Added daily report
This commit is contained in:
Navan Chauhan
parent
534bb1a67e
commit
4b66b5c6cf
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
|
||||||
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||||||
|
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
|
||||||
|
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
|
||||||
|
<title>20 July, 2021</title>
|
||||||
|
<style type="text/css">
|
||||||
|
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
|
||||||
|
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
|
||||||
|
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
|
||||||
|
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
|
||||||
|
</style>
|
||||||
|
<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
|
||||||
|
<body>
|
||||||
|
<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>Making Visible the Invisible Work of Scientists during the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Despite the perceptibility of the effects they impart on their hosts, the most incredible capacity of viruses is in their invisibility. Invisibility is the most frightening side of the current pandemic, and invisible is also the work of the scientists striving to find a solution. This proposal presents a data visualization that aims to give visibility to those scientists working on COVID-19. Their scientific publications have been computationally analyzed and transformed into a relational structure based on lexical similarity. The result is a network of scientists whose proximity is given by their closeness in writing. An innovative visual method that hybridizes network visualizations and word clouds shows the scientists in a deep space, explorable through keywords. In such a space, individuals are situated according to their lexical similarity, and keywords are used to clarify their proximity. By zooming, the visualization reveals more information about scientists and their clusters. While a lot of visualizations during the pandemic focused on showing the spread of infection, causing anxiety among the readers, this visualization reveals the efforts of science in eradicating the virus. Making visible the enormous number of scientists working on COVID-19 research will contribute to coping more positively with the pandemic.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/m4uht/" target="_blank">Making Visible the Invisible Work of Scientists during the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Covid-19: acquired acute porphyria hypothesis</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Pandemic Covid-19 pneumonia, of SARS-CoV-2 aetiology, is of global importance to health systems, national economies and individual civil liberties. Multiple therapeutic and prophylactic agents are currently undergoing clinical trial and, while progress towards a curative agent is promising, the principal limiting factor in public health emergency is time. A pre-existing licensed therapeutic would offer reprieve to international citizens currently enduring the adverse consequences of lockdown policies. This brief communication serves as an update on the initial version of the acquired acute porphyria hypothesis and advocates for direct testing of the hypothesis.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article- html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/fxz3p/" target="_blank">Covid-19: acquired acute porphyria hypothesis</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Rosin Soap Exhibits Virucidal Activity</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Chemical methods of virus inactivation are used routinely to prevent viral transmission in both a personal hygiene capacity but also in at-risk environments like hospitals. Several virucidal products exist, including hand soaps, gels and surface disinfectants. Resin acids, which can be derived from Tall oil produced from trees, have been shown to exhibit anti-bacterial activity. However, whether these products or their derivatives have virucidal activity is unknown. Here, we assessed the capacity of Rosin soap to inactivate a panel of pathogenic mammalian viruses in vitro. We show that Rosin soap can inactivate the human enveloped viruses: influenza A virus (IAV), respiratory syncytial virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). For IAV, rosin soap could provide a 100,000-fold reduction in infectivity. However, Rosin soap failed to affect the non-enveloped encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV). The inhibitory effect of Rosin soap against IAV infectivity was dependent on its concentration but not dependent on incubation time nor temperature. Together, we demonstrate a novel chemical inactivation method against enveloped viruses, which could be of use in preventing virus infections in certain settings.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.19.452918v1" target="_blank">Rosin Soap Exhibits Virucidal Activity</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Comparison of Neutralizing Antibody Titers Elicited by mRNA and Adenoviral Vector Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Variants</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The increasing prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has raised concerns regarding possible decreases in vaccine efficacy. Here, neutralizing antibody titers elicited by mRNA-based and an adenoviral vector-based vaccine against variant pseudotyped viruses were compared. BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273-elicited antibodies showed modest neutralization resistance against Beta, Delta, Delta plus and Lambda variants whereas Ad26.COV2.S-elicited antibodies from a significant fraction of vaccinated individuals were of low neutralizing titer (IC50 <50). The data underscore the importance of surveillance for breakthrough infections that result in severe COVID-19 and suggest the benefit of a second immunization following Ad26.COV2.S to increase protection against the variants.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.19.452771v1" target="_blank">Comparison of Neutralizing Antibody Titers Elicited by mRNA and Adenoviral Vector Vaccine against SARS- CoV-2 Variants</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Paradoxical Sex-Specific Patterns of Autoantibodies Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Background. Amidst the millions of individuals affected directly by the pandemic, pronounced sex differences in the susceptibility and response to SARS-CoV-2 infection remain poorly understood. Emerging evidence has highlighted the potential importance of autoimmune activation in modulating not only the acute response but also recovery trajectories following SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Given that immune-inflammatory activity can be sex-biased in the setting of severe COVID-19 illness, we deliberately examined sex-specific autoimmune reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 in the absence of extreme clinical disease. Methods. We used a bead-based array containing over 90 autoantigens previously linked to a range of classic autoimmune diseases to assess autoantibody (AAB) titers in 177 participants. All participants had confirmed evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection based on presence of positive anti-nucleocapsid IgG serology results (Abbott Diagnostics, Abbott Park, Illinois). We used multivariate analysis to determine whether sex-bias was associated with increased rates of AABs reactivity and symptom burden after SARS-CoV2 infection. Results. 82.4% of AABs reactivity was associated with being male compared to 17.6% with female. We found a diversity of AABs responses that exhibited sex- specific patterns of frequency distribution as well as associations with symptomatology and symptom burden. Conclusion. Our results reveal a remarkable sex-specific prevalence and selectivity of AAB responses to SARS-CoV-2. Further understanding of the nature of triggered and persistent AAB activation among men and women exposed to SARS-CoV-2 will be essential for developing effective interventions against immune-mediated sequelae of COVID-19.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.15.21260603v1" target="_blank">Paradoxical Sex-Specific Patterns of Autoantibodies Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Unveiling Mutation Effects on the Structural Dynamics of the Main Protease from SARS-CoV-2 with Hybrid Simulation Methods</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
In this article, we used a hybrid simulation method to sample the conformational space to characterize the structural dynamics and global motions of WT SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and 48 mutants, including several mutations that appear in P.1, B.1.1.7, B.1.351, B.1.525 and B.1.429+B.1.427 variants. Integrated Hybrid methods combining NMA and MD have been useful to study the correlation between the complex structural dynamics of macromolecules and their functioning mechanisms. Here, we applied this hybrid approach to elucidate the effects of mutation in the structural dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, considering their flexibility, solvent accessible surface area analyses, global movements, and catalytic dyad distance. Furthermore, some mutants showed significant changes in their structural dynamics and conformation, which could lead to distinct functional properties.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.17.452787v1" target="_blank">Unveiling Mutation Effects on the Structural Dynamics of the Main Protease from SARS-CoV-2 with Hybrid Simulation Methods</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Integrative multi-omics landscape of non-structural protein 3 of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is currently a global pandemic. Extensive investigations have been performed to study the clinical and cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics studies have revealed the cellular changes due to the infection and identified a plethora of interactors for all SARS-CoV-2 components, except for the longest non- structural protein 3 (NSP3). Here, we expressed the full-length NSP3 proteins of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 to investigate their unique and shared functions using multi-omics methods. We conducted interactome, phosphoproteome, ubiquitylome, transcriptome, and proteome analyses of NSP3-expressing cells. We found that NSP3 plays essential roles in cellular functions such as RNA metabolism and immune response such as NF-kB signal transduction. Interestingly, we showed that SARS-CoV-2 NSP3 has both endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial localizations. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 NSP3 is more closely related to mitochondrial ribosomal proteins, whereas SARS-CoV NSP3 is related to the cytosolic ribosomal proteins. In summary, our multi-omics studies of NSP3 enhance our understanding of the functions of NSP3 and offer valuable insights for the development of anti-SARS strategies.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.19.452910v1" target="_blank">Integrative multi-omics landscape of non-structural protein 3 of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Single-dose respiratory mucosal delivery of next-generation viral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine provides robust protection against both ancestral and variant strains of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) increasingly threaten the effectiveness of current first- generation COVID-19 vaccines that are administered intramuscularly and are designed to only target the spike protein. There is thus a pressing need to develop next-generation vaccine strategies to provide more broad and long-lasting protection. By using adenoviral vectors (Ad) of human and chimpanzee origin, we developed Ad-vectored trivalent COVID-19 vaccines expressing Spike-1, Nucleocapsid and RdRp antigens and evaluated them following single-dose intramuscular or intranasal immunization in murine models. We show that respiratory mucosal immunization, particularly with chimpanzee Ad-vectored vaccine, is superior to intramuscular immunization in induction of the three-arm immunity, consisting of local and systemic antibody responses, mucosal tissue-resident memory T cells, and mucosal trained innate immunity. We further show that single-dose intranasal immunization provides robust protection against not only the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2, but also two emerging VOC, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351. Our findings indicate that single-dose respiratory mucosal delivery of an Ad-vectored multivalent vaccine represents an effective next-generation COVID-19 vaccine strategy against current and future VOC. This strategy has great potential to be used not only to boost first-generation vaccine-induced immunity but also to expand the breadth of protective T cell immunity at the respiratory mucosa.
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.16.452721v1" target="_blank">Single-dose respiratory mucosal delivery of next-generation viral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine provides robust protection against both ancestral and variant strains of SARS-CoV-2</a>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Dique Filipeia: A rehabilitation protocol for non-intubated COVID-19 in-hospital patients</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Dique Filipeia rehabilitation protocol in patients with COVID-19 admitted to reference hospitals. Methods: This is an experimental study with COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospitals wards being considered eligible. The study outcomes were assessed between patients undergoing the rehabilitation protocol (Dique Filipeia group) and patients who did not receive the protocol (control group). The rehabilitation protocol consisted in classifying patients daily into four levels of severity through peripheral oxygen saturation. Severity was classified by the oxygen flow needed to maintain a saturation greater than or equal to the cut-off point of 93%. A standardized ventilatory support and functional rehabilitation exercises were performed for each severity level patient, followed by an attempt to wean oxygen. Results: A total of 727 patients were analyzed in the study. The Dique Filipeia group presented a lower total (132.7 vs 307.0 m3/patient; effect size 1.73) and daily (2.9 vs 6.8 m3/day/patient; effect size 1.46) oxygen expenditure than the control group. The Dique Filipeia patients presented higher hospital discharge (64.9 vs 35.4%; effect size 3.46) and lower length of stay (15.8 vs 29.1 days; effect size 3.47) than the control group. The Dique Filipeia group patients, who were demanding oxygen therapy, were using 6.2 L/min of oxygen at day 1. There was a statistically significant reduction from day 2 (p = 0.0001) and oxygen flow was reduced below 1L/min after day 7. Conclusions: The implementation of a standardized rehabilitation protocol reduced oxygen expenditure, increased hospital discharge and reduced the length of hospital stay. Dique Filipeia is a practical, feasible and safe protocol.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.19.21258787v1" target="_blank">Dique Filipeia: A rehabilitation protocol for non-intubated COVID-19 in-hospital patients</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 Spike Pseudoviruses: A Useful tool to study virus entry and address emerging neutralization escape phenotypes</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants are emerging around the globe. Unfortunately, several SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially, variants of concern (VOC) are less susceptible to neutralization by the convalescent and post-vaccination sera, raising concerns of increased disease transmissibility and severity. Recent data suggests the SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing anti-body levels as a good correlate of vaccine mediated protection. However, currently used BSL3 based virus micro-neutralization (MN) assays are more laborious, time consuming and expensive, underscoring the need for BSL2 based, cost effective neutralization assays against SARS-CoV-2 variants. In light of this unmet need, we have developed a BSL2 pseudovirus based neutralization assay (PBNA) in cells expressing Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor for SARS-CoV-2. The assay is reproducible (R2=0.96), demonstrates a good dynamic range and high sensitivity. Our data suggests that the biological Anti-SARS-CoV-2 research reagents such as NIBSC 20/130 show lower neutralization against B.1.351 RSA and B1.1.7 UK VOC, whereas a commercially available monoclonal antibody MM43 retains activity against both these variants. SARS-CoV-2 Spike Pseudovirus based neutralization assays for VOC would be useful tools to measure the neutralization ability of candidate vaccines in both preclinical models and clinical trials and further help develop effective prophylactic countermeasures against emerging neutralization escape phenotypes.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article- html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.16.452709v1" target="_blank">SARS- CoV-2 Spike Pseudoviruses: A Useful tool to study virus entry and address emerging neutralization escape phenotypes</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Susceptibilities of human ACE2 genetic variants in coronavirus infection</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has resulted in more than 1603 million cases worldwide and 3.4 million deaths (as of May 2021), with varying incidences and death rates among regions/ethnicities. Human genetic variation can affect disease progression and outcome, but little is known about genetic risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The coronaviruses SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-NL63 all utilize the human protein angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as the receptor to enter cells. We hypothesized that the genetic variability in ACE2 may contribute to the variable clinical outcomes of COVID-19. To test this hypothesis, we first conducted an in silico investigation of single- nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding region of ACE2 gene. We then applied an integrated approach of genetics, biochemistry and virology to explore the capacity of select ACE2 variants to bind coronavirus spike protein and mediate viral entry. We identified the ACE2 D355N variant that restricts the spike protein-ACE2 interaction and consequently limits infection both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, ACE2 polymorphisms could modulate susceptibility to SARS- CoV-2, which may lead to variable disease severity.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.18.452826v1" target="_blank">Susceptibilities of human ACE2 genetic variants in coronavirus infection</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>One mucosal administration of a live attenuated recombinant COVID-19 vaccine protects non-human primates from SARS- CoV-2</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Vaccines are needed to control the disease and bring an end to the pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped RNA virus that relies on its trimeric surface glycoprotein, spike, for entry into host cells. Here we describe the COVID-19 vaccine candidate MV-014-212, a live attenuated, recombinant human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) expressing a chimeric SARS-CoV-2 spike as the only viral envelope protein. MV-014-212 was attenuated and immunogenic in African green monkeys (AGMs). One mucosal administration of MV-014-212 in AGMs protected against SARS-CoV-2 challenge, reducing the peak shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in the nose by more than 200-fold. MV-014-212 elicited mucosal immunity in the nose and neutralizing antibodies in serum that exhibited cross neutralization against two virus variants of concern. Intranasally delivered, live attenuated vaccines such as MV-014-212 entail low-cost manufacturing suitable for global deployment. MV-014-212 is currently in phase I clinical trials as a single-dose intranasal COVID-19 vaccine.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.16.452733v1" target="_blank">One mucosal administration of a live attenuated recombinant COVID-19 vaccine protects non-human primates from SARS-CoV-2</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Molecular evolution and structural analyses of the spike glycoprotein from Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 genomes: the impact of the fixation of selected mutations</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has reached by July 2021 almost 200 million cases and more than 4 million deaths worldwide since its beginning in late 2019, leading to enhanced concern in the scientific community and the general population. One of the most important pieces of this host- pathogen interaction is the spike protein, which binds to the human Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) cell receptor, mediates the membrane fusion and is the major target of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The multiple amino acid substitutions observed in this region, specially in the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), mainly after almost one year of its emergence (late 2020), have enhanced the hACE2 binding affinity and led to several modifications in the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, improving the viral fitness and/or promoting immune evasion, with potential impact in the vaccine development. In this way, the present work aimed to evaluate the effect of positively selected mutations fixed in the Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 lineages and to check for mutational evidence of coevolution. Additionally, we evaluated the impact of selected mutations identified in some of the VOC and VOI lineages (C.37, B.1.1.7, P.1, and P.2) of Brazilian samples on the structural stability of the spike protein, as well as their possible association with more aggressive infection profiles by estimating the binding affinity in the RBD-hACE2 complex. We identified 48 sites under selective pressure in Brazilian spike sequences, 17 of them with the strongest evidence by the HyPhy tests, including VOC related mutation sites 138, 142, 222, 262, 484, 681, and 845, among others. The coevolutionary analysis identified a number of 28 coevolving sites that were found not to be conditionally independent, such as the couple E484K - N501Y from P.1 and B.1.351 lineages. Finally, the molecular dynamics and free energy estimates showed the structural stabilizing effect and the higher impact of E484K for the improvement of the binding affinity between the spike RBD and the hACE2 in P.1 and P.2 lineages, as well as the stabilizing and destabilizing effects for the positively selected sites.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.16.452571v1" target="_blank">Molecular evolution and structural analyses of the spike glycoprotein from Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 genomes: the impact of the fixation of selected mutations</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>ACE2 binding is an ancestral and evolvable trait of sarbecoviruses</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Two different sarbecoviruses have caused major human outbreaks in the last two decades. Both these sarbecoviruses, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, engage ACE2 via the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD). However, binding to ACE2 orthologs from humans, bats, and other species has been observed only sporadically among the broader diversity of bat sarbecoviruses. Here, we use high-throughput assays to trace the evolutionary history of ACE2 binding across a diverse range of sarbecoviruses and ACE2 orthologs. We find that ACE2 binding is an ancestral trait of sarbecovirus RBDs that has subsequently been lost in some clades. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time that bat sarbecoviruses from outside Asia can bind ACE2. In addition, ACE2 binding is highly evolvable: for many sarbecovirus RBDs there are single amino-acid mutations that enable binding to new ACE2 orthologs. However, the effects of individual mutations can differ markedly between viruses, as illustrated by the N501Y mutation which enhances human ACE2 binding affinity within several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern but severely dampens it for SARS-CoV-1. Our results point to the deep ancestral origin and evolutionary plasticity of ACE2 binding, broadening consideration of the range of sarbecoviruses with spillover potential.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.17.452804v1" target="_blank">ACE2 binding is an ancestral and evolvable trait of sarbecoviruses</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Mutation-induced Changes in the Receptor-binding Interface of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant B.1.617.2 and Implications for Immune Evasion</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
While the vaccination efforts against SARS-CoV-2 infections are ongoing worldwide, new genetic variants of the virus are emerging and spreading. Following the initial surges of the Alpha (B.1.1.7) and the Beta (B.1.351) variants, a more infectious Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is now surging, further deepening the health crises caused by the pandemic. The sharp rise in cases attributed to the Delta variant has made it especially disturbing and is a variant of concern. Fortunately, current vaccines offer protection against known variants of concern, including the Delta variant. However, the Delta variant has exhibited some ability to dodge the immune system as it is found that neutralizing antibodies from prior infections or vaccines are less receptive to binding with the Delta spike protein. Here, we investigated the structural changes caused by the mutations in the Delta variant’s receptor-binding interface and explored the effects on binding with the ACE2 receptor as well as with neutralizing antibodies. We find that the receptor-binding beta-loop- beta motif adopts an altered but stable conformation causing separation in some of the antibody binding epitopes. Our study shows reduced binding of neutralizing antibodies and provides a possible mechanism for the immune evasion exhibited by the Delta variant.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.17.452576v1" target="_blank">Mutation-induced Changes in the Receptor-binding Interface of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant B.1.617.2 and Implications for Immune Evasion</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>COVID-19 Vaccinations With a Sweepstakes</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Behavioral: Philly Vax Sweepstakes<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia Department of Public Health<br/><b>Active, not 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>Covid-19 Virtual Recovery Study</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Strength RMT; Behavioral: Strength RMT and nasal breathing; Behavioral: Endurance RMT; Behavioral: Endurance RMT and nasal breathing; Behavioral: Low dose RMT<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Mayo Clinic<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>A Study of PF-07321332/Ritonavir in Nonhospitalized High Risk Adult Participants With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: PF-07321332; Drug: Ritonavir; Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Pfizer<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>Building Resiliency and Vital Equity (BRAVE) Project: Understanding Native Americans’ Perceptions/Beliefs About COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Study</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19 Virus Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Behavioral: Protect Your Elders Campaign<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: North Carolina Central University; Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina; University of North Carolina at Pembroke<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>A Study to Evaluate MVC-COV1901 Vaccine Against COVID-19 in Adolescents</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19 Vaccine<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: MVC-COV1901(S protein with adjuvant); Biological: MVC-COV1901(Saline)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp.<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>Study on Sequential Immunization of Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine and Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Ad5 Vector)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Ad5 vectored vaccine; Biological: Inactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Vero cell)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Jiangsu Province Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; CanSino Biologics 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>Efficacy of Amantadine Treatment in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Patients With Moderate or Severe COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: Amantadine<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Noblewell; Medical Research Agency (ABM); Leszek Giec Upper-Silesian Medical Centre of the Silesian Medical University in Katowice<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>Internet-based Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation for Longterm COVID-19 Syndrome</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Long COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Behavioral: Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Danderyd Hospital; St Göran Hospital, Stockholm<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>Enabling Family Physicians to Reduce Vaccine Hesitancy and Increase Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Covid19; COVID-19 Vaccine<br/><b>Interventions</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Behavioral: Tailored COVID-19 vaccine messages; Other: Other health messages<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Hopital Montfort; Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC); Eastern Ontario Health Unit<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>A Different Use of The Aerosol Box in COVID-19 Patients; Internal Jugular Vein Cannulation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Procedure: Internal jugular vein cannulation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Research and Training Hospital<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>Reconditioning Exercise for COVID-19 Patients Experiencing Residual sYmptoms</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Other: Exercise Therapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Wake Forest University Health Sciences<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>Lipid Emulsion Infusion and COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: SMOFlipid; Other: 0.9% saline<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Assiut University<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>Short Term, High Dose Vitamin D Supplementation in Moderate to Severe COVID-19 Disease</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: cholecalciferol 6 lakh IU<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research<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>Immunogenicity and Safety of an Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine; Biological: 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine; Biological: Inactivated Hepatitis A Vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd.<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>Evaluation of the RD-X19 Treatment Device in Individuals With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: RD-X19; Device: Sham<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
EmitBio Inc.<br/><b>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>Molecular Mechanisms of Palmitic Acid Augmentation in COVID-19 Pathologies</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed over 2.7 million lives globally. Obesity has been associated with increased severity and mortality of COVID-19. However, the molecular mechanisms by which obesity exacerbates COVID-19 pathologies are not well-defined. The levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) are elevated in obese subjects. This study was therefore designed to examine how excess levels of different FFAs may affect the progression of COVID-19. Biological molecules…</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>Regulation of Mindfulness-Based Music Listening on Negative Emotions Related to COVID-19: An ERP Study</strong> - The current study aimed to explore the behavioral and neural correlates of mindfulness-based music listening regulation of induced negative emotions related to COVID-19 using the face-word Stroop task. Eighty-five young adults visited the laboratory and were randomly assigned to three groups: a calm music group (CMG: n = 28), a happy music group (HMG: n = 30), and a sad music group (SMG: n = 27). Negative emotions were induced in all participants using a COVID-19 video, followed by the music…</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>Broad sarbecovirus neutralization by a human monoclonal antibody</strong> - The recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC)^(1-10) and the recurrent spillovers of coronaviruses^(11,12) in the human population highlight the need for broadly neutralizing antibodies that are not affected by the ongoing antigenic drift and that can prevent or treat future zoonotic infections. Here, we describe a human monoclonal antibody (mAb), designated S2X259, recognizing a highly conserved cryptic receptor-binding domain (RBD) epitope and cross-reacting with spikes from all…</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>Structure-Based Discovery of Novel Nonpeptide Inhibitors Targeting SARS-CoV-2 M(pro)</strong> - The continual spread of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), posing a severe threat to the health worldwide. The main protease (M^(pro), alias 3CL^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 is a crucial enzyme for the maturation of viral particles and is a very attractive target for designing drugs to treat COVID-19. Here, we propose a multiple conformation-based virtual screening strategy to discover inhibitors that can target 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>Lentil lectin derived from Lens culinaris exhibit broad antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> - The spike (S) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mutated continuously and newly emerging variants escape from antibody-mediated neutralization raised great concern. S protein is heavily glycosylated and the glycosylation sites are relatively conserved, thus glycans on S protein surface could be a target for development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 strategies against variants. Here, we collected twelve plant-derived lectins with different carbohydrate specificity 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>Efficient Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Using Chimeric oligonucleotides through RNase L Activation</strong> - Currently there is an urgent need to develop antiviral drugs and alleviate current COVID-19 pandemic. Although many candidates have been developed, we here designed and constructed chimeric oligonucleotides comprising a 2’-OMe modified antisense oligonucleotide and a 5’-phosphorylated 2’-5’ poly(A) 4 (4A 2-5 ) to degrade envelope and spike RNAs of SARS- CoV-2. The oligonucleotide was used for searching and recognizing target viral RNA sequence, and the conjugated 4A 2-5 was used for guided…</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 potential use of microRNAs as a therapeutic strategy for SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To date, there is no effective therapeutic approach for treating SARS-CoV-2 infections. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been recognized to target the viral genome directly or indirectly, thereby inhibiting viral replication. Several studies have demonstrated that host miRNAs target different sites in SARS-CoV-2 RNA and constrain the production of essential viral proteins. Furthermore, miRNAs…</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>SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) inhibition by a zinc ion: structural features and hints for drug design</strong> - Structural data on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease in complex with a zinc-containing organic inhibitor are already present in the literature and gave hints on the presence of a zinc binding site involving the catalytically relevant cysteine and histidine residues. In this paper, the structural basis of ionic zinc binding to the SARS-CoV-2 main protease has been elucidated by X-ray crystallography. The zinc binding affinity and its ability to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease have been…</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>Renin Angiotensin System Inhibition as treatment for Covid-19?</strong> - No abstract</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 Strand-biased Transcription of SARS-CoV-2 and Unbalanced Inhibition by Remdesivir</strong> - SARS-CoV-2, a positive single-stranded RNA virus, causes the COVID-19 pandemic. During the viral replication and transcription, the RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) “jumps” along the genome template, resulting in discontinuous negative-stranded transcripts. Although the sense-mRNA architectures of SARS-CoV-2 were reported, its negative strand was unexplored. Here, we deeply sequenced both strands of RNA and found SARS-CoV-2 transcription is strongly biased to form the sense strand with…</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>Reliable Estimation of CD8 T Cell Inhibition of In Vitro HIV-1 Replication</strong> - The HIV-1 viral inhibition assay (VIA) measures CD8 T cell-mediated inhibition of HIV replication in CD4 T cells and is increasingly used for clinical testing of HIV vaccines and immunotherapies. The VIA has multiple sources of variability arising from in vitro HIV infection and co-culture of two T cell populations. Here, we describe multiple modifications to a 7-day VIA protocol, the most impactful being the introduction of independent replicate cultures for both HIV infected-CD4 (HIV-CD4) 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>High Dose Lopinavir/Ritonavir Does Not Lead to Sufficient Plasma Levels to Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19</strong> - Background: Despite lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV) demonstrating in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2, large trials failed to show any net clinical benefit. Since SARS-CoV-2 has an EC50 of 16.4 μg/ml for LPV this could be due to inadequate dosing. Methods: COVID-19 positive patients admitted to the hospital who received high dose LPV/RTV were included. High dose (HD) LPV/RTV 200/50 mg was defined as four tablets bid as loading dose, then three tablets bid for up to 10 days. Trough plasma…</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>Remdesivir Inhibits Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis in Obstructed Kidneys</strong> - Aim: Kidney impairment is observed in patients with COVID-19. The effect of anti-COVID-19 agent remdesivir on kidneys is currently unknown. We aimed to determine the effect of remdesivir on renal fibrosis and its downstream mechanisms. Methods: Remdesivir and its active nucleoside metabolite GS-441524 were used to treat TGF-β stimulated renal fibroblasts (NRK-49F) and human renal epithelial (HK2) cells. Vehicle or remdesivir were given by intraperitoneal injection or renal injection through 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>The association of WTELS as a master motivator with higher executive functioning and better mental health</strong> - The goal is to test the validity of the "Will to exist-live and survive (WTELS) as a master motivator that activates executive functions. A sample of 262 adults administered different measures that included WTELS and executive functions. We conducted hierarchical regressions with working memory deficits (WMD) and inhibition deficits (ID) as dependent variables. We entered in the last steps resilience and WTELS as independent variables. We conducted path analysis with WTELS as independent…</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>Our Words in a State of Emergency: Psychological-Linguistic Analysis of Utterances on the COVID-19 Situation in the Czech Republic</strong> - The study focuses on psychological-linguistic analysis of utterances provided by N = 2522 respondents aged 18-89 years in the period of March-May 2020, for the research of JUPSYCOR (Psychological Impacts of the Coronavirus Epidemic in the Czech Republic). The utterances relate to the interpretation of the state of emergency, the COVID-19 epidemic, and its subjectively perceived impacts. Simultaneously, the study examines the relationship between the analysed texts and the results of the SEHW…</p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COVID- 19 DIAGNOSIS USING DETECTION RESULTS FROM CHEST X- RAY IMAGES</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU330927328">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Advanced Machine Learning System combating COVID-19 virus Detection, Spread, Prevention and Medical Assistance.</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU329799475">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Differential detection kit for common SARS-CoV-2 variants in COVID-19 patients</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU328840861">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种新型冠状病毒的mRNA疫苗</strong> - 本发明公开了一种新型冠状病毒的mRNA疫苗。本发明提供的疫苗，其活性成分为mRNA，如序列表的序列6所示。本发明还保护TF‑RBD蛋白，如序列表的序列2所示。本发明的发明人通过一系列序列设计和序列优化得到了特异DNA分子，进一步构建了特异重组质粒，将特异重组质粒进行体外转录，可以得到多聚化TF‑RBD mRNA。进一步的，发明人制备了负载TF‑RBD mRNA的脂质纳米粒。本发明对于新型冠状病毒的防控具有重大的应用推广价值。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN330068008">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>新型冠状病毒B．1．1．7英国突变株RBD的基因及其应用</strong> - 本发明属于生物技术领域，具体涉及新型冠状病毒B．1．1．7英国突变株RBD的基因及其应用。本发明的新型冠状病毒B．1．1．7英国突变株RBD的基因，其核苷酸序列如SEQ ID NO.1或SEQ ID NO.6所示。本发明通过优化野生型新型冠状病毒B．1．1．7英国突变株RBD的基因序列，并结合筛选确定了相对最佳序列，优化后序列产生的克隆表达效率比野生型新型冠状病毒B．1．1．7英国突变株RBD序列表达效率大幅提高，从而，本发明的新型冠状病毒B．1．1．7英国突变株RBD的基因更有利于用于制备新型冠状病毒疫苗。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN330068024">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 anti-viral therapeutic</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU327160071">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种基于联邦学习的多用户协同训练人流统计方法及系统</strong> - 本发明提供一种基于联邦学习的多用户协同训练人流统计方法，旨在利用联邦学习框架搭建一个新颖的人群计数模型，达到让多用户多设备同时训练的目的。各个客户端利用图像数据集对图像分类网络进行本地训练以获取本地模型；在各经过至少一次本地训练后，中心服务器从客户端获取本地模型的权值及附加层参数并进行聚合处理；中心服务器利用聚合处理后的权值及附加层参数更新全局模型，并将聚合处理后的权值参数及附加层参数返回给各个客户端；各个客户端利用中心服务器返回的权值以及ground truth值进行贝叶斯估计，计算loss值，并利用返回的权值参数及附加层参数更新本地模型；重复执行直至所有客户端的loss值均收敛，则完成人流统计全局模型和本地模型的训练。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN329978461">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A POLYHERBAL ALCOHOL FREE FORMULATION FOR ORAL CAVITY</strong> - The present invention generally relates to a herbal composition. Specifically, the present invention relates to a polyherbal alcohol free composition comprising of Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, Ocimum sanctum leaf extract, Elettaria cardamomum fruit extract, Mentha spicata (Spearmint) oil and Tween 80 and method of preparation thereof. The polyherbal alcohol free composition of the present invention possesses excellent antimicrobial properties and useful for oral cavity. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN325690740">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>新型冠状病毒B.1.351南非突变株RBD的基因及其应用</strong> - 本发明属于生物技术领域，具体涉及新型冠状病毒B.1.351南非突变株RBD的基因及其应用。本发明的新型冠状病毒B.1.351南非突变株RBD的基因，其核苷酸序列如SEQIDNO.1或SEQIDNO.6所示。本发明通过优化野生型新型冠状病毒南非B.1.351南非突变株RBD的基因序列，并结合筛选确定了相对最佳序列，优化后序列产生的克隆表达效率比野生型新型冠状病毒B.1.351南非突变株RBD序列表达效率大幅提高，从而，本发明的新型冠状病毒B.1.351南非突变株RBD的基因可以用于制备新型冠状病毒疫苗。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN328990628">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>检测新型冠状病毒中和抗体的试剂盒及其应用</strong> - 本发明涉及生物技术领域，具体而言，提供了一种检测新型冠状病毒中和抗体的试剂盒及其应用。本发明提供的检测新型冠状病毒中和抗体试剂盒，具体包括（a）或（b）两种方案：（a）示踪物标记的RBD三聚体抗原，包被在固体支持物上的ACE2，以及，含有0.2‑10mg/mL十二烷基二甲基甜菜碱的工作液；（b）示踪物标记的ACE2，包被在固体支持物上的RBD三聚体抗原，以及，含有0.2‑10mg/mL十二烷基二甲基甜菜碱的工作液；其中，RBD三聚体抗原利用二硫键将刺突蛋白的RBD与S2亚基完全交联得到。十二烷基二甲基甜菜碱会显著提高RBD三聚体抗原与新冠中和性抗体结合速度，提升阳性样本平均发光强度，缩短检测时间。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN328990376">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,624 @@
|
||||||
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||||||
|
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
|
||||||
|
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
|
||||||
|
<title>20 July, 2021</title>
|
||||||
|
<style type="text/css">
|
||||||
|
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
|
||||||
|
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
|
||||||
|
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
|
||||||
|
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
|
||||||
|
</style>
|
||||||
|
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
|
||||||
|
<body>
|
||||||
|
<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>Vienna Is the New Havana Syndrome Hot Spot</strong> - Roughly two dozen possible new cases have been reported by U.S. spies and diplomats in the Austrian capital, more than in any other city except Havana itself. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/vienna-is-the-new-havana-syndrome-hotspot">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Race to Leave Planet Earth</strong> - Not just billionaires but private companies and a growing number of nations are, somewhat abruptly, competing to get into space. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/the-race-to-leave-planet-earth">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What the “Creator Economy” Promises—and What It Actually Does</strong> - A lattice of new platforms and tools purports to empower online creators. In reality, it’s turning digital content into gig work. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/what-the-creator-economy-promises-and-what-it-actually-does">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lizzie Armanto’s Artful Approach to Olympic Skateboarding</strong> - Preparing for Tokyo, where the sport will feature in the Olympic Games for the first time, means conquering fears of gravity and of failure. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/video-dept/lizzie-armantos-artful-approach-to-olympic-skateboarding">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Iran’s Kidnapping Plot Exposes Its Paranoia</strong> - A “pernicious” plan to abduct a dissident in Brooklyn is only the latest intelligence scheme to silence dissent and target Americans. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/irans-kidnapping-plot-exposes-its-paranoia">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Why a new law requiring Asian American history in schools is so significant</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt="I Am An American" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/f5oAduNo-
|
||||||
|
XybCba3zog4ZeYNtcw=/0x89:3766x2914/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69605365/2696598.0.jpg"/></p>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A sign reading “I am an American” on the Wanto Co grocery store at 401-403 Eighth and Franklin Streets in Oakland, California, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941. The store was closed and the Matsuda family, who owned it, were relocated and incarcerated under the US government’s policy of internment of Japanese Americans. | Dorothea Lange/Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“By not showing up in American history, by not hearing about Asian Americans in schools, that contributes to that sense of foreignness.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wzhRNn">
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jvzDTa">
|
||||||
|
This month, Illinois became the first state in the country to require the inclusion of Asian American history in public school curriculums. While the actual impact of this law will depend a lot on implementation, its passage alone sends a significant message: that Asian American history <em>is</em> American history and is integral to understanding the country’s past and present.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zrVlZ1">
|
||||||
|
For years, Asian American history has been virtually nonexistent in textbooks or cordoned off to a narrow section at best. Much of the framing has also sought to paint the US as a savior for Asian immigrants, glossing over people’s agency and the government’s role in imperialism and exclusion.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7ENv77">
|
||||||
|
“My general understanding is there is not much, if any [Asian American history], being taught in most parts of the country,” says Tufts University sociology professor Natasha Warikoo, whose work centers on the study of inequality in schools. “I have not seen it in my own experience, in my children’s experience, or in my own experience as a teacher.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4fJ32e">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=110&GA=102&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=0376&GAID=16&LegID=128327&SpecSess=&Session=">This new Illinois law</a> — the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act (TEAACH) — takes a first step toward addressing some of these gaps by requiring all public elementary schools and high schools to have a unit dedicated to Asian American history. Its passage follows an increased focus on anti-Asian racism, as attacks and xenophobia have surged in the pandemic.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sq4x9r">
|
||||||
|
Grace Pai, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, the advocacy group that first proposed the legislation, notes that its overwhelming passage — it was approved by the state House 108 to 10 — is a testament to the work of local organizers who’ve helped write the law and lobbied lawmakers on it over the past year. The victory comes as conservatives mount a national attack on <a href="https://www.vox.com/22443822/critical-race-theory-controversy">critical race theory</a>, or what is really education that scrutinizes systemic racism and highlights the importance of lessons that examine the country’s history of discriminatory policies.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pfaFRP">
|
||||||
|
By ensuring that more Asian American experiences are included in classroom lessons, the hope is that laws like this will build more understanding among students and combat damaging stereotypes that have persisted for decades.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BwGPge">
|
||||||
|
“TEAACH is fundamentally at its core about building empathy,” Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, a lead sponsor of the bill alongside state Sen. Ram Villivalam, <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2021/07/11/illinois-becomes-first-state-require-asian-american-history-be-taught-public-
|
||||||
|
schools">emphasized in a press interview</a>. “Empathy comes from understanding, and we cannot expect to do better unless we know better. And when Asian Americans are missing from our classrooms, what fills that void are harmful stereotypes.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="kd3rz9">
|
||||||
|
Asian American history has largely been missing from classrooms
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cUICF9">
|
||||||
|
Because states and districts have jurisdiction over what’s taught in schools, curriculums about Asian American history vary widely across the country, and focus mostly on a few events, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese immigrants from entering the country.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nKrHs2">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00933104.2016.1170646">In her 2016 analysis</a> of history standards of 10 states across the country, Sohyun An, a professor of elementary and early childhood education at Kennesaw State University, discovered that most lessons centered on the treatment of Japanese and Chinese immigrants and didn’t begin to cover the immense diversity of the Asian American diaspora.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="09vVip">
|
||||||
|
Additionally, the majority of the curriculums she studied framed Asian Americans as the victims of nativist sentiment and restrictionist policies, with few highlighting them as active contributors to the country’s achievements.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RKRtVV">
|
||||||
|
“They portray them as the victims of racism, but they don’t highlight their agency,” says An.
|
||||||
|
</p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BFbwPd">
|
||||||
|
Nicholas Hartlep, an education professor at Berea College, discovered an even starker breakdown in his 2016 review of K-12 textbooks, <a href="https://psmag.com/news/why-are-asian-americans-missing-from-our-
|
||||||
|
textbooks">Pacific Standard previously reported</a>:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FBQtnL">
|
||||||
|
His 2016 <a href="https://www.academia.edu/27170952/Asian_American_Curricular_Epistemicide_From_Being_Excluded_to_Becoming_a_Model_Minority">study</a> of K-12 social studies textbooks and teacher manuals found that Asian Americans were poorly represented at best, and subjected to racist caricatures at worst. The textbooks often relied on tropes such as dragons, chopsticks, and “Oriental” font to depict Asian Americans. The wide diversity of Asian Americans was overlooked; there was very little mention of South Asians or Pacific Islanders, for example. And chances were, in the images, Asian Americans appeared in stereotypical roles, such as engineers.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gh5DdR">
|
||||||
|
Additionally, historic events are often framed in a way that paints the US government in a positive light, while obscuring its role in colonization and oppression.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="608mRa">
|
||||||
|
“K-12 American history texts reinforce the narrative that Asian immigrants and refugees are fortunate to have been ‘helped’ and ‘saved’ by the US,” Jean Wu, <a href="https://time.com/5949028/asian-american-
|
||||||
|
history-schools/">a Tufts Asian American history lecturer emerita, previously told Time</a>. “The story does not begin with U.S. imperialist wars that were waged to take Asian wealth and resources and the resulting violence, rupture and displacement in relation to Asian lives. Few realize that there is an Asian diaspora here in the U.S. because the U.S. went to Asia first.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dhyEVz">
|
||||||
|
A lot, in the end, is currently left out of textbooks. Students don’t learn about <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-it-is-important-know-story-filipino-american-
|
||||||
|
larry-itliong-180972696/">Larry Itliong, the Filipino American farmworker</a> who led historic strikes for workers’ rights alongside Cesar Chavez; they don’t learn about Asian American activists working with other student groups to push for <a href="https://time.com/5837805/asian-american-history/">ethnic studies departments in the 1960s</a>; they don’t learn about <a href="https://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/29982">Dalip Saund</a>, the first Asian American Congress member, who advocated for immigrant rights; and they don’t learn about <a href="https://www.reproductiveaccess.org/2017/05/aapi-heritage-month-yuri-kochiyama-grace-lee-boggs/">activists Grace Lee Boggs or Yuri Kochiyama</a>, both of whom fought for civil rights.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8utoDi">
|
||||||
|
Additionally, any focus on anti-Asian racism glosses over the severity of the discrimination that people endured and the resilience they exhibited in fighting back. Few history lessons address the attacks on <a href="https://wp.wwu.edu/timeline/south-asians-
|
||||||
|
expelled/">hundreds of South Asian immigrants in Bellingham, Washington, in the early 1900s</a> as white workers sought to drive them out, or the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/the-chinese-massacre-one-of-los-angeles-worst-
|
||||||
|
atrocities/">mass lynching of Chinese American immigrants in Los Angeles</a> in the 1870s.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9secEQ">
|
||||||
|
Without such lessons, there’s little awareness not only about how Asian Americans have been discriminated against in the past — and how that continues to inform current biases — but also about how Asian Americans have helped to build the country.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8PIdWL">
|
||||||
|
The omission, and limited portrayals, of Asian Americans in history lessons establishes and reinforces the message that they aren’t part of this country’s narrative.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wSczNl">
|
||||||
|
“By not showing up in American history, by not hearing about Asian Americans in schools, that contributes to that sense of foreignness,” says Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, a teacher educator with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice Initiative.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="NvMKBe">
|
||||||
|
The Illinois law was passed as a response to a rise in anti-Asian incidents
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5n7l6B">
|
||||||
|
The Illinois bill was first proposed in early 2020 by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, and Pai notes that the recent rise in anti-Asian sentiment has underscored the urgency of the measure. Between March 2020 and March 2021, the group Stop AAPI Hate has received reports of <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-
|
||||||
|
march-2021/">more than 6,600 anti-Asian incidents</a> ranging from verbal abuse to physical attacks, as lawmakers including former President Donald Trump have used racist rhetoric to describe the coronavirus. Greater history education can help students see how such statements tap into longstanding xenophobia and echo the scapegoating of Asian Americans for the spread of illnesses in the past.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OxjR5l">
|
||||||
|
While the Illinois law does not detail exactly what the curriculum should cover, it references a five-part PBS documentary about the history of Asian Americans as a useful resource. Just how much the bill will change in classrooms remains to be seen, though. School districts have a lot of leeway in how to implement the law and designate what they mean by a “unit,” so the actual lessons that are taught could have significant differences from place to place.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j9wIIT">
|
||||||
|
“The impact, in terms of children’s education, really depends on what comes next. The extent to which training is provided for teachers and school districts, the provision of curricular materials,” says Warikoo. “Even within states, there’s a lot of flexibility in state standards and how different districts and even schools and teachers implement them.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RrfCVF">
|
||||||
|
Pai says that Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago is working with the state government to offer guidance for districts and teachers. “I think weak implementation is a challenge and a concern,” Pai says. “There has to be a multi-pronged strategy and that means partnering with other organizations on teacher trainings, to receive professional development around this … to provide a comprehensive set of resources,” she says.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gioZe1">
|
||||||
|
Illinois is also not the only state pursuing such changes. Others, including California and Oregon, have established ethnic studies curriculums, which include lessons on Asian American and Pacific Islander history. Connecticut also has legislation in the works to ensure that Asian American history is part of the state’s model curriculum that’s provided as an outline for schools.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tbSIpf">
|
||||||
|
“Unfortunately, it took the anti-Asian hate and violence in this country to get people’s attention, and it was a call to action,” says Karen Korematsu, the director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, an organization dedicated to advocating for more inclusive education.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="CVTVtb">
|
||||||
|
Why teaching Asian American history matters
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7PAOFh">
|
||||||
|
Expanding education to incorporate a variety of perspectives is viewed as a key way to build empathy and critical thinking among students, which could, in turn, reduce bias. While it’s certainly far from the only thing that’s needed, this curriculum is viewed as one way to help prevent anti-Asian attacks moving forward.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ev2TXd">
|
||||||
|
“If you’re thoughtfully inclusive, really helping kids see that difference is not something to be scared of or a bad thing, that can really support empathy. And in a moment when we are seeing more awareness in anti-Asian hate and violence sometimes, that is probably a good thing,” says Blackburn.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u2JdMr">
|
||||||
|
Research on children’s literature indicates that exposure to diverse voices can change students’ perceptions: <a href="https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1182&context=mrj">A 2012 Michigan Reading Journal paper</a> from educators Rose Crowley, Monica Fountain, and Rachelle Torres found that consuming children’s literature with diverse protagonists helped children develop more understanding of people who were of different backgrounds. Previous studies have also found that such books can help push back on stereotypes children may hold.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="79u2Nf">
|
||||||
|
Additionally, such lessons ensure that Asian American students feel seen and included.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iwCj74">
|
||||||
|
“It’s hard for children. … When you don’t know about the contributions of Asian Americans and you’re an Asian American yourself, you don’t have mentors and people to look up to,” says Hartlep. “If you don’t see yourself in the curriculum, and you don’t see yourself in the classroom, it’s like where do you belong? It makes you feel invisible and it doesn’t lead to empowerment.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oynuW0">
|
||||||
|
This bill points to the important role that schools can play in providing important historic context that informs students and nurtures empathy. It’s also just the latest act the state has taken to make its public school curriculums more inclusive: Last year, Illinois approved a new law requiring history lessons to <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-lgbtq-history-illinois-schools-
|
||||||
|
law-20190826-m2k4qtpiifhkzp5a76dwtwlbwy-story.html">include the contributions of LGBTQ people</a>, and earlier this spring, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/05/13/illinois-black-history-schools">another law expanded the scope of Black history taught in schools</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aJml6m">
|
||||||
|
Pai notes that the GOP focus on critical race theory — a term that’s been used as a catchall by conservatives to describe education that addresses race — did not play a major role in the discussions of this bill, which garnered widespread support in Illinois’s mostly Democratic legislature.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EaUEO6">
|
||||||
|
Experts have also theorized that this legislation’s focus on the inclusion of Asian American history and contributions, rather than calling out systemic racism outright, may have made it less likely to prompt conservative pushback. “This law … doesn’t call out white supremacy, so it can be very palatable,” says Hartlep.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aTA2tj">
|
||||||
|
An, the Kennesaw State curriculums expert, says that Illinois’s actions could spur momentum for concurrent efforts taking place in other states, though she says comparable bills are likely to be a tougher sell in more conservative places, like Georgia, where she lives. Still, it’s a change that helps set a precedent, she says.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GXQT33">
|
||||||
|
“We have a grassroots movement right now to benchmark Illinois and do something similar,” An says.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hiXFbr">
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Why we love drugs</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/y37TkktlTOvXWwFKMaqMDg_mOvs=/223x0:4831x3456/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69605222/GettyImages_1298827760.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Cacti containing hallucinogenic mescaline, raised in a private garden in Oakland, California. | Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan on America’s broken — but improving — relationship with drugs.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OO9IYH">
|
||||||
|
What makes a drug a drug?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LeySWq">
|
||||||
|
It’s strange to say, but we don’t really have a good definition of the term. You could say a drug is any substance that transforms our subjective experience of the world, but food does that, too. So what’s the difference?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ahmiQV">
|
||||||
|
In this country, it turns out the difference is pretty arbitrary. Drugs are whatever the government says they are. And for a long time, the government has classified them in a deeply dishonest and cynical way. We call this absurdity “the drug war.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VUC6R3">
|
||||||
|
But here’s the good news (especially if you’re one of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/7/1/5850830/war-on-drugs-racist-
|
||||||
|
minorities">the groups victimized by it</a>): The drug war is dying. You can see it in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/12/22371929/marijuana-legalization-new-mexico-virginia-new-york-biden">marijuana legalization movement</a> and you can see it in the so-called <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-
|
||||||
|
health/2019/1/10/18007558/denver-psilocybin-psychedelic-mushrooms-ayahuasca-depression-mental-health">psychedelic renaissance</a>. The country will have to think seriously about what comes next. How will our taboos shift? What sorts of reforms will we need? What kind of cultural infrastructure should we build?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uLDzox">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan is perhaps best known for his 2006 book <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.penguinrandomhouse.com%2Fbooks%2F292953%2Fthe-
|
||||||
|
omnivores-dilemma-by-michael-pollan%2F&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fvox-conversations-
|
||||||
|
podcast%2F22526097%2Fvox-conversations-michael-pollan-this-is-your-mind-on-plants" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>The Omnivore’s Dilemma</em></a>, but his 2018 work <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-
|
||||||
|
Consciousness-
|
||||||
|
Transcendence/dp/1594204225?ots=1&slotNum=3&imprToken=d2bd176e-ee69-08cd-7bc&ascsubtag=%5B%5Dvx%5Bp%5D17103529%5Bt%5Dw%5Br%5Dgoogle.com%5Bd%5DD"><em>How to Change Your Mind</em></a> did more than any other to vault psychedelics into the mainstream, and it remains one of the best explorations of the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bMEIKU">
|
||||||
|
Pollan’s latest book, published in July, is titled <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.penguinrandomhouse.com%2Fbooks%2F665612%2Fthis-
|
||||||
|
is-your-mind-on-plants-by-michael-pollan%2F&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fvox-conversations-
|
||||||
|
podcast%2F22526097%2Fvox-conversations-michael-pollan-this-is-your-mind-on-plants" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>This Is Your Mind on Plants</em></a>. This one is about psychedelics too, but it’s a much broader look at our all-too-human obsession with psychoactive plants — not just hallucinogens but also caffeine and opium — and why our culture has such a fraught relationship with them.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ir7SbO">
|
||||||
|
So we talk about all that, and we explore what we can learn from other cultures about how to use psychedelics, and why he thinks these plants are powerful antidotes to our disconnected lives.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NEjsrQ">
|
||||||
|
You can hear our entire conversation (as always, there’s much more) in this week’s episode of<em> </em><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vox-
|
||||||
|
conversations/id1081584611"><em>Vox Conversations</em></a>. A transcript, edited for length and clarity, follows.
|
||||||
|
</p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<div id="hRXax5">
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aOIDzB">
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dgytj2">
|
||||||
|
Subscribe to <em>Vox Conversations</em> on <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vox-conversations/id1215557536">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/search/vox%20conversations">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6NOJ6IkTb2GWMj1RpmtnxP">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/vox-
|
||||||
|
conversations">Stitcher</a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="tu4sWU"/>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="AYsq1s">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KLRNde">
|
||||||
|
I’ll start with a deceptively simple question: What is a drug?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="1vnveC">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c7JCp3">
|
||||||
|
It’s deceptively simple because it’s very hard to say. I think of it as something we ingest that changes us in some way, but of course you could also say that about sugar or chicken soup. I went to the Food and Drug Administration, who you’d think would have nailed this down a long time ago, but <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-approvals-and-databases/drugsfda-glossary-terms">they basically decided</a> that a drug is a “substance” that is not food that is called a drug by the FDA. That’s how they define a “drug.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="KgcCEu">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U2N2ge">
|
||||||
|
It’s still not at all clear to me what makes a “drug” a drug and food food.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="YLQgq0">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EfRbYe">
|
||||||
|
There are a lot of cases right on the edge. Sugar is a great example. If you’ve got kids and you’ve watched how they respond to sugar, there’s no question it’s a drug. But then what about a placebo? That is something that you ingest that changes you, but it’s not a drug in the pharmacopeia. So it’s a mess. All of this shows that there’s something very arbitrary about illicit versus licit drugs. An illicit drug seems to be whatever the government has decided is illicit.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="4wXZEY">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v79FN3">
|
||||||
|
We’ll get to that, but let’s step back a little. Humans have always — and I mean always — loved drugs. Why do you think we’re so determined to change our own consciousness? What is it about ordinary states of consciousness that bores us or scares or limits us?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="NduS4k">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GWgJ1M">
|
||||||
|
I’ve been interested in this question for a very long time, as long as I’ve been writing about the relationship between plants and people. It’s very curious that this appears to be a universal desire of our species to change consciousness, that we’re not satisfied with everyday normal consciousness. You alluded to one reason, which is boredom. I think that people seek novelty, and they seek novelty in states of mind as well as places and activities, so that’s one.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ta9l2k">
|
||||||
|
The relief of pain is another, and that’s one of the most important things we’ve used drugs for. For most of the history of what we now call medicine, pain relief was about all you could get out of it. Opium was the greatest drug in the pharmacopeia because it could relieve pain. And other drugs, whether they act directly on pain or not, distract you from pain, and that’s often just as good. Cannabis works that way for some people. It doesn’t really diminish pain, but at certain doses you just don’t give a shit about the pain.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UNZ1Tq">
|
||||||
|
But I think that there are more interesting reasons that we use drugs. One is, the novelty they contribute is useful to us as a species. The way I describe it in the book is that they’re mutagens in a cultural sense. In the same way that mutations in DNA lead to variation and every now and then produce useful traits that then give an advantage to the individuals or the species that acquire them, drugs have a similar mutating effect on cultural memes. They give people ideas, they plant metaphors, images, all these things that feed into cultural evolution in a way similar to the way mutation and variation feed into biological evolution. That’s pretty speculative, and I don’t know that I could prove it scientifically, but I think that’s part of what’s going on.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WvmhcR">
|
||||||
|
The other important things that drugs do is increase sociality. Drugs like alcohol make people more fluid socially, more interested in other people. MDMA does this, too. Activities that make us more sociable creatures are very important to our success as a species.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="KTeljc">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UkEA4J">
|
||||||
|
Our popular conception of drugs seems so flat in comparison to what you’re saying now.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="EdQAI7">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8ATzAY">
|
||||||
|
During this last 50 years of the drug war, we’ve lost track of this. We’ve really simplified our view of drugs into good and evil. We tend to moralize them, and we’ve lost track of the fact that something that could be dangerous used in a certain way could also be incredibly helpful in another way.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x6sAED">
|
||||||
|
The Greeks really got it with their word for drugs, they called them “pharmakon<em>.</em>” That could mean both a blessing and a curse depending on the context, and context is everything when it comes to drugs. There was also a third meaning of pharmakon, which was something like “scapegoat.” That’s very revealing. A drug was something you could blame things on. And God knows we’ve done that.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="bWNYoj">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R043Q3">
|
||||||
|
I’d argue that our most incontestable right as human beings is the right to experiment with our own consciousness, with our own minds. Why do you think the state is committed to policing how and whether we do this?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="qNWw5W">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hNBjuJ">
|
||||||
|
I think it’s because the state regards drug use as a tremendous threat. There are certain drugs that contribute to the smooth working of society, like coffee today. But I wrote about coffee in the book and there were lots of problems when coffee first showed up in Europe. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20201119-how-coffee-forever-changed-britain">King Charles II wanted to ban it</a> briefly because he didn’t like all the political conversation going on in the coffee houses. He felt threatened. He thought it was a seditious beverage, but that didn’t work. It was already too popular and he backed down.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="srU9p4">
|
||||||
|
In general, though, a drug like caffeine is making us better workers, more focused, less drunk. It’s a great drug for capitalism. Capitalism loves caffeine. You need no better proof of that than the existence of the coffee break as an institution. Here’s a case where your employer gives you a drug free of charge and then gives you paid time in which to enjoy it. That’s all you need to know about who’s benefiting from caffeine.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qsXnUm">
|
||||||
|
But then you have something like LSD or psilocybin, which the government took a very strong interest in, even though they’re virtually non-toxic and non-addictive. But they were disruptive to society in the ’60s. Nixon believed that the reason young boys weren’t willing to go to Vietnam was because of drugs and specifically because of LSD. It may have contributed to their willingness to defy authority. These are substances that, taken in the right context, do encourage independent thinking of various kinds.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DebmrL">
|
||||||
|
Here was a rite of passage, but, unlike most rites of passage, LSD didn’t fold the person more tightly into society. It had the opposite effect. It made this young person feel that they were in a whole other culture and wanted to dress differently, talk differently, have different mores. We called it the generation gap. And you had this very interesting and historically pretty novel split in the values of two different generations.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WZ5Fqe">
|
||||||
|
When Nixon decided to launch the drug war in 1971, he did it because he thought these drugs were threatening his political agenda — and he may well have been right.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/EutE2emFlDe8mVkSdCU7a2COWaA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22717010/9780593296905.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="Yh6XrR">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v4pdpK">
|
||||||
|
Oh, he was most definitely right, and it speaks to a broader point you were hinting at earlier: One way to determine what a society really values is to look at the drugs it condones and condemns. And it’s awfully revealing that our society says bourbon and caffeine are good but somehow DMT or psilocybin are bad.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="uQcsRX">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="69oZau">
|
||||||
|
Yeah, but it’s very interesting that those same chemicals are good in other cultures in other contexts. For example, one of the reasons I was so interested in writing about mescaline is that it’s a psychedelic like LSD, but the way it’s used in the Native American church, where it’s a legal sacrament, is the most conservative way imaginable. It is used to enforce social cohesion and help heal traumas. It’s this very conservative model of psychedelic use. And that told me that there’s nothing inherently disruptive about psychedelics — it’s how they’re used.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="PnsCer">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2jRYBw">
|
||||||
|
That will surprise a lot of people. Can you say a bit more about how a drug like mescaline is used to reinforce, as opposed to disrupt,<em> </em>social bonds and values in these communities?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="dn1FIb">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sRLHPG">
|
||||||
|
Well, the indigenous use of psychedelics goes back at least 6,000 years. That’s the oldest evidence we have for the use of mescaline in the form of peyote, the cactus that produces mescaline. These cultures have had a lot of time to experiment with these drugs and figure out what they’re good for. And in most of them it’s always a social application. They don’t use psychedelics alone. It’s always in a group setting and they’re approached with great solemnity and ritual, which I think is incredibly important. They don’t use these drugs (or medicines) for thrills. It’s for communal healing.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||||||
|
<aside id="LJV68U">
|
||||||
|
<q>“It’s extraordinary that the plant world might be offering us an antidote to the flight from nature. These plants call us back to nature, and nothing seems more valuable right now than something with that power.”</q>
|
||||||
|
</aside>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="zJYOCt">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cl8gJ0">
|
||||||
|
Why didn’t that happen here?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="nbJ6Yz">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kZhArL">
|
||||||
|
One of the most striking things about psychedelics is when they showed up in the West, beginning with Albert Hoffman’s discovery of LSD in 1938, they were novelties. We didn’t look to traditional cultures to understand them, probably out of condescension. So these powerful substances arrived without an instruction manual.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WXcKqd">
|
||||||
|
So we just started that process of trial and error that other cultures may have gone through 10,000 years ago. We began in the ’50s and ’60s, and there was a little bit of research into their potential as medicines, but we didn’t know how to use them. We tried lots of things, and some of it was disastrous, and people got into serious trouble.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dNSedP">
|
||||||
|
But now we’re in the midst of this renaissance in psychedelic research, and it’s leading to new ways to use these drugs therapeutically that I think the government will actually support very soon. That’s a huge turnaround. And maybe that will change our understanding of psychedelics from something that disrupts our society to something that helps smooth the operation of society, because right now mental health difficulty is what’s disrupting our society.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="EPFayN">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UgPvYx">
|
||||||
|
Well, the good news is that the dumb taboos created by the drug war are dying and the laws are starting to evolve, which raises the question: What comes next? How do we fold these substances into society?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="ymukob">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xMvPt7">
|
||||||
|
That’s a fascinating question. What does the piece look like after the drug war? I don’t have the answers but I have some glimmers of answers. I think that in a way the drug war made things easy, because we didn’t have to have this conversation — it was either the drug was illegal or it was legal and we let the government decide. These questions will fall to individuals and cultures when the drug war ends.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bJpYZm">
|
||||||
|
One of the really interesting developments to watch is the formation of these new psychedelic churches, around psilocybin or DMT or ayahuasca. They’re popping up all over the place. People are forming churches because they think it’s going to give them some legal protection, and it may. The jurisprudence of the Supreme Court around religious freedom is so expansive that it’s going to be an exploding cigar in front of Sam Alito or John Roberts when the court has to consider the rights of the Church of Lysergic Acid or something. They’re going to be hard-pressed, given the precedents that they’ve laid down.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="vbetfA">
|
||||||
|
Sean Illing
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rUWApk">
|
||||||
|
A theme in this book and your last one is that human beings have become too separated from nature. I obviously agree and I’d argue that this is maybe the most consequential fact of the post-industrial world. Are you still hopeful that a psychedelic renaissance is at least part of the solution to this problem?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="hOt8AE">
|
||||||
|
Michael Pollan
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7tZPgx">
|
||||||
|
Look, all my writing has been about bringing nature back into people’s lives and realizing how plants affect us and how we affect them. That reconnection is a big part of my life. Our distance from nature, which is even more pronounced in younger generations who’ve grown up with social media, is an enormous threat. And I’m really interested in any research that explores whether psychedelics help with that. I do think psychedelics are an antidote to our mediated lives and our addictions to phones and screens and everything else that comes between us and the natural world.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zGuQjd">
|
||||||
|
Psychedelic takes you off screens. Your phone is not going to be part of the experience, and it is very much about reconnecting to the body, to the contents of the mind, to your memories, and to nature. I had very profound experiences in nature on some of my psychedelic experiences. But again, I was already well-disposed as a gardener to love my plants. What I wasn’t ready for was to have my plants return my gaze in the garden and announce themselves to me in a way they never had before, as agents with their own perspective and subjectivity. I know this sounds absolutely crazy, but my plants were more alive than they’d ever been.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TDWwI5">
|
||||||
|
These are products of nature. This is nature talking to us. And yes, LSD was invented in a lab, but it’s based on a chemical produced by fungus. It’s extraordinary that the plant world might be offering us an antidote to the flight from nature. These plants call us back to nature, and nothing seems more valuable right now than something with that power.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Welcome to the age of billionaire joy rides to space</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="Jeff Bezos stands looking at the Blue Origin rocket on its launchpad." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/Terx_jUPRbTzsFmxiEeYuipyRv8=/0x754:2390x2547/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69605060/blueorigin_ns15_booster_pad.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Blue Origin is launching its first flight with humans, including Jeff Bezos, aboard. | Blue Origin
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Today, Blue Origin is launching its first flight with humans aboard, including billionaire Jeff Bezos.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0V14rw">
|
||||||
|
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is flying straight to the border of space. If all goes well, the billionaire — carried in a rocket built by his space flight company Blue Origin and accompanied by three fellow space tourists — will join a small but growing number of people who have traveled to space but aren’t professionally trained astronauts.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nAyGym">
|
||||||
|
Bezos’s planned trip is a big deal for Blue Origin — although its New Shepard rocket, named after the first American to visit space, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/who-was-alan-
|
||||||
|
shepard-k4.html">Alan Shepard</a>, has already had <a href="https://www.space.com/blue-origin-new-shepard-ns-15-launch-
|
||||||
|
landing-success">15 successful test flights</a>. Tuesday will be the first time the rocket carries humans to space. But more importantly, the journey signals that the era of civilian space tourism is officially here — or at least it is for the very wealthy.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MkRnO8">
|
||||||
|
On July 11, Richard Branson, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22570789/richard-
|
||||||
|
branson-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-spacex-blue-origin-virgin-galactic">fellow billionaire</a> and the founder of space tourism company Virgin Galactic, beat Bezos to the border of space when he flew there on <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/12/1028203/richard-branson-just-flew-to-the-edge-of-space-heres-what-it-
|
||||||
|
means-for-space-travel/">a 90-minute trip </a>with five other passengers on one of his company’s planes.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4K55HD">
|
||||||
|
Bezos’s and Branson’s space travel is a reminder that space is no longer only a place where national governments set out to explore and to learn more about the universe, but <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22570789/richard-branson-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-spacex-blue-origin-virgin-galactic">a terrain that private businesses</a> are capitalizing on. Bezos has <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeff-bezos-
|
||||||
|
blue-origin-targets-bigger-space-goals-11626613203">invested billions</a> of his own money into Blue Origin, and his company recently auctioned a ticket to space on one of its rockets for $28 million.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i1azpS">
|
||||||
|
At <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arbcLLlqzoA">a pre-launch mission briefing</a> on Sunday, Blue Origin’s director of astronaut sales Ariane Cornell said two more flights were anticipated this year and that the company had “already built a robust pipeline of customers that are interested.”<strong> </strong>Analysts at the investment banking firm Canaccord Genuity <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/06/08/space-tourism-wealthy-bezos-musk-
|
||||||
|
branson/">have</a> estimated that tourism to suborbital space could be an $8 billion industry by the end of the decade.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dKouWY">
|
||||||
|
If you want to watch the billionaire’s departure in real time, Blue Origin is hosting <a href="https://www.blueorigin.com/">a live feed</a> on its website.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="FSI1ZF">
|
||||||
|
Tuesday’s flight path
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XYWRky">
|
||||||
|
At 9 am ET on July 20, Blue Origin’s rocket is scheduled to take off from a remote desert in West Texas. At liftoff, the vehicle will launch toward space, carrying a six-seat capsule containing Bezos and the other passengers, pushed upward by a powerful, 60-foot-tall booster rocket.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4q4shhgM4EuNJ7O7QgNQ1BvbwyQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22727336/blueorigin_ns12_liftoff.jpg"/> <cite>Blue Origin</cite></p>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
The July 20 Blue Origin flight will involve a large rocket that shoots a capsule, where the human passengers sit, into space.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jmUT6I">
|
||||||
|
To reach space, New Shepard will move incredibly quickly: <a href="https://www.blueorigin.com/new-shepard/become-an-astronaut">faster than Mach 3</a>, or more than three times the speed of sound. A few minutes into the flight, the capsule will separate from the booster, which will then head back toward Earth and land vertically (ensuring it’s reusable for future flights).
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b8pYDJ">
|
||||||
|
Meanwhile, Blue Origin’s capsule will head to the apex of its flight path and cross the Kármán line, the internationally recognized border between Earth’s atmosphere and space. That’s about 62 miles above the Earth’s surface, about 10 miles higher than Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22570789/richard-branson-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-
|
||||||
|
spacex-blue-origin-virgin-galactic">flight earlier this month</a>. Like that flight, those traveling on Blue Origin’s New Shepard will also see a stunning view of Earth and have the chance to experience weightlessness.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gs4Sfv">
|
||||||
|
“They’re obviously going a little bit higher, a little bit faster, but they’re still only going to have just a few minutes of low microgravity experience before coming right back down,” Wendy Cobb, a professor at the US Air Force’s School of Air and Space Studies, told Recode. ”There’s also the notion of what’s called the ‘overview effect.’ That’s when astronauts do get up into space and are high enough to see the Earth for what it is, and it sort of changes how they view things on Earth.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RSucky">
|
||||||
|
After reaching the apex of the flight, the capsule will head back into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will eventually deploy parachutes to land. Overall, the whole trip is expected to clock in at just <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeff-bezos-in-space-what-the-10-minute-blue-origin-flight-will-
|
||||||
|
be-like-11626372013">over 10 minutes long</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="zLhp2g">
|
||||||
|
Blue Origin’s passengers are making history
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="csEIHz">
|
||||||
|
Jeff Bezos, who founded Blue Origin back in 2000, is fulfilling his lifelong dream of traveling to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22522644/jeff-bezos-astronaut-blue-origin-spacex">space</a>. “If you see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity,” explained the billionaire in <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22522644/jeff-bezos-astronaut-blue-origin-spacex">a video announcing the flight in June</a>. “It’s a big deal for me.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0geoRH">
|
||||||
|
Bezos will be joined by his brother, firefighter and charity executive Mark Bezos. The flight will also carry both the oldest and youngest people to ever visit space: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDyakSKpBmU">Wally Funk</a>, an 82-year-old American aviator, and Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old Dutch teenager. Funk, the Federal Aviation Administration’s first female flight inspector, was one of the first women to train to become a NASA astronaut, but was ultimately denied the chance to travel to space because of her gender. Daemen is joining the flight as Blue Origin’s first paying customer; he’s taking the place of a still-unnamed bidder who paid $28 million for a seat (that person reportedly had a scheduling conflict and will travel on <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeff-bezos-in-space-what-the-10-minute-blue-origin-flight-will-be-like-11626372013">a later flight</a>).
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="puvLFV">
|
||||||
|
While Blue Origin is making history in several ways, the flight is also a reminder that many people see space tourism, at least for the foreseeable future, as primarily funded by and for the very rich — and that it won’t do much to advance science and our understanding of space.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s0XZ3P">
|
||||||
|
“The experience of a few hyper-wealthy amateurs paying $28 million to vomit for 15 minutes probably won’t bring many average people closer to spaceflight or change their impression of it,” Matthew Hersch, <a href="https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/matthew-hersch">a historian of technology</a> at Harvard, told Recode in an email. “Compared to NASA’s space vehicles, they are clever amusement park rides with minimal utility, intended to support a tourism business that has never been part of NASA’s charter.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CLk2JY">
|
||||||
|
In fact, Bezos and Blue Origin are not the only private ventures looking to cash in on joy rides to space. Virgin Galactic, fresh off Branson’s flight, is already moving ahead with its plans to test and modify its planes for <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/16/virgin-galactic-president-mike-moses-on-whats-next-for-the-companys-growing-
|
||||||
|
fleet/">eventual commercial service</a>. And this fall, SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, is sending its rocket to space too, with <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/spacex-inspiration4-full-crew-launching-in-
|
||||||
|
september.html">billionaire Jared Isaacman aboard</a>. At the same time, NASA is also bringing these companies along for more ambitious ventures, including hiring SpaceX to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/30/21264937/spacex-nasa-
|
||||||
|
elon-musk-dragon-capsule-human-launch">transport</a> its astronauts to the International Space Station.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pM2ToQ">
|
||||||
|
“Showing customers [and] showing the world that they have enough confidence in their system to get on board and experience it themselves … is a big part of this,” Cobb, of the Air Force School, told Recode. “Part of it is also ego.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<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>Faster, higher, stronger and now ‘together’: IOC adds fourth Olympic motto</strong> - The motto now reads ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communis’ in Latin</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>How would the Olympic Games tell its own story?</strong> - Goodwill, friendship, and competition … this is what I stand for.</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>Tokyo Olympics reports first case of volunteer testing positive for COVID-19</strong> - The Tokyo Olympic organisers on Tuesday announced the first case of a Games volunteer testing positive for COVID-19 along with seven more contractors</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>Morikawa — taking the pro circuit by storm</strong> - Becomes first player to win two Majors on first attempt</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>Adhiban hits back to beat Vidit</strong> - B. Adhiban hit back against Vidit Gujrathi to force the tie-break games while R. Praggnanandhaa lost the second game against Michael Kransekow in the</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>Congregational prayers for Id banned in Kashmir</strong> - People told to pray at home, trains cancelled as administration cites possible third wave</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>Navy issues Request For Proposal for 6 submarines under Project-75I</strong> - This is the first deal under the strategic partnership model of the procurement procedure</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>Public health above religion, says Bombay High Court</strong> - Disposes of pleas seeking to increase number of animals for sacrifice during Bakrid</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>Classes X, XI, XII to resume in Punjab from July 26</strong> - Chief Minister announces further easing of COVID curbs, including guests at functions</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>Parliament proceedings | Govt seeks Parliament nod for ₹23,675 crore extra spending</strong> - “As the back-to-back loan are to be met from equivalent capital receipts, the … expenditure will not entail any additional cash outgo,” the supplementary demands for grants said</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>Record 430 migrants cross English Channel in single day</strong> - Some 50 people, including women and young children, were seen landing on a Kent beach in a dinghy.</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>UK PM ‘resisted lockdown as only over-80s dying’</strong> - Boris Johnson also questioned whether the NHS would be overwhelmed, his former aide tells the BBC.</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>European Beach Handball Championships: Norway hit with 1,500 euros bikini fine</strong> - Norway are fined 1,500 euros (£1,295) for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms at the European Beach Handball Championships.</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>Tokyo Olympics: Poland send six swimmers home after selecting too many by mistake</strong> - Poland send six swimmers home from the Tokyo Olympics after selecting too many by mistake.</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>Germany floods: Government rejects criticism over flood warnings</strong> - As the flood risks ease, questions are raised whether the high death toll could have been avoided.</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>Watch Live: Blue Origin set to launch Jeff Bezos into space</strong> - Blue Origin plans to fly two more customer flights in 2021. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1781283">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dish switching network to AT&T after calling T-Mobile anticompetitive</strong> - 10-year deal will make AT&T the primary network provider for Dish MVNO business. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1781474">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The surprising connection between a mockingbird’s song and Kendrick Lamar</strong> - A biologist, a neuroscientist, and a musician found four distinct “modes” of transition. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1781239">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pandemic of unvaccinated rages with delta’s spread; cases up in all 50 states</strong> - In polls, the unvaccinated are the least worried about the delta variant. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1781469">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Genealogists say Leonardo da Vinci has 14 living relatives</strong> - The Renaissance artist and scientist’s youngest living relative is 1 year old. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1781436">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>A gorgeous young redhead on a flight from Ireland asked the priest beside her, “Father, may I ask a favor?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Of course child. What may I do for you?”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Well, I bought my mother an expensive hair dryer for her birthday. It is unopened but well over the customs limits and I’m afraid they’ll confiscate it. Is there any way you could carry it through Customs for me? Hide it under your robes perhaps?”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you, I will not lie.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“With your honest face, Father, no one will question you,” she replied.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
When they got to Customs, she let the priest go first. The official asked, “Father, do you have anything to declare?”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“From the top of my head down to my waist I have nothing to declare.”<br/> The official thought this answer strange, so asked, “And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Father replied, “I have a marvelous instrument designed to be used on a woman, which is, to date, unused.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Roaring with laughter, the official said, “Go ahead, Father. Next please!”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/littleboy_xxxx"> /u/littleboy_xxxx </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onug36/a_gorgeous_young_redhead_on_a_flight_from_ireland/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onug36/a_gorgeous_young_redhead_on_a_flight_from_ireland/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>A young man went into confession crying, and told the priest:</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Forgive me father for I have sinned”.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“What have you done?” asked the priest.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“A few weeks ago I went to the library. I remained there until closing time and when I was about to go home, rain started pouring down. It was so intense I had to wait in the library. I had waited for a while with the librarian, a young attractive single girl, then one thing led to another, and I ended up sleeping with her”. The man stopped talking but kept weeping.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Well don’t cry, it’s a sin but it is not that bad. You should say 5 Hail Marys and it will be forgiven”. Said the priest.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“But it doesn’t end there” the man kept sobbing. “a few days later my elderly neighbor asked me to help her with her computer. Her husband was hospitalized and she couldn’t send an email to her son. I went there and fixed the problem, but when I was about to leave, rain started pouring down. It was really stormy and I had to wait. One thing led to another and I ended up sleeping with the old lady” the man cried.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Oh dear well that makes it harder indeed, but still - you should say 15 Hail Marys and you will be forgiven” Said the priest.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Oh I’m afraid the worst part is still ahead” cried the man. “Yesterday I went to the barber. I was his last client that day. As soon as he finished and was about to close the shop rain started pouring down so intensely, I had to wait with him. One thing led to another and I ended up sleeping with him as well” the man cried.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Oh dear, it is indeed worse than I thought” said the priest.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“So what should I do father?” the man asked.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Well” answered the priest, “you should get the fuck out of here before it starts raining!”.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/uriar"> /u/uriar </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onya0j/a_young_man_went_into_confession_crying_and_told/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onya0j/a_young_man_went_into_confession_crying_and_told/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>As I slipped my two fingers slowly inside her hole, I could instantly feel it getting wetter and wetter</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
As I slid my fingers back out, and within seconds, she was going down on me.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
I thought to myself, “I really need a new fucking boat.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Adi_gill"> /u/Adi_gill </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onqmkj/as_i_slipped_my_two_fingers_slowly_inside_her/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onqmkj/as_i_slipped_my_two_fingers_slowly_inside_her/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>What’s the difference between me and cancer?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
My dad didn’t beat cancer.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/somefuckerwithaspoon"> /u/somefuckerwithaspoon </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onrc1v/whats_the_difference_between_me_and_cancer/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onrc1v/whats_the_difference_between_me_and_cancer/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>What do you call a boner at a funeral?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Mourning wood.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/RSdabeast"> /u/RSdabeast </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onie91/what_do_you_call_a_boner_at_a_funeral/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/onie91/what_do_you_call_a_boner_at_a_funeral/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
|
||||||
File diff suppressed because one or more lines are too long
Loading…
Reference in New Issue