers to us, send them to the governments of those countries. Oh yeah, postcards are a bit passe now-try a social media platform.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8491491/Coronaviruss-closest-ancestor-SEVEN-YEARS-ago-bat-infested-Chi

#bats #coronavirus #SARS-CoV-2 #covid19 #PRC #USA

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The story that Spanish scientists may have found a sample of SARS-CoV-2 in a sample of wastewater from March 2019 is awesome indeed, if it is confirmed. It’s breaking across the mainstreams, but in case you missed it, here goes.*

Following the new trend to look for the virus in sewage and wastewater, a Spanish team from the University Of Barcelona decided to start looking through samples from the city’s sewage system. Quite soon they found a sample dated 15th January 2020 that was positive for SARS-CoV-2, a full 41 days before the the first reported case in the city. It was what happened next that changed everything we know, potentially. Albert Bosch and his teams started to check out samples from as far back as January 2018. And they found one from 12th March 2019 which was positive, Nine full months before the first reports from Wuhan in China.

Now we know that readers of LSS like their stories as scrupulous as we can make ’em. And as good scientists, we know a few things have got to happen before we can draw really firm conclusions. Firstly, there has to be a peer review, the benchmark of real science. But the sooner the better, we say. And a one off result is never, on its own, enough for science. You have to find another one of anything. What about Madrid, Sevilla and Zaragoza? It would be nice to see a precise map of the virus in their sample, to get some ideas on its evolution and development in the last eighteen months or so.

All that said, hats off to the Barcelona team for their supreme demonstration of the virtues of curiosity, open-mindedness and solid devotion to technique. Those are the values that will one day pull us through.

Our Thanks to Mr Gary Herbert of Buckinghamshire for first alerting us to this story.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-science/coronavirus-traces-found-in-march-2019-sewage-

#reuters #universityof barcelona #covid19 #coronavirus #sarscov2

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A weekly round up of stories we think you ought to know but didn’t have time to feature

Avid readers of LSS will recall our June 13th article in which we looked at testing sewage for the presence of Sars-CoV-2 virus. Real aficionados will recall that it was at the behest of Mr Peter Seymour of Hertfordshire. Well, Nature Briefings (Sewage based surveillance system) are running with this. If true, it could help local health organisations get significantly ahead of outbreaks, with all the benefits that implies.

Testing wastewater samples for the coronavirus could help local authorities to identify and tackle COVID-19 outbreaks sooner, scientists say. Studies in the United Kingdom suggest that this approach could help to detect infection spikes up to ten days earlier than existing medical-based tests. “By sampling wastewater at different parts of the sewerage network, we can gradually narrow an outbreak down to smaller geographical areas, enabling public-health officials to quickly target interventions,” says pollution scientist Andrew Singer. “It seems obvious that we should be doing this.”
BBC News | 5 min read
Read more: How sewage could reveal the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak (Nature | 4 min read, from April)

We at LSS are firm believers in the principle of innocence until proven guilty in a trial. So our question about Prince Andrew is not his innocence, but how did a man with born with all his advantages land in this mess? Certainly his siblings have had their ups and downs, but no one can doubt their commitment to service and good works, or imagine them in such a fix as this. Nigel Cawthorne thinks he has the answers in his recent biography of the Prince. We post a link from the Mail‘s summary of the book, from which you can find a way to buy it if you want. But is the answer much simpler? Andrew served bravely for his country in a war. There are many examples of men who, having put their life on the line, just glad to enjoy life they get home, and not take things too seriously. Is this one such case?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8324925/The-making-Prince-Andrew.html

“It’s time something was done about the climate crisis” is a grumble we hear more and more. To be fair the Democrats in the United States do seem to be centering it in their forthcoming election manifesto. Here’s Nature Briefings again:

A Democrat-led US government committee charged with coming up with a detailed climate plan has released its recommendations for saving the world. One of the report’s overall targets is net-zero carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States before 2050. To get there, the report offers 12 ‘pillars’, including investing in green-technology industries and strengthening support for climate-science research. “I am very heartened to see the detail and ambition that the committee has put forward,” says energy-policy researcher Leah Stokes, who kindly broke down the 500+-page report in a Twitter thread. How much of the plan will be implemented comes down to the outcome of the imminent US elections in November.Vox | 10 min read Reference: Solving the Climate Crisis report (or just the 2-page summary)

And finally..happy fiftieth birthday to Germaine Greer‘s The Female Eunuch. Still fondly remembered as a landmark text in feminism and to all of us who think that the emancipation of women everywhere will give all of us better lives

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

#covid19 #coronavirus #climatechange #globalwarming #princeandrew #germainegreer #thefemaleeunuch

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Before our regular Friday night cocktail feature, we would like to thank ALL of our readers and visitors and followers, be they on the main site, twitter, or Facebook. They are now too numerous to mention individually, so apologies.

On then to cocktail night. Many readers have written in crying “oh Cocktailmeister, you have advised us of music to play with our cocktails. Trouble is, we’ve played it so often that we have worn out the grooves on our Oscar Petersen CD, can’t you recommend something else?” Well, thanks to the kind suggestion of Mrs Hazel Inglese of Berkshire, we now have a strong recommendation. It is the well known Latin musician Tito Puente (1923-2000) and his composition Oye como va.* Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we can post a link to it below, you no longer have to listen to us singing it.

Puente was an American of Puerto Rican descent. If you like his work, think of him as a bridge to a whole world of Latin sounds, including rumba, mambo, salsa, cha cha and many others of the hot tropical belt which runs from Peru up all the way up into Florida. That erudite musicologist and composer Howard Goodall waxes lyrical on the rhythmic accomplishments of this genre in his series How Music Works.* Some British readers may recall him as the man who wrote the scores for the stunning BBC historical drama series Blackadder. But a glance at his oeuvre * reveals a lot more.

And the cocktail? Oh yes, the cocktail. We have chosen a Cuban No 2, the recipe for which is taken from Diffords.* We urge all thirsty readers to visit this site, a must-go-to for recipes, background information and anything else you might want to set up a perfect party, cocktail or otherwise. All of it so beautifully presented and designed that it falls easy on the eye and brain.

https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/605/cuban-cocktail-no2

https://www.bing.com/search?q=tito+puente+oye+como+va&form=ANNTH1&refig=12a12800aac14e4dbf67d578b419

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

https://www.bing.com/search?q=howard+goodall+on+cuba&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=howard+goodall+on+cuba

#howardgoodall #diffords #cocktails #latinmusic

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We at LSS have always been mightily impressed by living things. Their complexity, their intricacy, and the beauty of their design. The medieval cathedrals of France are glorious, but not one of them is as precious and complicated as the smallest beetle scurrying up its walls. We flatter ourselves however, that most of our readers would take a dim view of anyone who gratuitously destroyed the cathedral or the insect, just for the fun of it.

It is in this light that we try to understand the mindset of those trophy hunters who set out to kill the breathtaking megafauna of Africa and other places on their holidays. We don’t know anyone who has told us “I’m off to Italy this year to smash up a few Renaissance masterpieces.” Or “we went to Cornwall last year, boy what a mess we left on those beaches!” So went to the websites of companies that offer these safaris, to look at the testimonials of their clients. (We at LSS always want to hear from both sides, and these were their words) Frankly it was all a bit depressing. Nearly all of the pictures were of middle aged to elderly gentlemen posing with their enormous weapons next to the corpse of their vanquished victims. It reminded us of those pictures from wars you see in history books where soldiers pose next to the corpses of dead enemies. Except people like the Vietnamese had guns, and could shoot back. Frankly, it was a waste of time. There was nothing on the level of LSS readers, just endless litanies about themselves and their pleasures. We wonder-is that where they are coming from?

It is the very starting point of LSS that humans are a deeply imperfect species. That learning will never be finished in our lifetime. But also that learned and thoughtful people can achieve something, sometimes. Gladiatorial games were abolished-eventually. So was slavery. And we also know there are many, many other pressing causes. However, if you want to do something to end trophy hunting, get in contact with these organisations

humane society international

Stop Trophy Hunting: How You Can Help

one kind planet

Stop trophy hunters in their tracks

born free foundation

https://www.bornfree.org.uk/trophy-hunting

#trophyhunting #ecology #endangeredspecies

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That’s the title of a book by Professor Laurence Douglas-and frankly, we can’t believe that we’re writing this. Up to now, the handover of power has usually been peaceful in the United States, even when the party changes. Think Bush- Clinton, Bush-Obama. But, because of the chronic hyperpartisanship now afflicting the United States, Professor Douglas thinks it is possible that President Donald Trump may try to hang on if he loses. Especially if the result is close. And there are precedents, none of them pretty. Think Hayes-Tilden 1876 or Bush-Gore 2000. We post a fascinating interview piece with Douglas and Sean Illing of Vox below.*

If the worse happens, there could be three Presidents by January-Trump, Biden, and Nancy Pelosi, who by law must try to hold the ring as acting commander-in-chief. But we’ll leave that to the Americans. The point for foreigners is that our own stability and economies ae still very dependent on them. The dollar is still the world’s reserve currency, and a sudden vertiginous drop could wreak untold havoc on world currency markets. If that happened, equities would be close behind. More worryingly, the enormous power and stability of the US has so far meant that Treasury Bonds are the safest thing you can buy. They act like an enormous sponge for the world economy, soaking up loose money in times of surplus, releasing it when times are bad. Real constitutional meltdown would instantly jeopardise their safe haven status. What turmoil then?

Since about the time of President Nixon, America’s power has rested more on its financial status than its industrial. Many larger powers are waiting for this moment to step in. Russia, China and India are the obvious giants, with the EU as a possible contender. But America has smaller, closely allied client states as well. Three obvious examples are Taiwan, the UK and Israel. Up to now, the relationship has been beneficial to these states. But what do you do if your patron suddenly runs out of money?

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/6/3/21257133/trump-2020-election-meltdown-lawrence-douglas

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2014/06/03/why-financialization-has-run-amok/#12c1e2423d7d

#donaldtrump #joebiden #nancypelosi #willhego? #usconstitution

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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