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<title>27 December, 2023</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Synthesis and Assembly of mRNA-Bifunctional Lipid Nanoparticle (BLNP) for Selective Delivery of mRNA Vaccines to Dendritic Cells</strong> -
<div>
The fight against COVID-19 pandemic has gained a strong consensus about the importance of developing mRNA vaccines to rapidly respond to an outbreak. Several studies have shown that mRNA vaccines formulated as mRNA-lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for vaccination can elicit a robust and efficient immune response. In this study, we report the preparation of mRNA-bifunctional lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-BLNPs) as vaccines for targeted delivery to dendritic cells (DCs) to improve safety and enhance immune response. Using this DC-targeted delivery system, mice immunized with SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA-BLNP vaccine elicited a stronger immune response with higher titer of neutralizing IgG antibody response than the LNP-formulated vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the spike mRNA-BLNP vaccine with deletion of glycosites in the stem elicited a broadly protective immune response against SARS-CoV-2 and variants. These findings suggest the importance and potential of developing DC-targeted mRNA vaccines to elicit broadly protective immune responses against human viruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.26.572282v1" target="_blank">Synthesis and Assembly of mRNA-Bifunctional Lipid Nanoparticle (BLNP) for Selective Delivery of mRNA Vaccines to Dendritic Cells</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The base media formulation impacts the efficiency of ex-vivo erythropoiesis of primary human hematopoietic stem cells</strong> -
<div>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a disruption in the supply of the widely used erythroid differentiation media product, Iscove’s Modified Dulbecco’s Medium, manufactured by Biochrom AG. IMDM is a critical component of ex vivo erythropoiesis protocols used to generate genetically modified red blood cells for the study of malaria host factors. Therefore, we set out to identify the best alternative IMDM product for efficient erythroid differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells into enucleated red blood cells for use in our research. We tested other IMDM products, including I2911 (from Millipore Sigma), P04-20450 (from Pan Biotech) and EP-CM-L0216 (from ElabScience Technologies) which are all marketed specifically as replacements for the Biochrom AG product. We found that while FG0465, I2911, and P04-20450 were all sufficient for ex-vivo erythropoiesis, FG0465 IMDM was superior to other products tested in supporting maximal erythroid cell proliferation and enucleation.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.24.573281v1" target="_blank">The base media formulation impacts the efficiency of ex-vivo erythropoiesis of primary human hematopoietic stem cells</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Motorhomes as a Housing Alternative for the Indonesian Millennial Generation</strong> -
<div>
Motorhomes/campervans are a long-standing fad that is currently making a resurgence in all parts of the world. Because of the versatility of the motorhome, this lifestyle has grown in popularity, not only among hippies, but also among families who wish to have fun or live a nomadic (moving) existence, especially with the rapid rise of the Internet of Things. We can learn from the Covid-19 pandemic that work and study can be done anywhere, whether at home, in recreational spaces, in third rooms, and so on. Motorhomes can now be purchased at reasonable costs. Furthermore, the motorhome can be customized to meet your specific demands and functions. Motorhomes can be created from simple automobiles using any car foundation, such as an MPV, Van, SUV, Middle Size Bus, Full Size Bus, or even a sedan, rather than full size RVs with big proportions and luxurious equipment. The purpose of this study is to define the motorhome/campervan concept and its potential as an alternative housing type. Furthermore, the potential is fairly large for Indonesian millennials, who appear to have a lot of issues on housing ownership mostly because the affrodability (economic) aspect and also considering the raising on nomadic and flexible lifestyle. Motorhomes are an excellent option to economical housing since they are mobile, have flexible layouts, and provide a comfortable living space especially for Youth Indonesia’s Millenial who’s carving for a unique experience.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/x4zgq/" target="_blank">Motorhomes as a Housing Alternative for the Indonesian Millennial Generation</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>CompHEAR: A Customizable and Scalable Web-Enabled Auditory Performance Evaluation Platform for Cochlear Implant Sound Processing Research</strong> -
<div>
Objective: Cochlear implants (CIs) are auditory prostheses for individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, offering substantial but incomplete restoration of hearing function by stimulating the auditory nerve using electrodes. However, progress in CI performance and innovation has been constrained by the inability to rapidly test multiple sound processing strategies. Current research interfaces provided by major CI manufacturers have limitations in supporting a wide range of auditory experiments due to portability, programming difficulties, and the lack of direct comparison between sound processing algorithms. To address these limitations, we present the CompHEAR research platform, designed specifically for the Cochlear Implant Hackathon, enabling researchers to conduct diverse auditory experiments on a large scale. Study Design: Quasi-experimental. Setting: Virtual. Methods: CompHEAR is an open-source, user-friendly platform which offers flexibility and ease of customization, allowing researchers to set up a broad set of auditory experiments. CompHEAR employs a vocoder to simulate novel sound coding strategies for CIs. It facilitates even distribution of listening tasks among participants and delivers real-time metrics for evaluation. The software architecture underlies the platform's flexibility in experimental design and its wide range of applications in sound processing research. Results: Performance testing of the CompHEAR platform ensured that it could support at least 10,000 concurrent users. The CompHEAR platform was successfully implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and enabled global collaboration for the CI Hackathon (www.cihackathon.com). Conclusion: The CompHEAR platform is a useful research tool that permits comparing diverse signal processing strategies across a variety of auditory tasks with crowdsourced judging. Its versatility, scalability, and ease of use can enable further research with the goal of promoting advancements in cochlear implant performance and improved patient outcomes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.22.573126v1" target="_blank">CompHEAR: A Customizable and Scalable Web-Enabled Auditory Performance Evaluation Platform for Cochlear Implant Sound Processing Research</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Long Covid Perspectives: history, paradigm shifts, global challenges</strong> -
<div>
The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most devastating health disasters in recorded history. In addition to the significant death toll, the pandemic is leaving behind a long tail of prolonged disease and disability. The long-term symptoms, clinical signs and sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection are collectively known as Long Covid – a patient-made term that was created and gained consistency in just a few months in Spring to Summer 2020. Long Covid was openly recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August 2020, following intense advocacy by Covid-19 survivors. Long Covid has been described as the first illness identified, named and defined by patients finding one other on social media such as Twitter. As a disease entity named and defined collectively by patients, Long Covid has the potential to change knowledge building in medicine, while centring patient expertise within the biomedical community. This paper will, first, explore the rise of Long Covid as patient-made term, clinical entity and collective, grassroots, international advocacy–research movement in early 2020 and beyond. This happened while people with Covid-19 suffered abandonment and lack of care in the pandemic’s disaster context. Second, I will discuss some key paradigm shifts triggered by this ground-breaking patient-driven, collective advocacy–research, while sketching links with earlier patient movements, such as around HIV/AIDS. Then, I will explore the role of Long Covid advocacy–research in our digital era. This advocacy took place during a pandemic when digital spaces such as Twitter and Facebook were often the only arenas available to Covid-19 survivors. Moreover, I will raise some pressing issues around epistemic injustice in relation to the use of patient-produced data and the recognition of patient contributions to knowledge. Finally, I will address the need to fully acknowledge the nature, scope, and severity of Long Covid, which are detailed in thousands of scientific publications, including in relation to the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/u3bfy/" target="_blank">Long Covid Perspectives: history, paradigm shifts, global challenges</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Genomic analysis of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bacteremia reveals genetic features associated with the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Genomic analyses of bacterial isolates are necessary to monitor the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence determinants. Herein, we provide a comprehensive genomic description of a collection of 339 Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from patients with bacteremia between 2014 and 2022. Nosocomial acquisition accounted for 56.6% of episodes, with vascular catheters being the predominant source of infection (31.8%). Cases of fatality (27.4%), persistent bacteremia (19.5%) and diagnosis of septic emboli (24.2%) were documented. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed a 140% increase of the episodes of S. aureus bacteremia per year, with a concomitant increase of the cases from nosocomial origin. This prompted us to investigate the existence of genetic features associated with S. aureus isolates from the COVID-19 pandemic. While genes conferring resistance to {beta}-lactams (blaI-blaR-blaZ), macrolides (ermA, ermC, ermT, mphC, msrA) and aminoglycosides (ant(4')-Ia, ant(9)-Ia, aph(3')-IIIa, aph(2'')-Ih) were prevalent in our collection, detection of the msrA and mphC genes increased significantly in pandemic S. aureus isolates. Similarly, we observed a higher prevalence of isolates carrying the genes encoding the Clumping Factors A and B, involved in fibrinogen binding. Of note, macrolides were extensively used as accessory therapy for COVID-19 and fibrinogen levels were usually elevated upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, our results reveal a remarkable adaptation of the S. aureus isolates to the COVID-19 pandemic context and demonstrates the potential of whole-genome sequencing to conduct molecular epidemiology studies.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.22.572975v1" target="_blank">Genomic analysis of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bacteremia reveals genetic features associated with the COVID-19 pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Virion morphology and on-virus spike protein structures of diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> -
<div>
The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased fitness has been accompanied by structural changes in the spike (S) proteins that are the major target for the adaptive immune response. Single-particle cryo-EM analysis of soluble S from SARS-CoV-2 variants has revealed this structural adaptation at high-resolution. The analysis of S trimers in situ on intact virions has the potential to provide more functionally relevant insights into S structure and virion morphology. Here, we characterized B.1, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, and Mu variants by cryo-electron microscopy and tomography, assessing S cleavage, virion morphology, S incorporation, "in-situ" high-resolution S structures and the range of S conformational states. We found no evidence for adaptive changes in virion morphology, but describe multiple different positions in the S protein where amino acid changes alter local protein structure. Considered together, our data is consistent with a model where amino acid changes at multiple positions from the top to the base of the spike cause structural changes that can modulate the conformational dynamics of S.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.21.572824v1" target="_blank">Virion morphology and on-virus spike protein structures of diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) era impact on incidence of sudden deaths due to Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) in States and Union Territories of India- A cross-sectional comparative study (2018-2022)</strong> -
<div>
Background-COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease). There is lack of comparative assessment on the incidence of sudden death due to MI during and before COVID-19. This study aimed to quantify this assessment. Another quest to start this study is that several studies have reported COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis/cardiomyopathy. Methods and results-This study was based on NCRB data from all states and UTs of India who died suddenly due to MI between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2022. 5 coastal states of India accounts for about 70 % of all MI cases related sudden death. The base year 2018 is having least whereas the last year 2022 is having the largest number of total new MI cases related mortality detected in one individual year. The largest and noteworthy percent change in sudden death due to MI in males is found in 2022 when it increased by 14.26% (is it due to delayed cardiomyopathy due to COVID-19 or its due to Vaccine? This will be a matter of research in coming era). This study revealed that there is 25.80 percent increase in total number of new MI cases related mortality in 2022 in comparison to pre-COVID-19 year of 2018. There is an overall increase of 11.24 percent in sudden death due to MI cases in males during the COVID-19 period. The Male-Sudden death due to Myocardial Infarction increased during COVID-19 year 2022 by 26.71 percent in comparison to 2018 pre- COVID-19 year. Conclusion-Sudden death due to MI increased during COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/dcr9a/" target="_blank">The SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) era impact on incidence of sudden deaths due to Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) in States and Union Territories of India- A cross-sectional comparative study (2018-2022)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>MixOmics Integration of Biological Datasets Identifies Highly Correlated Key Variables of COVID-19 severity.</strong> -
<div>
BackgroundDespite several years since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, challenges remain in understanding the factors that can predict the severity of COVID-19 disease and complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection. While many large-scale Multiomic datasets have been published, integration of these datasets has the potential to substantially increase the biological insight gained allowing a more complex comprehension of the disease pathogenesis. Such insight may improve our ability to predict disease progression, detect severe cases more rapidly and develop effective therapeutics. MethodsIn this study we have applied an innovative machine learning algorithm to delineate COVID-severity based on integration of paired samples of proteomic and transcriptomic data from a small cohort of patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection with differential disease severity. Targeted plasma proteomics and an onco-immune targeted transcriptomic panel was performed on sequential samples from a cohort of 23 severe, 21 moderate and 10 mild COVID-19 patients. We applied DIABLO, a new integrative method, to identify multi- omics biomarker panels that can discriminate between multiple phenotypic groups, such as the varied severity of disease in COVID-19 patients. ResultsAs COVID-19 severity is known among our sample group, we can train models using this as the outcome variable and calculate features that are important predictors of severe disease. In this study, we detect highly correlated key variables of severe COVID-19 using transcriptomic discriminant analysis and multi-omics integration methods. ConclusionsThis approach highlights the power of data integration from a small cohort of patients offering a better biological understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving COVID-19 severity and an opportunity to improve prediction of disease trajectories and targeted therapeutics.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.14.557558v2" target="_blank">MixOmics Integration of Biological Datasets Identifies Highly Correlated Key Variables of COVID-19 severity.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in wastewater: an assessment of nine computational tools using simulated genomic data</strong> -
<div>
Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) is an important epidemiological and public health tool for tracking pathogens across the scale of a building, neighbourhood, city, or region. WBS gained widespread adoption globally during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for estimating community infection levels by qPCR. Sequencing pathogen genes or genomes from wastewater adds information about pathogen genetic diversity which can be used to identify viral lineages (including variants of concern) that are circulating in a local population. Capturing the genetic diversity by WBS sequencing is not trivial, as wastewater samples often contain a diverse mixture of viral lineages with real mutations and sequencing errors, which must be deconvoluted computationally from short sequencing reads. In this study we assess nine different computational tools that have recently been developed to address this challenge. We simulated 100 wastewater sequence samples consisting of SARS-CoV-2 BA.1, BA.2, and Delta lineages, in various mixtures, as well as a Delta-Omicron recombinant and a synthetic novel lineage. Most tools performed well in identifying the true lineages present and estimating their relative abundances, and were generally robust to variation in sequencing depth and read length. While many tools identified lineages present down to 1% frequency, results were more reliable above a 5% threshold. The presence of an unknown synthetic lineage, which represents an unclassified SARS-CoV-2 lineage, increases the error in relative abundance estimates of other lineages, but the magnitude of this effect was small for most tools. The tools also varied in how they labelled novel synthetic lineages and recombinants. While our simulated dataset represents just one of many possible use cases for these methods, we hope it helps users understand potential sources of noise or bias in wastewater sequencing data and to appreciate the commonalities and differences across methods.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.20.572426v1" target="_blank">Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in wastewater: an assessment of nine computational tools using simulated genomic data</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Deciphering Abnormal Platelet Subpopulations in Inflammatory Diseases through Machine Learning and Single-Cell Transcriptomics</strong> -
<div>
Introduction: The transcriptional heterogeneity of activated platelets, play a significant role in contributing to negative outcomes in sepsis, COVID-19, and autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Despite this, our understanding of these heterogeneous platelet responses remains limited. In this study, we aim to investigate the diverse transcriptional profiles of activated platelets in these diseases, with the goal of deciphering this platelet heterogeneity for new therapeutic strategies to target abnormal and pathogenic platelet subtypes. Materials and methods: We obtained the single cell transcriptional profiles of blood platelets from patients with COVID-19, sepsis, and SLE. Utilizing machine learning algorithms, Deep Neural Network (DNN) and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), we discerned the distinct transcriptomic signatures indicative of fatal versus survival clinical outcomes. Our methodological framework incorporated source data annotations and platelet markers and used SingleR and Seurat for detailed profiling. Additionally, we implemented Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) for dimensionality reduction and visualization, aiding in the detection of various platelet subtypes and their correlation with disease status and patient outcomes. Results: Our study identified distinct platelet subpopulations that are associated with disease severity. We demonstrated that alterations in platelet transcription patterns can exacerbate endotheliopathy, potentially heightening the risk of coagulation in fatal patients. Moreover, these changes can also influence lymphocyte function, indicating a more extensive role for platelets in inflammatory and immune responses. Conclusions: Enhanced transcriptional heterogeneity in activated platelets is linked to adverse outcomes in conditions such as sepsis, COVID-19, and autoimmune diseases. The discovery of these unique platelet subpopulations paves the way for innovative therapeutic strategies targeting platelet activation, which could potentially improve patient outcomes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.20.572680v1" target="_blank">Deciphering Abnormal Platelet Subpopulations in Inflammatory Diseases through Machine Learning and Single-Cell Transcriptomics</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Persistence of an infectious form of SARS-CoV-2 post protease inhibitor treatment of permissive cells in vitro</strong> -
<div>
Reports have described SARS-CoV-2 rebound in COVID-19 patients treated with nirmatrelvir, a 3CL protease inhibitor. The cause remains a mystery, although drug resistance, re-infection, and lack of adequate immune responses have been excluded. We now present virologic findings that provide a clue to the cause of viral rebound, which occurs in ~20% of the treated cases. The persistence of an intermediary form of infectious SARS-CoV-2 was experimentally documented in vitro after treatment with nirmatrelvir or another 3CL protease inhibitor, but not with a polymerase inhibitor, remdesivir. This infectious intermediate decayed slowly with a half-life of ~1 day, suggesting that its persistence could outlive the treatment course to re-ignited SARS-CoV-2 infection as the drug is eliminated. Additional studies are needed to define the nature of this viral intermediate, but our findings point to a particular direction for future investigation and offer a specific treatment recommendation that should be tested clinically.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.20.572655v1" target="_blank">Persistence of an infectious form of SARS-CoV-2 post protease inhibitor treatment of permissive cells in vitro</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Humoral immune responses to the monovalent XBB.1.5-adapted BNT162b2 mRNA booster</strong> -
<div>
Continued SARS-CoV-2 evolution and immune escape necessitated the development of updated vaccines, and a monovalent vaccine incorporating the XBB.1.5 variant spike protein is currently being rolled out. Amidst the emergence of the highly mutated BA.2.86 lineage and against the backdrop of pronounced immune imprinting, it is important to characterize the antibody responses following vaccination, particularly in the elderly. Here, we show that the monovalent XBB.1.5-adapted booster vaccination substantially enhanced both binding and neutralising antibody responses against a panel of variants, including BA.2.86, in an older population with four or more previous vaccine doses. Furthermore, neutralizing antibody titers to XBB.1.5 and BA.2.86 were boosted more strongly than titers to historical variants were. Our findings thereby suggest increased vaccine induced protection against both antigenically matched variants, as well as the more distant BA.2.86 variant, and support current vaccine policies recommending a monovalent XBB.1.5 booster dose to older individuals.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.21.572575v1" target="_blank">Humoral immune responses to the monovalent XBB.1.5-adapted BNT162b2 mRNA booster</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Appraising the decision-making process concerning COVID-19 policy in postsecondary education in Canada: A critical scoping review protocol</strong> -
<div>
Responses to COVID-19 in Canadian postsecondary education have overhauled usual norms and practices, with policies of unclear rationale implemented under the pressure of a public health emergency. However, despite the unprecedented nature of these policies and their dramatic impact on millions of lives, the decision-making process leading to them has not been documented or appraised. Drawing from macro and micro theories of public policy, specifically the critical tradition in policy studies exemplified by Carol Bacchi’s approach “What is the problem represented to be” (WPR), we will conduct a scoping review of COVID-19 policies in Canadian postsecondary education, guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for scoping reviews and by the team-based approach of Levan and colleagues. Data will include diverse and publicly available documents to capture multiple stakeholders’ perspectives on the phenomenon of interest, and will be retrieved from university, newsletter, and legal websites through combinations of search terms adapted to specific data types. Two reviewers will independently screen, chart, analyse and synthesize the data and disagreements will be resolved through full team discussion. By identifying, summarizing, and appraising the evidence, our review should inform practices that can contribute to effective and equitable public health policies in postsecondary institutions moving forward.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/u3e28/" target="_blank">Appraising the decision-making process concerning COVID-19 policy in postsecondary education in Canada: A critical scoping review protocol</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in primary human nasal cultures demonstrates Delta as most cytopathic and Omicron as fastest replicating</strong> -
<div>
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was marked with emerging viral variants, some of which were designated as variants of concern (VOCs) due to selection and rapid circulation in the human population. Here we elucidate functional features of each VOC linked to variations in replication rate. Patient-derived primary nasal cultures grown at air-liquid-interface (ALI) were used to model upper-respiratory infection and human lung epithelial cell lines used to model lower-respiratory infection. All VOCs replicated to higher titers than the ancestral virus, suggesting a selection for replication efficiency. In primary nasal cultures, Omicron replicated to the highest titers at early time points, followed by Delta, paralleling comparative studies of population sampling. All SARS-CoV-2 viruses entered the cell primarily via a transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2)-dependent pathway, and Omicron was more likely to use an endosomal route of entry. All VOCs activated and overcame dsRNA-induced cellular responses including interferon (IFN) signaling, oligoadenylate ribonuclease L degradation and protein kinase R activation. Among the VOCs, Omicron infection induced expression of the most IFN and IFN stimulated genes. Infections in nasal cultures resulted in cellular damage, including a compromise of cell-barrier integrity and loss of nasal cilia and ciliary beating function, especially during Delta infection. Overall, Omicron was optimized for replication in the upper-respiratory system and least-favorable in the lower-respiratory cell line; and Delta was the most cytopathic for both upper and lower respiratory cells. Our findings highlight the functional differences among VOCs at the cellular level and imply distinct mechanisms of pathogenesis in infected individuals.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.24.553565v2" target="_blank">Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in primary human nasal cultures demonstrates Delta as most cytopathic and Omicron as fastest replicating</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>Safety and Immunogenicity of a Booster Vaccination With an Adapted Vaccine</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV2 Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: PHH-1V81; Biological: Comirnaty Omicron XBB1.5 <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Hipra Scientific, S.L.U <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>A Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Immunogenicity of a Combined Modified RNA Vaccine Candidate Against COVID-19 and Influenza.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Influenza; COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Influenza and COVID-19 Combination A; Biological: Licensed influenza vaccine; Biological: COVID-19 Vaccine; Biological: Influenza and COVID-19 Combination B; Biological: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: BioNTech SE; 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>Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) in Post-COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-COVID-19 Syndrome; Fatigue <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Transcranial pulse stimulation Verum; Device: Transcranial pulse stimulation Sham <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Medical University of Vienna; Campus Bio-Medico University <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>Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of “Formosa 1-Breath Free (NRICM101)” in Subjects With the Symptoms of COVID-19 or Influenza-like Disease</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Influenza Viral Infections; COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Formosa 1-Breath Free (NRICM101); Drug: Placebo control drug <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: China Medical University Hospital; Tian-I Pharmaceutical,. Co. Ltd.; China Medical University, China; Qualitix Clinical Research 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>A Phase 3 Clinical Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety and Immunogenicity of Booster Vaccination With Recombinant COVID-19 (XBB) Trimer Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 (XBB) Trimer Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell); Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Variant Vaccine (Sf9 Cell); Biological: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd.; WestVac Biopharma (Guangzhou) 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>Restoring Energy With Sub-symptom Threshold Optimized Rehabilitation Exercise for Long COVID</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19; Exercise Intolerance, Riboflavin-Responsive <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Restoring Energy with Sub-symptom Threshold Aerobic Rehabilitation Exercise; Behavioral: Light Stretching/Breathing Exercises <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Columbia University; New York 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>A Pilot Study of Liraglutide (A Weight Loss Drug) in High Risk Obese Participants With Cognitive and Memory Issues</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Multiple Sclerosis; Long COVID; Long Covid19; Obese; Obesity; Obesity, Morbid; Acute Leukemia in Remission <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Liraglutide Pen Injector [Saxenda]; Other: Medication Diary <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Chicago <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>Safety and Immunogenicity of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent Protein Vaccine （CHO Cell）LYB002V14 in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 Vaccine <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: 30μg dose of LYB002V14; Biological: 60μg dose of LYB002V14; Biological: placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Guangzhou Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.; Yantai Patronus Biotech 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>Exercise Training Using an App on Physical Cardiovascular Function Individuals With Post-covid-19 Syndrome</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Exercise; Behavioral: Control <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Nove de Julho <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>COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Recurrent Infection Among Lung Cancer Patients and Biomarker Research</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 Recurrent; Lung Cancer; Vaccination; Antibody; Chemotherapy; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Any Chinese government-recommended COVID-19 booster vaccine <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Peking Union Medical College Hospital <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>Excessive daytime sleepiness is associated with impaired antibody response to influenza vaccination in older male adults</strong> - CONCLUSION: Our results provide an additional and easily measured variable explaining poor vaccine effectiveness in older adults. Our results support that gaining sufficient sleep is a simple non-vaccine interventional approach to improve influenza immune responses in older adults. Our findings extend the literature on the negative influence of excessive daytime sleepiness on immune responses to influenza vaccination in older male adults.</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>Elevated ferritin, mediated by IL-18 is associated with systemic inflammation and mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Ferritin is a clinically useful biomarker in ARDS and is associated with worse patient outcomes. These results provide support for prospective interventional trials of immunomodulatory agents targeting IL-18 in this hyperferritinaemic subgroup of patients with ARDS.</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>Sutimlimab suppresses SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine-induced hemolytic crisis in a patient with cold agglutinin disease</strong> - Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a rare form of acquired autoimmune hemolytic anemia driven mainly by antibodies that activate the classical complement pathway. Several patients with CAD experience its development or exacerbation of hemolysis after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or after receiving the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Therefore, these patients cannot receive an additional SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination and have a higher risk of severe 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>COVID-19 in Dental Practice Is Prevented by Eugenol Responsible for the Ambient Odor Specific to Dental Offices: Possibility and Speculation</strong> - Dental professionals routinely work in proximity to patients even when either or both of them have suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The oral cavity also serves as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 because the virus is present in and replicates in oral secretions (saliva and gingival crevicular fluid), oral tissues (salivary gland and periodontal tissue), and oral microenvironments (gingival sulcus and periodontal pocket). Despite a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the prevalence of COVID-19 in…</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>Inhibition of Porcine Deltacoronavirus Entry and Replication by Cepharanthine</strong> - Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging swine enteropathogenic coronavirus (CoV) that mainly causes acute diarrhea/vomiting, dehydration, and mortality in piglets, possessing economic losses and public health concerns. However, there are currently no proven effective antiviral agents against PDCoV. Cepharanthine (CEP) is a naturally occurring alkaloid used as a traditional remedy for radiation-induced symptoms, but its underlying mechanism of CEP against PDCoV has remained elusive. 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>Does denosumab exert a protective effect against COVID-19? Results of a large cohort study</strong> - CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that denosumab may be safely continued in COVID-19 patients. RANK/RANKL inhibition seems associated with a reduced incidence of symptomatic COVID-19, particularly among the elderly.</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>Intranasal murine pneumonia virus-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine induces mucosal and serum antibodies in macaques</strong> - Next-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are needed that induce systemic and mucosal immunity. Murine pneumonia virus (MPV), a murine homolog of respiratory syncytial virus, is attenuated by host-range restriction in nonhuman primates and has a tropism for the respiratory tract. We generated MPV vectors expressing the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (MPV/S) or its prefusion-stabilized form (MPV/S-2P). Both vectors replicated similarly in cell culture and stably expressed S. However, only S-2P was…</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>Efficacies of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and GSNO reductase inhibitor in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induced acute lung disease in mice</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which initially surfaced in late 2019, often triggers severe pulmonary complications, encompassing various disease mechanisms such as intense lung inflammation, vascular dysfunction, and pulmonary embolism. Currently, however, there’s no drug addressing all these mechanisms simultaneously. This study explored the multi-targeting potential of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and N6022, an inhibitor of GSNO reductase (GSNOR) on markers…</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>Comparative transcriptome analysis of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and HCoV-229E identifying potential IFN/ISGs targets for inhibiting virus replication</strong> - INTRODUCTION: Since its outbreak in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly across the world, posing significant threats and challenges to global public health. SARS-CoV-2, together with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, is a highly pathogenic coronavirus that contributes to fatal pneumonia. Understanding the similarities and differences at the transcriptome level between SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, as well as MERS-CoV is critical for developing effective strategies against these viruses.</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>Venomous gland transcriptome and venom proteomic analysis of the scorpion Androctonus amoreuxi reveal new peptides with anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity</strong> - The recent COVID-19 pandemic shows the critical need for novel broad spectrum antiviral agents. Scorpion venoms are known to contain highly bioactive peptides, several of which have demonstrated strong antiviral activity against a range of viruses. We have generated the first annotated reference transcriptome for the Androctonus amoreuxi venom gland and used high performance liquid chromatography, transcriptome mining, circular dichroism and mass spectrometric analysis to purify and characterize…</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>Targeting the tissue factor coagulation initiation complex prevents antiphospholipid antibody development</strong> - Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in primary or secondary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are a major cause for acquired thrombophilia, but specific interventions preventing autoimmune aPL development are an unmet clinical need. While autoimmune aPL cross-react with various coagulation regulatory proteins, lipid-reactive and COVID-19 patient-derived aPL recognize the endo-lysosomal phospholipid lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA) presented by the cell surface expressed endothelial protein C receptor…</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>Tissue factor binds to and inhibits interferon-α receptor 1 signaling</strong> - Tissue factor (TF), which is a member of the cytokine receptor family, promotes coagulation and coagulation-dependent inflammation. TF also exerts protective effects through unknown mechanisms. Here, we showed that TF bound to interferon-α receptor 1 (IFNAR1) and antagonized its signaling, preventing spontaneous sterile inflammation and maintaining immune homeostasis. Structural modeling and direct binding studies revealed binding of the TF C-terminal fibronectin III domain to IFNAR1, which…</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>Avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus Beaudette strain NSP9 interacts with STAT1 and inhibits its phosphorylation to facilitate viral replication</strong> - Avian coronavirus, known as infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), is the causative agent of infectious bronchitis (IB). Viral nonstructural proteins play important roles in viral replication and immune modulation. IBV NSP9 is a component of the RNA replication complex for viral replication. In this study, we uncovered a function of NSP9 in immune regulation. First, the host proteins that interacted with NSP9 were screened. The immune-related protein signal transducer and activator of transcription…</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>Cholesterol depletion inhibits rabies virus infection by restricting viral adsorption and fusion</strong> - Rabies is an ancient zoonotic disease caused by the rabies virus (RABV), and a sharp increase in rabies cases and deaths were observed following the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that it still poses a severe public health threat in most countries in the world. Cholesterol is one of the major lipid components in cells, and the exact role of cholesterol in RABV infection remains unclear. In this study, we initially observed that cellular cholesterol levels were significantly elevated in RABV…</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>Clinical utility of quantitative immunoassays and surrogate virus neutralization tests for predicting neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 and BA.5 variants</strong> - Developing new antibody assays for emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants is challenging. SARS-CoV-2 surrogate virus neutralization tests (sVNT) targeting Omicron BA.1 and BA.5 have been devised, but their performance needs to be validated in comparison with quantitative immunoassays. First, using 1749 PRNT-positive sera, we noticed that log-transformed optical density (OD) ratio of wild-type (WT) sVNT exhibited better titer-correlation with plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) than % inhibition…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Colorado’s Top Court Kicked Trump Off the Ballot. Will the Supreme Court Agree?</strong> - A legal scholar analyzes how the nine Justices are likely to view the blockbuster decision. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/colorados-top-court-kicked-trump-off-the-ballot-will-the-supreme-court-agree">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>When Americans Are the Threat at the Border</strong> - Many people charged with trafficking in Tucson are U.S. citizens, suffering from the same problems of poverty and addiction that plague the rest of the country. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/when-americans-are-the-threat-at-the-border">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Netanyahu’s Right-Wing Critics See Israel’s Future</strong> - Danny Danon, the former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, believes there’s no path forward for a Palestinian state. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-netanyahus-right-wing-critics-see-israels-future">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An Unpermitted Shooting Range Upends Life in a Quiet Town</strong> - Residents of Pawlet, Vermont, were accustomed to calm and neighborly interactions. Then a new resident moved in. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/one-mans-war-against-a-small-towns-rules">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Disturbing Impact of the Cyberattack at the British Library</strong> - The library has been incapacitated since October, and the effects have spread beyond researchers and book lovers. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/the-disturbing-impact-of-the-cyberattack-at-the-british-library">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>How 7 scientists feel after the hottest year on record</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Photo of sun setting behind clouds in a blazing orange sky." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XCRYDSeLzrk1grcMlVahfusVecE=/693x0:6240x4160/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73000804/GettyImages_1343480413.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
2023 is now the hottest year on record. | Chuchart Duangdaw/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
What it’s like to study a world facing unprecedented changes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KPjIpA">
2023 is the hottest year in <a href="https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/2023-shatters-climate-records-major-impacts">at least 174 years</a> and recent months have been the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/11/09/earth-hottest-months-climate-warming/">hottest in 125,000 years</a>. All of that warming led to deadly <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23864998/heat-wave-south-america-brazil-australia-argentina-hemisphere-winter">heat waves</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23992678/el-nino-south-america-peru-bolivia-flood-drought-dengue-cop28-climate">disease outbreaks, floods, droughts</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23792828/antarctica-heat-wave-sea-ice-level-record-el-nino">record low ice levels around Antarctica</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h7R7eq">
The extreme weather this year stems in part from natural variability, including a powerful <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23738846/el-nino-2023-weather-heat-wave-climate-change-disaster-flood-rain">El Niño</a> warming pattern in the Pacific Ocean that reshaped weather around the world. But beneath these cycles, humanity’s ravenous appetite for coal, oil, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/fossil-fuels">natural gas</a> is <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/broken-record-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide-levels-jump-again">driving up concentrations of heat-trapping gasses</a> in the atmosphere to levels the Earth hasn’t witnessed for <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide">3 million years</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dyp67y">
This year may be the first time that annual temperatures have risen <a href="https://www.vox.com/23969523/climate-change-cop28-paris-1-5-c-uae-2023-record-warm">1.5 degrees Celsius, 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above the global average</a> at the dawn of the industrial revolution. Under the 2015 Paris agreement, just about every country in the world agreed to keep the planet’s average temperature from rising more than 2°C, striving to stay below 1.5°C. A single year rising past this level doesn’t mean this target is toast, but if people keep heating up the planet, a year like <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/7/5/23784587/hottest-day-heat-wave-recorded-temperature-climate-change">2023 will become one of the coolest</a> we’ll experience in the rest of our lives.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h2Xpfd">
Earlier this month, leaders from around the world just wrapped the largest climate conference in history aimed at preventing this outcome. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/24000157/cop28-climate-conference-uae-dubai-winners-losers-fossil-fuels-methane">COP28</a> meeting in the United Arab Emirates produced an agreement that explicitly called on countries to reduce fossil fuel use for the first time and provide more money to countries facing destruction worsened by warming. But the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/08e08334-f637-4a4f-8374-3f6c24ba7dd2">commitments made so far are still not enough</a> to limit warming to 1.5°C, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4a4Rsa">
Half a world away, scientists who study this warming and its consequences gathered at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco. Climate change is not an abstraction for these researchers, and many are observing it in real time, often in areas that have personal stakes for them. Looking back on the hottest year on record and what little humanity has done about it, some are reckoning with how their own work fits in. From the retreat of Arctic ice to rising demand for air conditioning, scientists with their fingers on the pulse of the planet are experiencing a mix of optimism, dread, and urgency as they endeavor to make their research practical in the real world.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="People in a conventional hall with scientific posters. Signs read: “Cryosphere” and “Earth Cover”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7zn2h_2SJFYh7_acFYxT4TrxnlE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25174092/PXL_20231215_010615844.MP.jpg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
Researchers present their latest results on posters at the 2023 American Geophysical Union annual meeting.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DTLLr2">
I spoke with seven researchers studying Earth’s changes from different angles. Their comments below have been lightly edited.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QOgii6">
<a href="https://fish.uw.edu/faculty/daniel-schindler/">Daniel Schindler</a> at the University of Washington researches how <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> affects aquatic ecosystems, including Alaska’s sockeye, chinook, and chum salmon. He was one of several scientists presenting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/">Arctic Report Card</a> for 2023 at the conference. The Arctic has been <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00498-3">warming four times faster</a> than the rest of the planet, and this year, the region saw its warmest summer since 1900 (when record-keeping began), with knock-on effects like Canada’s worst wildfire season on record. As negotiators in the United Arab Emirates bickered over the future of the planet, Schindler noted that the effects of climate change are underway now, and it’s already reshaping ecosystems and human communities:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wj8k98">
I think the reality is, if you look at Western Alaska, climate change is not something that’s coming down the pipe somewhere in the future. It is happening now, it’s been happening for decades. And whether you’re talking about fish or people or birds, there are real impacts that we need to deal with right now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M3KzTK">
And when you hear about what’s going on at COP28, there may be a reason to be optimistic. But the reality is, we need action on the ground right now, not to necessarily turn around climate change immediately, but to deal with the fact that we’re going to be challenged by it, now and for decades to come, so we need action now at local scales.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cHfLfb">
<a href="https://www.uaf.edu/experts/rick-thoman.php">Rick Thoman</a>, who studies Alaska’s climate and weather at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, echoed the call for more immediate steps to deal with global warming, noting that the Arctic has been at the leading edge of climate change long before it reached the extremes seen this year. The communities there may have important lessons for the rest of the world:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nBX7zk">
As Alaskans, as peoples in the Arctic, we are living this change every day. And we have no choice, no choice at all, other than to work with what’s happening. We need the big picture solutions, but everyone — Indigenous communities, all the people of the Arctic — are having to adapt right here, right now. It didn’t start today. It didn’t start yesterday. This has been ongoing for years. Listen to the elders. This change has been happening for decades, century-scale changes. And Arctic peoples are still here and we’re still going to be here.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sUrlby">
<a href="https://cas.uoregon.edu/directory/profiles/all/scooley2">Sarah Cooley</a>, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, is studying how climate change is altering ice in places like coastal Alaska and has found that when you zoom in, the way it affects people can be quite complicated. How ice melts and the impacts it has on communities can vary drastically, even in nearby regions. With COP28 still falling short of global climate goals, Cooley is also looking into the way the success or failure of international negotiations will manifest on the ground:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QBP6u4">
In this broader context of warming climate, loss of ice, thawing permafrost, threats of coastal erosion, and sea level rise, that’s kind of this giant signal that each person experiences differently depending on their interaction with their environment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eHAn4h">
I get really excited about being able to do research that is locally relevant. One of the things we did in this project is we’re thinking about how Paris climate agreement targets translate to local on-the-ground experiences. If you tell somebody that the Earth is going to warm by 1.5°C or 2°C, that’s an incredibly abstract concept because the difference to us of two degrees doesn’t mean anything. But if you can translate that experience of two degrees warming to an actual on-the-ground experience that’s highly localized — so let’s say a loss of 30 days of ice versus 50 days of ice, which is a huge deal for someone living in the community to lose a month of ice versus losing two months of ice — that to me is really exciting work that we can kind of take large-scale big numbers that are really abstract and bring them down to a local experience.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kFShlZ">
<a href="https://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/people/r_green">Robert Green</a>, a scientist at <a href="https://www.vox.com/space">NASA</a>’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is leading a project to <a href="https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/">track mineral dust</a> using instruments on the International Space Station. This is an important mechanism that can change <a href="https://www.vox.com/air-quality">air quality</a>, the flow of nutrients across the planet, and the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth, which can cool the planet. Green is also keeping an eye on methane, a greenhouse gas with about 30 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. At COP28, countries made <a href="https://www.vox.com/23996919/cop28-climate-methane-pledge-oil-gas-emissions-agriculture">new pledges to curb methane</a>, and Green said scientists can help them meet their targets:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kNqZ1R">
We can tell people where the point sources of methane are, where leaks are happening, and give people the information to address those leaks. And that’s something that is just so important to do. Nobody wants to waste money out of a leaking pipeline. Let’s go ahead and fix those leaks, and we also reduce the impact of methane for climate change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6O3ITx">
I’m excited to be making a difference. I’m an optimistic person, and we can work together to address this problem. It’s not an easy problem, but the pieces are coming together. So I’m going to remain hopeful.
</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Man on stage next to projection of the International Space Station" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0CdKtnJM2cH82aPX4ULhrrWr7Nk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25174086/PXL_20231213_225800412_2.jpeg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
Scientist Robert Green presents NASA’s project to track mineral dust and other substances from the International Space Station.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VzhZ2C">
<a href="https://s3research.usc.edu/about-us/stepp-mayes/">Stepp Mayes</a>, a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, studies how people use electricity and the ensuing consequences for the climate and for health. Lately he’s been examining the growing <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23067049/heat-wave-air-conditioning-cooling-india-climate-change">demand for air conditioning as temperatures rise</a> and the stresses that imparts on the <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy">power grid</a>. As temperatures go up, people install more cooling systems, run them longer, and crank them up during the hottest times of day. That’s often when the power grid is struggling the most to provide electricity. The extreme heat this year coupled with <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23893057/power-electricity-grid-heat-wave-record-blackout-outage-climate">record-high energy demand</a> signals that this work is only going to become more important:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q8PlfF">
It makes me nervous. There’s a big intersection because we’re all about looking at the relationship between temperature and AC use and AC penetration. I think that people are directly responding to increasing temperature, and I think we are going to see that continue as temperatures continue to rise, where our reliance on AC — as a public health issue, and as a grid issue — becomes larger and larger.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IrVet6">
<a href="https://explorer-directory.nationalgeographic.org/aliyah-griffith">Aliyah Griffith</a>, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, studies coral reef infrastructure around places like Barbados, from satellites and from the water. Griffith is also the founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.mahoganymermaids.com/about-us">Mahogany Mermaids</a>, a nonprofit that works to encourage women of color to pursue careers in science, particularly in aquatic fields. The extreme temperatures this year, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23801858/caribbean-heat-wave-dominica-ocean-marine-sea-coral-fish">heat waves in the ocean</a>, have renewed her determination:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MJx6G0">
My family is from Barbados. Not only does that make me feel more driven to answer questions from a scientist’s perspective — how can we help the reefs? How can we understand what they need and what they’re facing? — but also: What do the communities need? How can we interact with their local governments, their local institutions, and understand where they can be elevated? You have to really respect a lot of the work and effort that they’ve already done to see what can change in the future.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H3FaT5">
<a href="https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/about/directory/gordon-walker/">Gordon Walker</a>, a researcher at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, studies paleoclimate, particularly how past shifts in the climate and weather influenced historical events. For instance, changing climate conditions in Africa and the Caribbean were a factor in the slave trade and may have played a part in uprisings. For Walker, the role of the climate in historical periods of unrest is adding urgency for the need to fill in data gaps as the climate breaches records, particularly in regions experiencing the most acute impacts of warming today:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lkGZ2k">
For me — my focus being the Caribbean and Africa, and the transatlantic slave trade, and climate variability associated with those regions and the historical event of the trade — I think that it’s important for us to collect data on regions in the global South — the Caribbean, South America, Africa — because a lot of the science and research is focused on the global North.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hKFcwe">
I think it’s imperative, especially in areas where we don’t have a lot of data, to start collecting data and applying the powers or the tools of analysis that we have for climate to the global South. Because a lot of countries in those regions are not necessarily resource-poor in terms of raw material but resource-poor in terms of economies and having the ability to respond to extreme climate. So I think the greater lead time we have with projections based on studying the past, the better for those countries to be able to respond, especially with limited economies, as compared to countries in the global North.
</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><strong>Silicon Valley’s very masculine year</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Digital illustration depicting the evolution of a man in a zip-up hoodie from sitting at a desk in front of a computer, to crawling, to lunging, to standing up straight on a hoverboard, appearing buff and muscular, with his zip-up hoodie discarded on the ground. This takes place in an office building with a glass wall overlooking skyscrapers." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WxIZoFAwocG7TnkWNeuvlcTYgZM=/358x0:1798x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73000758/Vox_MasculinityProblem_RichardAChance.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Richard A. Chance for Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ravenous, carnivorous, and totally yoked: How men in tech have evolved.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E7hT9j">
Silicon Valley is embracing a new era of masculinity. Its leaders are powerful, virile, and swole. They practice Brazilian jiujitsu and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/technology/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-match.html">want to fight each other in a cage</a>. They <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs1pltwPx1a/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=6bc6f6c2-d27a-4745-a695-e04b2b8dee01">can do 200 push-ups while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest.</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html">They can spend $44 billion on a website as a sort of elaborate joke</a>. They can do all this because if these tech executives are one thing above all else, it is this: They are men.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3VfSr4">
This renewed sense of masculine dominance hit a fever pitch in 2023. The softer, soulful leaders of Silicon Valley’s previous decades have vacated. Gone is the delicate, ascetic presence of <a href="https://www.vox.com/jack-dorsey">Jack Dorsey</a> and the laissez-faire leadership of Sheryl Sandberg. Gone are <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/09/where-have-all-the-girlbosses-gone">the girl bosses</a>. In their absence, the richest, most powerful men in tech are leading Silicon Valley toward a more macho future, one in which strength can be measured in muscles, women are absent from the boardroom, and ruthlessness is a virtue.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ARyry1">
“All of Silicon Valley reminds me of the first <em>Top Gun</em> movie: the abundance of testosterone, like 1970s, 1980s all over again,” said Manu Cornet, a cartoonist and software engineer who formerly worked at <a href="https://www.vox.com/twitter">Twitter</a>, now X. “It’s not even sarcastic or second degree.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9giH1Y">
“It’s a very jacked up movement,” said Glenn Kelman, the CEO of Redfin. “The people I know are thinking about testosterone and eating 500 grams of protein a day. They are ravenous, carnivorous, and totally yoked.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fJ5f42">
Only two decades ago, Silicon Valley’s expression of masculinity was at odds with the status quo. Tech champions were nerds and geeks: skinny outliers in hoodies armed with a nonconformist mentality — a mindset that would prove indispensable to the creation of dozens of companies that launched the digital age. Then came the Obama years, when tech companies were propped up as progressive bastions of diversity and forward-thinking corporate culture. Under the influence of Sheryl Sandberg, Silicon Valley ceded board seats and C-suite jobs to more and more women.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZVhgCZ">
But more recently, these same Silicon Valley companies have begun to look like the conventionally bloated behemoths at the pinnacle of corporate culture. Their leaders, too, have adopted a performance of masculinity that’s strikingly conventional and includes angry rhetoric, muscular physiques, and a newfound interest in physical combat.<em> </em>The men responsible for building the products that touch the daily lives of billions of people display an increasing preoccupation with flaunting masculine bravado. It’s not just for show, either. The way these powerful men run their companies is impacting who is considered welcome in Silicon Valley.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FBz3fT">
Today, there are fewer women in tech leadership roles than only a few years ago, with women representing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/22/female-leadership-in-tech-is-falling.html">28 percent of tech leadership (it was 33 percent at its height)</a>. And this number may only be decreasing: <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/diversity%20and%20inclusion/women%20in%20the%20workplace%202022/women-in-the-workplace-2022.pdf">A 2022 McKinsey study</a> found that women are leaving corporate roles faster than ever before and that they have less representation in technical roles than they did in 2018.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="brlVex">
While it looks like Silicon Valley is regressing, there’s a chance this suddenly hypermasculine culture is just the next logical step in its evolution. Like Wall Street before it, the tech industry is ultimately hell-bent on making as much money as possible. And as economic conditions have shifted, preserving progressive values isn’t necessarily part of that mission.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V4l6j9">
“The truth is that, through these ups and downs, women and people of color haven’t made much progress,” said Kelman. “It’s been a tragedy. I’ve been doing this 30 years — I really thought we would be different by now.”
</p>
<h3 id="Tm0BrG">
The vibe shift: “Now, no one pretends to include women anymore”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1t29xD">
Only a few years ago, it was not so easy to be so unapologetically male in Silicon Valley.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ZGoYV">
These were the 2010s, when Silicon Valley outwardly championed diversity. At the time, having an all-male executive team was considered regressive and slightly embarrassing. Companies introduced diversity initiatives, <a href="https://www.vox.com/venture-capital">venture capital</a> firms loudly backed startups led by women and people of color, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/media">the media</a> wrote glowing profiles about female CEOs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="npZE0I">
“When I started working in this space [a decade ago], it was very male dominated, but everyone pretended to include women,” said Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm Strategy, a Silicon Valley consulting firm that specializes in diversity and inclusion. “Now, it’s still very male dominated, but nobody feels the need to pretend that it’s true.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J8htxU">
These years of PR-friendly progress were only heightened by the pandemic, which ushered in growing awareness surrounding social injustice, racial inequity, and income disparity. Tech employees, suddenly with ample time on their hands and without access to the office’s free-flowing kombucha, began questioning their role not just at work, but in society.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q550Gp">
“I got to this point pre-Covid where I was hustling, and then Covid hit and I had this awakening,” said Brent Boeckman, a coach for the men’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/health">wellness</a> community Evryman who worked in sales at startups and enterprise tech companies for more than a decade. “You’re working but for what?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gPwF5e">
Such personal revelations were highly inconvenient to the bottom line of Silicon Valley’s many corporations. Tech employees began putting in minimal effort at work or quitting their jobs to pursue passion projects. The media wrote about “<a href="https://www.vox.com/money/23733244/bullshit-jobs-work-employment-lazy-jobless-employed-nothing-to-do">quiet quitting</a>,” “<a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23042785/the-great-resignation-older-tenured-higher-paid">the Great Resignation</a>,” and <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/8/2/23815980/hot-strike-summer-labor-union-actors-writers-drivers">labor rights</a>. The status quo was shifting, and tech executives felt it. To appease their employees’ demands, they adopted a meeker stance.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BHGkN8">
“I would talk to CEOs — all men — who would say, ‘I’m not really enjoying my job. I’m the king of the jungle, and yet I’m tiptoeing around my employees,’” said Kelman.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n6aO4s">
By the end of 2022, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/technology/ftx-binance-crypto-explained.html">FTX collapsed</a> and the crypto bubble burst. An uneasy pall fell over the valley. There was a sense of “Holy shit, there’s nothing there!” said Ed Zitron, founder of the consumer tech PR firm EZPR. It was a revelation that made people insecure: One of the most buzzworthy technologies Silicon Valley had produced in decades appeared to be nothing more than hype. As the <a href="https://www.vox.com/economy">economy</a> tightened, the venture capital frenzy cooled, and many of the unprofitable companies of Silicon Valley drew their last breaths.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iA7XKN">
“There was something that cracked in them,” said Zitron. “They saw the world they loved going away, while at the same time making more money than they ever made.”
</p>
<h3 id="y4GyAy">
Buff Bezos and the rise of swole entrepreneurship
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9BtpjF">
To fully understand how we reached this moment of hypermasculinity, you must look farther back, before the pandemic, to 2017, when a pair of arms were first photographed emerging from the sleeves of a snug black polo shirt at a conference in Sun Valley. The arms were tanned and vascular, and they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-looks-ripped-at-sun-valley-conference-photos-2017-7">belonged to Jeff Bezos,</a> a formerly reedy bookseller whose public image up until that point had embodied a sort of endearing, sexless twerpiness.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Iy1QWj">
Bezos’s new appearance signaled a shift in the tech executive’s aesthetic makeup. Previously, the male costume of Silicon Valley was one of studied nonchalance: rumpled T-shirt, messy hair, anemic build — an appearance meant to convey that what actually mattered was the merit of a man’s ideas, not his physical strength.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nysTEl">
But as Silicon Valley generated the richest men on the planet, these men, in turn, were deploying their millions to become more closely aligned with the prototypical image of masculine desire, whether by employing <a href="https://pagesix.com/article/meet-jeff-bezos-personal-trainer-wes-okerson/">Tom Cruise’s personal trainer</a> or <a href="https://pagesix.com/2018/07/25/its-highly-likely-elon-musk-spent-over-20k-on-hair-transplant-surgery-doctor-says/">purchasing a full head of hair</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Jeff Bezos wears aviator sunglasses, a quilted black vest with a laminated name tag, a fitted, black polo shirt, and black, slim-fitting pants. His arms are noticeably muscular. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JeGLAinhgu1-2bLEIaO4MFNzWOM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25179466/GettyImages_813884326.jpg"/> <cite>Drew Angerer/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Jeff Bezos shows off a new physique at the 2017 Allen &amp; Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dSKyMx">
It was an inflection point that slowly rippled through the ranks of Silicon Valley. Soon, venture capitalists were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chamath-palihapitiya-workout-routine-shirtless-selfie-2021-2">posting shirtless photos of themselves on Twitter,</a> flaunting their gains and dropping fitness routines. The message was clear: Physical strength and stamina were necessary prerequisites to building a massive tech company. The more you demanded of yourself physically, the more you could demand of your company.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ha4eoD">
There was also the reality that many tech companies’ leading executives, Bezos included, had reached middle age. Mortality’s inevitable creep was closing in. It seemed unfair — cruel, even — that people who had acquired all that the material realm had to offer might be forced to face a fate so pedestrian as old age and, eventually, death.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gpB5Aq">
Soon, the notion of living a healthy life for as long as absolutely possible became a core component of Silicon Valley dogma. A new cohort of health and longevity <a href="https://www.vox.com/influencers">influencers</a> emerged. Among them is <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/real-life-diet-andrew-huberman">Andrew Huberman</a>, a buff, straight-talking Stanford professor of neurobiology who recommends HIIT workouts and cold baths on his popular podcast, <em>Huberman Lab</em>. And there is <a href="https://time.com/6315607/bryan-johnsons-quest-for-immortality/">Bryan Johnson</a>, a former venture capitalist, who is attempting to achieve his mantra, “Don’t Die,” through a longevity regime that involves a strict diet, going to bed at 8:30 pm, and tracking his nightly erections.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="igcfBD">
When it comes to the Bezos effect, there are some very “boring economic issues” at play, said Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a business <a href="https://www.vox.com/psychology">psychology</a> professor at Columbia University. “There is a cycle in which innovation leads to growth, and then growth hinders innovation.” If the leaders of big tech companies are performing an expression of masculinity identity that feels infinitely more traditional compared to what was championed only a few decades ago, it might be because their companies have become infinitely more traditional.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZEyuZg">
The original founders of today’s tech juggernauts — people who were once “anarchic and rebellious” — have become the institution, according to Chamorro-Premuzic. “These startups matured and started getting lawyers, HR people, sales people,” he said. “They became corporations. They’re more interested in maintaining the growth than being creative.”
</p>
<h3 id="MomPT1">
Mark Zuckerberg learns to fight
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qv8asm">
No company signifies the shift from scrappy startup to corporate establishment more than <a href="https://www.vox.com/meta">Meta</a>, a company that’s better known for ripping off other companies’ ideas than producing its own. And so far, its most original innovation in years — a $10 billion bet on the metaverse — <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/technology/mark-zuckerberg-quietly-buries-the-metaverse">has come up mostly empty</a>. Meanwhile, Meta’s primary strategy to keep growing has been sputtering, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/06/first-time-history-facebook-decline-has-tech-giant-begun-crumble#:~:text=And%20the%20impact%20for%20Facebook,to%20reconsider%20their%20stock%20portfolios.">posing an existential threat to the company</a>. In February 2022, for the first time in history, <a href="https://www.vox.com/facebook">Facebook</a> was losing users. Its stock plunged by 26 percent, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-owner-metas-stock-price-plunges-premarket-jolting-tech-investors-11643887542">wiping out $230 billion in market value. </a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ahsNXm">
It makes sense, then, that Zuckerberg seems to be searching for new ways to transform not only his company’s public image but his own. During the pandemic, Zuckerberg, a self-improvement hobbyist whose wide-ranging interests include <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/fashion/mens-style/mark-zuckerberg-lifestyle-guru.html">learning Mandarin and slaughtering his own meat, discovered the combat sport Brazilian jiujitsu</a>. Immediately, he was hooked. “Like five minutes in, I was like, ‘Where has this been my whole life?’” Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdV36-zYkAg">told Joe Rogan</a> in a 2022 interview. “It really is the best sport.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V9nh7m">
Soon after taking up the new hobby, Zuckerberg was posting about it on <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> — everything from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjMKW4hLypl/">photos at UFC games and </a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CukZy18hHAZ/?img_index=1">sweaty, shirtless selfies with professional kickboxers</a> to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CwsgvUlLtEn/">videos sparring on a barge to the theme of<em> Mission Impossible</em></a>. One of the most iconic images of <a href="https://www.vox.com/mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> following the Cambridge Analytica scandal was a photoshopped portrait <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-about-the-cover/">on the cover of Wired’s March 2018 issue</a>: Zuckerberg, badly beaten, with two black eyes and a bloodied brow, his face made up in an expression of weary introspection.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wa5KuK">
Now, plenty of pictures of Zuckerberg’s bruised and beaten face grace his Instagram, but this time, the beatings are genuine and hard-won. “Sparring got a little out of hand,” a caption reads <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx3vti2yTFf/">beneath a selfie </a>in which he is pictured with bruises beneath his eyes.
</p>
<div id="w0BdUq">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx3vti2yTFf/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (<span class="citation" data-cites="zuck">@zuck</span>)</a>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C1fmyP">
Zuckerberg’s infatuation with MMA has swept through Silicon Valley, too. “MMA isn’t just a sport, it’s <em>the</em> sport,” an effusive Marc Andresseen <a href="https://pmarca.substack.com/p/fighting">wrote in a July 2023 newsletter entitled “FIGHTING.”</a> The prominent venture capitalist added, “It’s important to understand how important — how <em>primal</em> — MMA is in the story of our civilization. MMA is the <em>original</em> combat sport.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MMIIJ8">
Zuckerberg’s interest in MMA also happened to coincide with the 2022 <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23151743/sheryl-sandberg-resigns-meta-facebook-lean-in">departure of Meta’s most public female executive, Sheryl Sandberg.</a> For years, Sandberg’s leadership had come to signify the advent of corporate feminism, bolstered by her bestselling book, <em>Lean In,</em> in which she encourages women to relentlessly pursue their ambitions. But in Sandberg’s absence, Meta has become unrelenting in its own right after Zuckerberg launched <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/03/mark-zuckerberg-meta-year-of-efficiency/">his so-called “year of efficiency.”</a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VU0jfe">
The company <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/18/23688627/meta-layoffs-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-instagram-whatsapp">laid off 10,000 employees </a>in the first few months of 2023, and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/18/metas-stock-wrapping-up-record-year-spurred-by-cost-cuts.html">its stock has rebounded.</a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jhXCEz">
Zuckerberg, in turn, has succeeded in reforming his public image. In a <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/you-dont-know-this-nerd-is-a-silent-killer-a-raging-martial-arts-scene-finds-a-home-in-silicon-valley?utm_campaign=Automated+Fallback+R&amp;utm_content=89&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=cio&amp;utm_term=19&amp;rc=fsazw3">recent interview with the Information</a>, Khai Wu, a professional mixed martial artist who has trained with Zuckerberg, described his impressions of the Meta CEO: “This nerd is a silent killer.”
</p>
<h3 id="arM74U">
Elon Musk’s ruthless rhetoric
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wf57bu">
But even as tech executives flaunt their undisputed dominance, dealmaking in Silicon Valley has become increasingly cutthroat. In August, the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/startups-are-dying-amid-drought-in-venture-funding-a9005ad2">declared</a>: “Startups Are Dying, and Venture Investors Aren’t Saving Them.” Only a few years earlier, these investors had sparked a financing hysteria so frenzied that it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/technology/this-is-insanity-start-ups-end-year-in-a-deal-frenzy.html">was compared to the dot-com boom</a>, but now they were closely guarding their capital. Total venture spending <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/venture-capital-funding-plunges-globally-first-half-despite-ai-frenzy-2023-07-06/">slowed by 48 percent in the first six months of 2023.</a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zNvW06">
Today’s rocky market has given tech executives plenty of opportunities to flex their newly acquired muscles. Or as Kelman, Redfin CEO, puts it, “Capitalism — tooth and claw — will always come out when there’s volatility in the market.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8rf8HR">
Nowhere is this tone of ruthlessness made clearer than in the rhetoric of <a href="https://www.vox.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>, who has spent a good part of 2023 focusing on X, formerly known as Twitter, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/08/elon-musk-apologizes-after-publicly-mocking-twitter-employee-with-disability/">where he’s been harassing his own employees,</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/28/pizzagate-musk-twitter-x-controversy/">posting conspiracy theories</a>, and<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/someone-please-stop-the-musk-vs-zuck-dick-measuring-contest-2023-7"> entreating his competitors to a “literal dick measuring contest.”</a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d5UiHa">
“Elon Musk is pushing back, saying, ‘You literally can’t take me down,’” said Kevin Gibbon, CEO of the e-commerce infrastructure marketplace Airhouse. “Behind closed doors, people are saying the same things that Elon Musk is saying, but he’s one of the only people who can get away with it.”
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<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Elon Musk pictured holding a sink inside an industrial-chic office with concrete pillars and floor-to-ceiling windows. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/276gjZFGB7uTjDfY8OCSwpG6M9E=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25179469/GettyImages_1244262469.jpg"/> <cite>Twitter account of Elon Musk/AFP</cite>
<figcaption>
Elon Musk carries a sink into Twitter headquarters just a few days before taking over over the company.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SK4BPb">
There is the aggressive way in which Musk runs his companies, too. Cornet, the former Twitter engineer, describes it as mayhem by design. In the days following Musk’s takeover at Twitter, Cornet experienced this firsthand: Musk issued orders with urgent deadlines, threatening to fire employees who didn’t meet them. In Cornet’s view, it was a matter of strategy: These impossible-to-meet deadlines ensured that employees would be incapable of questioning Musk’s decisions. The approach seems to make his companies especially difficult for women.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BQQfam">
“After Musk hired a bunch of people it seemed like a disproportionate number of women retired,” Cornet added. “It seemed clear that Twitter had become this really bro-ish place.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5suq1k">
This kind of abrasive management style has become the new norm in Silicon Valley. In the past year, Rajkumari Neogy, a Silicon Valley executive coach, has been asked to intervene on behalf of companies whose executives exhibit a bullish management style.
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“I’ve had to tell very senior leaders, ‘You can’t keep acting like this,’” said Neogy. “It’s all about bullying, micro-managing, reprimanding — it’s always the stick and the carrot.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TTqmft">
As we enter 2024, it’s clear that Silicon Valley’s masculinity phase is far from over. While the pendulum may eventually shift toward a climate that’s slightly more welcoming to women and minorities, it seems unlikely that social progress will become a priority anytime soon within the tightening tech economy.
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Access to abortion pills has grown since Dobbs</strong> -
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<img alt="A box of mifepristone pills, with a silver blister pack taken out of the box, at a pharmacy." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J-tH8ugf2p52-5wrxLsYXCB4LCk=/43x0:5023x3735/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73000705/1607741995.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy and manage early miscarriage. | Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
How activists, clinicians, and businesses are getting abortion medication to all 50 states.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JYSSOW">
Eighteen months <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/3/23055125/roe-v-wade-abortion-rights-supreme-court-dobbs-v-jackson">after the <em>Dobbs </em>v. <em>Jackson </em>decision</a> that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, and with a new <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/12/13/23992173/supreme-court-abortion-ban-mifepristone-danco-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine">Supreme Court challenge pending</a> against the abortion medication <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23679121/mifepristone-abortion-pill-legal">mifepristone</a>, confusion abounds about access to reproductive health care in America.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mcEMgW">
Since the June 2022 decision, abortion rates in states with restrictions have plummeted, and <a href="https://docs.iza.org/dp16608.pdf">researchers estimated</a> last month that the <em>Dobbs </em>decision led to “approximately 32,000 additional annual births resulting from bans.” Journalists <a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/what-its-like-to-have-an-abortion-denied">profiled women</a> who carried to term since <em>Dobbs </em>because they couldn’t afford to travel out of their restrictive state.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tucRWs">
The total number of abortions in the US, however, has <a href="https://societyfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WeCountReport_10.16.23.pdf">increased</a> since the overturn of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/3/23055125/roe-v-wade-abortion-rights-supreme-court-dobbs-v-jackson"><em>Roe v. Wade</em></a><em>, </em>driven by more people ending pregnancies in states that have laws friendly to abortion care.<strong> </strong>And often lost in this conversation<strong> </strong>is the fact that access to medication abortion has actually expanded in significant ways since the overturn of <em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade, </em>both in terms of lower costs and avenues to obtain the pills quickly<em>. </em>The problem is many people who would be able to take advantage<strong> </strong>don’t know about it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gs1dPd">
Taking a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol within the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy was already <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/02/medication-abortion-now-accounts-more-half-all-us-abortions">the most common method</a> for abortion in the United States before the <em>Dobbs </em>decision, partly due to its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/01/health/abortion-pill-safety.html">safety record</a>, its<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01528">lower cost</a>, diminished access to in-person care, and greater opportunities for privacy. The popularity of medication abortion has only grown since then:<strong> </strong>A poll <a href="https://t.co/LhufDvcQLF">released in March</a> found majorities of Americans support keeping medication abortion legal and allowing women to use it at home to end an early-stage pregnancy. Another <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2023/2/28/an-overwhelming-majority-of-voters-support-protecting-access-to-abortion">survey</a> found 59 percent of voters disapprove of overturning the FDA’s approval of abortion medication, including 72 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of independents, and 40 percent of Republicans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yz6QSu">
A <a href="https://societyfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/WeCount-Release-June-2023.pdf">June report</a> from the Society of Family Planning found abortion via telemedicine “increased by 85 percent compared to the pre-<em>Dobbs</em> period, going from comprising 5 percent of all abortions to 9 percent.” And this is likely an understatement, Dana Northcraft, the founding director of Reproductive Health Initiative for Telehealth Equity and Solutions, told Vox. “That number does not include telehealth visits by providers who also do brick-and-mortar visits, [and] it does not include <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/7/1/18638649/abortion-pill-internet-misoprostol-mifepristone">self-managed abortions</a> outside of the formal medical system,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D0QryZ">
Getting the word out about medication abortion has been difficult for activists, especially with headline-grabbing news stories about new efforts to restrict the pills and punish those seeking to bypass state bans. In the early months following the <em>Dobbs </em>decision, if you lived in a state that banned abortion, your best bet was probably ordering pills from overseas, via <a href="https://www.vox.com/23056530/aid-access-abortion-roe-wade-pills-mifepristone">the reproductive health care nonprofit Aid Access</a>, even though their shipments could take two to three weeks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w6eHtc">
Today, though, providers and new organizations ship pills directly from the US to pregnant people living in more restrictive states, dramatically reducing the amount of time it takes to send the medication through the mail. International volunteer networks have also expanded to help women end their pregnancies, and campaigns to destigmatize misoprostol-only abortions, a common method used around the world, have accelerated.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kTCo7x">
“We’re trying to shout this all from the rooftop,” Elisa Wells, the cofounder of <a href="https://www.plancpills.org/">Plan C</a>, told Vox. “People are worried and there’s a lot of questions out there — is this all legit? Are the pills actually going to arrive? And we’re trying to say yes, these really are real routes of access.”
</p>
<h3 id="WIlyXM">
How “shield laws” have transformed the distribution of abortion pills
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="30ej9Q">
One of the biggest expansions to access since <em>Dobbs</em> is via broader access to telehealth abortion care in the US, even for those living in states with bans. Telehealth abortion care means a patient can consult virtually with a provider, either on an app or in a phone call or videoconference. Following that consultation, the provider would fill a prescription for the medication, and it would be delivered via mail.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TtkKuk">
Efforts to expand telehealth abortion care <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/abortion-pill-safe-and-effective-and-were-suing-make-it-more">existed prior</a> to the overturn of <em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade. </em>Over the <a href="https://www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2016/03/acog-statement-on-medication-abortion">objections</a> of groups like the ACLU and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Food and Drug Administration had long barred doctors from prescribing mifepristone without an in-person health care visit first. The Biden administration eased up on this rule during the pandemic, and in December 2021 the FDA <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/abortion-pills-fda.html">permanently lifted its restriction on telemedicine for mifepristone</a>. (State-level <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/02/medication-abortion-now-accounts-more-half-all-us-abortions">restrictions on abortion telemedicine</a> still exist.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u8FqEI">
“I think <em>Dobbs </em>just lit a fire under the innovations that were already underway,” Kirsten Moore,<strong> </strong>the director of the Expanding Medication Abortion Access project, told Vox. “[Telemedicine] was already happening during the pandemic and then in the post-<em>Dobbs </em>world everyone started thinking, ‘Oh wait, this is what we’ve got to do.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xyNHve">
One major facilitator of expanded telemedicine is the profusion of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/23/shield-laws-provide-abortion-care-aid-access">new so-called “shield laws” </a>that would protect blue-state abortion providers who send pills to people living in states where abortion is illegal. Today, six states — New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, Colorado, and California — have such telemedicine abortion shield laws, though not all have taken effect (California’s won’t <a href="https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/03/california-shield-law-telehealth-abortion-pills-trans-gender-affirming-care/">until January 1</a>). Julie Kay, the co-founder of the <a href="https://www.theactgroup.org/#:~:text=The%20Abortion%20Coalition%20for%20Telemedicine,abortion%20in%20all%2050%20states.">Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine</a>, told Vox these laws are already facilitating the distribution of<strong> </strong>pills to 6,000 patients per month in states with bans. One major advantage is that shipping pills from a US state with a shield law is much faster than shipping pills from overseas. The medication can arrive in days, rather than weeks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="34lL1n">
Kay said the effort to pass shield laws was led by the medical community, not traditional pro-choice advocacy groups. “Our focus has really been on serving marginalized communities in red states that have been denied abortion, West Virginia all the way through Texas,” she said. “A lot of people living there are not able to travel but do not know they have another option.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yrf8iu">
While these laws have yet to be tested in court, providers expect legal challenges eventually and have been taking steps to protect themselves, like avoiding travel to states with abortion bans in case a prosecutor tries to arrest them for violating their criminal statute.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GEc6XG">
Some providers living in states with shield laws are interested in stocking and shipping the medication themselves. Others <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/health/abortion-shield-law-new-york.html">say they’d be interested</a> if they could send prescriptions to a pharmacy that would handle the mailing for them. Starting in the new year, one online pharmacy based in California, <a href="https://honeybeehealth.com/">Honeybee Health</a>, aims to help abortion providers living in states like New York and Massachusetts serve more patients nationally.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VKcqew">
“We think people, including the media, are less familiar with the idea that you can have an abortion by mail and that the service of telehealth abortion is available in every single state — even those with bans,” said Wells, of Plan C. “That didn’t exist before <em>Dobbs.</em> That is the big change that’s happened. People find it unbelievable, but it’s also fantastic.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4hcvZO">
Wells says the big shift really happened in June 2023, when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/doctors-northeast-launch-abortion-pill-pipeline-into-states-with-bans/">Aid Access became the first organization</a> to start leveraging the new shield laws in the US. No longer would a pregnant person in Texas or Oklahoma searching for Aid Access online be routed to an abortion provider in Europe or<strong> </strong>need to wait for a pharmacist in India to mail them medication. Shortly thereafter, a new US organization, <a href="https://www.abuzzhealth.com/">Abuzz</a>, launched to provide telemedicine abortion to 30 states, followed in September by the <a href="https://www.cambridgereproductivehealthconsultants.org/map">Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project</a>, which also utilizes shield laws for telemedicine care.
</p>
<h3 id="OQBc9S">
The e-commerce marketplace for abortion medication has expanded, and the cost for pills has fallen dramatically
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FHut39">
Outside of telemedicine options, there are over two dozen e-commerce websites that sell and ship medication abortion to the US. This international supply chain <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/13/us/abortion-pill-order-online-mifepristone.html">has grown significantly</a> since <em>Dobbs </em>and most of these sites do not require prescriptions and do not require people to upload their IDs or have medical consultations. Plan C has <a href="https://www.plancpills.org/websites-that-sell-pills">vetted 26 of these sites</a>, including testing their pills to ensure they’re “real products of acceptable quality.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WDWDn8">
Seven of the sites Plan C has vetted offer pills for prices ranging from $42 to $47, with delivery times between two and nine days. The sites are typically selling generic medications originating from India, with the help of US-based shippers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DGCx7B">
One unexpected development this year was that many of these e-commerce websites ultimately dropped their prices by hundreds of dollars, in an effort to get higher placement on Plan C’s website.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TAm9hY">
Another pharmaceutical provider — ProgressiveRx — provides a prescription, pills, and a telehealth consultation all for $25, though its shipments from India typically take three to four weeks to arrive. Wells says ProgressiveRx is a great option for women living in restrictive states to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/22/23170229/abortion-roe-medication-pills-pregnancy-unplanned">stock up on pills in advance</a>. (Mifepristone has a shelf life of about <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/major-us-abortion-pill-producer-ample-supply-demand/story?id=84643247">five years</a>, and misoprostol <a href="https://www.ghsupplychain.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/MNCH%20Commodities-Misoprostol.pdf">about two</a> years.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yXyo0R">
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/13/us/abortion-pill-order-online-mifepristone.html">estimated</a> in April that international suppliers were likely to provide abortion pills to about<strong> </strong>100,000 Americans in the year after <em>Dobbs</em> was decided, or “enough pills to cover about 10 percent of the country’s annual abortions.” Anti-abortion groups have acknowledged the difficulty in stopping the flow of abortion drugs into the US.
</p>
<h3 id="C17QoO">
Volunteer distribution networks have expanded
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7KpwVw">
Community support groups, also known as “companion networks,” have grown since the overturn of <em>Roe v. Wade </em>and now actively provide free abortion pills to people living in states with bans on reproductive health care. These groups, some of which can be found on sites like <a href="https://www.plancpills.org/">Plan C</a> and <a href="https://www.redstateaccess.org/home/resources">Red State Access</a>, mail medication abortion and offer doula support<em>.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WqWJwV">
“You communicate with these groups via [encrypted messaging apps like] Signal, and you don’t need a credit card or a bank account, which can be especially important for young people who might not have those resources,” Wells said. “We know the volunteer networks well and we have no hesitation in recommending them.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8kXDaT">
Some of <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/12/07/mexican-abortion-activist-networks-provides-abortion-pills-united-states/">the volunteer companion networks</a> are aided by activists in Mexico. The most prominent Mexican activist group is Las Libres, which was founded in 2000 to serve Mexican women. Abortion access in Mexico <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/world/americas/mexico-abortion-access.html">has improved</a>, though, and in 2021 Las Libres pivoted<strong> </strong>to helping Texas women who were newly subject to the state’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/22653779/supreme-court-abortion-texas-sb8-whole-womans-health-jackson-roe-wade">six-week ban</a>. The group’s US focus <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/18/illegal-abortion-pill-network/">expanded further after <em>Dobbs</em></a>, and after Mexico’s Supreme Court <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/world/americas/mexico-abortion-decriminalize-supreme-court.html">decriminalized abortion</a> nationwide in September 2023. In 2022 alone, Las Libres helped terminate <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/18/illegal-abortion-pill-network/">roughly 20,000 pregnancies</a> in the United States.
</p>
<h3 id="0tjJB1">
How medication abortion access could change in 2024
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jDdaHk">
Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/12/13/23992173/supreme-court-abortion-ban-mifepristone-danco-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine">announced it would hear a challenge</a> to mifepristone, the abortion medication that anti-abortion groups claim was unlawfully approved back in 2000.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PwtIUb">
While abortion advocates doubt the justices will go so far as to pull mifepristone off the market, as a federal judge in Texas <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/4/7/23593396/medication-abortion-pills-mifepristone-misoprostol-pregnancy-texas">attempted to do earlier in 2023</a>, they are bracing for the possibility that the court might reimpose medically unnecessary restrictions<strong> </strong>on access, like bans on prescribing mifepristone via telemedicine.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fDCe21">
Even if that happens, though, most of the aforementioned options for accessing medication abortion would remain intact. It’s not clear if the FDA would even <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/08/biden-appeals-abortion-pill-ruling-texas-mifepristone-00091105">abide by such a Supreme Court ruling</a>, but if it did, providers using shield laws could still legally ship misoprostol to patients in banned states.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KvCLmX">
“A Supreme Court ruling wouldn’t affect the community-based networks, ProgressiveRx, or the e-commerce websites that sell pills at all, and so there would still be ways of getting mifepristone and misoprostol in the mail,” Wells said. “The Supreme Court could affect services like Aid Access and Abuzz, but they could also <a href="https://www.vox.com/23672829/what-is-misoprostol-abortion-medication-mifepristone-texas-abortion-pill-ruling">switch to misoprostol-only abortions</a> and that’s what they’re planning to do.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xKJwlU">
While not FDA-approved, misoprostol-only abortion is a method backed by the World Health Organization, and a common way of ending pregnancies <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/abortion-pill-misoprostol-effectiveness/671465/">around the world</a>. The National Abortion Federation, <a href="https://prochoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022-CPGs.pdf">in its clinical guidelines</a>, says that “where mifepristone is either not legally available or inaccessible, misoprostol-alone regimens may be offered.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4kNA7l">
Kay, of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, told Vox that some abortion providers will probably continue to ship mifepristone even if the Supreme Court reinstates the ban on mailing the pills, given that the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is slightly more effective than misoprostol-only abortions. (Both options are considered safe for patients, but studies show using just<strong> </strong>misoprostol is effective at ending pregnancy about <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1363/psrh.12219">88</a> to <a href="https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824(23)00060-4/fulltext">93 percent</a> of the time, versus <a href="https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824(12)00643-9/fulltext">95</a> to nearly <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26241252/">100 percent</a> for the two-drug regimen.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t5zaK7">
A bigger threat to medication abortion access than the Supreme Court may be the election of a Republican to the White House next November, who would control appointments to key federal enforcement agencies like the Justice Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the US Postal Service, and the FDA.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YBAKG6">
Anti-abortion groups have already <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/12/medication-abortion-mifepristone-trump/676930/">declared medication abortion their top priority</a> if Donald Trump or another Republican is reelected. While GOP lawmakers in Congress might not have enough votes for a federal abortion ban, activists see new executive orders as an alternative way to restrict pill distribution. Anti-abortion activists say they intend to track the views of potential GOP appointees, rather than press Republican presidential candidates on their specific regulatory plans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PTc1dh">
Moore,<strong> </strong>of Expanding Medication Abortion Access, said one risk is that the government will raise the threats of criminal or financial penalties against providers, dissuading more clinicians from offering care.
</p>
<h3 id="5pTMu0">
How abortion rights activists are working to further improve access to pills
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pCH3Ws">
Though the cost of medication abortion has<strong> </strong>dropped substantially since <em>Dobb</em>s, the price is still out of reach for some who need it, and activists are working to help more pregnant people cover the cost of their care.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DpsCvz">
Kay told Vox the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine is working on a project dedicated to funding abortion pills for those who can’t afford to pay, something the organization hopes to launch in early 2024.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zzoPD5">
Moore said leaders need to do more to support women in the two or three days after they take the abortion drugs. “Medication abortion can be an ongoing process for 24 to 48 hours, and we can get people their pills really quickly but helping them manage the process does require more time and investment,” she said. “To be honest, I think we’re still building out the infrastructure for that part of the care.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kFelxI">
Even as activists work to expand access, anti-abortion lawmakers plan to continue their efforts to restrict access to medication abortion, including by<strong> </strong>exploring new strategies <a href="https://jezebel.com/texas-republicans-aim-to-censor-abortion-pill-websites-1849892552">banning website</a> visits to Aid Access and Plan C and making health care providers <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/23/abortion-pills-opponents-environmental-laws-00070603">newly liable for disposing</a> of<strong> </strong>aborted fetal tissue. Some lawmakers want to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/27/23183835/roe-wade-abortion-pregnant-criminalize">test the limits of their extraterritorial powers</a>, and are exploring how they might retaliate against providers in other states, even those operating under shield laws.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uc7Tye">
Despite these threats, the odds of shutting down all these avenues for abortion medication is low, and the bigger challenge is really helping more people learn about their evolving options. Sometimes that means activists battling <a href="https://www.vox.com/23056530/aid-access-abortion-roe-wade-pills-mifepristone">big tech platforms</a> over what abortion-related content they’re censoring, and sometimes it means media outlets doing a better job of conveying new information to the public.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Oxs5j3">
Northcraft, of Reproductive Health Initiative for Telehealth Equity and Solutions, added that while telehealth can alleviate many of the expenses associated with getting an abortion — such as travel costs, taking time off work, and lining up <a href="https://www.vox.com/child-care">child care</a> — there is still more work needed to ensure equity, like ensuring that platforms and providers communicate in multiple languages.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rBAnvO">
“At the end of the day medication abortion is safe, effective, and what people want,” Kay said. “And it’s going to be available by licensed medical professionals, by people who are mission-driven but not medically certified, or through a for-profit thing on the world wide web. We know it’s not going away.”
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Shamrock, Fast Pace, Fondness Of You, River Of Gold, Siege Courageous and Bharat shine</strong> -</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 Protector and It’s My Time impress</strong> -</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>Indian Olympic Association forms three-member ad hoc committee to run affairs of suspended WFI</strong> - The Sports Ministry had suspended the WFI, three days after it elected new office bearers with Brij Bhushan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh as president</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>Suriya joins list of celebrity owners of Indian Street Premier League 2024; ISPL announces actor as owner of Team Chennai</strong> - Suriya joins Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, and Ram Charan who own the Mumbai, Srinagar, Bengaluru and Hyderabad teams respectively</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>Djokovic wants to emulate Brady and play on into his 40s</strong> - “Tom Brady is a great example of a champion in his sport and someone that has had such a great career and longevity,” says Novak Djokovic.</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>GMIT Davangere students win Smart India Hackathon</strong> - Final-year Computer Science and Engineering students of GM Institute of Technology (GMIT), Davanagere, won the national-level Smart India Hackathon held at Rajam in Andhra Pradesh</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>MG University joins hands with Kazakhstan university</strong> - Mahatma Gandhi University Vice-Chancellor C. T. Aravindakumar held consultations with M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University officials</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>Poonch ambush: Security forces initiate fresh searches along IB, LOC</strong> - Mobile internet services will remain suspended in Rajouri and Poonch for the fifth day in a row.</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>FIR against BJP MP Pratap Simmha in Mysuru</strong> - Mysuru district Congress Committee president B.J. Vijayakumar alleged that Mr Simmha had not only spoken derisively about the Chief Minister, but had also, without any basis, accused Mr Siddaramaiah of pitting one caste against another</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>Telangana | Stage set for the launch of Praja Palana aimed at taking governance to the doorstep of people</strong> - Praja Palana to be held between Dec 28 and Jan 6 in all villages and wards across the State</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>Wolfgang Schäuble: Merkel’s no-nonsense finance minister dies aged 81</strong> - Although never chancellor, Wolfgang Schäuble was one of Germany’s most influential politicians.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia confirms damage to warship in Black Sea</strong> - The Ministry of Defence says the ship was struck by Ukrainian aircraft carrying guided missiles.</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>Alexei Navalny: ‘Don’t worry about me!’ Putin critic says from Arctic prison</strong> - The Russian opposition leader was missing for weeks while being moved to one of Russia’s toughest jails.</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>Pint-sized bottles of wine to be sold after Brexit review</strong> - The new 568ml size will offer more choice for customers, the Department for Business and Trade says.</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>Spanish-Moroccan letters of forbidden love that were never received</strong> - Confiscated messages written to Moroccan men by Spanish women reveal a history of taboo affairs.</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>Researchers argue back and forth about whether we’ve spotted an exomoon</strong> - Years after Kepler shut down, people are arguing over whether it spotted exomoons. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1992846">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No last-minute reprieve, US ban on some Apple Watch sales now in effect</strong> - Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 blood oxygen sensors are patent-infringing. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1992828">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Watch sand defy gravity and flow uphill thanks to “negative friction”</strong> - Applying magnetic forces to single iron oxide-coated particles spurs strange collective motion. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1980391">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Elon Musk will see you in court: The top Twitter and X Corp. lawsuits of 2023</strong> - Musk’s Twitter ownership began with a lawsuit, and he’s been in court ever since. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1992087">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Science lives here: take a virtual tour of the Royal Institution in London</strong> - No less than 14 Nobel laureates have conducted ground-breaking research at the Institution. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1990405">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife finished a 36-week bodybuilding program yesterday.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We welcomed a baby girl into our family weighing 8 pounds and 2 ounces.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I’m officially a father!
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DibyanLonelyNibba"> /u/DibyanLonelyNibba </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rvowt/my_wife_finished_a_36week_bodybuilding_program/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rvowt/my_wife_finished_a_36week_bodybuilding_program/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A man named Edward Gay booked a flight to visit his mother for Christmas.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When he entered the airplane he noticed a man took his seat. Deciding he didn’t want to make a scene and that the plane was going to be half empty anyway, he decided to take a random empty seat at the back of the plane.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A few minutes later a flight attendant approached the man that took his seat. “Hello, are you Gay?” asked the flight attendant. “Why yes I am”, the man confusedly replied. “I’m sorry”, said the flight attendant, “There’s been a misunderstanding. You will have to leave this plane.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edward Gay realized the flight attendant was talking about him. He stood up and said, “No, I’m Gay!”. Another passenger immediately stood up and shouted, “That’s right! I’m gay too! You can’t kick us all out!”.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/bobbdac7894"> /u/bobbdac7894 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rkgr8/a_man_named_edward_gay_booked_a_flight_to_visit/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rkgr8/a_man_named_edward_gay_booked_a_flight_to_visit/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A young newlywed couple wanted to join a church…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A young newlywed couple wanted to join a church. The pastor told them, “We have special requirements for new parishioners. You must abstain from having sex for two weeks.” The couple agreed and came back at the end of two weeks. The pastor asked them, “Well, were you able to get through the two weeks without being intimate?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Pastor, I’m afraid we were not able to go without sex for the two weeks,” the young man replied. “What happened?” inquired the pastor. “My wife was reaching for a can of corn on the top shelf and dropped it. When she bent over to pick it up, I was overcome with lust and took advantage of her right there.” “You understand, of course, that this means you will not be welcome in our church,” stated the pastor. “That’s okay,” said the young man. “We’re not welcome at the grocery store anymore either.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Jolly_Bit8480"> /u/Jolly_Bit8480 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rey1t/a_young_newlywed_couple_wanted_to_join_a_church/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rey1t/a_young_newlywed_couple_wanted_to_join_a_church/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Me: I’m stuck on this clue. What’s a seven letter word for evident?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Her: It’s obvious.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Me: That may be, but I have no clue what it is.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/porichoygupto"> /u/porichoygupto </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rqv8x/me_im_stuck_on_this_clue_whats_a_seven_letter/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rqv8x/me_im_stuck_on_this_clue_whats_a_seven_letter/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>One day, little Johnny overheard his parents fighting…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One day, Little Johnny overheard his parents fighting. Later, he asked what “bitch” and “bastard” mean. They explained that they mean “lady” and “gentleman.” The next day, he overheard his parents having sex. He later asked what “penis” and “vagina” mean. His parents explained that they refer to “hats” and “coats.” At supper the next day, Little Johnny’s mom cut her finger in the kitchen and yelled,”Oh fuck!” Little Johnny asked what that meant, and she said it means “cut.” A week later, guests arrive for Thanksgiving dinner. Little Johnny welcomes them at the door, saying, “Hello bitches and bastards! Hurry up with your penises and vaginas — we can’t wait to fuck the turkey!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Jolly_Bit8480"> /u/Jolly_Bit8480 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rpbzg/one_day_little_johnny_overheard_his_parents/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/18rpbzg/one_day_little_johnny_overheard_his_parents/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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