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<title>25 January, 2024</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are required to prevent SARS-CoV-2 persistence in the nasal compartment</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19 and continues to pose a significant public health threat throughout the world. Following SARS-CoV-2 infection, virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are rapidly generated to form effector and memory cells and persist in the blood for several months. However, the contribution of T cells in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection within the respiratory tract are not well understood. Using C57BL/6 mice infected with a naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.351), we evaluated the role of T cells in the upper and lower respiratory tract. Following infection, SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are recruited to the respiratory tract and a vast proportion secrete the cytotoxic molecule Granzyme B. Using antibodies to deplete T cells prior to infection, we found that CD4+ and CD8+ T cells play distinct roles in the upper and lower respiratory tract. In the lungs, T cells play a minimal role in viral control with viral clearance occurring in the absence of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells through 28 days post-infection. In the nasal compartment, depletion of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, but not individually, results in persistent and culturable virus replicating in the nasal compartment through 28 days post-infection. Using in situ hybridization, we found that SARS-CoV-2 infection persisted in the nasal epithelial layer of tandem CD4+ and CD8+ T cell-depleted mice. Sequence analysis of virus isolates from persistently infected mice revealed mutations spanning across the genome, including a deletion in ORF6. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of T cells in controlling virus replication within the respiratory tract during SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.23.576505v1" target="_blank">CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are required to prevent SARS-CoV-2 persistence in the nasal compartment</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Adaptive advantage of deletion repair in the N terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in variants of concern</strong> -
<div>
Mutations within the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike (S) protein play a pivotal role in the emergence of successful SARS-CoV-2 viral lineages. This study investigates the influence of novel combinations of NTD lineage-defining mutations found in the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants on viral success. We performed comparative genomics of more than 10 million public SARS-CoV-2 samples to decipher the transmission success of different NTD markers. Additionally, we characterized the viral phenotype of such markers in a surrogate in vitro system. We found that viruses bearing repaired deletions SDeltaH69/V70 and SDeltaY144 in Alpha background were associated with increased transmission rates. After the emergence of the Omicron BA.1 lineage, Alpha viruses harbouring both repaired deletions still showed increased transmission compared to their BA.1 counterparts. Remarkably, Alpha viruses with the SDeltaH69/V70 repair displayed the highest emergence rate, while those in BA.1 exhibited the lowest. Moreover, repaired deletions were more frequently observed among older individuals infected with Alpha, but not with BA.1. In vitro biological characterization of Omicron BA.1 spike deletion repair patterns revealed substantial differences with Alpha. In BA.1, SDeltaV143/Y145 repair enhanced fusogenicity and susceptibility to neutralization by vaccinated individuals' sera. In contrast, the SDeltaH69/V70 repair did not significantly alter these traits but reduced viral infectivity. Simultaneous repair of both deletions led to lower fusogenicity. These findings highlight the intricate genotype-phenotype landscape of the spike NTD in SARS-CoV-2, which impacts viral biology, transmission efficiency, and susceptibility to neutralization. Overall, this study advances our comprehension of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, carrying implications for public health and future research.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.23.575696v1" target="_blank">Adaptive advantage of deletion repair in the N terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in variants of concern</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>In COVID-19 health messaging, loss framing increases anxiety with little-to-no concomitant benefits: Experimental evidence from 84 countries</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/sevkf/" target="_blank">In COVID-19 health messaging, loss framing increases anxiety with little-to-no concomitant benefits: Experimental evidence from 84 countries</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Global Experiment on Motivating Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e. a controlling message) compared to no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly-internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared to the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly-internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing: Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/n3dyf/" target="_blank">A Global Experiment on Motivating Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A global test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy which modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries/regions (N = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vs. both control conditions) had consistent effects in reducing negative emotions and increasing positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world to build resilience during the pandemic and beyond.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/m4gpq/" target="_blank">A global test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Correlates of Health-Protective Behavior During the Initial Days of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Norway</strong> -
<div>
The coronavirus outbreak manifested in Norway in March 2020. It was met with a combination of mandatory changes (closing of public institutions) and recommended changes (hygiene behavior, physical distancing). It has been emphasized that health-protective behavior such as increased hygiene or physical distancing are able to slow the spread of infections and flatten the curve. Drawing on previous health-psychological studies during the outbreak of various pandemics, we investigated psychological and demographic factors predicting the adoption and engagement in health-protective behavior and changes in such behavior, attitudes, and emotions over time. We recruited a non-representative sample of Norwegians (n = 8676) during a 15-day period (March 12–26 2020) at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Norway. Employing both traditional methods and exploratory machine learning, we replicated earlier findings that engagement in health-protective behavior is associated with specific demographic characteristics. Further, we observed that increased media exposure, perceiving measures as effective, and perceiving the outbreak as serious positively was related to engagement in health-protective behavior. We also found indications that hygiene and physical distancing behaviors were related to somewhat different psychological and demographic factors. Over the sampling period, reported engagement in physical distancing increased, while experienced concern or fear declined. Contrary to previous studies, we found no or only small positive predictions by confidence in authorities, knowledge about the outbreak, and perceived individual risk, while all of those variables were rather high. These findings provide guidance for health communications or interventions targeting the adoption of health-protective behaviors in order to diminish the spread of COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/6vgf4/" target="_blank">Correlates of Health-Protective Behavior During the Initial Days of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Norway</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evaluation of the cross reactivity of neutralising antibody response in vaccinated human and convalescent hamster sera against SARS-CoV-2 variants up to and including JN.1 using an authentic virus neutralisation assay</strong> -
<div>
New vaccines, therapeutics and immunity elicited by natural infection create evolutionary pressure on SARS-CoV-2 to evolve and adapt to evade vaccine-induced and infection-elicited immunity. Vaccine and therapeutics developers thus find themselves in an “arms race” with the virus. The ongoing assessment of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants remains essential as the global community transitions from an emergency response to a long-term management plan. Here, we describe how an authentic virus neutralisation assay using low passage clinical virus isolates has been employed to monitor resistance of emerging virus variants to neutralising antibodies from humans and experimentally infected hamsters. Sera and plasma from people who received three doses of a vaccine as well as those who received a bivalent booster were assessed against SARS-CoV-2 variants, up to and including JN.1. Contemporary or recent virus variants showed substantial resistance to neutralisation by antibodies from those who had received three doses of an ancestral vaccine but were still effectively neutralised by antibodies from individuals who had received a bivalent booster (ancestral/BA.1). In our recent studies, however, the JN.1 VOI was found to be significantly more resistant to neutralisation by antibodies from those who had received the ancestral/BA.1 bivalent boost. Convalescent sera from hamsters that had been experimentally infected with one of seven virus variants (ancestral, BA.1, BA.4, BA.5.2.1, XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, XBB.2.3) were also tested here. The recent contemporary variant, BA.2.86, was effectively neutralised by sera from hamsters infected with XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16 but it was not neutralised by sera from those infected with BA.5.2.1. These data support the recommendations given by the WHO that a new vaccine was required and should consist of an XBB sub-lineage antigen.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.21.563398v2" target="_blank">Evaluation of the cross reactivity of neutralising antibody response in vaccinated human and convalescent hamster sera against SARS-CoV-2 variants up to and including JN.1 using an authentic virus neutralisation assay</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparing frequency of booster vaccination to prevent severe COVID-19 by risk group in the United States</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
There is a public health need to understand how different frequencies of COVID-19 booster vaccines may mitigate the risk of severe COVID-19, while accounting for waning of protection and differential risk by age and immune status. By analyzing United States COVID-19 surveillance and seroprevalence data in a microsimulation model, here we show that more frequent COVID-19 booster vaccination (every 6-12 months) in older age groups and the immunocompromised population would effectively reduce the burden of severe COVID-19, while frequent boosters in the younger population may only provide modest benefit against severe disease. In persons 75+ years, the model estimated that annual boosters would reduce absolute annual risk of severe COVID-19 by 199 (uncertainty interval: 188-229) cases per 100,000 persons, compared to a one-time booster dose. In contrast, for persons 18-49 years, the model estimated that annual boosters would reduce this risk by 14 (11-19) cases per 100,000 persons. Those with prior infection had lower benefit of more frequent boosting, and immunocompromised persons had larger benefit. Scenarios with emerging variants with immune evasion increased the benefit of more frequent variant-targeted boosters. This study underscores the benefit of considering key risk factors to inform frequency of COVID-19 booster vaccines in public health guidance and ensuring at least annual boosters in high-risk populations.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292473v4" target="_blank">Comparing frequency of booster vaccination to prevent severe COVID-19 by risk group in the United States</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Migraine inhibitor olcegepant reduces weight loss and IL-6 release in SARS-CoV-2 infected older mice with neurological signs</strong> -
<div>
COVID-19 can result in neurological symptoms such as fever, headache, dizziness, and nausea. However, neurological signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been hardly assessed in mouse models. Here, we infected two commonly used wildtype mice lines (C57BL/6 and 129S) with mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 and demonstrated neurological signs including motion-related dizziness. We then evaluated whether the Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist, olcegepant, used in migraine treatment could mitigate acute neuroinflammatory and neurological responses to SARS-COV-2 infection. We infected wildtype C57BL/6J and 129/SvEv mice, and a 129 CGRP-null mouse line with a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 virus, and evaluated the effect of CGRP receptor antagonism on the outcome of that infection. First, we determined that CGRP receptor antagonism provided protection from permanent weight loss in older (&gt;12 m) C57BL/6J and 129 SvEv mice. We also observed acute fever and motion-induced dizziness in all older mice, regardless of treatment. However, in both wildtype mouse lines, CGRP antagonism reduced acute interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels by half, with virtually no IL-6 release in mice lacking CGRP. These findings suggest that migraine inhibitors such as those blocking CGRP signaling protect against acute IL-6 release and subsequent inflammatory events after SARS-CoV-2 infection, which may have repercussions for related pandemic and/or endemic coronaviruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.23.563669v5" target="_blank">Migraine inhibitor olcegepant reduces weight loss and IL-6 release in SARS-CoV-2 infected older mice with neurological signs</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SOX9-regulated matrix proteins predict poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis</strong> -
<div>
Pulmonary fibrosis is an increasing and major cause of death worldwide. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of lung fibrosis may lead to urgently needed diagnostic and prognostic strategies for the disease. SOX9 is a core transcription factor that has been associated with fibrotic disease, however its role and regulation in acute lung injury and/or fibrosis have not been fully defined. In this study we apply a hypothesis based approach to uncover unique SOX9-protein signatures associated with both acute lung injury and fibrotic progression. Using in vivo models of lung injury in the presence or absence of SOX9, our study shows SOX9 is essential to the damage associated response of alveolar epithelial cells from an early time-point in lung injury. In parallel, as disease progresses, SOX9 is responsible for regulating tissue damaging ECM production from pro-fibrotic fibroblasts. In determining the in vivo role of SOX9 we identified secreted ECM components downstream of SOX9 as markers of acute lung injury and fibrosis. To underscore the translational potential of our SOX9-regulated markers, we analysed serum samples from acute COVID19, post COVID19 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patient cohorts. Our hypothesis driven SOX9-panels showed significant capability in all cohorts at identifying patients who had poor disease outcomes. This study shows that SOX9 is functionally critical to disease in acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis and its regulated pathways have diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic potential in both COVID19 and IPF disease.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.576509v1" target="_blank">SOX9-regulated matrix proteins predict poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Policy makers believe money motivates more than it does</strong> -
<div>
To motivate contributions to public goods, should policy makers employ financial incentives like taxes, fines, subsidies, and rewards? While these are widely considered as the classic policy approach, a substantial academic literature suggests the impact of financial incentives is not always positive; they can sometimes fail or even backfire. To test whether policy makers are overly bullish about financial incentives, we asked county heads, mayors, and municipal government representatives of medium-to-large towns in Germany to predict the effects of a financial incentive on COVID-19 vaccination, and tested the exact same incentive in a field experiment involving all 41,548 inhabitants (clustered in 10,032 addresses) of the German town of Ravensburg. Whereas policy makers overwhelmingly predict that the financial incentive will increase vaccination—by 15.3 percentage points on average—the same financial incentive yielded a precisely estimated null effect on vaccination. We discuss when financial incentives are most likely to fail, and conclude that it is critical to educate policy makers on the potential pitfalls of employing financial incentives to promote contributions to public goods.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/jq28n/" target="_blank">Policy makers believe money motivates more than it does</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 arises from serological recall of IgG antibodies distinctly imprinted by infection or vaccination</strong> -
<div>
We used plasma IgG proteomics to study the molecular composition and temporal durability of polyclonal IgG antibodies triggered by ancestral SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccination, or their combination ("hybrid immunity"). Infection, whether primary or post-vaccination, mainly triggered an anti-spike antibody response to the S2 domain, while vaccination predominantly induced anti-RBD antibodies. Immunological imprinting persisted after a secondary (hybrid) exposure, with &gt;60% of the ensuing serological response originating from the initial antibodies generated during the first exposure. We highlight one instance where hybrid immunity arising from breakthrough infection resulted in a marked increase in the breadth and affinity of a highly abundant vaccination-elicited plasma IgG antibody, SC27. With an intrinsic binding affinity surpassing a theoretical maximum (KD &lt; 5 pM), SC27 demonstrated potent neutralization of various SARS-CoV-2 variants and SARS-like zoonotic viruses (IC50 ~0.1-1.75 nM) and provided robust protection in vivo. Cryo-EM structural analysis unveiled that SC27 binds to the RBD class 1/4 epitope, with both VH and VL significantly contributing to the binding interface. These findings suggest that exceptionally broad and potent antibodies can be prevalent in plasma and can largely dictate the nature of serological neutralization.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.22.576742v1" target="_blank">Hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 arises from serological recall of IgG antibodies distinctly imprinted by infection or vaccination</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Biophysical principles predict fitness of SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 employs its spike protein’s receptor binding domain (RBD) to enter host cells. The RBD is constantly subjected to immune responses, while requiring efficient binding to host cell receptors for successful infection. However, our understanding of how RBD’s biophysical properties contribute to SARS-CoV-2’s epidemiological fitness remains largely incomplete. Through a comprehensive approach, comprising large-scale sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the discovery of a fitness function based on binding thermodynamics, we unravel the relationship between the biophysical properties of RBD variants and their contribution to viral fitness. We developed a biophysical model that uses statistical mechanics to map the molecular phenotype space, characterized by binding constants of RBD to ACE2, LY-CoV016, LY-CoV555, REGN10987, and S309, onto a epistatic fitness landscape. We validate our findings through experimentally measured and machine learning (ML) estimated binding affinities, coupled with infectivity data derived from population-level sequencing. Our analysis reveals that this model effectively predicts the fitness of novel RBD variants and can account for the epistatic interactions among mutations, including explaining the later reversal of Q493R. Our study sheds light on the impact of specific mutations on viral fitness and delivers a tool for predicting the future epidemiological trajectory of previously unseen or emerging low frequency variants. These insights offer not only greater understanding of viral evolution but also potentially aid in guiding public health decisions in the battle against COVID-19 and future pandemics.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.23.549087v3" target="_blank">Biophysical principles predict fitness of SARS-CoV-2 variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Cytoarchitecture of SARS-CoV-2 infected hamster lungs by X-ray phase contrast tomography: imaging workflow and classification for drug testing</strong> -
<div>
X-ray Phase Contrast Tomography (XPCT) based on wavefield propagation has been established as a high resolution three-dimensional (3D) imaging modality, suitable to reconstruct the intricate structure of soft tissues, and the corresponding pathological alterations. However, for biomedical research, more is needed than 3D visualisation and rendering of the cytoarchitecture in a few selected cases. First, the throughput needs to be increased to cover a statistically relevant number of samples. Second, the cytoarchitecture has to be quantified in terms of morphometric parameters, independent of visual impression. Third, dimensionality reduction and classification are required for identification of effects and interpretation of results. In this work, we present a workflow implemented at a laboratory CT setup, using semi-automated data acquisition, reconstruction and statistical quantification of lung tissue in an early screen of Covid-19 drug candidates. Different drugs were tested in a hamster model after SARS-CoV-2 infection. To make full use of the recorded high-throughput XPCT data, we then used morphometric parameter determination followed by a dimensionality reduction and classification based on optimal transport. This approach allows efficient discrimination between physiological and pathological lung structure, thereby providing invaluable insights into the pathological progression and partial recovery due to drug treatment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.576083v1" target="_blank">Cytoarchitecture of SARS-CoV-2 infected hamster lungs by X-ray phase contrast tomography: imaging workflow and classification for drug testing</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pooled evidence precision of clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment was stabilized eight months after the outbreak.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
OBJECTIVE At the beginning of 2020, hydroxychloroquine showed promising in vitro activity for Covid-19 and several studies were oriented to assess its safety and efficacy. However, after a few months, hydroxychloroquine has proved ineffective. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) developed quickly and in different settings represent the scientific community capacity to assess drug repositioning effectiveness during a sanitary crisis. Therefore, a critical evaluation of the evidence generated can guide future efforts in analogous situations. We aimed to analyze the RCTs assessing the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in treating Covid-19, describe their internal validity and power, and evaluate their contribution to the precision of the combined evidence for assessing the mortality outcome. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS This meta-research included RCTs assessing hydroxychloroquine to treat patients diagnosed with Covid-19. It was part of an umbrella systematic review of methods/meta-research (PROSPERO: CRD42022360331) that included a comprehensive search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and the Latin America Database - Lilacs. We retrieved studies published until January 10th, 2022. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) 2.0. We analyzed methodology of the studies, precision and random error change through time from pooled evidence, study comparators, patient important outcome, power in different magnitude of effects proxy. RESULTS A total of 22 RCT were included, from that 17 (77%) assessed hospitalized patients and five (23%) outpatients setting. Mortality was related as primary endpoint in only four studies, however half of the studies included composite endpoints including mortality as a component. The internal validity analysis using RoB2 found that eight studies (36%) had a high risk of bias. Only one study had sufficient power to evaluate a moderate magnitude of effect (RR = 0,7 on mortality). The standard error to evaluate efficacy on mortality did not change appreciably after October 2020. From Oct 2020 to Dec 2021, 18 additional studies were published with 2,429 patients recruited. CONCLUSION This meta-research highlights the impact that collaborative, and network scientific research have on informing clinical decision-making. Duplicate efforts create research waste as precision analysis shows that after October 2020, there was not appreciably changes in the precision of the pooled RCT evidence to estimate the hydroxychloroquine effect on mortality.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.24301572v1" target="_blank">Pooled evidence precision of clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment was stabilized eight months after the outbreak.</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Beneficial Effects of Natural Products on Management of Xerostomia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Xerostomia; Diabetes Mellitus; Hypertension; Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: (Manuka honey-green tea- ginger) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: British University In Egypt <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Eficacia Ventilatoria y Remolacha</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS CoV 2 Infection; Muscle Disorder; Fatigue <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Dietary Supplement: Remolacha <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Hospital de Mataró <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Diet and Fasting for Long COVID</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19; Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Low sugar diet and 10-12 hour eating window; Other: Low sugar diet, 8 hour eating window and fasting <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Effectiveness of a Health Promotion Program for Older People With Post-Covid-19 Sarcopenia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Protein powder and Resistance exercise <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Mahidol University; National Health Security Office, Thailand <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chronic-disease Self-management Program in Patients Living With Long-COVID in Puerto Rico</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: “Tomando control de su salud” (Spanish Chronic Disease Self-Management) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Puerto Rico; National Institutes of Health (NIH) <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Treatment of Persistent Post-Covid-19 Smell and Taste Disorders</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-covid-19 Persistent Smell and Taste Disorders <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Cerebrolysin; Other: olfactory and gustatory trainings <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Sherifa Ahmed Hamed <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evealuate Safety and Immunogenicity of TI-0010 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; COVID-19 Immunisation <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: TI-0010; Biological: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: National Drug Clinical Trial Institute of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College; Therorna <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sodium Citrate in Smell Retraining for People With Post-COVID-19 Olfactory Dysfunction</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Haul COVID-19; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Anosmia; Olfaction Disorders <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Sodium Citrate; Drug: Normal Saline; Other: Olfactory Training Kit - “The Olfactory Kit, by AdvancedRx” <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase II, Double Blind, Randomized Trial of CX-4945 in Viral Community Acquired Pneumonia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Community-acquired Pneumonia; SARS-CoV-2 -Associated Pneumonia; Influenza With Pneumonia <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: CX-4945 (SARS-CoV-2 domain); Drug: Placebo (SARS-CoV-2 domain); Drug: CX-4945 (Influenza virus domain); Drug: Placebo (Influenza virus domain) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Edge AI-deployed DIGItal Twins for PREDICTing Disease Progression and Need for Early Intervention in Infectious and Cardiovascular Diseases Beyond COVID-19 - Investigation of Biomarkers in Dermal Interstitial Fluid</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Heart Failure <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Use of the PELSA System for dISF extraction <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Charite University, Berlin, Germany <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pharmacokinetics of recombinant human annexin A5 (SY-005) in patients with severe COVID-19</strong> - Objective: Annexin A5 is a phosphatidylserine binding protein with anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant and anti-apoptotic properties. Preclinical studies have shown that annexin A5 inhibits pro-inflammatory responses and improves organ function and survival in rodent models of sepsis. This clinical trial aimed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of the recombinant human annexin A5 (SY-005) in severe COVID-19. Methods: This was a pilot randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Biosurfactant potential and antiviral activity of multistrain probiotics</strong> - The COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 has become a great threat to humans. However, there is no recommendation for an effective and safe drug to treat the disease. The strategy developed in this study is to utilize biosurfactant potential activity of Lactobacillus spp. and Rhodopseudomonas palustris probiotics to prevent the virus from entering human body. The outer membrane of the virus is comprising of phospholipid compounds. Biosurfactants, are known to have detergent-like properties (able to…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Online Group Supervision as Pedagogy: A Qualitative Inquiry of Student Mental Health Nurses’ Discourses and Participation</strong> - This study explored online group clinical supervision participation, as a component of pre-registration education following mental health nursing students’ clinical placements. Clinical supervision has historically been valued as a supportive strategy by healthcare professionals to develop practice and competence and prevent burnout. As many student nurses do not have access to clinical supervision via practice areas as a standardised process, their experiences of engaging in or benefitting from…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CRL4B E3 ligase recruited by PRPF19 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection by targeting ORF6 for ubiquitin-dependent degradation</strong> - The accessory protein ORF6 of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a key interferon (IFN) antagonist that strongly suppresses the production of primary IFN as well as the expression of IFN-stimulated genes. However, how host cells respond to ORF6 remains largely unknown. Our research of ORF6-binding proteins by pulldown revealed that E3 ligase components such as Cullin 4B (CUL4B), DDB1, and RBX1 are potential ORF6-interacting proteins. Further study found that the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of amentoflavone as a potent SARS-CoV-2 M<sup>pro</sup> inhibitor: a combination of computational studies and in vitro biological evaluation</strong> - Small-molecule inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) that block the active site pocket of the viral main protease have been considered potential therapeutics for the development of drugs against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we report the identification of amentoflavone (a biflavonoid) through docking-based virtual screening of a library comprised of 231 compounds consisting of flavonoids and isoflavonoids. The docking results were further substantiated through extensive analysis of the data obtained from…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Molecular dynamics simulation study on the binding mechanism between carbon nanotubes and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase</strong> - Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have potential prospects in disease treatment, so it is of great significance to study CNTs as the possible inhibitors of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Through the way of using the RdRp of SARS-COV-2 as a model, five armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) (namely Dn, which stands for CNTs (n, m = n), n = 3-7) and RdRp have been selected to study the interactions by means of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. After five SWCNT-RdRp complex…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A novel film spray containing curcumin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus infection and enhances mucosal immunity</strong> - CONCLUSION: Film spray containing curcumin possesses multiple actions against SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting ACE-2 binding in target cells and enhancing mucosal innate immunity. The film spray can also inhibit influenza virus infection. Therefore, the curcumin film spray may be effective in preventing the viral infection of both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A basally active cGAS-STING pathway limits SARS-CoV-2 replication in a subset of ACE2 positive airway cell models</strong> - Host factors that define the cellular tropism of SARS-CoV-2 beyond the cognate ACE2 receptor are poorly defined. From a screen of human airway derived cell lines that express varying levels of ACE2/TMPRSS2, we found a subset that express comparably high endogenous levels of ACE2 but surprisingly did not support SARS-CoV-2 replication. Here we report that this resistance is mediated by a basally active cGAS-STING pathway culminating in interferon (IFN)-mediated restriction of SARS-CoV-2…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Innate Immune Activation and Mitochondrial ROS Invoke Persistent Cardiac Conduction System Dysfunction after COVID-19</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that long term dysfunction and immune cell remodeling of the CCS is induced by COVID-19, arising indirectly from oxidative stress and excessive activation of cardiac innate immune responses during infection, with implications for long COVID Syndrome.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Impact of leisure satisfaction on perceived risk of infectious disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from new worker classes</strong> - CONCLUSION: This study verified the risk factors that inhibit leisure satisfaction among new worker classes that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the psychological health of people suffering pandemic-related financial constraints was affected, as they experienced a lower quality of life owing to reduced leisure activities and satisfaction.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-PD-L1 therapy altered inflammation but not survival in a lethal murine hepatitis virus-1 pneumonia model</strong> - INTRODUCTION: Because prior immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy in cancer patients presenting with COVID-19 may affect outcomes, we investigated the beta-coronavirus, murine hepatitis virus (MHV)-1, in a lethal pneumonia model in the absence (Study 1) or presence of prior programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody (PD-L1mAb) treatment (Study 2).</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Generation of SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain mutants and functional screening for immune evaders using a novel lentivirus-based system</strong> - The emergence of rapid and continuous mutations of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein that increased with the Omicron variant points out the necessity to anticipate such mutations for conceiving specific and adaptable therapies to avoid another pandemic. The crucial target for the antibody treatment and vaccine design is the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike. It is also the site where the virus has shown its high ability to mutate and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Development of an Oral Solution Containing Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir and Assessment of Its Pharmacokinetics and Stability</strong> - Paxlovid^(®), a co-packaged medication comprised of separate tablets containing two active ingredients, nirmatrelvir (NRV) and ritonavir (RTV), exhibits good effectiveness against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the size of the NRV/RTV tablets makes them difficult for some patients to swallow, especially the elderly and those with dysphagia. Therefore, an oral liquid formulation that can overcome this shortcoming and improve patient compliance is required. In this study, we…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Retinoic Acid-Mediated Inhibition of Mouse Coronavirus Replication Is Dependent on IRF3 and CaMKK</strong> - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the shortfalls in our understanding of how to treat coronavirus infections. With almost 7 million case fatalities of COVID-19 globally, the catalog of FDA-approved antiviral therapeutics is limited compared to other medications, such as antibiotics. All-trans retinoic acid (RA), or activated vitamin A, has been studied as a potential therapeutic against coronavirus infection because of its antiviral properties. Due to its impact on different signaling…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Performance Analysis of Serodiagnostic Tests to Characterize the Incline and Decline of the Individual Humoral Immune Response in COVID-19 Patients: Impact on Diagnostic Management</strong> - Serodiagnostic tests for antibody detection to estimate the immunoprotective status regarding SARS-CoV-2 support diagnostic management. This study aimed to investigate the performance of serological assays for COVID-19 and elaborate on test-specific characteristics. Sequential samples (n = 636) of four panels (acute COVID-19, convalescent COVID-19 (partly vaccinated post-infection), pre-pandemic, and cross-reactive) were tested for IgG by indirect immunofluorescence test (IIFT) and EUROIMMUN…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How the Hindu Right Triumphed in India</strong> - A razed mosque, a new temple, and the rise of Narendra Modi. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-the-hindu-right-triumphed-in-india">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sofia Coppola’s Path to Filming Gilded Adolescence</strong> - There are few Hollywood families in which one famous director has spawned another. Coppola says, “It’s not easy for anyone in this business, even though it looks easy for me.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/sofia-coppola-profile">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How to Eat a Tire in a Year, by David Sedaris</strong> - Walking and talking with my friend Dawn. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/how-to-eat-a-tire-in-a-year-david-sedaris">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rules for the Ruling Class</strong> - How to thrive in the power élite—while declaring it your enemy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/rules-for-the-ruling-class">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Woman Who Spent Five Hundred Days in a Cave</strong> - Beatriz Flamini liked to be alone so much that she decided to live underground—and pursue a world record. The experience was gruelling and surreal. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/the-woman-who-spent-five-hundred-days-in-a-cave">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>How to microdose movement</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="An illustration of an office with workers stretching by their desks and on chairs." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yXQzWpTZ_Z-YFmFwXY31GHAGwl0=/1000x0:7000x4500/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73083575/Lead_GettyImages_1466581283.0.png"/>
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Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Sitting for too long is bad for your health. Here’s how to move your body throughout the day.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wya8W9">
I am ashamed to admit how much time I spend sitting. One of the lucky workers with a computer job, I am planted in a chair for most of the day. As I write these words, I am — you guessed it — sitting. Save for my daily workouts and brief walks to and from my car or the bus (where I, again, sit) and friends’ homes or restaurants (where sitting once more occurs), the entirety of my day is spent seated. In my 20s, I never paid much attention to my sedentary habits. Now, a decade later, I feel the tension in my lower back and hips if I sit for too long.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SaIgOX">
I’m not the only one hopelessly devoted to the sit. American adults spend an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7700832/">average of 7.7 hours a day seated</a>. Both prolonged sitting — extended, uninterrupted periods of time in a seat — and sedentary behaviors — tasks that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7700832/">expend extremely little energy</a>, such as playing video games, watching <a href="https://www.vox.com/tv">television</a>, using a computer, or reading a book — are linked to a number of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/7/2/5862026/sitting-vs-standing-health-risks-dangers">negative health outcomes</a>. Sedentary behavior <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000440">increases your risk</a> of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even <a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M17-0212">early death</a>. Sitting for long periods of time <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/sitting-health-risks">also ups your chances</a> for blood clots, back and joint pain, weight gain, and cancer.
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And <a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.7326/M14-1651?journalCode=aim">regular physical activity does little</a> to offset the negative impacts of prolonged sitting. <a href="https://www.columbiacardiology.org/profile/keith-diaz-phd">Keith Diaz</a>, an associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, says, “The muscles, it’s great for them to be active and stimulated really heavily and really hard for 30 minutes or 60 minutes, whatever you do for your exercise. But eventually they stop doing their job again when you don’t use them.”
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When seated, leg muscles are in a shortened position, which can lead to stiffness, pain, and difficulty moving, says <a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/129890/">Scott Capozza</a>, an oncology physical therapist at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale Cancer Center. “Also, if we’re sitting for longer periods of time, we’re not engaging in any kind of cardiovascular activity,” he adds. “So it’s not good for the heart, for the lungs, for our circulation.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dBPc1T">
There is some good news, though: A <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/abstract/2023/05000/breaking_up_prolonged_sitting_to_improve.9.aspx">2023 study</a> co-authored by Diaz found that just five minutes of light walking every half hour can help reduce some of these risks. There are also modifications for those with limited mobility or who use a wheelchair to get their movement breaks, experts say. In general, experts consider one hour to be the maximum amount of time people should spend sitting at any given time: In addition to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm">150 minutes a week of moderate intensity physical activity</a> recommended by the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, you should strive to get out of your seat at least once an hour to offset the negative effects of prolonged sitting. Here’s some expert-approved advice on how to do it.
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<h3 id="odTPAa">
How to remind yourself to move
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Back-to-back Zoom meetings or highly engrossing media may keep you glued to your chair for hours at a time, sometimes without your noticing. In his 2023 study, Diaz found most participants simply forgot to stand. Many smartwatches and fitness trackers can display movement reminders, prompting users to get up after a certain length of time. If you don’t have one, Capozza recommends setting alarms or reminders on your phone for every 30 to 60 minutes or putting notes next to your computer screen reminding you to stand up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ntftxy">
Diaz suggests tying your movements to a routine. For those with many meetings, whether virtual or in person, use the end of each conversation as a cue to get some movement. Or after you complete a slide in the presentation you’re preparing, go for a short walk. Try swapping out your <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/24031385/stanley-craze-tumbler-best-water-bottle">40-ounce Stanley tumbler</a> for a smaller water bottle that requires more refills — which means more visits to the kitchen. “When you tie it into your routines,” Diaz says, “that’s when it helps become more sustainable and becomes part of a habit you don’t have to rely on, like a reminder to do it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2oa6rx">
Your body gives the best signals for when you should move. Don’t ignore stiffness or lethargy or mistakenly consider muscle tightness a sign to continue resting — take it as a cue to move, Diaz says.
</p>
<h3 id="EH0BEX">
How to get more movement into your day
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5bH8DX">
Once you’re out of your seat, there are a number of low-effort movements you can try. Whether you work in an office or at home, you can take trips to fill up your water bottle or to go to the bathroom. If you can, try to use the water fountain that’s farthest away from your desk or a bathroom that’s on another floor, Capozza suggests. To make the best use of phone time, take a walk or unload the dishwasher while on calls. (A headset or wireless headphones will save your neck and help with hands-free chatting.) Commuters can park at the back of the parking lot or get off public transit a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way to work if time and weather allow.
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<a href="https://hbr.org/2015/08/how-to-do-walking-meetings-right">Walking meetings</a>, while a relatively niche concept, encourage more movement throughout the workday, says <a href="https://ph.ucla.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/burt-cowgill">Burton Cowgill</a>, an adjunct associate professor of health policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. However, these types of culture changes require buy-in from leadership, Cowgill says, to encourage less sedentary behavior. “We need to recognize that we are frequently in environments that may limit us by their rules [or] culture around doing that,” he says. “This is why it takes both support from leadership, management, institutions to allow employees, students, even patients in health care settings to engage in these activities of movement.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x8cAAP">
If you’re in the middle seat on a plane or enrolled in a three-hour class with limited breaks, you can still move while seated. Fidgeting, tapping your toes, rolling your shoulders, doing seated heel raises and ankle rolls, and extending your legs can keep your joints limber, Cowgill and Capozza say. Other relatively easy movements you can do by your desk (or in front of the television) include mini squats in and out of your chair or wall push-ups.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iXxofC">
People with limited mobility have options for interspersing movement in their day, too. If you are able to move your legs, you can try extending them a few times, marching in a seated position, or flexing your ankles, Capozza says. For upper-body movements, you can raise your arms above your head and to the side in the shape of a capital T and Y. Diaz recommends cycling or pumping your arms and using resistance bands. If you’re able, Diaz also suggests putting on music and dancing in whatever way is most comfortable for the duration of a song.
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<h3 id="OtqF7H">
How long and how intensely you move makes a difference
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wvXw9S">
Any amount of movement, even if it’s just standing and touching your toes, is preferable to sitting for long durations. However, Diaz and his colleagues found five minutes of low-intensity walking to be more effective at counteracting the negative effects of sitting than one minute of low-intensity walking. While he doesn’t have evidence yet, Diaz suspects moving for shorter durations at higher intensities may be as efficient as longer durations at lower intensities. “My hunch is that the one minute of moderate to vigorous [movement] is better than the one minute of light,” he says. “I would say if somebody only has a minute, go do something a little bit more intense.” Maybe that’s brisk walking or climbing up and down a set of stairs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TmqKjW">
Those with schedules requiring them to sit for hours at a time — like truck or ride-hail drivers — should try to work in longer stretches of movement when they can, like doing housework or playing with kids at the end of the workday instead of heading for the couch. “If you had to sit in class for two hours,” Diaz says, “I’d go walk for 10 minutes afterward.”
</p>
<h3 id="ourgCz">
When you are sitting, make sure you have good posture
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H20AfY">
During the times you are seated, proper alignment is crucial to avoid any neck or low back pain, Capozza says. Make sure your hips and pelvis are slightly above your knees. Your feet should be on the ground with equal weight distributed between both, meaning you don’t want one foot to be elevated on a stool or ledge. Make sure to keep your weight balanced between your pelvis and your feet to take pressure off your back. “You don’t want to be too far back in your chair so that more of your weight is on your pelvis and your hips,” Capozza says, “but you don’t want to be too far forward in your chair so that more and more weight is on your feet.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dA5Tbt">
Ensure your screen is at eye level so you’re looking straight ahead and not down. Capozza recommends sitting 18 to 24 inches away from your computer screen. Try not to slouch forward or raise your shoulders.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4Lk9oA">
Don’t rush out to buy a standing desk, either: “We’re also seeing evidence that if you stand too long, you can develop issues,” Cowgill says. “It’s that balance of having a desk that you can adjust and doing some sitting, some standing throughout the day.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PlpuW8">
Ideally, you should aim to move as much as possible during all of your waking hours, not just the workday, Diaz says, especially if you have a very sedentary job. However, as your day winds down, you can focus more on rest. “Our bodies need rest and recovery from stressful days,” Diaz says. “I love to sit down at the end of the day … just relaxing and watching Netflix. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. As long as I’ve made an effort throughout my day to be more active and take those movements, I don’t have to feel guilty at the end of the day.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>No, DEI isn’t making airplanes fall apart</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0YJrVmj5q0pxe2-kr8Dlbq8U4Lk=/243x0:5758x4136/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73083501/1948398071.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
The missing emergency door of Alaska Airlines N704AL, a 737 Max 9, which made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on January 5 is covered and taped in Portland, | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Republicans have launched an ill-informed campaign to blame diversity policies for aircraft safety issues.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8DvHsP">
The news cycle is awash with terrifying stories about <a href="https://www.vox.com/travel">air travel</a> safety. At the start of the month, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024/1/8/24030677/boeing-alaska-airlines-plane-737-max-door-plug">door plug of a Boeing 737 Max 9</a> blew off mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole on the side of the Alaska Airlines plane. Over the weekend, another Boeing passenger jet’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2024/01/24/boeing-575-wheel-delta-atlanta-alska-airline-ceo-door-vpx.cnn">nose wheel fell off</a> just before the Delta flight took off.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4n62At">
While these incidents have reopened important conversations about outdated technology, workforce shortages, and the financial tradeoffs that airlines have made, right-wing pundits are claiming to have found the real source of the aviation industry’s troubles: DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vd2CWF">
According to these commentators, airlines hired certain workers solely to meet diversity goals and sacrificed their commitments to safety and quality in the process, despite the global conversation about airline safety that’s been underway for years following <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeings-worst-crashes-over-last-decade-2022-03-21/">high-profile accidents</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qvNoSg">
Among them was <a href="https://www.vox.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>, who took to his platform X after the Alaska Airlines incident <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1745158868676546609?lang=en">to ask</a>, “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B0ReZ0">
He added, “People will die due to DEI.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DPMgrX">
After news of the wheel flying off of the plane, the term “DEI” began to trend Tuesday. <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> Jr. <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1749845385370017829">posted</a>, “I’m sure this has nothing to do with mandated Diversity Equity and Inclusion practices in the airline industry!!!” Other users <a href="https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1749917338382524467">questioned</a> whether Delta has “DEI quotas for their mechanics” and <a href="https://twitter.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1749848280933007767">stated</a> that “DEI practices are going to cause disasters” and that “<a href="https://twitter.com/GrrrGraphics/status/1748028833352290552">DEI actually means DIE</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TA2cYW">
Aviation experts have never cited DEI — programs that organizations have widely adopted to increase representation among underrepresented groups — as a cause of air safety problems. Various <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/us/politics/air-traffic-safety-faa.html#:~:text=The%20Times%20found%20that%20close,has%20been%20one%20major%20factor.">investigations</a> point to a variety of other factors. One New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/sunday-review/boeing-737-max.html">analysis</a> stated that aircraft manufacturer Boeing, for example, “opted against adopting additional precautions and made decisions for the sake of saving money or raising profits.” After these latest incidents, airline executives are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/business/dealbook/boeing-max-9-airlines.html">pressuring Boeing’s leadership</a> to improve quality control and engineering.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6obhCO">
Conservatives’ growing critiques of diversity efforts illustrate how they have turned DEI into their culture war’s newest bogeyman ahead of the 2024 general election. In the way that critical race theory became a <a href="https://www.vox.com/22443822/critical-race-theory-controversy">catch-all target</a> in 2021, DEI is the right’s new punching bag. In the last year alone, Republicans have blamed DEI for everything from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/money/23638473/silicon-valley-bank-failure-fdic-republicans">Silicon Valley Bank collapse</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/6/2/23742508/ron-desantis-florida-higher-education-ideological-war">“failing” higher education institutions</a> to <a href="https://www.vox.com/24010858/republicans-antisemitism-dei-diversity-equity-inclusion-jewish-students">antisemitism</a>. Underneath the attack on DEI are racist, sexist, and anti-gay ideas that women, people of color, and those in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/lgbtq">LGBTQ</a>+ community do not have the qualifications, skills, or intelligence to participate in society through jobs, education, leadership, and more.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uX18MV">
Now, these beliefs are being enshrined into laws that bar <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/18/florida-bans-public-funding-dei">diversity</a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/14/oklahoma-ban-diversity-dei-program-colleges"> programming</a> and are motivating <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/12/09/conservatives-sue-law-firms-dei/">lawsuits that seek to punish organizations</a> for diversifying their workforce.
</p>
<h3 id="xsbVbL">
Where did the link between DEI and airplanes come from?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RKEHna">
Aviation has long been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/23/business/pilots-diversity.html">dominated by white men</a>. United Airlines, for example, didn’t hire its first Black pilot until after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2016, 18 Black pilots <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-pilots-allege-racial-discrimination-at-united-airlines/">sued the airline</a> over widespread racial discrimination at the company. Around that time, about 97 percent of pilots were white and only about 5 percent of commercial airline pilots were women, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-pilots-allege-racial-discrimination-at-united-airlines/">CBS News</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CEv2nt">
After the racial reckoning of 2020, airlines and aircraft manufacturers pledged to change their hiring practices to create more opportunities for qualified women and people of color. Boeing’s <a href="https://www.boeing.com/sustainability/diversity-and-inclusion/annual-report#our-aspirations">latest diversity data</a> for 2020–2022 shows that the company is still short of its goals to hire more women and people of color. Racial and ethnic minorities make up 35 percent of engineers for commercial airlines, up from 32 percent in 2020. Women make up 17 percent of engineers at the company, up from 16.5 percent in 2020.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ojYN9i">
That these diversity efforts haven’t led to a notable shift in the company’s demographics casts doubt on the right-wing ideas that DEI is causing safety issues.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u3Rkhu">
The connection being drawn between aviation troubles and DEI isn’t new. Former <a href="https://www.vox.com/media">Fox News</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/24/23696053/tucker-carlson-exit-fox-news-populism">anchor Tucker Carlson</a> shared this line of thinking a year ago.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aBLo6L">
In a news <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6321010694112">segment</a> from February 2023, Carlson focused on the 2019 crash of a jet that carried <a href="https://www.vox.com/amazon">Amazon</a> packages. Following the crash, it was revealed that the pilot, a Black man, had failed several training sessions but managed to withhold this information from his employer, Atlas Air. A National Transportation Safety Board <a href="https://time.com/5753435/amazon-atlas-air-cargo-crash/">investigation</a> determined that the Federal Aviation Administration must devise a better system of logging airline pilot records.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fYRDvo">
Carlson seized on the incident in the segment, arguing that the pilot received the job despite “his obvious inability to fly an airplane,” ignoring the fact that the pilot intentionally lied about his credentials.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z52d9c">
“Why was he flying an airplane?” Carlson asked. “All of the airlines are doing their best to hire and train pilots on the basis of irrelevant criteria like their appearance. And your appearance … has nothing to do with your ability to fly an airplane, or perform heart surgery or do anything. It’s immaterial. But on their websites, both Amazon and Atlas Air explain that diversity is paramount in everything they do.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i9xfOG">
According to Carlson, “This is not an outlier … This is happening at every major carrier in the United States. Safety concerns ignored in favor of something called equity. Hiring by appearance, not by ability. This is insane. And in this case, it killed three people.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RgsvET">
Carlson blamed other accidents on what he called “diversity hires.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4wgm3t">
“The airlines are in a mad scramble to meet equity targets, meaning they are pushing safety aside in favor of ideology. People will die. People have died.” His right-wing followers are now spreading this anti-DEI message far and wide.
</p>
<h3 id="oM7HYi">
The anti-DEI movement plays into tropes about the inferiority of marginalized groups
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QGgINF">
The moral panic surrounding DEI is the latest way that Republicans are undermining social justice progress. Criticism of DEI has emerged from all corners of the political spectrum, but instead of trying to unpack the ways that DEI has gone astray and remains underfunded, Republicans want to tear it down and suggest that <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23403021/supreme-court-affirmative-action-race-ketanji-brown-jackson-colorblind-originalism">policies that ignore race</a> are the ideal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7kqrWb">
The attack on DEI suggests that the marginalized groups these programs are supposed to help are undeserving of opportunities. It also suggests that people from marginalized groups lack merit and that hiring or admitting them into certain spaces will worsen outcomes for society.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OHQRGE">
During his X rant against DEI, Musk <a href="https://hbcuconnect.com/content/392658/elon-musk-cosigns-racist-claim-that-hbcu-students-have-low-iqs-and-should-not-be-pipelined-into-diversity-pilot-program">also replied</a> to a post that suggested that students at historically Black colleges and universities have lower IQs and therefore shouldn’t become pilots. “It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE,” he replied. Similarly, conservatives went after the hiring of gay applicants. Chaya Raichik, behind the X account “Libs of <a href="https://www.vox.com/tiktok">TikTok</a>,” complained that Alaska Airlines was jeopardizing passenger safety by setting diversity and inclusion goals and “<a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1745508261996945746?s=46&amp;t=87GIrTM1fEe9TnVvAVzrGA">making their planes gay</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zrdsh8">
Conservatives have complained that higher education institutions also spend too much money on DEI, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/01/11/opinion/dei-boondoggle-costs-us-millions-and-harms-students-it-claims-to-help/">at risk to students</a>. And they’ve turned their attention to the medical profession, too, claiming that medical schools are <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/16/med-schools-are-even-more-woke-than-you-think-and-your-care-is-at-risk/">lowering their standards</a> to let anyone be a physician. Critics made the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Affirmative-Action-Stephen-Carter/dp/0465068693">same arguments against affirmative action</a>, claiming that those hired or admitted through the initiative were unqualified.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fRM0Wb">
“The newer attacks on DEI seem, to me, to be more in line with attacks on diversity in general, from the attacks on diversity in college admissions to the attacks on university presidents to the general whining about white men, in particular, not being hired, to the attacks around immigration,” Matthew Florence, a DEI consultant, told <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/dei-diversity-experts-elon-musk-right-wing-opponents-1234944885/">Rolling Stone</a>. “It feels like an overall last-ditch effort to preserve a more white-centered United States culture.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PWoSE2">
Republicans have made it clear that they are only just getting started in their campaign to roll back the very slow progress the country has made in confronting systemic injustice. States including Florida and Oklahoma are preventing some higher education institutions from using state funding to support DEI programs. Corporations are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/12/27/dei-affirmative-action-legal-challenges-corporate-america/">pulling back</a> on their commitments to diverse workforces. The aviation industry is just the latest target in conservatives’ high-pressure effort to undermine multiracial democracy.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Surprise! There’s a reason to be (cautiously) optimistic about the climate.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A protester holds a placard reading “No New Oil” outside the House of Parliament in London." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y3E0qe6IffmNCHZF0guN3nobDMY=/214x0:4786x3429/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080928/1948328910.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Martin Pope/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Don’t let climate doom win.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gr1qvU">
It’s no secret that the environmental health of the planet is in dire straits right now. The Earth was <a href="https://www.vox.com/24008047/2023-warmest-year-cop28-climate-change-science#:~:text=2023%20is%20the%20hottest%20year,low%20ice%20levels%20around%20Antarctica.">its hottest in recorded history in 2023</a>. Our winters are shorter, our summers hotter, and our natural disasters more extreme.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uYtFSV">
The doom and gloom around <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> is understandable when you take it all into account. Global governments struggled to stay under the goal of 1.5 Celsius temperature increase last year, meaning we could be barreling toward even worse outcomes. There’s a sense of existential dread, a feeling that we’ve gone too far and that there’s no stopping the inevitable demise of Earth and all the creatures that inhabit it, including us.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AdJ1aA">
But one expert says it doesn’t have to be that way. Hannah Ritchie — deputy editor at Our World in Data — argues that <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23622511/climate-doomerism-optimism-progress-environmentalism">climate “doomerism”</a> leads people astray from meaningful action. In her debut book, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/not-the-end-of-the-world-how-we-can-be-the-first-generation-to-build-a-sustainable-planet-hannah-ritchie/20055919"><em>Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet</em></a>, she says we should reframe the way we talk about climate change. Hope, informed by data, can be a helpful tool for mobilizing the masses, who range from climate deniers to the most devoted of environmentalists.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QNVnif">
“I think tailoring messaging to different audiences is really, really crucial,” the <a href="https://www.vox.com/23901322/hannah-ritchie-scientist-our-world-in-data-future-perfect-50-2023">Future Perfect 50 honoree</a> says. “I think some people do actually just respond to the fear or the catastrophic messages. But I think there’s also a big group of people that don’t like that. I’m trying to bridge that ground a little bit and get people that might be on the fence or a bit disengaged to engage a bit more.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q4DQfi">
In this episode of <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-weeds"><em>The Weeds</em></a>, we sit down with Ritchie to discuss the current state of climate change, why the planet has actually never been “sustainable” for all of human history, and why shifting toward an optimistic (but realistic) narrative can help keep the planet from warming.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tbE45u">
Below is an excerpt of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. You can listen to <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-weeds"><em>The Weeds</em></a> on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get podcasts.
</p>
<div id="rVeORO">
</div>
<h4 id="wvzcaG">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DU0umu">
I want to get into something you spend time in the book discussing, and that’s what you consider ineffective policies like that around <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/27/21030090/straw-ban-environmental-regulation-plastic-ocean">plastic straws</a>, for instance. I’m curious why you think it’s ineffective, and also why there’s so much focus on these policies that aren’t maybe the most effective.
</p>
<h4 id="WEOnU6">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gI5m4v">
There are two reasons to counter some of the ineffective stuff. One is that some of this stuff that people think makes a positive difference actually makes a negative difference. We should just call that out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3z7vWo">
But the other dimension to this is that people often become so overwhelmed with the number of decisions they should be making about environmental stuff. They go through their day questioning every little decision. That can become overwhelming. There are probably like <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local">five big decisions</a> that make a big impact on your carbon footprint. Then the rest of the decisions really make very little difference at all, and you can do those if you want.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FLr00z">
But there’s also this effect, which is called <a href="https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/do-plastic-straws-really-make-difference#:~:text=Banning%20straws%20may%20confer%20'moral,they%20have%20done%20their%20part.">moral licensing,</a> where if you have done a behavior that you think has made a positive difference, often you kind of let other things fall by the wayside. So you might think, “Oh, I used a paper straw at dinner. Therefore, it doesn’t matter that I take the car or I take the flight or I eat the meat because I’ve done my bit because I used a paper straw.” The impact of the paper straw is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/banning-plastic-straws-will-not-be-enough-fight-clean-oceans-n951141">so incredibly small</a> compared to the other decisions.
</p>
<h4 id="0RVWs6">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uV4RBp">
What are some of those things that we think have a positive impact but actually are not helpful at all?
</p>
<h4 id="HJUNTy">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ipsoz9">
One that comes up a lot is local food. If you ask people, “What’s the best way to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet?” they’ll often say, “Eat local.” The rationale for that makes sense: Transporting stuff obviously emits CO2 emissions, whether on a truck or on a plane or by boat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pwgG2K">
But the key thing when you break down the data on emissions from food is that <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23132579/eat-local-csa-farmers-markets-locavore-slow-food">what you’re eating matters more </a>than how far it’s traveled to reach you. If you look at the carbon footprint of different foods across the world, the average percentage that the transport part makes up is just 5 percent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VsyPXj">
Most of the impacts of your food are coming from a land use change, or they’re coming from emissions on the farm. You’ll often hear people say, “My local beef is obviously much lower carbon than your avocados shipped in from a given country.” And actually, that’s just not true. The beef versus the avocados matters much, much more than whether it’s local.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VPMFm5">
There are reasons why someone would want to eat local, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s just not necessarily the best way to reduce your carbon footprint. So if there’s other reasons to eat local, like supporting your local community, then go ahead and do that.
</p>
<h4 id="Gvk3uV">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fLlEwb">
What are some of the things we could be doing that are actually helpful?
</p>
<h4 id="b19XwH">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="odsJCk">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/future-of-meat">It’s primarily about meat and dairy consumption</a>. That’s probably the biggest part of your footprint there. And then <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22890292/food-waste-meat-dairy-eggs-milk-animal-welfare">food waste</a>, those are like the two massive ones on food.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WOWnyu">
On energy, it’s largely about travel: walking, cycling, and public transport is best. If you have a car — if you need a car, then an electric car is definitely better than a [gas] car. And then in your home, it’s not necessarily stuff like your lights or plugging your phone charger, [but] often heating and cooking.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hmOgft">
What’s really effective is an electric heat pump that tends to be much better than a boiler. And then putting in a solar panel on your roof massively reduces your energy footprint.
</p>
<h4 id="S2FaHQ">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3nqZ9N">
It’s very easy to spiral when you think about the state that the world is in, and I’m wondering how you keep from spiraling. Because it’s very easy to start panicking. It’s understandable why the doom-and-gloom messaging takes over.
</p>
<h4 id="E4EVgr">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0BhMmf">
I’m definitely not saying that you’re going to be okay. It depends on what we do.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LyULuv">
It’s not like we’re going to have no impact and things are all going to be fine. But the gradient of how okay things will be will depend on our actions. We have this opportunity here to really take strong action.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yVxJmT">
The balance there is really important. You do need to not necessarily panic, but you do need concern and you need a sense of urgency. It’s also important to focus on the solutions. If you just tell people this is a massive problem and leave them with it, what are they supposed to do with that?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TEKdRZ">
I often try to highlight<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy"> signs of progress</a>, and that’s not necessarily to congratulate ourselves about how well we’ve done. But it’s all often about building momentum and showing people this can change.
</p>
<h4 id="Yu9mLH">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eBfnWt">
It’s this idea of celebrating small wins so that people don’t feel despondent.
</p>
<h4 id="YOUIvj">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PpX3ZY">
You can relate it to even really small personal stuff in your own life, like, say, training for a marathon and you’ve never been a runner. The most demotivating thing ever is if you’ve been training for three months and you’ve made no progress. Then you just stop because you think, “I’ve been doing this for three months. I’m wasting my time. I’m just going to stop.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yHdeAp">
If you’ve been training for three months, you’re not at the marathon-level standard. And that’s where we are on climate change. But you have gotten fitter over that period of time and you can now run a 10k. It’s about building on that momentum to say, “Okay, if I can build up to 10k, then with more training and with much more effort, then I can get to the marathon distance.” It’s about using momentum to drive more progress rather than just clapping and saying, “That’s kind of where we are.”
</p>
<h4 id="AY30i0">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YF2eSd">
I think for a lot of people who care about the environment, these small actions matter. It offers a sense of control in a world where so much feels out of our control. These are small steps that we can take without the backing of companies or federal governments.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hvrcru">
What advice do you have for people who you know want to make a change but aren’t in power or don’t have proximity to power?
</p>
<h4 id="PsfXyu">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ic7SQ8">
We often envision this as very top-down, but I think many of the successes on this have come from more community efforts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="74CEAF">
[Efforts like] building <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2023/11/14/does-texas-really-outproduce-california-in-wind-energy/">wind power in Texas</a>, for example, have come from small communities saying, “We’re going to build a wind farm for our community.” So often, it can start to come from the grassroots and build up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y2nTOV">
There’s a lot of that in environmentalism where it’s often pointing fingers, and I think that’s really ineffective at getting people to change. But change in yourself can often be really infectious and people get interested.
</p>
<h4 id="vPfijH">
Jonquilyn Hill
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9rPJAa">
What do you think the role of optimism is in our climate future?
</p>
<h4 id="vzDqIU">
Hannah Ritchie
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NqS8nW">
It needs to be balanced with a sense of urgency and the need to act.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wqFITe">
A lot of people are feeling quite paralyzed at the moment. I think they are, in some sense, disengaging because they feel like we’re making no progress and we probably won’t make any progress. And this is such a critical time. We need to really get moving on this stuff. This is the worst time for people to disengage and look away. So, for me, the role of optimism is to drive people to actually take action.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India most successful team at home Tests, thanks to Ashwin and Jadeja | Data</strong> - Ashwin and Jadeja were aided by a robust pace attack during India’s undefeated years in the last decade</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australian Open | Dominant Sabalenka beats Gauff to reach women’s final</strong> - Aryna Sabalenka will set her sights on becoming the first woman to win consecutive Australian Open titles since Victoria Azarenka in 2013</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Neeraj Chopra says India must host global athletics competitions within two-three years</strong> - India is set to bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships but Chopra said the country can host other global competitions of smaller scale before that.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rohit Sharma firmly believes their ‘time will come’ to win elusive ICC trophy</strong> - The recent World Cup 2023 final loss to Australia saw India’s quest for an ICC title stretch to 10 years with their last victory dating back to the Champions Trophy in 2013</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indonesia Masters: Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat bow out of men’s singles competition</strong> - Kiran George now remains the lone Indian in the tournament as he takes on Lu Guangzu of China later in the day in the men’s singles event</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ranjith Sreenivas murder case: Mavelikara court to pronounce quantum of punishment on January 30</strong> - Judge Sreedevi V.G. heard directly from the convicts regarding the sentencing and recorded their statements</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SC wants ‘mechanism’ to detect when ED, State are playing a vindictive game of one-upmanship</strong> - Bench suggests that mechanism to screen, eliminate political vendetta should first be tested in Tamil Nadu; wants to ensure that those guilty of corruption are punished, while preventing vindictive arrests</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hopes dashed for life convicts in Telangana prisons awaiting amnesty on Republic Day</strong> - The State government has not issued orders granting amnesty to life convicts</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bangladesh rebels training in Mizoram, claims former armed group</strong> - The Peace Accord MNF Returnees’ Association has asked the government to stop these training camps</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russian woman jailed for 27 years for cafe killing</strong> - Russian woman jailed for 27 years for cafe bomb attack that killed pro-war blogger in St Petersburg</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia risked lives in downed plane, Volodymyr Zelensky says</strong> - Ukraine’s leader accuses Russia of “playing with lives” of POWs after deadly plane crash in Russia.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Downed plane: Still unanswered questions amid Ukraine and Russia claims</strong> - Warfare can come in the form of battle or information control, and Russia has a history of brazen lies.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Spain police bust gang of alleged ex-military robbers</strong> - The “highly skilled” suspects are accused of targeting luxury homes in the southern Málaga province.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>German train drivers stage longest strike on record</strong> - Millions of Germans are caught up in an escalation of a long-running dispute with Deutsche Bahn.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Did an AI write that hour-long “George Carlin” special? I’m not convinced.</strong> - “Everyone is ready to believe that AI can do things, even if it can’t.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997974">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aluminum mining waste could be a source of green steel</strong> - After the extraction, the remaining waste is less harmful to the environment. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998830">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Secret military space programs can be a little less secret, Pentagon says</strong> - Many defense officials argue that less secrecy will lead to better security. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998729">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The puzzling case of a baby who wouldn’t stop crying—then began to slip away</strong> - After doctors figured it out, the 8-week-old infant eventually made a full recovery. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998853">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Google’s latest AI video generator can render cute animals in implausible situations</strong> - Lumiere generates five-second videos that “portray realistic, diverse and coherent motion.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998725">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A man goes to a courthouse to legally change his name.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The desk clerk asks him, “What is your current name?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“George Buttcrack.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Whoa! No wonder you want to change your name! What do you want to change your name to?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Ted Buttcrack.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/wimpykidfan37"> /u/wimpykidfan37 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ez6km/a_man_goes_to_a_courthouse_to_legally_change_his/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ez6km/a_man_goes_to_a_courthouse_to_legally_change_his/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Three retired ER surgeons were bragging about their accomplishments.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One doctor bragged that he had a patient show up with 2 legs missing from a tractor accident. He fixed him all up and he became the greatest basketball player of all time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next doctor bragged that he had a shark bite patient who had his arms bitten off. He fixed him up and he became a superstar NFL quarterback.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The third doctor laughed at them and said “Oh yeah? Well one time I had a patient arrive after being in a catastrophic car accident. The only thing they were able to recover was his asshole and a bag of Cheetos. I sewed him back together and he went on to become the president of the United States!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/thrice_shat_pants"> /u/thrice_shat_pants </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19etyua/three_retired_er_surgeons_were_bragging_about/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19etyua/three_retired_er_surgeons_were_bragging_about/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A professor travels to Africa to live with a primitive tribe and spends years with them, teaching them all about the wonders of science and mathematics. He makes friends with the tribe’s chief and his wife and they all live happily for some time.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One day the chief’s wife gives birth to a white child. The word spreads and the entire tribe is in shock.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The chief pulls the professor aside and says, “Look, you are the only white man we’ve ever seen around here, and my wife gave birth to a white child. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The professor replied, “No, chief, you’re mistaken. What we have here is a natural occurrence what we in the civilized world call an albino! Look at that field over there. All the sheep are white except for one black one. Nature does this on occasion.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The chief was silent for a moment, then said, “Tell you what. You don’t say anything more about that sheep and I won’t say anything more about the white kid.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ejqbz/a_professor_travels_to_africa_to_live_with_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ejqbz/a_professor_travels_to_africa_to_live_with_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The little German boy</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A German boy is born, it’s almost exactly nine months to the minute, very organized; ein zwei ein zwei have a baby type deal. Everything goes perfectly smoothly, not a hiccup…except the baby does not cry. The doctors check him and find him in perfect health. As the months and years begin to go on he continues to make no sound, and his parents take him to several doctors who all say there’s nothing wrong, health wise or developmentally, so the parents just figure that’s how it’s going to be and deal with it accordingly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s the German boy’s fifth birthday, and it’s a very normal German affair; the adults are drinking pilsner, and there is flaumenkuche and streudel being passed around. Just out of pure habit, the mother leans down and asks the boy, “Well, how did you enjoy your birthday?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The boy thinks for a moment, then says, “You know, I believe the streudel was a bit tepid.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The room goes silent in awe. The mother begins to tear up and sinks to her knees to hug her boy, saying, “We all thought you could not speak! Why have you never, before now, said anything?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The boy responds, “Well, up until now everything was satisfactory.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/IUsedTheRandomizer"> /u/IUsedTheRandomizer </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ewt63/the_little_german_boy/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ewt63/the_little_german_boy/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Service at a funeral home</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The easiest job I’ve ever had was in a funeral home.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One day, a widow asked me if her husband could be dressed in a blue suit for the funeral the next day.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She says, “he’s in the black suit right now, but I will pay anything for him to be in a blue suit.” She then hands me an blank cheque.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next day, she finds her husband in a blue suit and thanks me, “I am very satisfied with your service! Whatever the cost, it’s worth it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I hand back the blank cheque to her and tells her that she didn’t need to pay anything for this additional service, it was free.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She insists, “at least let me pay for the blue suit.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I reply, “no need, ma’am. See, another client came in and her husband was in a blue suit. I asked her if she minds her husband being in a black suit and she said she didn’t mind, so I just switched the heads.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ChiMeraRa"> /u/ChiMeraRa </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ex4u9/service_at_a_funeral_home/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ex4u9/service_at_a_funeral_home/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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