@valanvir.bsky.social
Reposted
some seriously artisanal Derek this morning #chemchat www.science.org/content/blog...
Fixing A Reaction
www.science.org
December 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM
some seriously artisanal Derek this morning #chemchat www.science.org/content/blog...
Reposted
A CIA outfit nicknamed the Marco Polos (started by Billy Waugh) got eyes on Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2005, confirmed by CTC initially, but later refuted. I sat on this story for about a decade but here it is, with help from @seandnaylor.bsky.social
thehighside.substack.com/p/hunting-bi...
thehighside.substack.com/p/hunting-bi...
Hunting bin Laden on 'the roof of the world'
How an encounter in a remote Pakistani bazaar prompted a search for the al-Qaida leader
thehighside.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:19 PM
A CIA outfit nicknamed the Marco Polos (started by Billy Waugh) got eyes on Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2005, confirmed by CTC initially, but later refuted. I sat on this story for about a decade but here it is, with help from @seandnaylor.bsky.social
thehighside.substack.com/p/hunting-bi...
thehighside.substack.com/p/hunting-bi...
Reposted
i’m so happy for him
November 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
i’m so happy for him
Reposted
Addendum: I quickly wrote something partially about the results, and the potential for misunderstanding, but also about history's profound irony.
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
November 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Addendum: I quickly wrote something partially about the results, and the potential for misunderstanding, but also about history's profound irony.
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
Reposted
Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ecology and spread of the North American H5N1 epizootic - Nature
The panzootic of highly pathogenic H5N1 since 2021 was driven by around nine introductions into the Atlantic and Pacific flyways, followed by rapid dissemination through wild migratory birds, primaril...
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted
Reposted
@scottehensley.bsky.social
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
Circulating H3N2 this year is a mismatch?
cc @angierasmussen.bsky.social @kgandersen.bsky.social
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
Circulating H3N2 this year is a mismatch?
cc @angierasmussen.bsky.social @kgandersen.bsky.social
Canada could face ‘worst kind’ of flu season as experts warn evolving strain may be mismatch for vaccine | CBC News
With flu cases now rising in Canada, medical experts are bracing for a difficult influenza season linked to the global spread of an evolving H3N2 strain that could be a mismatch for this year’s vaccin...
www.cbc.ca
November 12, 2025 at 5:35 AM
@scottehensley.bsky.social
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
Circulating H3N2 this year is a mismatch?
cc @angierasmussen.bsky.social @kgandersen.bsky.social
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
Circulating H3N2 this year is a mismatch?
cc @angierasmussen.bsky.social @kgandersen.bsky.social
Reposted
🧪 🦠 Prefusion structure, evasion and neutralization of HSV-1 glycoprotein B www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Prefusion structure, evasion and neutralization of HSV-1 glycoprotein B - Nature Microbiology
Cryo-EM structures of the stabilized prefusion conformation of the glycoprotein B ectodomain—the HSV-1 entry machine—identify a prefusion-specific neutralizing antibody and reveal how prefusion glycop...
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:37 AM
🧪 🦠 Prefusion structure, evasion and neutralization of HSV-1 glycoprotein B www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted
It's really important to note that not only was Watson a racist and misogynist but his contribution to the double helix was listening to a Rosalind Franklin lecture and getting mad because Francis Crick wouldn't invite him to his sex parties.
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
It's really important to note that not only was Watson a racist and misogynist but his contribution to the double helix was listening to a Rosalind Franklin lecture and getting mad because Francis Crick wouldn't invite him to his sex parties.
Reposted
Brain organoids are getting better at mimicking brains in a dish. But how good is too good? I take a look at the latest developments in my story today in the Times. Gift link: nyti.ms/496PPnC
nyti.ms
November 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Brain organoids are getting better at mimicking brains in a dish. But how good is too good? I take a look at the latest developments in my story today in the Times. Gift link: nyti.ms/496PPnC
Reposted
bro are you fucking kidding me
![quote from the Economist article which says "[study authors] are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ofjbklfvptnupad4lxumblw/bafkreia3yctiqd7ejumpd6novxjpiycphtfkc3bdgd573jw37faqdl7o7m@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
bro are you fucking kidding me
Reposted
OK, as promised, here's my thread about the links between tear gas/pepper spray and the arms trade and gun industry.
November 5, 2025 at 10:39 AM
OK, as promised, here's my thread about the links between tear gas/pepper spray and the arms trade and gun industry.
Reposted
From Neil King’s lab in our department at UW:
mRNA vaccine builds viruslike nanoparticles inside the body
The self-assembling system produces higher antibody levels in mice than conventional COVID-19 vaccines. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪
The self-assembling system produces higher antibody levels in mice than conventional COVID-19 vaccines. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪
mRNA vaccine builds viruslike nanoparticles inside the body
The self-assembling system produces higher antibody levels in mice than conventional COVID-19 vaccines
cen.acs.org
November 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
From Neil King’s lab in our department at UW:
Reposted
Study demonstrates transmission via oral infection of H5N1 bird flu from raw milk to ferrets.
H5N1 influenza (bird flu) virus stability and transmission risk in raw milk and cheese
Nature Medicine 10/8/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🛟🧬🖥️🦠🧪🩺💉 #PublicHealth #EpiSky #MedSky #H5N1 #BirdFlu #Influenza #Flu #RawMilk #Cheese 🧀
1/3
Nature Medicine 10/8/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🛟🧬🖥️🦠🧪🩺💉 #PublicHealth #EpiSky #MedSky #H5N1 #BirdFlu #Influenza #Flu #RawMilk #Cheese 🧀
1/3
H5N1 influenza virus stability and transmission risk in raw milk and cheese - Nature Medicine
The pathogenic avian flu H5N1 virus remains stable in raw milk and throughout the cheese-making process, but contaminated cheese fed to ferrets did not lead to infection, whereas raw milk did.
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Study demonstrates transmission via oral infection of H5N1 bird flu from raw milk to ferrets.
Reposted
In 1519, the year Spaniards arrived in Mexico, the population there was between 15 - 30 million.
By 1600, that dwindled to 2 million.
For lots of reasons, but as much as 70% of those deaths were the result of an UNKNOWN hemorrhagic fever.
Let's talk about the mystery of the COCOLIZTLI epidemics.
By 1600, that dwindled to 2 million.
For lots of reasons, but as much as 70% of those deaths were the result of an UNKNOWN hemorrhagic fever.
Let's talk about the mystery of the COCOLIZTLI epidemics.
October 29, 2025 at 12:51 PM
In 1519, the year Spaniards arrived in Mexico, the population there was between 15 - 30 million.
By 1600, that dwindled to 2 million.
For lots of reasons, but as much as 70% of those deaths were the result of an UNKNOWN hemorrhagic fever.
Let's talk about the mystery of the COCOLIZTLI epidemics.
By 1600, that dwindled to 2 million.
For lots of reasons, but as much as 70% of those deaths were the result of an UNKNOWN hemorrhagic fever.
Let's talk about the mystery of the COCOLIZTLI epidemics.
Reposted
“Furin cleavage site”, that is. Just casually, and naturally, sitting there in one of the most evolutionarily active parts of the genome.
Mystery solved.
Mystery solved.
CIDRAP: New coronavirus subspecies with SARS-CoV-2–like mutation discovered in Brazilian bat
by Mary Van Beusekom
@cidrap.bsky.social
bit.ly/4hHRfam
by Mary Van Beusekom
@cidrap.bsky.social
bit.ly/4hHRfam
November 1, 2025 at 6:15 PM
“Furin cleavage site”, that is. Just casually, and naturally, sitting there in one of the most evolutionarily active parts of the genome.
Mystery solved.
Mystery solved.
Reposted
OK. Who wants another Captain Dan history thread? (Reprised and rescued from the bad place....) I present you with Chemical Warfare and Chemical Weapons in the Second World War.
October 31, 2025 at 3:17 PM
OK. Who wants another Captain Dan history thread? (Reprised and rescued from the bad place....) I present you with Chemical Warfare and Chemical Weapons in the Second World War.
Reposted
This is 💯 Origin inside baseball, but I've always been perplexed by Baric's claim that our "market" studies could not be correct because, according to him, the molecular timing of the pandemic in in October, not later.
That was always wrong, but where did he get this October date from?
Well... 🧵👇
That was always wrong, but where did he get this October date from?
Well... 🧵👇
October 31, 2025 at 5:41 PM
This is 💯 Origin inside baseball, but I've always been perplexed by Baric's claim that our "market" studies could not be correct because, according to him, the molecular timing of the pandemic in in October, not later.
That was always wrong, but where did he get this October date from?
Well... 🧵👇
That was always wrong, but where did he get this October date from?
Well... 🧵👇
Reposted
That would have been big news a few years ago, unfortunately the great science that gives important understanding in coronaviruses is now back to the small circle of scientists. Anyway: A fully functional furin cleavage site in a bat betacorarnavirus! Congrats to the authors!
We’ve identified a highly divergent betacoronavirus from South American bat that encodes a functional furin cleavage site.
Another fascinating reminder of how diverse coronavirus evolution is in wildlife reservoirs.
#Virology #VirusEvolution #Bats #Coronavirus
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Another fascinating reminder of how diverse coronavirus evolution is in wildlife reservoirs.
#Virology #VirusEvolution #Bats #Coronavirus
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A divergent betacoronavirus with a functional furin cleavage site in South American bats
Bats are natural reservoirs for a wide range of RNA viruses. Members of the genus Betacoronavirus, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome...
www.biorxiv.org
October 29, 2025 at 9:56 PM
That would have been big news a few years ago, unfortunately the great science that gives important understanding in coronaviruses is now back to the small circle of scientists. Anyway: A fully functional furin cleavage site in a bat betacorarnavirus! Congrats to the authors!
Reposted
When the weirdo variant protein versions outnumber the “real” ones:
When Variant Proteins Aren't Actually the Variant Ones
www.science.org
October 20, 2025 at 7:28 PM
When the weirdo variant protein versions outnumber the “real” ones:
Reposted
Post-COVID-19 immune competence
A short reference for those facing arguments of immune damage, exhaustion, lymphopenia or immunodeficiency.
open.substack.com/pu...
A short reference for those facing arguments of immune damage, exhaustion, lymphopenia or immunodeficiency.
open.substack.com/pu...
October 20, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Post-COVID-19 immune competence
A short reference for those facing arguments of immune damage, exhaustion, lymphopenia or immunodeficiency.
open.substack.com/pu...
A short reference for those facing arguments of immune damage, exhaustion, lymphopenia or immunodeficiency.
open.substack.com/pu...
Reposted
Are bats tolerant of all viruses? With a comparative -omics approach, we show that Egyptian fruit bat cells show both antiviral and pro-inflammatory immune responses to infection with Zika virus while our Jamaican fruit bat cells are not susceptible.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 28, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Are bats tolerant of all viruses? With a comparative -omics approach, we show that Egyptian fruit bat cells show both antiviral and pro-inflammatory immune responses to infection with Zika virus while our Jamaican fruit bat cells are not susceptible.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are
Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.
www.theatlantic.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Reposted
Catching up on some blog topics: how do you get things past the weird defenses of tuberculosis bacteria, anyway?
Tuberculosis Defenses
www.science.org
October 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Catching up on some blog topics: how do you get things past the weird defenses of tuberculosis bacteria, anyway?
Reposted
Chimpanzee wine moms?
"The ... dosage for a 35.9-kg female ... is the mass equivalent of 2.6 standard drinks (±1.7) daily for a 70-kg human"
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"The ... dosage for a 35.9-kg female ... is the mass equivalent of 2.6 standard drinks (±1.7) daily for a 70-kg human"
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees
Natural daily consumption of dietary alcohol by chimpanzees suggests human attraction to alcohol may come from our ancestral diet.
www.science.org
October 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Chimpanzee wine moms?
"The ... dosage for a 35.9-kg female ... is the mass equivalent of 2.6 standard drinks (±1.7) daily for a 70-kg human"
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"The ... dosage for a 35.9-kg female ... is the mass equivalent of 2.6 standard drinks (±1.7) daily for a 70-kg human"
Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...