Byzantium and the Agents of the Renaissance

Misinformation Has Created a New World Disorder

www.scientificamerican.com /article/misinformation-has-created-a-new-world-disorder/
Claire Wardle
18-23 minutes
As someone who studies the impact of misinformation on society, I often wish the young entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley who enabled communication at speed had been forced to run a 9/11 scenario with their technologies before they deployed them commercially.

One of the most iconic images from that day shows a large clustering of New Yorkers staring upward. The power of the photograph is that we know the horror they're witnessing. It is easy to imagine that, today, almost everyone in that scene would be holding a smartphone. Some would be filming their observations and posting them to Twitter and Facebook. Powered by social media, rumors and misinformation would be rampant. Hate-filled posts aimed at the Muslim community would proliferate, the speculation and outrage boosted by algorithms responding to unprecedented levels of shares, comments and likes. Foreign agents of disinformation would amplify the division, driving wedges between communities and sowing chaos. Meanwhile those stranded on the tops of the towers would be livestreaming their final moments.

Hopes rise on coronavirus drug remdesivir

www.nature.com /articles/d41586-020-01295-8
Heidi Ledford
7-8 minutes
A patient at the intensive care unit receives treatment from two hospital workers in Hefei, China

Coronavirus causes severe respiratory illness in some people.Credit: Zhang Yazi/China News Service via Getty

An experimental drug — and one of the world’s best hopes against COVID-19 — could shorten the time to recovery from coronavirus infection, according to the largest and most rigorous clinical trial of the compound.

The experimental drug, called remdesivir, interferes with replication of some viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the current pandemic. On 29 April, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), announced that a clinical trial of more than a thousand people showed that people taking remdesivir recovered in 11 days on average, compared to 15 days for those on a placebo.

A Nobel Laureate Said the New Coronavirus Was Made in a Lab. He's Wrong. - The Wire Science

22/04/2020
5-6 minutes
Luc Montagnier during the TV interview. Photo: YouTube.

...It is surprising to have a scientist of Montagnier’s stature utter such questionable statements – although Montagnier himself is a controversial figure. Among other causes, he has supported anti-vaxxers, homeopathy and a silly claim that DNA emits “electromagnetic waves”....

The 2008 Nobel Laureate for physiology or medicine from France, Luc Antoine Montagnier, caught the media’s attention when he recently endorsed a COVID-19 conspiracy theory – that the virus is human-made. His proclamation was subsequently magnified by various news outlets, including many in India (e.g., The Week, The Hindu Businessline, and Times of India).

Montagnier argued during a TV interview with a French TV channel that elements of the HIV-1 retrovirus, which he co-discovered in 1983, can be found in the genome of the new coronavirus. He also said elements of the “malaria germ” – the parasite Plasmodium falciparum – can also be seen in the virus’s genome.

His full quote: “We were not the first since a group of Indian researchers tried to publish a study which showed that the complete genome of this coronavirus [has] sequences of another virus, which is HIV.”

The Science behind How Coronavirus Tests Work

Jeffery DelViscio
8-10 minutes
From Scientific American
So you think you may have COVID-19, and you want to get tested.

Your first problem might be finding a test, depending on where you live and how sick you currently are.

A recent survey conducted with administrators from 323 hospitals across the United States found...

Quote: “Hospitals reported that severe shortages of testing supplies and extended waits for test results limited hospitals’ ability to monitor the health of patients and staff....”

Adding: “... they were unable to keep up with testing demands because they lacked complete kits and/or the individual components ... used to detect the virus.”

But let’s say that you can actually get a test for COVID-19.

Will antibody tests for the coronavirus really change everything?

Smriti Mallapaty
10-13 minutes
COVID-19 coronavirus antibody test kits.
More at  www.nature.com /articles/d41586-020-01115-z
Antibody tests might be used to help stem the COVID-19 pandemic — but first must overcome several hurdles.Credit: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called them a ‘game changer’. Antibody tests have captured the world’s attention for their potential to help life return to normal by revealing who has been exposed, and might now be immune, to the new coronavirus.

Dozens of biotech companies and research laboratories have rushed to produce the blood tests. And governments around the world have bought millions of kits, in the hope that they could guide decisions on when to relax social-distancing measures and get people back to work. Some have even suggested that the tests could be used as an ‘immunity passport’, giving the owner clearance to interact with others again.

More Encouraging Signs for Remdesivir as COVID-19 Treatment

Alice Park
5-7 minutes
Comment from the owner: What a pitty TIME...
Researchers at University of Chicago reported promising results from a small study of remdesivir in treating people with COVID-19.

The findings were not published in a peer-reviewed journal, but revealed in an internal video discussion of the drug trial among University of Chicago faculty that was obtained by STAT.

The study included 125 people with COVID-19, all of whom were treated with the remdesivir, which is not currently approved in the U.S. for treating any disease. Of the 125 patients in the Chicago study, 113 had severe disease, meaning they had difficulty breathing. In the video discussion, Kathleen Mullane, a professor of medicine at the university who is overseeing the trial, said most of the patients taking the drug had improved enough to be discharged from the hospital, and only two died. Mullane was not available to discuss the results, but in a statement, a university spokesperson said “Partial data from an ongoing clinical trial is by definition incomplete and should never be used to draw conclusions about the safety or efficacy of a potential treatment that is under investigation. In this case, information from an internal forum for research colleagues concerning work in progress was released without authorization. Drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound.”

COVID-19: What we must do to prevent a global depression

Klaus Schwab Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
12-15 minutes

No diagrams & photos, original in the link.
Without a vaccine or effective COVID-19 treatment, we could face continued infections and death until at least the end of 2020.
To prevent further spread of coronavirus, we must monitor what fraction of the population has been in contact with the virus and is potentially immune.
To prevent an economic collapse, governments will need to take on large and unprecedented roles in securing business continuity and jobs.
A few months in, it is still hard to grasp the scale and scope of COVID-19’s global impact. A third of the world population is under some sort of “lockdown.” Over 200 countries are affected, and the number of new cases and deaths in many places are still growing exponentially. All the while, a second crisis, in the form of an economic recession, is underway.

The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape

Stephen Mayhew
10-13 minutes
 (Figures and Tables ommited, for full article go here)
The genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, was published on 11 January 2020, triggering intense global R&D activity to develop a vaccine against the disease. The scale of the humanitarian and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is driving evaluation of next-generation vaccine technology platforms through novel paradigms to accelerate development, and the first COVID-19 vaccine candidate entered human clinical testing with unprecedented rapidity on 16 March 2020.

Η θορυβώδης αποκήρυξη των καλών τρόπων

Βασίλης Καραποστόλης
5-6 minutes
Αντίφωνο


Δεν θα έπρεπε να μας εκπλήσσει το γεγονός ότι σήμερα η αχαλίνωτη συμπεριφορά γίνεται συνήθεια ή και νόμος. Προστυχιές, χλευασμοί και βρισιές σε όλη την κλίμακα της χυδαιότητας ανταλλάσσονται με μια ευκολία που θα άφηνε άναυδο έναν άνθρωπο περασμένης εποχής, μιας εποχής από εκείνες όπου δεν είχε ακόμη διασυρθεί τόσο πολύ η λέξη «φραγμός».

Οι ρίζες του προβλήματος είναι βαθιές. Και μην πείτε ότι φταίει η κρίση, οι δυσκολίες που ενέσκηψαν και τα σμπαραλιασμένα νεύρα ολονών. Πάει πολύ πιο πίσω η υπόθεση και αν για μια στιγμή οι σκέψεις μας κατόρθωναν να βγουν έξω από τον καθημερινό κυκεώνα, θα επέτρεπαν να δούμε ότι δεν άνοιξαν από τη μια μέρα στην άλλη οι οχετοί. Είχε ήδη συντελεστεί μέσα στην οικογένεια, στα σχολεία και σ’ ολόκληρη την κοινωνία, μια θορυβώδης αποκήρυξη των «καλών τρόπων». Τους αποκάλεσαν «καθωσπρεπισμό» και νόμισαν ότι ξεμπέρδεψαν. Και δεν κατάλαβαν ότι ο τύπος ενός κανόνα όταν συγχέεται με το περιεχόμενό του παράγει εκτρώματα.

Powerful antibiotics discovered using AI

Jo Marchant
5-6 minutes
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00018-3
Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Escherichia coli bacteria (green) taken from the small intestine of a child.

Escherichia coli bacteria, coloured green, in a scanning electron micrograph.Credit: Stephanie Schuller/SPL

A pioneering machine-learning approach has identified powerful new types of antibiotic from a pool of more than 100 million molecules — including one that works against a wide range of bacteria, including tuberculosis and strains considered untreatable.

Who are the biggest bullshitters?

www.economist.com /graphic-detail/2019/04/30/who-are-the-biggest-bullshitters
Apr 30th 2019
3-3 minutes
North Americans seem most prone to shameless bluffing



EVERYBODY TELLS the occasional fib. But whereas liars consciously conceal the truth, reckons Harry Frankfurt, a philosopher, bullshitters are shameless: they say what they want to, without even considering the truth. Bluffers seem to be everywhere: the share of Americans who believe that most people can be trusted has fallen from 48% in 1984 to just 31% today.

Victory for Boris Johnson’s all-new Tories

www.economist.com /leaders/2019/12/13/victory-for-boris-johnsons-all-new-tories

print-edition iconPrint edition | LeadersDec 13th 2019
7-8 minutes
BRITAIN’S ELECTION on December 12th was the most unpredictable in years—yet in the end the result was crushingly one-sided. As we went to press the next morning, Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party was heading for a majority of well over 70, the largest Tory margin since the days of Margaret Thatcher. Labour, meanwhile, was expecting its worst result since the 1930s. Mr Johnson, who diced with the possibility of being one of Britain’s shortest-serving prime ministers, is now all-powerful.

Terror Attacks in France: A Culture of Denial

www.gatestoneinstitute.org /15019/france-terrorism-denial
Alain Destexhe
7-9 minutes

Pictured: Police block a bridge near Paris Police headquarters, after a terrorist murdered four police employees on October 3, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

On October 3, 2019, a knife-wielding Muslim employee of the Paris Police Department Intelligence Directorate stabbed to death four other employees at police headquarters in the center of Paris, before a trainee police officer shot and killed him. While it was not the deadliest terror attack France has experienced in recent years, the fatal stabbings that took place at the Paris police headquarters were perhaps the most worrisome. Its author (a French public servant employed by the police), its highly sensitive target, and the catastrophic handling of the aftermath of the attack reveal the failure of the French institutions.

Donald Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds is a blow to America’s credibility

www.economist.com /leaders/2019/10/17/donald-trumps-betrayal-of-the-kurds-is-a-blow-to-americas-credibility
print-edition iconPrint edition | LeadersOct 17th 2019
6-8 minutes
THE PITHIEST summary of Donald Trump’s foreign policy comes from the president himself. Referring to the mayhem he has uncorked in Syria, he tweeted: “I hope they all do great, we are 7,000 miles away!” Mr Trump imagines he can abandon an ally in a dangerous region without serious consequences for the United States. He is wrong. The betrayal of the Kurds will lead friends and foes to doubt Mr Trump’s America. That is something both Americans and the world should lament.

Η απόσυρση των ΗΠΑ από την Συρία.

Ας δούμε την Συρία σαν το σύμβολο της παρουσίας των ΗΠΑ στην Μέση Ανατολή. Η στενή στρατιωτική σχέση τους με τους Κούρδους, οι κοινοί τους αγώνες, η εύκολη νίκης τους επί του χαλιφάτου, χάρις στους περισσότερους των 11.000 νεκρών Κούρδων, με μόλις επτά αμερικάνους νεκρούς, τι λένε στους υπόλοιπους συμμάχους των ΗΠΑ; Σε όσους δεν έχουν τέτοιες θυσίες πρόσφατα; Μήπως ότι πολέμησαν στην Νορμανδία; Και γιατί η θυσία στην Νορμανδία είναι πιο σημαντική από έναν πόλεμο σε κάποια πόλη της Β Συρίας;

ΛΑΡΚΟ: Μπορεί το κοβάλτιο να σώσει το νικέλιο;

Παρατήρηση: Μια εταιρεία που χρωστάει κοντά στο μισό δις, δεν μπορεί να πληρώσει το ηλεκτρικό, είναι δυνατόν να δίνει 45 εκ για 1100 εργαζόμενους; ~41 χιλιάδες τον χρόνο ή 3.400 Ευρώ τον μήνα, για κάθε εργαζόμενο κατά μέσο όρο; Με το περιβαλλοντικό κόστος που έχει, την ανύπαρκτη φροντίδα για την προστασία του περιβάλλοντος και τα πρόστιμα που επιβάλλονται εξ αυτού; Ενδεικτική για την κατάσταση που μας οδήγησε στην χρεοκοπία. 

...Η ΛΑΡΚΟ επιβιώνει λόγω ΔΕΗ, αφού το απλήρωτο ρεύμα έχει φτάσει στα 310 εκατ. ευρώ και συνεχίζει να αυξάνεται με ρυθμό 20-30 εκατ. ανά έτος. Δεν γνωρίζουμε πόσες προβλέψεις έχει εγγράψει η ΔΕΗ, αλλά η βιωσιμότητα της ΔΕΗ περνά και από τη ΛΑΡΚΟ. Η εταιρεία επίσης χρωστά 20 εκατ. περίπου στον Οργανισμό Ανασυγκρότησης Επιχειρήσεων (ουσιαστικά δηλαδή στο Δημόσιο), 30 εκατ. στην Τράπεζα Πειραιώς και 70 εκατ. στην παλαιά ΛΑΡΚΟ, για τα οποία έχει γίνει και η κατάσχεση...

...Τα βασικά κόστη της ΛΑΡΚΟ είναι το ηλεκτρικό ρεύμα και το εργασιακό, που είναι επίσης μη ανταγωνιστικό (ετήσια δαπάνη 45 εκατ. ευρώ για 1.100 εργαζομένους)...
______________________________________________________________________________

Map of the present situation in Syria. In light of the eminent Turkish invasion.

Trump’s Confounding Syria Moves Are Spurring Policy Confusion — Again

www.bloomberg.com /news/articles/2019-10-08/trump-s-confounding-syria-moves-spur-policy-confusion-again
By Nick Wadhams and Glen Carey
7-9 minutes


Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that U.S. forces would stand aside if Turkey invades Syria sowed chaos in his administration, drew criticism from his allies in Congress and left Kurdish fighters feeling betrayed. Yet after a day of confusion, it wasn’t clear how much American policy had really changed.

It was, in short, another example of how foreign policy gets made in the Trump era -- with the president delivering one message, his advisers providing another and then Trump sometimes adding a third for good measure. Abrupt foreign policy shifts are taken after limited consultation with staff and emerge in confusion and contradictions.

Where did the reformist just re-elected as Indonesia’s president go?

print-edition iconPrint edition | AsiaSep 26th 2019
5-6 minutes
NOT SINCE 1998, when huge crowds demanding reformasi brought down Suharto, Indonesia’s late dictator, have university students taken to the streets in such numbers. In cities across the archipelago and, above all, outside the parliament in Jakarta, tens of thousands have gathered in the past few days. Despite tear-gas, water cannon and beatings, their numbers are growing. Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, the recently re-elected president, faces an unexpected test.

The protesters carry a rattlebag of demands tied together by attempts by the political elite and the security forces to roll back two decades of democratic change. They call their movement reformasi dikorupsi, or reform corrupted. That Jokowi has come into the movement’s sights is significant. He swept to power in 2014 because Indonesians loved his reputation for clean government and because he was outside the intermarried elites that have long dominated politics, the security services and business.