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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>Emotional Support Among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Couples During the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Emotional support, particularly support from family and close friends, is essential to mental health outcomes especially for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the important role of emotional support especially for marginalized communities. Although emotional support is recognized as a critical resource, to date no research has examined access to support during the pandemic for gender and sexual diverse populations. I draw on a new population-based data source of 3,642 respondents, the National Couples’ Health and Time Use Study (NCHAT), which oversampled sexual and gender diverse populations during the pandemic (September 2020-April 2021). I focus on two sources of emotional support: family members and friends. Respondents who identified as exclusively heterosexual relied more on emotional support from family than respondents who identified as exclusively gay/lesbian, bisexual including pan, omni, and queer, and those reporting another sexual identity or multiple sexual identities. However, respondents who did not identify as heterosexual relied more on emotional support from friends compared to exclusively heterosexual respondents. There were no significant differences among respondents who identity as sexual minorities in regard to family or friend support. This work contributes to understanding of the social climate and resources available to sexual and diverse populations during a major public health crisis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/4bnt7/" target="_blank">Emotional Support Among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Couples During the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection and hospitalization in Belgium, July 2021-April 2022</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Belgium aimed to reduce disease spread and severity. We quantified the observed vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic infection (VEi) and hospitalization (VEh). Exhaustive data on testing and vaccination was combined with a clinical hospital survey. We estimated VEi using a test negative design and VEh using a proportional hazard analysis. We controlled for prior infection, age, sex, province of residence and calendar week of sampling. Variant of concern specific VE-estimates were obtained by time since vaccination from July 2021 to April 2022. We included 1,433,135 persons. VEi against Delta waned from an initial estimate of 81% (95%CI 80-82) to 56% (95%CI 56-57) 100-150 days after primary-vaccination. Booster-vaccination increased initial VEi to 84% (95%CI 83-85). Against Omicron, an initial VEi of 37% (95%CI 34-40) waned to 18% (95%CI 17-20) 100-150 days after primary- vaccination. Booster-vaccination increased VEi to 52% (95%CI 51-53) and waned to 25% (95%CI 24-27) 100-150 days after vaccination. Hybrid immunity conferred by prior infection and booster-vaccination outperformed booster-vaccination only even if the infection was over one year ago, 67% (95%CI 66-68). Initial VEh for booster-vaccination decreased from 93% (95%CI 93-94) against Delta to 87% (95%CI 85-89) against Omicron. VEh for Omicron waned to 66% (95%CI 63-70) 100-150 days after booster-vaccination. In conclusion, we report significant immune-escape by Omicron. VEh was less affected than VEi and immune-escape was attenuated by booster-vaccination. Waning further reduced VEi- and VEh-estimates. Infection-acquired immunity offered additional protection against symptomatic infection in vaccinated persons which lasted at least one year.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.09.22274623v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection and hospitalization in Belgium, July 2021-April 2022</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Early detection of fraudulent COVID-19 products from Twitter chatter</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Social media have served as lucrative platforms for misinformation and for promoting fraudulent products for the treatment, testing and prevention of COVID-19. This has resulted in the issuance of many warning letters by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While social media continue to serve as the primary platform for the promotion of such fraudulent products, they also present the opportunity to identify these products early by employing effective social media mining methods. In this study, we employ natural language processing and time series anomaly detection methods for automatically detecting fraudulent COVID-19 products early from Twitter. Our approach is based on the intuition that increases in the popularity of fraudulent products lead to corresponding anomalous increases in the volume of chatter regarding them. We utilized an anomaly detection method on streaming COVID-19-related Twitter data to detect potentially anomalous increases in mentions of fraudulent products. Our unsupervised approach detected 34/44 (77.3%) signals about fraudulent products earlier than the FDA letter issuance dates, and an additional 6/44 (13.6%) within a week following the corresponding FDA letters. Our proposed method is simple, effective and easy to deploy, and do not require high performance computing machinery unlike deep neural network-based methods.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.09.22274776v1" target="_blank">Early detection of fraudulent COVID-19 products from Twitter chatter</a>
</div></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy: views and vaccination uptake rates in pregnancy, a mixed methods analysis from the Born In Wales study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Vaccine hesitancy amongst pregnant women has been found to be a concern during past epidemics. Objectives: The aims of this study were to 1) estimate COVID-19 vaccination rates among pregnant women in Wales and their association with age, ethnicity, and area of deprivation, using electronic health records (EHR) linkage, and 2) explore pregnant womens views on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy using data from a survey recruiting via social media (Facebook, Twitter), through midwives, and posters in hospitals (Born in Wales Cohort). Design: A mixed methods study utilising routinely collected linked data from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) (Objective</p></div></li>
</ul>
<ol type="1">
<li>and the Born In Wales Birth Cohort participants (Objective 2). SAIL combines data from general practice, hospital admissions, the national community child health dataset, maternal indicators dataset, and COVID-19 vaccination databases. Setting and participants: Objective 1) All women documented as being pregnant on or after 13th April 2021, aged 18 years or older, and eligible for COVID-19 vaccination were identified in routine health care. They were linked to the vaccination data up to and including 31st December 2021. Objective 2) Separately, a cross-section of pregnant women in Wales were invited to complete an online survey via social media advertising. The survey asked what their views were on having the COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, and if they had already received, or intended to receive, the COVID-19 vaccination during their pregnancies. They were also asked to give reasons for their decisions. Outcomes: 1 (a). Rate of vaccination uptake per month during pregnancy among women eligible for vaccination. 1 (b). Survival analysis was utilised to examine and compare the length of time to vaccination uptake in pregnancy, and variation in uptake by; age, ethnicity, and deprivation area was examined using hazard ratios (HR) from Cox regression. 2.Expectant mothers views of the COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. Results: Population-level data linkage (objective 1): Within the population cohort, 32.7% (n = 8,203) were vaccinated (at least one dose of the vaccine) during pregnancy, 34.1% (n = 8,572) remained unvaccinated throughout follow-up period, and 33.2% (n = 8,336) received the vaccine postpartum. Younger women (&lt;30 years) were less likely to have the vaccine and those living in areas of high deprivation were also less likely to have the vaccine (HR=0.88, 95% CI 0.82 to 0.95). Asian and other ethnic groups were 1.12 and 1.18 times more likely to have the vaccine in pregnancy compared to women of White ethnicity (HR=1.12, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.25) and (HR=1.18, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.37) respectively. Survey responses (objective 2): 69% of participants stated that they would be happy to have the vaccine during pregnancy (n = 207). The remainder, 31%, indicated that they would not have the vaccine during pregnancy (n = 94). Reasons for having the vaccine related to protecting self and baby, perceived risk level, and receipt of sufficient evidence and advice. Reasons for vaccine refusal included lack of research about long-term outcomes for the baby, anxiety about vaccines, inconsistent advice/information, and preference to wait until after the pregnancy. Conclusion: Potentially only 1 in 3 pregnant women would have the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy, even though 2 in 3 reported they would have the vaccination, thus it is critical to develop tailored strategies to increase its acceptance rate and to decrease vaccine hesitancy. A targeted approach to vaccinations may be required for groups such as younger people and those living in higher deprivation level areas.
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.09.22274769v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy: views and vaccination uptake rates in pregnancy, a mixed methods analysis from the Born In Wales study</a>
</div></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><strong>Biosynthetic proteins targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike as anti-virals</strong> -
<div>
The binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) promotes virus entry into the cell. Targeting this interaction represents a promising strategy to generate antivirals. By screening a phage-display library of biosynthetic protein sequences build on a rigid alpha-helicoidal HEAT-like scaffold (named alphaReps), we selected candidates recognizing the spike receptor binding domain (RBD). Two of them (F9 and C2) bind the RBD with affinities in the nM range, displaying neutralisation activity in vitro and recognizing distinct sites, F9 overlapping the ACE2 binding motif. The F9-C2 fusion protein and a trivalent alphaRep form (C2-foldon) display 0.1 nM affinities and EC50 of 8-18 nM for neutralization of SARS-CoV-2. In hamsters, F9-C2 instillation in the nasal cavity before or during infections effectively reduced the replication of a SARS-CoV-2 strain harbouring the D614G mutation in the nasal epithelium. Furthermore, F9-C2 and/or C2-foldon effectively neutralized SARS-CoV-2 variants (including delta and omicron variants) with EC50 values ranging from 13 to 32 nM. With their high stability and their high potency against SARS- CoV-2 variants, alphaReps provide a promising tool for SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics to target the nasal cavity and mitigate virus dissemination in the proximal environment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.10.491295v1" target="_blank">Biosynthetic proteins targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike as anti-virals</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Three-dose vaccination-induced immune responses protect against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-BA.2</strong> -
<div>
The ongoing outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 infections in Hong Kong, the world model city of universal masking, has resulted in a major public health crisis. In this study, we investigate public servants who had been vaccinated with two dose (82.7%) or three dose (14%) of either CoronaVac (CorV) or BNT162b2 (BNT). During the BA.2 outbreak, 29.3% vaccinees were infected. Three-dose vaccination provided protection with lower incidence rates of breakthrough infections (2xBNT 49.2% vs 3xBNT 16.6%, p&lt;0.0001; 2xCorV 48.6% vs 3xCoV 20.6%, p=0.003). The third heterologous vaccination showed the lowest incidence (2xCorV+1xBNT 6.3%). Although BA.2 conferred the highest neutralization resistance compared with variants of concern tested, the third dose vaccination-activated spike-specific memory B and Omicron cross-reactive T cell responses contributed to reduced frequencies of breakthrough infection and disease severity. Our results have implications to timely boost vaccination and immune responses likely required for vaccine- mediated protection against Omicron BA.2 pandemic.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.09.491254v1" target="_blank">Three-dose vaccination-induced immune responses protect against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-BA.2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Investigating the evolutionary origins of the first three SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern</strong> -
<div>
The emergence of Variants of Concern (VOCs) of SARS-CoV-2 with increased transmissibility, immune evasion properties, and virulence poses a great challenge to public health. Despite unprecedented efforts to increase genomic surveillance, fundamental facts about the evolutionary origins of VOCs remain largely unknown. One major uncertainty is whether the VOCs evolved during transmission chains of many acute infections or during long-term infections within single individuals. We test the consistency of these two possible paths with the observed dynamics, focusing on the clustered emergence of the first three VOCs, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, in late 2020, following a period of relative evolutionary stasis. We consider a range of possible fitness landscapes, in which the VOC phenotypes could be the result of single mutations, multiple mutations that each contribute additively to increasing viral fitness, or epistatic interactions among multiple mutations that do not individually increase viral fitness–a “fitness plateau”. Our results suggest that the timing and dynamics of the VOC emergence, together with the observed number of mutations in VOC lineages, are in best agreement with the VOC phenotype requiring multiple mutations and VOCs having evolved within single individuals with long-term infections.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.09.491227v1" target="_blank">Investigating the evolutionary origins of the first three SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Anti-PEG antibodies boosted in humans by SARS-CoV-2 lipid nanoparticle mRNA vaccine</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Humans commonly have low level antibodies to poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG) due to environmental exposure. Lipid nanoparticle (LNP) mRNA vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 contain small amounts of PEG but it is not known whether PEG antibodies are enhanced by vaccination and what their impact is on particle-immune cell interactions in human blood. We studied plasma from 130 adults receiving either the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) mRNA vaccines, or no SARS- CoV-2 vaccine for PEG-specific antibodies. Anti-PEG IgG was commonly detected prior to vaccination and was significantly boosted a mean of 13.1-fold (range 1.0 to 70.9) following mRNA-1273 vaccination and a mean of 1.78-fold (range 0.68 to 16.6) following BNT162b2 vaccination. Anti-PEG IgM increased 68.5-fold (range 0.9 to 377.1) and 2.64-fold (0.76 to 12.84) following mRNA-1273 and BNT162b2 vaccination, respectively. The rise in PEG-specific antibodies following mRNA-1273 vaccination was associated with a significant increase in the association of clinically relevant PEGylated LNPs with blood phagocytes ex vivo. PEG antibodies did not impact the SARS-CoV-2 specific neutralizing antibody response to vaccination. However, the elevated levels of vaccine-induced anti-PEG antibodies correlated with increased systemic reactogenicity following two doses of vaccination. We conclude that PEG-specific antibodies can be boosted by LNP mRNA- vaccination and that the rise in PEG-specific antibodies is associated with systemic reactogenicity and an increase of PEG particle-leukocyte association in human blood. The longer-term clinical impact of the increase in PEG-specific antibodies induced by lipid nanoparticle mRNA-vaccines should be monitored.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article- html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.08.22268953v2" target="_blank">Anti-PEG antibodies boosted in humans by SARS-CoV-2 lipid nanoparticle mRNA vaccine</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>What innovations (including return to practice) would help attract, recruit, or retain NHS clinical staff? A rapid evidence map</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
National Health Service (NHS) waiting times have significantly increased over the past couple of years, particularly since the emergence of COVID-19. The NHS is currently experiencing an acute workforce shortage, which hampers the ability to deal with increasing waiting times and clearing the backlog resulting from the pandemic. Plans to increase the workforce, by recruiting new staff, retaining the existing NHS clinical workforce, and making return to clinical practice more attractive will require a number of approaches. This Rapid Evidence Map aimed to describe the extent and nature of the available evidence base for innovations (including return to practice) that could help attract, recruit, or retain NHS clinical staff, in order to identify the priorities and actions for a rapid review. Three options were proposed for a subsequent focused Rapid Review and discussed with stakeholders: (1) review of primary studies that have evaluated return to practice schemes; (2) review of reviews of factors that influence retention; (3) review of reviews of interventions for supporting recruitment and retention. A decision was made that option 3 would be useful to inform practice and a rapid review will be undertaken.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.10.22274894v2" target="_blank">What innovations (including return to practice) would help attract, recruit, or retain NHS clinical staff? A rapid evidence map</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Clinical and Virological Features of patients hospitalized with different types of COVID-19 vaccination in Mexico City</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are very effective at protecting against severe disease and death. However, the impact of the vaccine used, viral variants, and host factors on disease severity remain poorly understood. Here we compared COVID-19 clinical presentations and outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients in Mexico City. From March to September 2021, clinical and demographic characteristics were obtained from 1,014 individuals with a documented SARS-CoV-2 infection, and viral variants were identified in a subset of 386 patients. We compared unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated patients, stratifying by age groups. We fitted multivariate statistical models to evaluate the impact of vaccination status, SARS-CoV-2 lineages, vaccine types, and clinical parameters. Most hospitalized patients were unvaccinated. In patients over 61 years old, mortality was significantly higher in unvaccinated compared to fully vaccinated individuals. In patients aged 31 to 60 years, vaccinated patients were more likely to be outpatients (46%) than unvaccinated individuals (6.1%). We found immune disease and age above 61 years old as risk factors. While fully vaccination was found as the most protective factor against in-hospital death. This study suggests that vaccination is essential to reduce mortality in a comorbid population such as that of Mexico.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.06.22274772v2" target="_blank">Clinical and Virological Features of patients hospitalized with different types of COVID-19 vaccination in Mexico City</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Analysis of anti-Omicron neutralizing antibody titers in plasma from pre-Omicron convalescents and vaccinees.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron, with its antigenic escape from unboosted vaccines and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, demonstrates the continued relevance of COVID19 convalescent plasma (CCP) therapies. Lessons learnt from previous usage of CCP suggests focusing on outpatients and immunocompromised recipients, with high nAb-titer units. In this analysis we systematically reviewed Omicron neutralizing plasma activity data from 31 publications, and found that approximately 50% (426/841) of CCP from unvaccinated donors neutralizes Omicron with very low mean neutralization titers (about 30), representing a more than 30-fold reduction from paired WA-1 neutralization. Two doses of mRNA vaccines had a similar 50% percent neutralization with more than doubling of Omicron neutralization mean titer (about 60). However, CCP from vaccinees recovered from previous variants of concern or third-dose uninfected vaccinees was nearly 100% neutralizing with mean Omicron neutralizing titers over 1000, a 30-fold Omicron neutralizing antibody increase compared to non-boosted vaccinees or unvaccinated convalescents. These findings have implications for both CCP stocks collected in prior pandemic periods and plans to restart CCP collections. Plasma from either boosted vaccinees or vaccination after pre-Omicron COVID-19 has nearly 100% neutralizing activity with Omicron neutralizing levels similar to matched convalescent plasma to variant neutralizing activity. Thus, CCP provides an effective tool to combat the emergence of variants that defeat therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.24.21268317v3" target="_blank">Analysis of anti- Omicron neutralizing antibody titers in plasma from pre-Omicron convalescents and vaccinees.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evidence for a long-range RNA-RNA interaction between ORF8 and Spike of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 has affected people worldwide as the causative agent of COVID-19. The virus is related to the highly lethal SARS-CoV responsible for the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak in Asia. Research is ongoing to understand why both viruses have different spreading capacities and mortality rates. Like other beta coronaviruses, RNA-RNA interactions occur between different parts of the viral genomic RNA, resulting in discontinuous transcription and production of various sub-genomic RNAs. These sub-genomic RNAs are then translated into other viral proteins. In this work, we performed a comparative analysis for novel long-range RNA-RNA interactions that may involve the Spike region. Comparing predictions between reference sequences of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 revealed several predictions amongst which a thermodynamically stable long-range RNA-RNA interaction between (23660-23703 Spike) and (28025-28060 ORF8) unique to SARS-CoV-2 was observed. Using data gathered worldwide, sequence variation patterns observed in the population support the in-silico RNA-RNA base-pairing predictions within these regions, suggesting further evidence for the interaction. The predicted interactions can potentially be related to the regulation of sub-genomic RNA production rates in SARS-CoV-2 and their subsequent accessibility to the host transcriptome.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.09.467911v2" target="_blank">Evidence for a long-range RNA-RNA interaction between ORF8 and Spike of SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Probing effects of the SARS-CoV-2 E protein on membrane curvature and intracellular calcium</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 contains four structural proteins in its genome. These proteins aid in the assembly and budding of new virions at the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC). Current fundamental research efforts largely focus on one of these proteins, the spike (S) protein. Since successful antiviral therapies are likely to target multiple viral components, there is considerable interest in understanding the biophysical role of its other structural proteins, in particular structural membrane proteins. Here, we have focused our efforts on the characterization of the full-length envelope (E) protein from SARS-CoV-2, combining experimental and computational approaches. Recombinant expression of the full-length E protein from SARS-CoV-2 reveals that this membrane protein is capable of independent multimerization, possibly as a tetrameric or smaller species. Fluorescence microscopy shows that the protein localizes intracellularly, and coarse-grained MD simulations indicate it causes bending of the surrounding lipid bilayer, corroborating a potential role for the E protein in viral budding. Although we did not find robust electrophysiological evidence of ion-channel activity, cells transfected with the E protein exhibited reduced intracellular Ca2+, which may further promote viral replication. However, our atomistic MD simulations revealed that previous NMR structures are relatively unstable, and result in models incapable of ion conduction. Our study highlights the importance of using high-resolution structural data obtained from a full-length protein to gain detailed molecular insights, and eventually permitting virtual drug screening.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.28.446179v4" target="_blank">Probing effects of the SARS-CoV-2 E protein on membrane curvature and intracellular calcium</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A gateway conspiracy? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories prospectively predicts greater conspiracist ideation</strong> -
<div>
A primary focus of research on conspiracy theories has been understanding the psychological characteristics that predict people’s level of conspiracist ideation. However, the dynamics of conspiracist ideation—i.e., how such tendencies change over time—are not well understood. To help fill this gap in the literature, we used data from longitudinal studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that greater belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories at baseline predicts both greater endorsement of a novel real-world conspiracy theory involving voter fraud in the 2020 American Presidential election (Study 1) and increases in generic conspiracist beliefs over a period of several months (Studies 1 and 2). Thus, engaging with real-world conspiracy theories appears to act as a gateway, leading to more general increases in conspiracist ideation. Beyond enhancing our knowledge of conspiracist ideation, this work highlights the importance of fighting the spread of conspiracy theories.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/q4gct/" target="_blank">A gateway conspiracy? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories prospectively predicts greater conspiracist ideation</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COV-DOCK server: A web server for COVID-19 ligand-target docking</strong> -
<div>
Motivation Despite mass level vaccinations and the launch of several repurposed drugs, the emergence of COVID-19 reinfection has posed a key challenge in front of health authorities across the world. There is an urgent need to find new drugs and the understanding of the COVID-19 target–ligand interactions will play an important role in this direction. Here, we present COV-Dock Server, a web server that predicts the binding modes between COVID-19 targets and the small drug molecules. Results We collected experimentally solved structures of proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Further, we used the predicted structure of experimentally unsolved proteins that were also collected. These structures were prepared for the docking. Next, 257 candidate drugs were docked against these targets using the meta-platform to understand the binding energy distributions. This server provides a free and interactive tool for the prediction of COVID-19 target–ligand interactions and enables drug discovery for COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article- html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/x2ky5/" target="_blank">COV-DOCK server: A web server for COVID-19 ligand-target docking</a>
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</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>The Role of Glutathione Deficiency and MSIDS Variables in Long COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Dietary Supplement: NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) , Alpha lipoic acid (ALA), liposomal glutathione (GSH)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of California, Irvine;   Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of Omicron COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated in Population 18 Years Old of Age and Above</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Omicron COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   China National Biotec Group Company Limited;   Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd.;   Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital<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>Neuro-inflammation and Post-infectious Fatigue in Individuals With and Without COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Radiation: [18F]DPA-714 positron emission tomography (PET) scan<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc;   ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase II Safety Single-arm Study of CDK4/6 Inhibition With Palbociclib in Hospitalized, Moderate COVID-19 Cases to Prevent Thromboinflammation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Palbociclib<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   biotx.ai GmbH<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 of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (SYS6006) in Chinese Healthy Older Adults.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: 20 μg dose of SYS6006;   Biological: 30 μg dose of SYS6006;   Biological: 50 μg dose of SYS6006;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
CSPC ZhongQi Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd.<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>THEMBA II T-Cell Vaccine: A Phase 1/2 Study of Vaccination With saRNA COVID-19 Vaccines</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: AAHI-SC2 Vaccine;   Biological: AAHI- SC3 Vaccine;   Biological: EUA or approved vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   ImmunityBio, Inc.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (SYS6006) in Chinese Healthy Adults Aged 18 -59 Years.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: 20 μg dose of SYS6006;   Biological: 30 μg dose of SYS6006;   Biological: 50 μg dose of SYS6006;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
CSPC ZhongQi Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd.<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>Safety, Reactogenicity, and Immunogenicity Study of a Lyophilized COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: A Lyophilized COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine;   Biological: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Jiangsu Rec-Biotechnology 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>The Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Vitamin C by Hospital Care Workers in HK to Prevent COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Chinese herbal medicine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Hong Kong Baptist 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>To Evaluate SSD8432/ Ritonavir in Adults With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Patients<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: SSD8432 dose 1/Ritonavir;   Drug: SSD8432 dose 2<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Jiangsu Simcere Pharmaceutical 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>Safety, Reactogenicity, and Immunogenicity Study of a Lyophilized COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: A Lyophilized COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine;   Biological: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Wuhan Recogen Biotechnology 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>Home-based Exercise Program in Patients With the Post-COVID-19 Condition</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Long COVID;   Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Home- based physical training<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Sao Paulo<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>Kesuting Syrup in the Treatment of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia;   Cough<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Kesuting syrup;   Drug: LianHuaQingWen Granules<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Guizhou Bailing Group Pharmaceutical Co Ltd<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>Immune Function in Elderly Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19 on Hemodialysis</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Hemodiafiltration<br/><b>Interventions</b>:  <br/>
Dietary Supplement: Oral nutritional supplement;   Behavioral: Nutrition consultation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Ruijin Hospital<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>Phase 2b/3 Trial of NuSepin® in COVID-19 Pneumonia Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: NuSepin® 0.2 mg/kg;   Drug: NuSepin® 0.4 mg/kg;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Shaperon<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>IL-1 Mediates Tissue-Specific Inflammation and Severe Respiratory Failure in COVID-19</strong> - Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 has been associated with catastrophic inflammation. We present measurements in humans and a new animal model implicating a role in danger-associated molecular patterns. Calprotectin (S100A8/A9) and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) were measured in patients without/with ARDS, and admission calprotectin was associated with soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR). An animal model was developed by intravenous injection of…</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>Factors Associated With Serological Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Rituximab</strong> - CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This cohort study found that for an optimal vaccine response from tozinameran, rituximab- treated patients with multiple sclerosis may be vaccinated as soon as possible, with rituximab treatment delayed until B-cell counts have reached at least 40/μL. An additional vaccination with tozinameran should be considered at that point.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern Hijack IFITM2 for Efficient Replication in Human Lung Cells</strong> - It has recently been shown that an early SARS-CoV-2 isolate (NL-02-2020) hijacks interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) for efficient replication in human lung cells, cardiomyocytes, and gut organoids. To date, several “variants of concern” (VOCs) showing increased infectivity and resistance to neutralization have emerged and globally replaced the early viral strains. Here, we determined whether the five current SARS-CoV-2 VOCs (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron) maintained 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>Low molecular weight chitooligosaccharide inhibits infection of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the chitooligosaccharide, a candidate for natural treatment, has antiviral effects against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro.</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>Known data on CoVid-19 infection linked to type-2 diabetes</strong> - It is of interest to document the known data on CoVid-19 infection linked to type-2 diabetes. Hyperglycemia, inhibition of neutrophil chemotaxis, altered cytokine synthesis, phagocytic cell dysfunction, impaired T cell-mediated immune responses, and inadequate microbia were all seen in people with Diabetes. Individuals with diabetes have also been shown to elevate levels of the proinflammatory cytokine, especially IL-1, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and different 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>A review of the characteristic properties of selected tobacco chemicals and their associated etiological risks</strong> - OBJECTIVES: Despite the quantum of research findings on tobacco epidemic, a review on the formation characteristics of nicotine, aldehydes and phenols, and their associated etiological risks is still limited in literature. Accordingly, knowledge on the chemical properties and free radical formation during tobacco burning is an important subject towards unravelling the relationship between smoking behaviour and disease. This review investigates how scientific efforts have been advanced towards…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Molecular dynamic simulations reveal anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of mitocurcumin by potentially blocking innate immune evasion proteins NSP3 and NSP16</strong> - The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is affecting human life in an unprecedented manner and has become a global public health emergency. Identification of novel inhibitors of viral infection/replication is the utmost priority to curtail COVID-19 progression. A pre-requisite for such inhibitors is good bioavailability, non-toxicity and serum stability. Computational studies have shown that curcumin can be a candidate…</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>Multivalent 9-O-Acetylated-sialic acid glycoclusters as potent inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - The recent emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants illustrates the urgent need to better understand the molecular details of the virus binding to its host cell and to develop anti-viral strategies. While many studies focused on the role of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor in the infection, others suggest the important role of cell attachment factors such as glycans. Here, we use atomic force microscopy to study these early binding events with the focus on the role of…</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>VMP1 and TMEM41B are essential for DMV formation during β-coronavirus infection</strong> - β-coronaviruses reshape host cell endomembranes to form double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) for genome replication and transcription. Ectopically expressed viral nonstructural proteins nsp3 and nsp4 interact to zipper and bend the ER for DMV biogenesis. Genome-wide screens revealed the autophagy proteins VMP1 and TMEM41B as important host factors for SARS- CoV-2 infection. Here, we demonstrated that DMV biogenesis, induced by virus infection or expression of nsp3/4, is impaired in the VMP1 KO or…</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 glucose-like metabolite deficient in diabetes inhibits cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The severity and mortality of COVID-19 are associated with pre-existing medical comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus. However, the underlying causes for increased susceptibility to viral infection in patients with diabetes is not fully understood. Here we identify several small-molecule metabolites from human blood with effective antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, one of which, 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol (1,5-AG), is associated with diabetes mellitus. The serum 1,5-AG level is significantly…</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>Immunobiology of tubercle bacilli and prospects of immunomodulatory drugs to tackle tuberculosis (TB) and other non- tubercular mycobacterial infections</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic has set back progress made on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Without urgent re-focus, we risk slowing down drug discovery and providing treatment for drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Unique in its immune evasion, dormancy and resuscitation, the causal pathogens of tuberculosis (TB) have demonstrated resistance to antibiotics with efflux pumps and the ability to form biofilms. Repurposing drugs is a prospective avenue for finding new anti-TB drugs. There are many…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Decreases Nanobody Binding and ACE2 Blocking Effectivity</strong> - The Delta variant spreads more rapidly than previous variants of SARS-CoV-2. This variant comprises several mutations on the receptor-binding domain (RBD(Delta)) of its spike glycoprotein, which binds to the peptidase domain (PD) of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in host cells. The RBD-PD interaction has been targeted by antibodies and nanobodies to prevent viral infection, but their effectiveness against the Delta variant remains unclear. Here, we investigated RBD(Delta)-PD…</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>Serine Protease Inhibitors Restrict Host Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infections</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, is a complex disease with a wide range of symptoms from asymptomatic infections to severe acute respiratory syndrome with lethal outcome. Individual factors such as age, sex, and comorbidities increase the risk for severe infections, but other aspects, such as genetic variations, are also likely to affect the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity. Here, we used a human 3D lung cell model based on primary cells derived from multiple…</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>Plant-derived active compounds as a potential nucleocapsid protein inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2: an <em>in-silico</em> study</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2. This virus has a high mismatch repair proofreading ability due to its unique exonuclease activity, making it knotty to treat. The nucleocapsid protein can serve as a potential antiviral drug target, as this protein is responsible for multiple captious functions during the viral life cycle. Herein, we have investigated the potential to repurpose active antiviral compounds of plant origins for treating the SARS-CoV-2 infection. 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>Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using <em>Anoectochilus elatus</em>, and their biomedical applications</strong> - Zinc and its derivatives requirement increased to enhance human immunity against the different pandemics, including covid-19. Green synthesis is an emerging field of research. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been prepared from Anoectochilus elatus and characterized using absorption, vibrational and electron microscope analysis. They were carried for antibacterial, inflammatory control tendency, and potential antioxidant activities. The brine shrimp lethal assay tested the biologically…</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>The Biggest Potential Water Disaster in the United States</strong> - In California, millions of residents and thousands of farmers depend on the Bay-Delta for fresh water—but they can’t agree on how to protect it. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-biggest-potential-water-disaster-in-the-united-states">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>As Gas Prices Reach New Highs, Oil Companies Are Profiteering</strong> - The Biden White House is confronting a form of shareholder capitalism that has no place for modest profits or rallying around Ukraine. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/as-gas-prices-reach-new-highs-oil-companies-are-profiteering">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Trump-Backed Candidate Faces Sexual-Assault Allegations in Nebraska</strong> - In the Republican primary for governor, the businessman Charles Herbster is accused of groping eight women, and is being challenged by two rivals. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/nebraska-is-the-next-test-of-trumps-power-in-the-gop">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DeafBlind Communities May Be Creating a New Language of Touch</strong> - Protactile began as a movement for autonomy and a system of tactile communication. Now, some linguists argue, it is becoming a language of its own. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/deafblind-communities-may-be-creating-a-new-language-of-%20touch">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What the “Life of the Mother” Might Mean in a Post-Roe America</strong> - “We are going to see more deaths and more injuries,” Ghazaleh Moayedi, an ob-gyn in Dallas, said. “I don’t have to speculate about that at all.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/what-the-life-of-the-mother-might-mean-in-a-post-roe-%20america">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s killing the world’s biggest fish?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/xKmeN3bgZUcEoIVqI1lIp5kk_rc=/0x0:3200x2400/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70860362/GettyImages_639278226.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A whale shark, the largest fish on Earth. | Steve De Neef/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The ocean has a roadkill problem.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bvWpMR">
The largest fish on Earth is a shark. Capable of reaching a length of up to 60 feet — roughly the height of a four-story building — whale sharks, named for their size, are so large that they make great whites look like minnows.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dbxk1n">
But even giants can disappear. Over the last several decades, <a href="https://defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/Whale-Shark-Fact-Sheet.pdf">more than half</a> of all whale sharks have vanished from the ocean. Some populations have fallen by more than 60 percent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bdFi4c">
This decline has been something of a scientific mystery. It can’t be explained by known threats like overfishing. And because whale sharks sink when they die, there aren’t bodies washing up on shore that researchers can study.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pU3gFS">
Now a new clue has emerged, and it’s a big one. A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117440119">study</a> in the journal <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences </em>reveals<em> </em>that cargo ships are likely a leading cause of whale shark deaths. Often, where you find high densities of these endangered fish, you also find shipping traffic, the authors found, and ships are already known to strike and kill these animals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bDBJCt">
Our lives as consumers connect us to this seemingly far-away problem. More than <a href="https://unctad.org/webflyer/review-maritime-
transport-2018#:%7E:text=Maritime%20transport%20is%20the%20backbone,upswing%20in%20the%20world%20economy.">80 percent</a> of all internationally traded products are carried by cargo vessels, such as TVs and cookware and whatever device you’re reading on now. And the world’s marine fleet is rapidly multiplying, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117440119">growing</a> from 1,771 large vessels in 1995 to more than 94,000 in 2020. The ocean is now full of highways packed with ships.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gtoZ3h">
Whale sharks are not the only roadkill. Vast cargo vessels harm many species of marine giants, such as the endangered North Atlantic right whales, and some smaller creatures, like sea turtles. Ships also emit loud noises that disrupt marine life and spew planet-warming carbon dioxide <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22973218/container-shipping-industry-climate-change-
emissions-maersk">into the atmosphere</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Sg9Ug0">
“Shipping is a serious problem for giants of the sea,” said Robert Harcourt, a marine ecologist at Macquarie University in Australia who was not affiliated with the study. “We have an economy that’s derived from moving things around the world in a way that’s not taking into account the cost to the environment.”
</p>
<h3 id="ma4LZ6">
Ships strike at least 75 different kinds of marine animals
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mFQC92">
Last fall, a large tanker painted red, white, and blue pulled into a harbor in southern Japan. Draped limply across its bow was <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/mizushima-whale-death-photos-japan-ship-strike-1632925">a dead, 39-foot whale</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/PwrgSs4ZyWcJxsb6ePWpYlkHqHI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23454673/image.png"/> <cite>Mizushima Coast Guard Office</cite></p>
<figcaption>
A dead Bryde’s whale seen hanging over the bow of a ship.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s8AuCP">
Tragic photos that document whale strikes are rare, but the strikes themselves aren’t. They affect at least 75 different species of marine animals, according to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00292/full">a recent review</a>, and likely kill thousands of them each year. Creatures that tend to hang out near the ocean’s surface are especially vulnerable, such as whale sharks and sea turtles.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xBBYpU">
A good step toward decreasing collisions is figuring out where animals are most at risk, and that’s where this new whale shark study comes in. Large ships are required to report their locations, and the authors compared those points to the movement of hundreds of whale sharks, which they had previously tagged with satellite trackers. (This is no easy feat: “You’ve gotta have some nice long fins, a good pair of lungs, and sprint after it underwater,” said David Sims, a marine ecologist at the University of Southampton and a study co-author.)
</p>
<div>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/tNpf94RDMH87ZNbr_ti5KUWkNDE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23453516/Screen_Shot_2022_05_11_at_1.03.39_PM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117440119" target="_blank">Womersley et al./<em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em></a></cite>
<figcaption>
Routes of large cargo vessels.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A map of the world showing where whale sharks are most populous." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AKaeZYh2qKp3UTnPOx-mSUEz1OM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23453529/Screen_Shot_2022_05_11_at_1.09.08_PM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117440119" target="_blank">Womersley et al./<em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em></a></cite>
<figcaption>
Blue corresponds to the density of whale sharks that the researchers tracked. Lighter blues correspond to areas with a higher density of sharks.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SBYYbS">
The results revealed just how vulnerable these fish are: More than 90 percent of the ocean’s surface area that whale sharks use overlaps with the routes of tankers, passenger ships, and fishing vessels. Whale sharks tend to congregate near the coast, where shipping is especially busy, according to Freya Womersley, a doctoral student at the University of Southhampton and the study’s lead author.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QhrkJi">
She also discovered that many of the sharks’ tracking devices stopped working when the animals entered busy shipping lanes, perhaps because they were killed by ships. (Some trackers even showed sharks swimming into dense shipping routes and then sinking slowly to the seafloor — “the smoking gun for a lethal ship strike,” as Womersley and Sims <a href="https://theconversation.com/whale-sharks-how-
we-discovered-whats-killing-so-many-of-the-worlds-largest-fish-182531">wrote</a> in The Conversation.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Sp1tU">
Sharks cruising in the Gulf of Mexico, the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea were at the greatest risk of collision, according to Womersley. “Not only are they spending a lot of time at the surface where they may be vulnerable to being struck, but they’re also occupying the same places that some of these ships are moving through,” she told Vox.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tdGPDjAn-
kK6WEpPQ12zWXaVzPc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23453668/GettyImages_472571350.jpg"/> <cite>David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
North Atlantic right whales near Duxbury Beach, Massachusetts.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pU2VIp">
While scientists don’t know exactly how many sharks boats have killed, they do have this information for other marine giants including the North Atlantic right whales. Ships killed <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2017-2022-north-atlantic-right-whale-unusual-
mortality-event#north-atlantic-right-whale-causes-of-death-for-confirmed-carcasses">at least a third</a> of the right whales that died in the last few years, and they injured more. Today, only about <a href="https://usa.oceana.org/wp-
content/uploads/sites/4/4046/narw-21-0002_narw_ship_speed_compliance_report_m1_digital_singlepages_doi_web.pdf">360</a> remain. (“Right whales are notoriously bad at not being run over by ships,” Harcourt said.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Wqef8">
Other kinds of whales, mackerel sharks, otters, manatees, and a whole host of other creatures are vulnerable, too, according to the review. But physical strikes are only part of the problem.
</p>
<h3 id="d4mcFZ">
Noisy ships mess with animals’ senses
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UVLLyk">
While most humans perceive the world through sight and dogs see the world through smell, many whales and dolphins rely on sound. For them, sound is everything: It’s how they map their environment, find prey, and talk to each other, often through hundreds or thousands of miles of ocean.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hleco2">
Shipping throws a big, clanging wrench in this strategy. Over the last 50 years, there has been a <a href="https://havsmiljoinstitutet.se/digitalAssets/1785/1785674_duarte-et-al-2021-the-soundscape-of-the-anthropocene-
ocean.pdf">32-fold increase</a> in low frequencies of sound along the world’s major shipping routes, largely caused by giant propellers. Some whales use those same frequencies to communicate. (Fish — including whale sharks — don’t use sonar to communicate, so this is likely not a big problem for them.)
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="
" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N0Uqu4RDjfeQxxo3BljEGnHNCTw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23453646/GettyImages_1240558573.jpg"/> <cite>CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A container ship in East China’s Jiangsu Province.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h98JT3">
As a result, in noisier areas, some whales seem to be getting louder, for the same reason you might yell when you’re talking to friends at a loud bar, said Daniel Costa, a marine ecologist at the University of California Santa Cruz who was not involved in the whale shark study. “Whales have already started speaking louder to make up for the increased noise,” he said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uKQllI">
Scientists <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.1987">have also discovered</a> that sound can interfere with communication and disrupt behaviors such as hunting prey, sleeping, and mating. More than 150 studies have found that noise has significant effects on marine life, according to a <a href="https://havsmiljoinstitutet.se/digitalAssets/1785/1785674_duarte-et-al-2021-the-soundscape-of-the-anthropocene-
ocean.pdf">recent review</a>. (I recommend listening to some of this six-minute <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Nbqwm48yM">audio track</a> that accompanies the paper. You can hear what the ocean sounds like with and without shipping.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hvA1Bq">
Big cargo ships also pollute the air with carbon emissions. They use some of the dirtiest fuel on the planet and produce a similar amount of carbon emissions as the aviation industry (roughly 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions), as <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22973218/container-shipping-industry-climate-change-emissions-maersk">Vox’s Umair Irfan reports</a>.
</p>
<aside id="4u8bqO">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y2oBON">
Those emissions accelerate climate change, which harms all kinds of marine life. Ironically, warming can even make some animals more prone to ship strikes. For example, North Atlantic right whales are <a href="https://tos.org/oceanography/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-
the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population">traveling north</a> into Canadian waters in the spring and summer as the ocean warms, where <a href="https://tc.canada.ca/en/backgrounder-protecting-north-atlantic-right-whales-0">until recently</a> they weren’t protected against ship strikes. “Climate change keeps reshuffling the deck,” making it hard for regulations to keep up, Costa said.
</p>
<h3 id="G4LwdN">
Toward a safer sea
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tcUamN">
Making oceans safer for marine giants is conceptually simple, and one option is to route ships away from animal hot spots. A <a href="https://biospherefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PriyadarshanaetalFinal.pdf">2015 study</a>, for example, found that shifting a shipping lane near Sri Lanka just 15 nautical miles south could reduce the risk of ships hitting blue whales by 95 percent. (Advocates are now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/07/change-lane-whales-ahead-sri-lanka-urged-to-reroute-shipping-
traffic">pushing for this change</a>.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1AVTMM">
Even just slowing ships down can make a huge difference. The chance that a cargo ship will kill a whale falls to below 50 percent when it’s moving at around half speed (10 knots, or 11.5 miles per hour), compared to nearly 100 percent when it’s moving more quickly, according to one <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00098.x">2006 study</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="71gTLd">
This so- called “slow steaming” is also less noisy and requires less fuel. Just a 10 percent speed reduction may lead to a 19 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22973218/container-shipping-industry-
climate-change-emissions-maersk">Irfan reports</a>. And the fuel bill is cheaper, too.
</p>
<div class="c-float-left">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/bClgllkKLROXvV18uiHHL7Bv3U0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23453490/mms_098_f3.gif"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00098.x" target="_blank">Angelia Vanderlaan &amp; Christopher Taggart/<em>Marine Mammal Science</em></a></cite>
<figcaption>
The chance that a whale strike will be deadly rises rapidly when ships increase their speed above 10 knots.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cLR7BK">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S3UfDt">
But there’s a big drawback to ships slowing down or going on a different route: It takes longer to deliver goods. That’s one reason studies like this don’t always translate into shipping restrictions. That drawback also makes alternative approaches, such as designing quieter ships or adding <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00292/full">wildlife deterrents or propeller guards</a>, appealing (although the benefits of these technologies <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00292/full">aren’t well established</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V697xV">
But other than shopping locally to reduce shipping, it’s something we can do right now, Womersley said, and the payoff would be massive. Many marine giants are at the top of the food chain, where they stabilize ocean ecosystems. They also help fertilize the ocean and capture huge amounts of carbon that could otherwise fuel climate change, as old- growth trees do. These animals are also awesome. They don’t just include the largest fish on Earth, but the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/big-blue-
wbt/#:~:text=Blue%20whales%20are%20the%20largest,long%20as%20a%20city%20bus!">largest animal to have ever lived</a> (the blue whale). All of which makes getting our goods a little bit later seem like a pretty reasonable trade-off.
</p>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why pet food is so doggone expensive</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A bowl of dog kibble surrounded by dog treats and chews." src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/qUuSCu3cck-j_Mc_GJkMdHqoCtI=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70860245/GettyImages_1153468010.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Getty Images/iStockphoto
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
My dog loves to eat garbage. Why do I spend so much on pet food?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oPhpqf">
My dog, Jumanji, loves beef pizzle — also known as bully sticks. Also known as dried bull penises.
</p></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p97POr">
I can tolerate what they are, and even the pungent smell these things exude. What’s harder to stomach is the price tag. Each stick can cost more than $10, and my dog tears through them in a matter of minutes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zzCZYV">
Bully sticks aren’t the only pricey pet products. Foods, treats, and chews can cost owners hundreds of dollars a month, even though they’re often made with “byproducts” of the meat and poultry industry — essentially, anything that’s not muscle tissue, like udders, spleens, bones, and, yes, pizzle.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7FcYh4">
These costs are hitting more people than ever before. During the pandemic, a whopping <a href="https://www.aspca.org/about-us/press-
releases/new-aspca-survey-shows-overwhelming-majority-dogs-and-cats-acquired-during">23 million</a> American households — about one in five — adopted a dog or cat. And the prices are rising, too. Pet food was roughly 12 percent more expensive at the start of this year compared to early 2020, according to the research firm NielsenIQ.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/7rA8E1sHZIN8HVb6Q23jG8MxT3I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23450836/IMG_8282_2.jpg"/> <cite>Benji Jones</cite>
<figcaption>
Jumanji holding a bully stick, a dog treat made with cattle pizzle (penis).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RiN5qV">
Cat or dog, mutt or purebred, your pet is probably pretty expensive, and there’s a reason why food and treats are such a big part of the cost. For one, “byproducts” aren’t really byproducts as you might think of them. More importantly, though, dog and cat owners have a trait that makes us especially vulnerable consumers: We are completely obsessed with our pets.
</p>
<h3 id="uHl9Xx">
Kibble is surprisingly complex
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VjIZx8">
In a strange way, kibble is like infant formula, according to Marion Nestle, a professor emerita of nutrition at New York University who’s written two books on pet food: “You have a product that is the entire nutrition for that animal.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="miyFrp">
Those homely brown pellets need to have the right combination of fat, protein, fiber, and nutrients to keep a pet healthy, even if it eats nothing else. (The adult equivalent might be something like Soylent.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BV92X2">
Kibble also needs to last for weeks or months without rotting, which requires additional ingredients. “The complexity is just amazing,” George Collings, a pet food consultant, told me, adding that juggling multiple supply chains and thousands of ingredients comes at a cost.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1FVxG8">
The ingredients can be pricey themselves, too — even the so-called byproducts of the meat industry. While Americans might not readily eat meats like liver and pizzle, there’s a market for them elsewhere, such as in Europe and China. That’s why some experts call “byproducts” a misnomer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EDAe70">
“They’re not scraps,” said Jennifer Martin, an assistant professor of animal science at Colorado State University. “They’re high-demand proteins and high- demand ingredients that the pet food industry has to compete for.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hyCqFb">
The pandemic has also boosted meat prices overall. A couple of years ago, outbreaks of Covid-19 forced meatpacking plants to close. Farms responded by <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/4/21243636/meat-packing-plant-supply-chain-animals-killed">euthanizing</a> an enormous number of animals, which squeezed supply and boosted costs. Those costs trickled down to the pet food industry, said Dana Brooks, president and CEO of the Pet Food Institute, an industry trade group.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<pre><code> &lt;img alt="A dog sniffs at a bowl of kibble labeled with a 3 while ignoring bowls 1 and 2." </code></pre>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">src=“https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vrJQsPnjJF-kD0icY6c-Er_tH3o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox- cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23450847/GettyImages_658383045.jpg” /&gt; <cite>Getty Images</cite></p>
<figcaption>
Pet companies carry out taste tests to figure out which formulation of kibble is most appetizing.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TOJND0">
Pet food producers also pour money into research. The goal, Nestle said, is to make a kibble that’s just gamey enough — that “tastes bad enough” — so that animals love it but it doesn’t smell or look so awful that people won’t buy it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zkg689">
Companies run sniff tests with pets to find the most palatable kibble, Martin said. They put out a few different formulations of a particular food in a large room and then unleash dozens of dogs (or a handful of cats) to see which foods they prefer. “They really enjoy getting to participate in this process,” Martin said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U7Cp8o">
Bully sticks, specifically, face additional challenges that impact their price — such as the one rooted in biology. Only bulls have pizzles, and they only have one. Plus, manufacturers can generally only get a couple of sticks per penis, Martin said. The <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-
advice/health/are-rawhide-chews-dangerous-for-dog/">faltering reputation</a> of rawhide chews has also buoyed demand for bully sticks, she said.
</p>
<h3 id="eJ1tZe">
Pet food companies also charge a lot because … they can
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ncsRi4">
Like any good company, pet food producers know their customers well; they know that humans love their animals and will do pretty much anything for them. So another reason why pet food companies charge so much is simply “because they can get away with it,” Nestle said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9PcsZD">
Companies also know that people are paying more attention to what’s in pet food, perhaps, because they’re spending <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22841490/work-
remote-wages-labor-force-participation-great-resignation-unions-
quits#:~:text=At%20the%20height%20of%20the,what's%20called%20a%20hybrid%20model.">more time at home</a> with their animals. Owners are increasingly opting for foods that are similar to what they might buy for themselves — all-natural, non-GMO, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/11/18301016/dog-food-feeding-pets-vegan-history">vegan</a>, and so on. Usually, pet food trends lag about five years behind our own, yet that gap is shrinking, Martin said. “The pets don’t care about anything that’s on the label, but the owners do,” Nestle said. “They’re not selling to the pets.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w391lL">
This gets at a much bigger idea: The pet food industry is, to a large extent, built on branding. If you put peanut butter in a tube and call it “<a href="https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/kong-stuff-n-real-peanut-butter">Kong Stuff’n</a>,” you can sell it for more than a jar of Jif. “They know we’ll pay for it,” Martin said. The same list of ingredients packaged by different brands of food can also cost wildly different amounts, Nestle said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RFSA4X">
Marketing also obscures the fact that there are just a handful of major corporations behind the majority of food brands you see at the pet store. For example, Mars Petcare — a subsidiary of Mars, best known for making M&amp;Ms and Twix bars — owns dozens of brands including Pedigree, Greenies, Iams, Whiskas, and Royal Canin. Nestle Purina, a subsidiary of Nestle, also has several brands to its name including Purina, Friskies, Beneful, Fancy Feast, and many others. A lack of competition within an industry can be <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2017/12/05/news/companies/corporate-
consolidation/index.html">bad for the consumer and bad for prices</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WinpME">
Brooks, of the Pet Food Institute, argues that the pet food industry is still highly competitive. And to that end, a raft of startups, from firms offering <a href="https://wildearth.com/">vegan meals</a> to <a href="https://www.petflow.com/">online retailers</a>, now threatens to shake up the industry, which some analysts say could <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/pet-startups-are-having-field-day/">triple in size</a> over the next decade.
</p>
<h3 id="t58CqK">
Should you buy the more expensive pet food?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UEKIfB">
Remarkably, there’s not much research that compares the cost of dog or cat food to the health outcomes of the animal, according to Joseph Bartges, a board- certified veterinary nutritionist at the University of Georgia. “Expensive does not necessarily mean better,” Bartges said in an email. “There are no good studies evaluating this.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iUnHy7">
That leaves a big opportunity for the industry, Shari White, Petco’s senior vice president of merchandising, told me. “I’d love to see more research on health outcomes,” she said. (She noted that Petco consults with a team of trained nutritionists and vets, and partners with brands that carry out health-related research.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8sygfn">
Popular diets for dogs like “grain-free,” which tend to be pricier, may not be better either, Gimlet’s Rose Rimler reported last year for an episode of the podcast <a href="https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/v4h9wo5"><em>Science Vs</em></a><em>. </em>While some dogs do have grain allergies — and it’s important to be mindful of them — these canines have evolved with us, and they’ve evolved to eat grains, she reports. (The whole episode is excellent and worth <a href="https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-
vs/v4h9wo5">checking out</a>.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gSjCwR">
There’s also not much evidence that feeding table scraps to your pup on occasion is a bad idea, Bartges said, as long as you avoid foods they can’t tolerate, like macadamia nuts and chocolate. (You can find a full list <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/foods-can-be-poisonous-
pets">here</a>.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EO4WlN">
Absent more information, it’s hard to know what to buy — and, as pet food author Nestle said, it’s easy to see why pet food companies might want to keep it that way. “The appeal of the more expensive foods is to pet owners who want to do right by their pets because they love them,” Nestle said. “The pet couldn’t possibly care.”
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Biden’s American Rescue Plan worsened inflation. The question is how much.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="President Biden speaking into a microphone from in front of a backdrop that reads “Lowering
costs for American families.”" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/M7qAZCyXzzd5KOB0hhAmChSVyaQ=/0x0:3557x2668/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70860162/GettyImages_1240602504.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
US President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to a family farm in Kankakee, Illinois, on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. | Taylor Glascock/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Was it a minor contributor or a major factor in the US’s inflation woes?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Q7ZFE">
With President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda stalled in Congress, the American Rescue Plan — the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill Democrats passed in March 2021 — may stand as his biggest achievement.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uP8n0z">
But did it contribute to the country’s current inflationary mess?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ovEv9q">
The massive spending law, which included <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/12/1400-stimulus-checks-are-on-the-way-heres-who-
qualifies.html">$1,400 checks</a> for each person in a family, generous expansions to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22394677/unemployment-insurance-ron-wyden">unemployment insurance</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/14/22826684/build-back-better-child-tax-credit-expires-poverty">child tax credit</a> benefits, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22301420/congress-pandemic-relief-state-local-aid">hundreds of billions</a> in aid to state and local governments, was intended to help people in need and stimulate economic demand, and it did.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uyjYuU">
Some economists <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-
letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-in-other-countries/">argue</a>, though, that all this came at the cost of making inflation worse. New <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/11/business/inflation-cpi-report-
april">Consumer Price Index numbers released</a> Wednesday showed prices up 8.3 percent compared to one year before. And “core inflation,” which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.6 percent in just one month.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="04DF7T">
Countries around the world are struggling with inflation due to pandemic disruptions, but the Biden stimulus made the US’s inflation problem more severe, to at least some extent. “I think we can say with certainty that we would have less inflation and fewer problems that we need to solve right now if the American Rescue Plan had been optimally sized,” said Wendy Edelberg, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bSjNdq">
Inflation has brought with it two big problems. The first is already evident: Because most Americans’ wages <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/10/inflation-eroded-pay-by-1point7percent-over-the-past-year.html">haven’t risen enough</a> to keep up with it, real (inflation-adjusted) wages have been declining at the highest rate <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/even-in-a-hot-economy-wages-arent-keeping-up-with-inflation-unemployment-job-growth-
federal-reserve-11649779113">in four decades</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f34kyt">
The second problem is, if inflation remains so persistent, what reining it in could entail. The Federal Reserve <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/04/1096111642/federal-reserve-interest-rates-inflation-prices">has started raising</a> interest rates in an effort to cool down the economy. They’re trying to do so gingerly, aiming for a “<a href="https://qz.com/2158576/can-powells-fed-bring-the-us-economy-in-for-a-soft-landing/">soft landing</a>.” But if demand and investment end up plummeting in response, the US could face a painful recession.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DlSJxH">
What the future holds is uncertain, but to understand how we got here, it’s worth reassessing the past. The American Rescue Plan was drafted with good intentions, but it caused real problems.
</p>
<h3 id="pgcNDf">
The US had significantly worse “core” inflation than comparable economies
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f9NdrI">
It’s important to understand the broader context. Inflation has been <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/24/22799217/global-inflation-us-eu-germany-uk">happening across the world</a>, caused by pandemic-related disruptions, and exacerbated this year by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s Covid-19 lockdowns. Even before the American Rescue Plan passed, “the seeds for a high-inflation environment were already planted,” said Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O87btD">
But regarding the exact amount of inflation, the US stands out. And it started to stand out shortly after President Biden took office.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jlvrqs">
From 2021 onward, what’s known as “core inflation” <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-
in-other-countries/">has been significantly higher</a> in the US than in other wealthy countries. (Core inflation is a common metric that <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2004/october/core-inflation-
headline/">excludes</a> food and energy prices, which tend to be volatile, to try to get a better sense of general price levels and inflation in an economy.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e0EpW8">
A <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/economic-
research/publications/economic-letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-in-other-countries/">recent article</a> published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco makes this point. The authors — Òscar Jordà, Celeste Liu, Fernanda Nechio, and Fabián Rivera-Reyes — compare core inflation in the US to the average of eight wealthy countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Finland). Before 2021, these and the US had similar inflation levels. Then the US’s shot up.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qarrvlPUnmQ95m8ZNO4y2GEjsJM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23449332/Screen_Shot_2022_05_09_at_5.35.48_PM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-
in-other-countries/" target="_blank">Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco</a></cite>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I2YQfh">
The authors don’t mince words about why they think that is, writing: “Estimates suggest that fiscal support measures designed to counteract the severity of the pandemic’s economic effect may have contributed to this divergence by raising inflation about 3 percentage points by the end of 2021.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PkTOEl">
That is: The US did a lot more stimulus than these other countries, and now it’s seeing a lot more core inflation. And the stimulus that most stands out is Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan — because it was enacted after more than $3 trillion had already been spent to stimulate the economy under Trump, with one big chunk of that being approved just three months prior.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rYGOtj">
“We put gasoline on the fire. That’s basically what the ARP did. It was almost written as if we didn’t just pass a trillion-dollar stimulus in December,” said Goldwein.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wT8BqI">
This core inflation divergence between the US and comparable countries continued into 2022, as Jason Furman, an economics professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonfurman/status/1513882237149794304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1513882237149794304%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc">pointed out on Twitter</a> (though it’s also worth noting Europe has been hit by rising energy and food costs after the Ukraine invasion).
</p>
<div id="j4KXZb">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
U.S. inflation remains <em>much</em> higher than euro area inflation. This is the 12-month change in core HICP, a somewhat comparable measure for the two economies.<br/><br/>The US has consistently been ~4pp higher than Europe. That is a HUGE difference. <a href="https://t.co/pboWfRluRR">pic.twitter.com/pboWfRluRR</a>
</p>
— Jason Furman (<span class="citation" data-cites="jasonfurman">@jasonfurman</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonfurman/status/1513882237149794304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3POcgd">
There’s a range of opinion among economists on how much of the US’s higher inflation over 2021 (a 7 percentage point <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/cpi-december-2021-.html">increase</a> including energy and food prices, and a 5.5 percentage point increase excluding them) can be attributed to the American Rescue Plan. Michael Strain of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute has <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/yes-the-
biden-stimulus-made-inflation-worse/">estimated</a> the law added 3 percentage points. Dean Baker of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, though, <a href="https://cepr.net/more-thoughts-on-the-great-inflation-
debate/">put that number</a> at 1-2 percentage points.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wv5ch6">
Some economists with lower-end estimates <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/05/02/inflation-rate-biden-stimulus-blamed/9578452002/?gnt-cfr=1">still argue</a> that it’s a mistake to put too much blame on the American Rescue Plan, which in their view was just a minor contributor to inflation. The White House shares this view. A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were other potential explanations for differing core inflation rates in the US and Europe, and that arguments blaming Biden’s stimulus were merely correlational.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F6aLtt">
The US also stands out from other countries in a more favorable way: It had a quicker and stronger economic recovery in 2021. That indeed seems to be partly <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/lessons-learned-from-the-breadth-of-economic-policies-during-the-
pandemic/">because of the Biden stimulus</a> spending.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G5zrlB">
International comparisons, though, suggest the US would have bounced back without the American Rescue Plan, though more slowly. “I think we would have had a slower recovery, we would’ve had more suffering along the way,” Furman said in an interview. “But pretty much everyone, including countries that did basically nothing, has recovered. And the side effects [in the US] have been quite problematic.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aoaSgp">
And if temporary help has worsened to a longer-term inflation problem, that isn’t great. Wages, when adjusted for inflation, have seen their most dramatic yearly drop <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/even-in-a-hot-economy-wages-arent-keeping-up-with-inflation-unemployment-job-growth-
federal-reserve-11649779113">in 40 years</a>. A major fear is that inflation will become (or is already becoming) a self-fulfilling prophecy, as consumers and producers come to expect it and act accordingly. Then a different sort of economic pain could lie ahead as the Fed tries to get inflation under control. “Ultimately, if you have a situation where wages aren’t keeping up with prices and the risk of recession is really quite high, that’s not a good situation to be in,” Strain said.
</p>
<h3 id="goG7sQ">
The criticisms of the American Rescue Plan
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4abgZi">
The case that the American Rescue Plan contributed to inflation has three parts: its size, its timing, and the details of its spending.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Av7UCD">
First, the size: $1.9 trillion. Many economic analysts at the time <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/voices-skeptical-size-19-trillion-covid-relief-plan">argued that this was too big</a>. saying their models showed so much new spending (on top of trillions already spent) wasn’t necessary to stimulate the economy, and risked overheating it and causing inflation. “I was on the expansionary side of every fiscal debate of my life up until last year,” said Furman. “But quantities matter. It can’t just be that more is better.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2HKDtR">
In early 2021, a group of 10 Republican senators <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/politics/stimulus-
plans-biden-gop-comparison/index.html">had proposed</a> a $618 billion stimulus as a counteroffer to Biden’s. But Democrats, haunted by what they believed to have been policy mistakes from the Obama administration, rejected this, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2021/2/4/22262467/democrats-covid-stimulus-reconciliation-biden">decided going as big as they could was preferable</a> to possibly spending too little.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b1Aqbw">
“The sweet spot, I think, might have been a $300-500 billion American Rescue Plan,” said Strain. “That could have given us a lot of the benefits of the ARP without sparking such rapid price growth. The ARP was so big that the kind of marginal dollar went to inflation, not to increased economic output.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T0YUPD">
Second was timing: that money was mostly spent quickly (about half was spent last year), rather than spread out over a longer period of time. This sent a lot of money flowing into the economy last year — which was the goal — except supply couldn’t keep up, and prices rose.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gOHgVi">
Third was composition: what the plan included. Much of the ARP’s spending did quite a lot to help people in need, with <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/11/15/22783579/child-tax-credit-schools-biden-reconciliation-plan-
education-poverty-families-research">child poverty and child hunger falling</a>. But other parts were not well-targeted. $350 billion was allotted to state and local governments under the outdated assumption that they’d be facing budget crises, but by early 2021 <a href="https://www.vox.com/22301420/congress-pandemic-relief-state-local-aid">it was already clear</a> most states weren’t facing such crises. (The White House official argued that while many states might not have needed the money, cities still did, and that these funds have been spent more slowly, so they probably haven’t contributed to inflation much yet.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1CK2GW">
The checks were another issue. Birthed out of a political promise Democrats <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/23/democrats-use-trump-2000-stimulus-checks-georgia-senate-
race.html">made to one-up Trump</a> and try to win the Georgia Senate runoffs, the checks totaled about $400 billion in spending, and some of them went to families whose <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/25/1400-dollar-stimulus-checks-
went-to-some-people-who-do-not-need-them.html">finances were already in fine shape</a>. Giving money to people who don’t need it isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. But if the consequences are higher inflation and economic woes affecting everyone, well, it is a big deal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sFU9v9">
“Had we made the checks smaller and more targeted, and spread out over time. I think we would’ve had less unwelcome inflation and a slower recovery in real activity,” said Edelberg. “That’s probably a trade-off, in retrospect, that would’ve been a good one to take.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bxWKqz">
Meanwhile, the plan’s anti-poverty benefits proved to be temporary, when the expanded <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/4/18/23026908/child-tax-credit-joe-manchin-policy-feedback-partisan">child tax credit expired</a> at the end of 2021. Democrats had hoped to extend it further in the Build Back Better legislation, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) effectively killed that bill last December, citing inflation concerns. Manchin was always skeptical about the expanded child tax credit <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/04/manchin-wont-support-
enhanced-child-tax-credit-without-work-requirement.html">on the merits</a>, but rising inflation surely didn’t help Democrats’ case for further big spending.
</p>
<h3 id="GiMCIt">
Good intentions don’t always make good policies
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ja9zba">
High inflation is now here, and the worse and more persistent inflation is, the more likely it is that the Fed will raise rates to get it under control, and cause a recession.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZPfSmS">
It’s true that the American Rescue Plan wasn’t the primary cause of today’s inflation. But if inflation was always going to be a problem, then it’s important to avoid policies that could make it a much <em>worse</em> problem.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vuFyhr">
In retrospect, it seems that Democrats simply didn’t take this seriously enough back in early 2021. They wrongly concluded that a stimulus far in excess of what models said was necessary was the less risky option. They thought they were still in the “<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/money-printer-go-brrr">money printer go brrr</a>” era, where there was less pressure to be judicious about where that money was going — so instead of targeting help to those who needed it, they sent hundreds of billions of dollars to well-off Americans and states doing just fine, for political reasons.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D0ZeOC">
Now, Democrats had many good intentions in drafting the American Rescue Plan — they wanted to help people and avert economic pain. And they had some successes, like low unemployment and strong GDP growth. But wages haven’t kept up with prices. And if this results in significantly worse economic problems in 2022, 2023, and 2024, not to mention electoral consequences for Democrats, it’s unclear whether it would have been worth it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I3D0hd">
“We need to see whether we can really achieve a soft landing without bringing about a recession that involves a lot of pain,” Edelberg said. “Whether this all has a happy ending is still yet to be determined.”
</p>
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<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>Scruples, Imperial Power, Forever Together, Yukan and De Villiers excel</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>Shah Rukh Khan’s Knight Riders Group acquires new Abu Dhabi franchise</strong> - The UAE will be the fourth country in which the Knight Riders Group will be associated with a T20 franchise</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>Uber Cup: Sindhu-led India loses to Thailand in quarterfinals</strong> - Thailand took an unassailable 3-0 lead, the remaining two matches of the tie became redundant and were not played.</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>24th Summer Deaflympics | Shuttler Jerlin Anika wins three gold medals</strong> - The badminton player has won several medals for the country at national and international level events</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>He has typhoid or something like that is what the doctor told me: Pant on Shaw</strong> - Shaw was on Sunday admitted to a hospital due to a high fever. He had himself shared an Instagram post from his hospital bed, saying he is hopeful of coming back soon</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>Experts share facts on saving grains from pests</strong> - Fumigation and alternative methods for safe storage and trade of foodgrains discussed at webinar hosted by CSIR-CFTRI</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>Karnataka govt takes ordinance route to implement “anti-conversion law”</strong> - The bill that was passed by the Legislative Assembly provides for protection of right to freedom of religion and prohibition of unlawful conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means.</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>Andhra Pradesh: Election to four RS seats on June 10</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>Award for expatriate</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>Passport Office to remain closed on May 16</strong> -</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>Finland Nato: Russia threatens to retaliate over membership move</strong> - Finland’s leaders say they want the country to apply for membership of the alliance “without delay”.</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>Hard to see a way back for Putin, says UK PM</strong> - Boris Johnson says he cannot see how relations with the Russian leader can be ‘renormalised’.</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>Ukraine war: Russia pushed back from Kharkiv - report from front line</strong> - Correspondent Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway are with Ukrainian troops as they advance.</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>Ukraine war: Snake Island and battle for control in Black Sea</strong> - This rocky outcrop has been fiercely contested for weeks and has vital strategic importance.</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 mask rules relaxed for EU air travel</strong> - Masks will no longer have to be worn on EU flights and in airports from next Monday, new guidance says.</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>Baby formula shortage worsens as national out-of-stock rate hits 43%</strong> - Supply chain issues, recalls, and inflation have all contributed to the shortage. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1853755">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Backdoor in public repository used new form of attack to target big firms</strong> - Dependency confusion attacks exploit our trust in public code repositories. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1853739">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Intel squeezes desktop Alder Lake CPUs into laptops with Core HX-series chips</strong> - New chips will be faster and hotter than the current H-series processors. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1853683">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AMD Ryzen 6000 gets DisplayPort 2.0-certified, testing on other products ramps up</strong> - VESA demos uncompressed 4K at 144 Hz with certified reference silicon. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1853515">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Google teases future hardware: The Pixel 7, Pixel Tablet, and AR Goggles</strong> - Google heads off leakers with a pair of product confirmations and one prototype. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1853677">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>My favorite burn I’ve gotten for being trans</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I was born female and transitioned to male. Early on in my transition, my gf and I were playing a video game, and I called her a noob when she died.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Her: Yeah okay Pinocchio.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Me: Pinocchio.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Her: You know… “I want to be a real boy!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Dasari11"> /u/Dasari11 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unw0hf/my_favorite_burn_ive_gotten_for_being_trans/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unw0hf/my_favorite_burn_ive_gotten_for_being_trans/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>An atheist dies, and wakes up in an alternate heaven.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Baffled and full of questions he is being shown around by God.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Why am I here? I am an atheist.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That does not matter, all good people end up here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
As they pass by a gay couple kissing the atheist wonders
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Isn’t that a sin?” Can I get Covid here?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That does not matter, all good people end up here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They come by a Galactic Rebel, silently meditating.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
"Wait, so you even take in people who believe in the Force?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That does not matter, all good people end up here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Surprised, but intrigued the atheist looks around - when one last question comes to his mind
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“But where are all the Christians?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well… all good people end up here.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unlf14/an_atheist_dies_and_wakes_up_in_an_alternate/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unlf14/an_atheist_dies_and_wakes_up_in_an_alternate/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>i invented a new word!</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
its called plagiarism
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/happycamper1377"> /u/happycamper1377 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unwyqv/i_invented_a_new_word/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unwyqv/i_invented_a_new_word/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>The girlfriend asked me what I was doing on the computer.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I said “looking for cheap flights.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She got very exited and said “I love you,” then got on her knees and
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
gave me the best blow job I’ve ever had.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Which surprised me as she’s never been interested in darts before.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Buddy2269"> /u/Buddy2269 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unaf4i/the_girlfriend_asked_me_what_i_was_doing_on_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unaf4i/the_girlfriend_asked_me_what_i_was_doing_on_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>The geography of a woman as she ages: (from a friend)</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa . Half discovered, half wild, fertile and naturally Beautiful!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 23 and 30, a woman is like Europe. Well developed and open to trade, especially for someone of real value.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 31 and 35, a woman is like Spain. Very hot, relaxed and convinced of her own beauty.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 36 and 40, a woman is like Greece. Gently aging but still a warm and desirable place to visit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain. With a glorious and all conquering past.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Israel. Has been through war, doesn’t make the same mistakes twice, and takes care of business.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Canada. Self-preserving, but open to meeting new people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After 70, she becomes Tibet. Wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages. An adventurous spirit and a thirst for spiritual knowledge.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
THE GEOGRAPHY OF A MAN
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Between 1 and 100, a man is like North Korea and Russia: Ruled by a pair of nuts.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Yugan-Dali"> /u/Yugan-Dali </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unc5wa/the_geography_of_a_woman_as_she_ages_from_a_friend/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/unc5wa/the_geography_of_a_woman_as_she_ages_from_a_friend/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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