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<title>30 January, 2024</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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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>Some mechanistic underpinnings of molecular adaptations of SARS-COV-2 spike protein by integrating candidate adaptive polymorphisms with protein dynamics</strong> -
<div>
We integrate evolutionary predictions based on the neutral theory of molecular evolution with protein dynamics to generate mechanistic insight into the molecular adaptations of the SARS-COV-2 Spike (S) protein. With this approach, we first identified Candidate Adaptive Polymorphisms (CAPs) of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and assessed the impact of these CAPs through dynamics analysis. Not only have we found that CAPs frequently overlap with well-known functional sites, but also, using several different dynamics-based metrics, we reveal the critical allosteric interplay between SARS-CoV-2 CAPs and the S protein binding sites with the human ACE2 (hACE2) protein. CAPs interact far differently with the hACE2 binding site residues in the open conformation of S protein compared to the closed form. In particular, the CAP sites control the dynamics binding residues in the open state, suggesting an allosteric control of hACE2 binding. We also explored the characteristic mutations of different SARS-CoV-2 strains to find dynamic hallmarks and potential effects of future mutations. Our analyses reveal that Delta strain-specific variants have non-additive (i.e., epistatic) interactions with CAP sites, whereas the less pathogenic Omicron strains have mostly compensatory variants. Finally, our dynamics-based analysis suggests that the novel mutations observed in the Omicron strain epistatically interact with the CAP sites to help escape antibody binding.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.14.557827v2" target="_blank">Some mechanistic underpinnings of molecular adaptations of SARS-COV-2 spike protein by integrating candidate adaptive polymorphisms with protein dynamics</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Low-coverage whole genome sequencing for a highly selective cohort of severe COVID-19 patients</strong> -
<div>
Despite advances in identifying genetic markers associated to severe COVID-19, the full genetic characterisation of the disease remains elusive. This study explores the use of imputation in low-coverage whole genome sequencing for a severe COVID-19 patient cohort. We generated a dataset of 79 imputed variant call format files using the GLIMPSE1 tool, each containing an average of 9.5 million single nucleotide variants. Validation revealed a high imputation accuracy (squared Pearson correlation {approx}0.97) across sequencing platforms, showing GLIMPSE1's ability to confidently impute variants with minor allele frequencies as low as 2% in Spanish ancestry individuals. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the patient cohort, examining hospitalisation and intensive care utilisation, sex and age-based differences, and clinical phenotypes using a standardised set of medical terms developed to characterise severe COVID-19 symptoms. The methods and findings presented here may be leveraged in future genomic projects, providing vital insights for health challenges like COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.28.577610v1" target="_blank">Low-coverage whole genome sequencing for a highly selective cohort of severe COVID-19 patients</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Discovery of orally active SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitors</strong> -
<div>
Vaccines and first-generation antiviral therapeutics have provided important protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, there remains a need for additional therapeutic options that provide enhanced efficacy and protection against potential viral resistance. The SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) is one of two essential cysteine proteases involved in viral replication. While inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) have demonstrated clinical efficacy, known PLpro inhibitors have to date lacked the inhibitory potency and requisite pharmacokinetics to demonstrate that targeting PLpro translates to in vivo efficacy in a preclinical setting. Herein, we report the machine learning-driven discovery of potent, selective, and orally available SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors, with lead compound PF-07957472 (4) providing robust efficacy in a mouse-adapted model of COVID-19 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.26.577395v1" target="_blank">Discovery of orally active SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitors</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Multiple layers of innate immune response antagonism of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
Several SARS-CoV-2 proteins have been shown to counteract the host innate immune response, mostly using in vitro protein expression, which may not fully reflect their role in the context of viral infection. In addition, while each viral protein was characterized in a different experimental system, their relative contribution in immunosuppression remains unclear. Here we used a SARS-CoV-2 bacterial artificial chromosome with en passant mutagenesis to recover a panel of twelve infectious recombinant SARS-CoV-2 viruses, each with mutations in either NSP1, NSP2, NSP3, NSP6, NSP12, NSP13, NSP14, NSP15, NSP16, ORF3a, ORF6 or ORF8. We used the interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE)-driven luciferase assay in 293T-ACE2/TMPRSS2 cells to test the panel, demonstrating that mutations in many proteins, especially in NSP1 and NSP15, increased the type I interferon response relative to the parental wild-type virus. RNA-seq analysis of mutant-virus infected Calu-3 cells showed that the mutations in NSP1 or NSP15 lead to higher expression of multiple genes involved in innate immune response, cytokine-mediated signaling and regulation of lymphocyte proliferation. Furthermore, mutations in either NSP1 or NSP15 resulted in a greater maturation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells in vitro. Infection of K18 hACE2 transgenic mice with either NSP1 or NSP15 mutated viruses demonstrated attentuated respiratory tract replication. Analysis of lung immune cells from infected mice by single-cell RNA-seq identified 15 populations of major myeloid and lymphoid cells with changes in the pattern of their activation associated with viral infection. The effects of mutations in NSP1 or NSP15 on these responses are consistent with differences in the immunosuppressive mechanisms utilized by the two proteins. Overall, these data demonstrate different and redundant mechanisms of innate immune antagonism by SARS-CoV-2 and suppression of activation of antigen presenting cells and T and B lymphocytes mediated by multiple viral proteins.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.29.577695v1" target="_blank">Multiple layers of innate immune response antagonism of SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Nanobody repertoire generated against the spike protein of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 remains efficacious against the rapidly evolving virus</strong> -
<div>
To date, all major modes of monoclonal antibody therapy targeting SARS-CoV-2 have lost significant efficacy against the latest circulating variants. As SARS-CoV-2 omicron sublineages account for over 90% of COVID-19 infections, evasion of immune responses generated by vaccination or exposure to previous variants poses a significant challenge. A compelling new therapeutic strategy against SARS-CoV-2 is that of single domain antibodies, termed nanobodies, which address certain limitations of monoclonal antibodies. Here we demonstrate that our high-affinity nanobody repertoire, generated against wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (Mast, Fridy et al. 2021), remains effective against variants of concern, including omicron BA.4/BA.5; a subset is predicted to counter resistance in emerging XBB and BQ.1.1 sublineages. Furthermore, we reveal the synergistic potential of nanobody cocktails in neutralizing emerging variants. Our study highlights the power of nanobody technology as a versatile therapeutic and diagnostic tool to combat rapidly evolving infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.14.549041v2" target="_blank">Nanobody repertoire generated against the spike protein of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 remains efficacious against the rapidly evolving virus</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Economic precarity and changing levels of anxiety and stress among Canadians with disabilities and chronic health conditions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple event stressors converged to exacerbate a growing mental health crisis in Canada with differing effects across status groups. However, less is known about changing mental health situations throughout the pandemic, especially among individuals more likely to experience chronic stress because of their disability and health status. Using data from two waves of a targeted online survey of people with disabilities and chronic health conditions in Canada (N = 563 individuals, June 2020 and July 2021), we find that approximately 25% of respondents experienced additional increases in stress and anxiety levels in 2021. These increases were partly explained by worsening perceived financial insecurity and, in the case of stress, additional negative financial effects tied to the pandemic. This paper understands mental health disparities as a function of social status and social group membership. By linking stress process models and a minority stress framework with a social model of disability, we allude to how structural and contextual barriers make functional limitations disabling and in turn, life stressors.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/w78su/" target="_blank">Economic precarity and changing levels of anxiety and stress among Canadians with disabilities and chronic health conditions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Undergraduate Research in the Department of Biology at Western University: Effect on project types, learning outcomes, and student perceptions.</strong> -
<div>
Undergraduate research is a high impact practice that offers numerous benefits to students, academic institutions, and the wider scientific community. Unfortunately, undergraduate research has faced restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted: (1) the number and types of undergraduate research projects performed in the Department of Biology at the University of Western Ontario, and (2) the satisfaction-levels and perceived learning outcomes of students performing these projects. This study also aimed to incorporate a One Health framework through an emphasis on stakeholder involvement and the need for future action. A survey of 33 students who completed an undergraduate research project in the Department of Biology in the 2020/2021 academic year, and 68 students who completed an undergraduate research project in the 5 years prior was conducted. In keeping with the One Health approach, key stakeholders were identified, and a stakeholder map was constructed. The number of projects performed did not change dramatically despite COVID-19 restrictions. However, a shift towards dry research was observed with 87.9% of students in the 2020/2021 academic year conducting dry research, compared to 16.4% of students in the 5 years prior. Students who conducted research in the 2020/2021 academic year indicated lower overall levels of satisfaction and enjoyment, though their perceived learning outcomes were consistent with students who completed their projects in the 5 years prior. 53 key stakeholders from academia, government, industry, media, and the public were identified. Students provided invaluable feedback on their undergraduate research experiences that can be used to improve the quality of undergraduate research courses in the Department of Biology in the future. Findings may be of use to other departments and educational institutions that are seeking to improve their own undergraduate research courses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic or looking to incorporate experiential-based learning techniques into existing online courses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.24.577125v1" target="_blank">Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Undergraduate Research in the Department of Biology at Western University: Effect on project types, learning outcomes, and student perceptions.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Case of Myocarditis, Pericarditis, and Fatal Aortic Dissection following Covid-19 mRNA Vaccination</strong> -
<div>
We present a case study of a 34-year-old male who was in apparent good health prior to his COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. Sixteen days after his first dose, he experienced acute inflammation, sudden thoracic aortic dissection, and pericardial tamponade, rapidly leading to his death. Studies suggest that young males, in particular, appear to be at increased risk of adverse cardiac events following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. However, we propose that certain information gaps exist in the criteria that inform both public health agencies and the public on incidence rates in certain presentations of even severe myocarditis and cardiac adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination, as is often mentioned within COVID-19 vaccine myocarditis studies and is evident within the findings of this young man’s important case presentation.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/xnr5t/" target="_blank">Case of Myocarditis, Pericarditis, and Fatal Aortic Dissection following Covid-19 mRNA Vaccination</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>nf-core/airrflow: an adaptive immune receptor repertoire analysis workflow employing the Immcantation framework</strong> -
<div>
Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire sequencing (AIRR-seq) is a valuable experimental tool to study the immune state in health and following immune challenges such as infectious diseases, (auto)immune diseases, and cancer. Several tools have been developed to reconstruct B cell and T cell receptor sequences from AIRR-seq data and infer B and T cell clonal relationships. However, currently available tools offer limited parallelization across samples, scalability or portability to high-performance computing infrastructures. To address this need, we developed nf-core/airrflow, an end-to-end bulk and single-cell AIRR-seq processing workflow which integrates the Immcantation Framework following BCR and TCR sequencing data analysis best practices. The Immcantation Framework is a comprehensive toolset, which allows the processing of bulk and single-cell AIRR-seq data from raw read processing to clonal inference. nf-core/airrflow is written in Nextflow and is part of the nf-core project, which collects community contributed and curated Nextflow workflows for a wide variety of analysis tasks. We assessed the performance of nf-core/airrflow on simulated sequencing data with sequencing errors and show example results with real datasets. To demonstrate the applicability of nf-core/airrflow to the high-throughput processing of large AIRR-seq datasets, we validated and extended previously reported findings of convergent antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 by analyzing 97 COVID-19 infected individuals and 99 healthy controls, including a mixture of bulk and single-cell sequencing datasets. Using this dataset, we extended the convergence findings to 20 additional subjects, highlighting the applicability of nf-core/airrflow to validate findings in small in-house cohorts with reanalysis of large publicly available AIRR datasets. nf-core/airrflow is available free of charge, under the MIT license on GitHub (https://github.com/nf-core/airrflow). Detailed documentation and example results are available on the nf-core website at (https://nf-co.re/airrflow).
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.18.576147v2" target="_blank">nf-core/airrflow: an adaptive immune receptor repertoire analysis workflow employing the Immcantation framework</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Development and validation of a federated learning framework for detection of subphenotypes of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a severe post-acute sequela of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The highly diverse clinical features of MIS-C necessities characterizing its features by subphenotypes for improved recognition and treatment. However, jointly identifying subphenotypes in multi-site settings can be challenging. We propose a distributed multi-site latent class analysis (dMLCA) approach to jointly learn MIS-C subphenotypes using data across multiple institutions. Methods We used data from the electronic health records (EHR) systems across nine U.S. childrens hospitals. Among the 3,549,894 patients, we extracted 864 patients &lt; 21 years of age who had received a diagnosis of MIS-C during an inpatient stay or up to one day before admission. Using MIS-C conditions, laboratory results, and procedure information as input features for the patients, we applied our dMLCA algorithm and identified three MIS-C subphenotypes. As validation, we characterized and compared more granular features across subphenotypes. To evaluate the specificity of the identified subphenotypes, we further compared them with the general subphenotypes identified in the COVID-19 infected patients. Findings Subphenotype 1 (46.1%) represents patients with a mild manifestation of MIS-C not requiring intensive care, with minimal cardiac involvement. Subphenotype 2 (25.3%) is associated with a high risk of shock, cardiac and renal involvement, and an intermediate risk of respiratory symptoms. Subphenotype 3 (28.6%) represents patients requiring intensive care, with a high risk of shock and cardiac involvement, accompanied by a high risk of &gt;4 organ system being impacted. Importantly, for hospital-specific clinical decision-making, our algorithm also revealed a substantial heterogeneity in relative proportions of these three subtypes across hospitals. Properly accounting for such heterogeneity can lead to accurate characterization of the subphenotypes at the patient-level. Interpretation Our identified three MIS-C subphenotypes have profound implications for personalized treatment strategies, potentially influencing clinical outcomes. Further, the proposed algorithm facilitates federated subphenotyping while accounting for the heterogeneity across hospitals.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.26.24301827v1" target="_blank">Development and validation of a federated learning framework for detection of subphenotypes of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>In silico assessment of immune cross protection between BCoV and SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
Background: Humans have long shared infectious agents with cattle, and the bovine-derived human common cold OC-43 CoV is a not-so-distant example of cross-species viral spill over of coronaviruses. Human exposure to the Bovine Coronavirus (BCoV) is certainly common, as the virus is endemic in most high-density cattle-raising regions. Since BCoVs are phylogenetically close to SARS-CoV-2, it is possible that cross-protection against COVID-19 occurs in people exposed to BCoV. Methods: This article shows an in silico investigation of human cross-protection to SARS-CoV-2 due to BCoV exposure. We determined HLA recognition and human B lymphocyte reactivity to BCoV epitopes using bioinformatics resources. A retrospective geoepidemiological analysis of COVID-19 was then performed to verify if BCoV/SARS-CoV-2 cross-protection could have occurred in the field. Brazil was used as a model for the epidemiological analysis of the impact of livestock density, as a proxy for human exposure to BCoV, on the prevalence of COVID-19 in people. Results: As could be expected from their classification in the same Betacoronavirus genus, we show that several human B and T epitopes are shared between BCoV and SARS-CoV-2. This raised the possibility of cross-protection of people from exposure to the bovine coronavirus. Analysis of field data added partial support to the hypothesis of viral cross-immunity from human exposure to BCoV. There was a negative correlation between livestock geographical density and COVID-19. Whole-Brazil data showed areas in the country in which COVID-19 prevalence was disproportionally low (controlled by normalization by transport infrastructure). Areas with high cattle density had lower COVID-19 prevalence in these low-risk areas. Conclusions: These data are hypothesis-raising indications that cross-protection is possibly being induced by human exposure to the Bovine Coronavirus.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.25.577193v1" target="_blank">In silico assessment of immune cross protection between BCoV and SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>No Substitute for the Real Thing? Physical and Digital Cultural Participation in Denmark during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Research Note</strong> -
<div>
In this research note, we analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cultural participation. We use rich survey data from Denmark to construct pooled time-series cross-sectional data for each month of the years 2019-2021 and report three findings. First, participation in physical cultural activities (e.g., attending a concert or a museum) plummeted during two lockdowns and did not return to its pre-pandemic level by the end of 2021. Second, participation in digital activities (e.g., reading a digital book or following a museum on social media) did not change much during the pandemic. Overall, we find little evidence of substitution from physical to digital cultural participation during the COVID-19 lockdown in Denmark. Third, socioeconomic gradients in cultural participation decreased during the pandemic for physical cultural participation, but did not change for digital cultural participation. We end by discussing what we can learn from our results about how social disruptions affect patterns of cultural participation and inequality.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/ksy9w/" target="_blank">No Substitute for the Real Thing? Physical and Digital Cultural Participation in Denmark during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Research Note</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Stratification in Parents’ Selection of Developmentally Appropriate Books for Children: Register-based Evidence from Danish Public Libraries</strong> -
<div>
This paper studies socioeconomic gradients in selecting developmentally appropriate children’s books from public libraries. I draw on research on developmental gradients in parental inputs to hypothesize that families with high socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to select books that match children’s developmental stage in order to best improve children’s learning environments. In contrast to previous survey-based research, I use behavioral data on the actual books families have selected from libraries. Based on Danish registry data that cover all books borrowed from public libraries in 2020, I find that highly educated families are more likely to use libraries and borrow more books when they use libraries, but they do not select a larger share of developmentally appropriate books; in fact, they select a slightly lower share. In contrast, I find only a weak positive income gradient for the amount of books borrowed and the share of developmentally appropriate books. The supplementary analyses show that results are robust across families with children of different ages and to account for nonrandom selection into the sample of library users, socioeconomic differences in children’s reading skills, and the impact of library lockdowns due to Covid-19. I conclude that stratification in library book selection is more prominent concerning the voraciousness with which highly educated parents provide reading inputs (more books) than how discriminating they are in terms of selecting developmentally appropriate books.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/8pzv5/" target="_blank">Stratification in Parents’ Selection of Developmentally Appropriate Books for Children: Register-based Evidence from Danish Public Libraries</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Safety Monitoring of Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Among Recipients 6 months and Older in the United States</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Importance Active monitoring of health outcomes after COVID-19 vaccination provides early detection of rare outcomes post-licensure. Objective To evaluate health outcomes following bivalent COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) and Moderna (mRNA-1273.222) vaccination among individuals 6 months and older in the United States. Design Monthly monitoring of health outcomes from August 2022 to July 2023 in four administrative claims databases. Descriptive analyses monitored vaccine uptake, outcome counts and coadministration of bivalent COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. Sequential analyses tested for elevated risk of each outcome in a prespecified post-vaccination risk interval, or a period of hypothesized elevation based on clinical guidance, compared to a historical baseline. Participants and Exposures Persons 6 months and older who received a bivalent COVID-19 BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273.222 vaccine during the study period, with continuous enrollment in a medical insurance plan from the start of an outcome-specific clean interval to the COVID-19 vaccination date. Vaccines were identified using product-specific codes from medical coding systems. Health Outcomes Twenty outcomes were monitored in BNT162b2 vaccine recipients 6 months-4 years, and mRNA-1273.222 vaccine recipients 6 months-5 years. Twenty-one outcomes were monitored in BNT162b2 vaccine recipients 5-17 years and mRNA-1273.222 vaccine recipients 6-17 years. Eighteen outcomes were monitored in persons 18 years and older for both mRNA vaccines. Results Overall, 13.9 million individuals 6 months and older received a single bivalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. The statistical threshold for a signal was met for two outcomes in one database: anaphylaxis following bivalent BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273.222 vaccines in persons 18-64 years and myocarditis/pericarditis following bivalent BNT162b2 vaccines in individuals 18-35 years. There were no signals identified in young children. Conclusions Results were consistent with prior observations from published studies on COVID-19 vaccine safety. This study supports the safety profile of bivalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and the conclusion that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.24.24301676v1" target="_blank">Safety Monitoring of Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Among Recipients 6 months and Older in the United States</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>An ecological study of COVID-19 outcomes among Florida counties</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida reported some of the highest number of cases and deaths in the US; however, county-level variation in COVID-19 outcomes has not been comprehensively investigated. The present ecological study aimed to assess corelates of COVID-19 outcomes among Florida counties that explain variation in case rates, mortality rates, and case fatality rates (CFR) across pandemic waves. Method: We obtained county-level administrative data and COVID-19 case reports from public repositories. We tested spatial autocorrelation to assess geographic clustering in COVID-19 outcomes: case rate, mortality rate, and CFR. Stepwise linear regression was employed to test the association between case, death, and CFR and 18 demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related county-level predictors. Results: We found mortality rate and CFR were significantly higher in rural counties compared to urban counties, among which significant differences in vaccination coverage was also observed. Multivariate analysis found that the percentage of the population aged over 65 years, the percentage of the obese people, and the percentage of rural population were significant predictors of COVID-19 case rate. Median age, vaccination coverage, percentage of people who smoke, and percentage of the population with diabetes were significant influencing factors for CFR. Importantly, vaccination coverage was significantly associated with a reduction in case rate (R = -0.26, p = 0.03) and mortality (R = -0.51, p &lt; 0.001). Last, we found that spatial dependencies play a role in explaining variations in COVID-19 CFR among Florida counties. Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the need for targeted, equitable public health strategies to reduce disparities and enhance population resilience during public health crises. We further inform future spatial-epidemiological analyses and present actionable data for policies related to preparedness and response to current and future epidemics in Florida and elsewhere.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.26.24301823v1" target="_blank">An ecological study of COVID-19 outcomes among Florida counties</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Predict + Protect: A Randomized Controlled Trial Exploring the Effectiveness of a Predictive Health Education Intervention on the Adoption of Protective Behaviors Related to Influenza-like Illness (ILI)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Influenza; Influenza A; Influenza B; COVID-19; Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: ILI Predictive Alerts, Reactive Content, and Proactive Content; Behavioral: ILI Predictive Alerts, Reactive Content; Behavioral: Proactive Content; Behavioral: No Intervention <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Evidation Health; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority <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>Long COVID-19 [11C]CPPC Study</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID Long-Haul <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: [11C]CPPC Injection; Drug: [11C]CPPC Injection <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Johns Hopkins University; Radiological Society of North America <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>Thrombohemorrhagic Complications of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: Prevention algorithm <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Volgograd State Medical University <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>Combined Use of Immunoglobulin and Pulse Steroid Therapies in Severe Covid-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Pulse Steroid and Immunoglobulins Drugs in Covid 19 Patients <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: pulse steroid and nanogam <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Konya City Hospital <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Beneficial Effects of Natural Products on Management of Xerostomia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Xerostomia; Diabetes Mellitus; Hypertension; Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: (Manuka honey-green tea- ginger) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: British University In Egypt <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Eficacia Ventilatoria y Remolacha</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS CoV 2 Infection; Muscle Disorder; Fatigue <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Dietary Supplement: Remolacha <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Hospital de Mataró <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Diet and Fasting for Long COVID</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19; Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Low sugar diet and 10-12 hour eating window; Other: Low sugar diet, 8 hour eating window and fasting <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Effectiveness of a Health Promotion Program for Older People With Post-Covid-19 Sarcopenia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Protein powder and Resistance exercise <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Mahidol University; National Health Security Office, Thailand <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chronic-disease Self-management Program in Patients Living With Long-COVID in Puerto Rico</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: “Tomando control de su salud” (Spanish Chronic Disease Self-Management) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Puerto Rico; National Institutes of Health (NIH) <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Treatment of Persistent Post-Covid-19 Smell and Taste Disorders</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-covid-19 Persistent Smell and Taste Disorders <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Cerebrolysin; Other: olfactory and gustatory trainings <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Sherifa Ahmed Hamed <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evealuate Safety and Immunogenicity of TI-0010 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; COVID-19 Immunisation <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: TI-0010; Biological: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: National Drug Clinical Trial Institute of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College; Therorna <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</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>AI-driven covalent drug design strategies targeting main protease (m<sup>pro</sup>) against SARS-CoV-2: structural insights and molecular mechanisms</strong> - The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has raised concerns about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. To address this challenge, small-molecule antivirals have been proposed as a crucial therapeutic option. Among potential targets for anti-COVID-19 therapy, the main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 is important due to its essential role in the virus’s life cycle and high conservation. The substrate-binding region of the core proteases of various coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2,…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inhibition of multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants entry by Lycium barbarum L. polysaccharides through disruption of spike protein-ACE2 interaction</strong> - Viral respiratory infections are major human health concerns. The most striking epidemic disease, COVID-19 is still on going with the emergence of fast mutations and drug resistance of pathogens. A few polysaccharide macromolecules from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have been found to have direct anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity but the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the entry inhibition effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) in vitro and in vivo. We found LBP…</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>Proposing of fungal endophyte secondary metabolites as a potential inhibitors of 2019-novel coronavirus main protease using docking and molecular dynamics</strong> - In this study, the inhibitory potential of 99 fungal derived secondary metabolites was predicted against SARS-CoV-2 main protease by using of computational approaches. This protein plays an important role in replication and is one of the important targets to inhibit viral reproduction. Among the 99 reported compounds, the 9 of them with the highest binding energy to Mpro obtained from the molecular docking method were selected for the molecular dynamic simulations. The compounds were then…</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>DON/DRP-104 as potent serine protease inhibitors implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection: Comparative binding modes with human TMPRSS2 and novel therapeutic approach</strong> - Human transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) is an important member of the type 2 transmembrane serine protease (TTSP) family with significant therapeutic markings. The search for potent TMPRSS2 inhibitors against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection with favorable tissue specificity and off-site toxicity profiles remains limited. Therefore, probing the anti-TMPRSS2 potential of enhanced drug delivery systems, such as nanotechnology and prodrug systems, has become…</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>Fluoxetine exerts anti-inflammatory effects on human epidermal keratinocytes and suppresses their endothelin release</strong> - Fluoxetine is a safe antidepressant with remarkable anti-inflammatory actions; therefore, we aimed to investigate its effects on immortalized (HaCaT) as well as primary human epidermal keratinocytes in a polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (p(I:C))-induced inflammatory model. We found that a non-cytotoxic concentration (MTT-assay, CyQUANT-assay) of fluoxetine significantly suppressed p(I:C)-induced expression and release of several pro-inflammatory cytokines (Q-PCR, cytokine array, ELISA), and it…</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>Flavonoids derived from medicinal plants as a COVID-19 treatment</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes COVID-19 disease. Through its viral spike (S) protein, the virus enters and infects epithelial cells by utilizing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 as a host cell’s receptor protein. The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on global public health and economies. Although various effective vaccinations and medications are now available to prevent and treat COVID-19, natural compounds derived from medicinal plants,…</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>Mutational analysis of SARS-CoV-2 ORF6-KPNA2 binding interface and identification of potent small molecule inhibitors to recuse the host immune system</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) surfaced on 31 December, 2019, and was identified as the causative agent of the global COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a pneumonia-like disease. One of its accessory proteins, ORF6, has been found to play a critical role in immune evasion by interacting with KPNA2 to antagonize IFN signaling and production pathways, resulting in the inhibition of IRF3 and STAT1 nuclear translocation. Since various mutations have been observed in ORF6,…</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>Intraepithelial Inclusions on Urinalysis Screening among COVID-19 Cases: Are they <em>Covicytes</em>?-A Hospital-Based Cohort Study with Narrative Review</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: This study reported COVID-19-associated urinary cytomorphological abnormalities and interesting unique inclusions (Covicytes) that may be a result of underlying inflammatory changes, reactive hyperplasia, degenerative changes, or defective endocytosed vacuoles. The possible etiologies for renal inclusions were reviewed. We recommend compulsory baseline and follow-up urinary cytology screening for all COVID-19-suspected patients to detect and predict delayed AKI before clinical and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Marine natural products and human immunity: novel biomedical resources for anti-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and related cardiovascular disease</strong> - Marine natural products (MNPs) and marine organisms include sea urchin, sea squirts or ascidians, sea cucumbers, sea snake, sponge, soft coral, marine algae, and microalgae. As vital biomedical resources for the discovery of marine drugs, bioactive molecules, and agents, these MNPs have bioactive potentials of antioxidant, anti-infection, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, anti-diabetic effects, cancer treatment, and improvement of human immunity. This article reviews the role of MNPs on…</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>Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 3 cross-react with human muscle cells and neuroglial cells</strong> - Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines protect the public and limit viral spread. However, inactivated viral vaccines use the whole virus particle, which contains many non-capsid proteins that may cause adverse immune responses. A report has found that the ADP-ribose-binding domains of SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 3 (NSP3) and human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase family member 14 (PARP14) share a significant degree of homology. Here, we further show that antibodies against 2019 novel…</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>Eculizumab led to beneficial clinical course in a patient with generalized myasthenia gravis who developed COVID 19-associated pneumonia</strong> - A 74-year-old woman developed myasthenia gravis (MG) at the age of 32. She had a thymoma removed the following year, but her MG symptoms did not stabilize, and she required frequent hospitalization for fast-acting treatment (FT). She started eculizumab in March of two years ago and was followed up on an outpatient basis as her MG symptoms became milder. In February of this year, she was admitted to our hospital due to mild COVID-19-associated pneumonia with general malaise and fever. Her…</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>Lower respiratory tract single-cell RNA sequencing and neutrophil extracellular trap profiling of COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: a single centre, retrospective, observational study</strong> - BACKGROUND: COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is a severe superinfection with the fungus Aspergillus affecting patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. The pathophysiology and the role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in this infection are largely unknown. We aimed to characterise the immune profile, with a focus on neutrophils and NET concentrations, of critically ill patients with COVID-19, with or without CAPA.</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>An ensemble docking-based virtual screening and molecular dynamics simulation of phytochemical compounds from Malaysian Kelulut Honey (KH) against SARS-CoV-2 target enzyme, human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2)</strong> - The human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptor is a metalloenzyme that plays an important role in regulating blood pressure by modulating angiotensin II. This receptor facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis, causing the global COVID-19 pandemic and a major health crisis. Kelulut honey (KH), one of Malaysian honey recently gained attention for its distinct flavour and taste while having many nutritional and medicinal properties. Recent study…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-COVID-19 Potential of Withaferin-A and Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester</strong> - CONCLUSION: Wi-A and CAPE possess multimodal anti-COVID-19 potential, and their combination (Wi-ACAPE) is expected to provide better activity and hence warrant further attention in the laboratory and clinic.</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>Recurrent viral capture of cellular phosphodiesterases that antagonize OAS-RNase L</strong> - Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) encoded by viruses are putatively acquired by horizontal transfer of cellular PDE ancestor genes. Viral PDEs inhibit the OAS-RNase L antiviral pathway, a key effector component of the innate immune response. Although the function of these proteins is well-characterized, the origins of these gene acquisitions are less clear. Phylogenetic analysis revealed at least five independent PDE acquisition events by ancestral viruses. We found evidence that PDE-encoding genes were…</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 Rural Ski Slope Caught Up in an International Scam</strong> - A federal program promised to bring foreign investment to remote parts of the country. It soon became rife with fraud. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/the-rural-ski-slope-caught-up-in-an-international-scam">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inside the Music Industry’s High-Stakes A.I. Experiments</strong> - Lucian Grainge, the chairman of UMG, has helped record labels rake in billions of dollars from streaming. Can he do the same with generative artificial intelligence? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/inside-the-music-industrys-high-stakes-ai-experiments">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Perverse Policies That Fuel Wildfires</strong> - We thought we could master nature, but we were playing with fire. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/the-perverse-policies-that-fuel-wildfires">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine’s Democracy in Darkness</strong> - With elections postponed and no end to the war with Russia in sight, Volodymyr Zelensky and his political allies are becoming like the officials they once promised to root out: entrenched. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/ukraines-democracy-in-darkness">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Future of Academic Freedom</strong> - As the Israel-Hamas war provokes claims about unacceptable speech, the ability to debate difficult subjects is in renewed peril. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/the-future-of-academic-freedom">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Bats have a unique superpower. Climate change is turning it into a liability.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A fruit bat flies against a blue sky with clouds." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wx7wTwXwpB7p7zk6yF3thzdcUcQ=/181x0:1818x1228/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73096278/GettyImages_97750608.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s good news for bat-haters and bad news for everyone else.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aGEeIJ">
Not all bats are unbelievably, overwhelmingly adorable, like the one below. Many of them have wrinkly faces and large ears that help them “see” in the dark, using echolocation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0aUwr1">
But all bats are, without a doubt, exceptional creatures. Not only do bats pollinate our crops, prey on pests like mosquitos, and spread seeds that help damaged ecosystems recover, but they also possess a superpower that’s unique among mammals: flight.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ih09Tp">
Indeed, bats are the only mammals on the planet that can fly. Yes, some squirrels and frogs can glide through the forest. That’s neat, but it’s not flight.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rFHl7O9rqnKYW5mBraGc5RKpiyc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25245940/GettyImages_611228474.jpg"/> <cite>Annick Vanderschelden/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A fruit bat hangs from a branch in South Africa.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WGXGqc">
The power of flight demands an enormous amount of energy and a highly specialized physiology. While airborne, a bat’s heart rate skyrockets to as high as 1,000 beats per minute — several times above its resting heart rate — and its body temperature surges, often pushing past 105 degrees Fahrenheit. To maintain that high metabolism, bats need to eat an enormous quantity of food and plenty of water.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lpHxXo">
A body built for flight comes with some serious benefits. It likely helps these creatures avoid getting sick, for example, even when they’re infected with a number of viruses, such as <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">coronavirus</a>, as Vox explains in the video below.
</p>
<div id="CVMqzI">
<div class="volume-video" id="volume-placement-355">
</div></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZUFHXq">
But as scientists are starting to learn, it also comes with some serious drawbacks. Especially as <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> continues warming the planet. Bats’ flight-adapted physiologies make them highly susceptible to severe droughts and heat waves. Plus, the proliferation of wind turbines — a climate solution that provides energy without harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and one we’ll need more of to combat warming — is killing them in droves.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TAf1d1">
While bats remain highly understudied relative to birds and other mammals, scientists are sounding the alarm. In North America, more than half of all bat species are at risk of severe population declines, due to other problems like fungal pathogens and the plight of insects.<strong> </strong>Climate change, they say, threatens to only speed up their demise.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/f6YzdiBr2JljDVJ7Tk8TQx9qfWc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25255367/GettyImages_717160275.jpg"/> <cite>Danita Delimont/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A big brown bat takes a sip of water in Green Valley, Arizona.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3 id="Wn7t5V">
Bats “break all the rules”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1E6vlg">
Scientists are typically reluctant to generalize about bats because they comprise such a large and diverse group of winged animals. With nearly 1,500 species, bats make up about one-fifth of all mammal species on Earth.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ta7Xgi">
But one thing that can be said about them as a group is that they are, in not-so-scientific terms, very odd. “They break all the rules,” said <a href="https://wcsbats.ca/team">Cori Lausen</a>, a bat expert at the environmental group Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="41XTCZ">
Flight is just one of their oddities. Bats not only push their heart rate to extreme highs but to extreme lows — as slow as one beat per minute. Many species can go into a period of deep sleep, known as torpor, for a few hours a day or even for weeks to conserve energy when it’s cold or food is unavailable. And while most small mammals have short lives and lots of babies, bats can live for two decades or more and typically have just one pup<strong> </strong>per year, Lausen said, making them more like grizzly bears than, say, rodents.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pOSWFo">
For how much energy they need, it’s also surprising that many bat species, including most of those in the US, rely on insects alone for food (elsewhere, bats consume fruit, nectar, or even blood). They have to eat ridiculous quantities of them. A mom with a pup — which, by the way, she has to carry with her at all times — can catch <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd476773.pdf">more than 4,000 insects</a> in one night. It’s basically like trying to eat your entire weight in bugs, night after night.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1p48yi">
This is where echolocation comes in. Bats make high-pitched noises with their mouths or noses and listen for the return signals to home in on their prey. Most of them will then capture the bugs with their feet, or the skin between them, before swinging the prey into their mouths, said <a href="https://frick.eeb.ucsc.edu/people/">Winifred Frick</a>, chief scientist at Bat Conservation International. That’s why bats often look kind of chaotic in the air, she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GwXoA6">
You can see these acro-<em>bat</em>-ics (sorry) in the GIF below.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yffc4n-Q3XerkCsL202CZ7InFDI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25246502/youtube_video_gif.gif"/>
<figcaption>
A Daubenton’s bat captures a moth with its back feet and tail.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xQfEw8">
Oddly, although<strong> </strong>bats can fly, they can’t easily take off from a stationary position, like most birds and insects do. That’s one reason why they hang upside down. Bats gain the momentum they need for lift by falling. “For them, it’s not upside down,” Frick said. “It’s flight-side ready!” (Adorably, a handful of bat species cling to leaves, instead of hanging upside down, using suction-cup-like appendages on their arms.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GCn1Wp">
Bats are so weird, Lausen said, it’s almost like these animals shouldn’t exist. “They’ve got these fascinating physiologies so that they can survive, though it doesn’t seem like they should,” Lausen said. Nonetheless, bats have existed for <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bats-evolution-history-180974610/">millions of years</a>, so these traits are obviously working for them — or at least they have been.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K86EXomVlBCIW-kG_Jg2Rp669h8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25255332/FEF65011_F77C_488A_866C_64968D6D8A66.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of MGambaRios/Bat Conservation International</cite>
<figcaption>
Spix’s disk-winged bats have suction-cup-like appendages on their arms.
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</figure>
<h3 id="KSXG0d">
Why bats and climate change don’t mix
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BVuwXI">
Most bats are small with big wings, some weighing as little as 2 grams — less than a penny! — like the bumblebee bat shown below. This is obviously useful for flight, but it can become a problem during heat waves. Compared to other mammals, bats have a lot of surface area, and that means they tend to lose water more easily through evaporation across their skin, said <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/biology/profile/l5mcguir">Liam McGuire</a>, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo who studies bat physiology. Essentially, bats are at risk of drying out and dying from dehydration.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A bat hanging upside down on a gloved finger." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nZNz4VhYKtr0acakEbcct-Lrwm8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25255328/109768_19.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Yushi &amp; Keiko Osawa/Bat Conservation International</cite>
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Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, a.k.a. the bumblebee bat.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Y2Lbt">
“They will likely face dehydration in scenarios of increasing temperatures,” a team of researchers wrote in a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/4/543#:~:text=Due%20to%20their%20physiological%20requirements,more%20anecdotally%2C%20other%20bat%20species.">recent study</a>, which cross-referenced the number of bats admitted to wildlife rehab centers in Italy with weather data. The study, an analysis of roughly 20 years of data, found that more bats were brought in for treatment—typically because they fell from their roosts, or showed signs of injury or dehydration — in weeks when it was in the high 80s or hotter.
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An <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francisco-Amorim-4/publication/271373934_Effects_of_a_drought_episode_on_the_reproductive_success_of_European_free-tailed_bats_Tadarida_teniotis/links/5acb4535aca272abdc62e3ad/Effects-of-a-drought-episode-on-the-reproductive-success-of-European-free-tailed-bats-Tadarida-teniotis.pdf">earlier study</a> in the Mediterranean linked drought to a drop in reproductive success, meaning bats were having fewer pups. And yet <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1890/09-0091.1">another paper</a>, published in 2010 using data from bats in the southern Rocky Mountains, similarly indicated that bats had fewer offspring when water was scarce. “These data portend significant consequences for regional insectivorous bat populations in response to climate change in western North America,” Rick Adams, the author of the 2010 paper, wrote.
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Dehydration can be devastating, but heat alone also poses a potential existential threat. Temperatures above roughly 105°F can cause heat stress or even death among many species, especially if the animals nest in trees outside, where they’re exposed to the ambient temperatures. Heat waves in Australia, for example, have caused dozens of mass die-offs of flying foxes, big fruit-eating bats that use large eyes instead of echolocation to find food. “They’re out, exposed, just sitting on a tree branch during the hottest part of the day,” McGuire said.
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Over two days in 2019, temperatures reaching 107°F wiped out roughly <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/heat-wave-australia-killed-23000-spectacled-flying-foxes">23,000</a> spectacled flying foxes, about a third of Australia’s population of the species. The number of heat waves in Australia, and around the world, are <a href="https://www.climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au/impacts-climate-change/weather-and-oceans/heatwaves#:~:text=By%202070%2C%20the%20number%20of,and%20northern%20parts%20of%20NSW.&amp;text=Heatwave%20duration%20is%20measured%20by,last%20longer%20in%20the%20future.">projected to increase</a> in the coming decades due to climate change.
</p>
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GiSJYUwygSY6hwQoj8nOrJcBBas=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25255372/GettyImages_883265132.jpg"/> <cite>Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images</cite>
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Spectacled flying foxes in Cairns, Australia.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OqedQE">
What’s more is that one of the main technologies meant to combat warming is also harming bats. In North America alone, wind turbines kill hundreds of thousands of bats each year, across <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82014-9">more than 30</a> bat species. Typically, the bats — most of which are migratory species — die from colliding with turbine blades, though it’s not clear why these animals are drawn to them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7uoNTy">
Making these threats more troubling is the simple fact that bat populations don’t recover quickly after die-offs, whether or not they’re climate-related. It goes back to their flight-enabled physiologies: Unlike birds, which drop their eggs off at a nest, bats have to fly while pregnant, which isn’t easy. That’s why most bats only have one pup per year, Frick said. “Their reproductive rates are really low, which makes it harder for them to recover from big catastrophic events [e.g., heat waves, big storms that wipe out habitat]<strong> </strong>that lower populations,” she said.
</p>
<h3 id="PE20fR">
The uncertain future of bats
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2g4yCd">
This would all matter a lot less if bats were doing fine otherwise. Yet they face a wide range of threats beyond climate change, including a disease known as white-nose syndrome, which has killed <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/what-is-white-nose-syndrome.htm">millions</a> of bats in North America. The disease, caused by a fungus, can damage their skin and wake them up while they’re hibernating, causing them to burn off vital energy stores and either <a href="https://asm.org/magazine/2021/fall/are-bats-developing-resistance-to-white-nose-syndr">freeze or starve to death</a>. The syndrome continues to spread and kill bats in North America. And while it’s also found in Europe and Asia, it doesn’t seem to cause mass mortality there.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4DsLc6">
Together, these problems are pushing many bat species closer to extinction. In North America, more than half of all species “are at risk of populations declining severely in the next 15 years,” according to a <a href="https://www.batcon.org/press/2023-north-american-state-of-the-bats-report/">2023 report</a> by the North American Bat Conservation Alliance, a coalition of groups including government agencies and Bat Conservation International. This trend is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30937915/">mirrored</a> globally. Importantly, the 2023 report found that climate change — namely, drought and extreme heat — could impact more than 80 percent of all North American species.
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Some bat species may yet prove resilient in the face of warming. While flight can be a liability, it also gives bats the ability to move freely. Scientists suspect that warming is pushing populations of some species, like the Mexican free-tailed bats, further north, where it’s cooler. These bats — among the fastest animals in the world, capable of reaching speeds close to 100 miles per hour — were once confined to the Gulf Coast, McGuire said, but now they’re regularly found up in Tennessee. “Their range is expanding quite rapidly,” he said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="god3Vd">
Bats that roost in caves, which amount to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722040062#:~:text=Bats%20are%20keystone%20to%20cave,%2C%20and%2015%20%25%20currently%20threatened.">nearly half of all species</a>, globally, may also be better off than those that rest out in the open or in trees. Rock crevices may shield these mammals from warming and drought, scientists say. It also helps that many species are able to go into torpor. “If you’re caught in a situation where the climate is changing, the environment is degrading, then the bats may be able to use torpor to reduce some of their energetic costs and help to buffer them a little bit against that,” McGuire said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hUQgGL">
Yet scientists don’t know how effective these strategies will be over the long term. In fact, they still don’t know much about bats in general.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NsHJ97">
This lack of data is rooted, in part, in bats’ bad reputation, said <a href="https://www.uregina.ca/science/biology/directory/academic-staff-and-adjuncts/mark-brigham.html">Mark Brigham</a>, a biologist at Canada’s University of Regina. “Until 30 years ago or so, studying bats was not viewed as a particularly good thing,” he said. “Most people viewed them as yucky, ugly, Dracula-type creatures that you didn’t want to go anywhere near. It’s only in the last five years, maybe, that anyone has shown any interest in heat effects on bats to be very honest.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FpZ6Cn">
Bats clearly don’t deserve this bad reputation. Exhibit A: Baby bats wrapped up in blankets like a burrito. They don’t exactly look sinister.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qUCGxZ">
By eating agricultural pests, such as moths and beetles, bats also provide up to <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/why-are-bats-important">$53 billion</a> in economic value each year in the US alone. They eat pests that bother us, too, <a href="https://news.wisc.edu/study-bolsters-bats-reputation-as-mosquito-devourers/">including mosquitos</a>. And of course, bats pollinate agave plants as they slurp up their nectar, which give us, among other things, tequila. “But at the end of the day,” Frick said, “I come back to the fact that bats are just badass.”
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Would the US intervene to defend Taiwan? Ask Japan.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A photo collage of Xi Jinping, Fumio Kishida, Joe Biden, and Tsai Ing-wen, with a bright red color block in the shape of China laid atop. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GHaQY0p1MmDfye0L2eJIQ1LhcKU=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73096204/Vox_JaredBartman_R2.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Jared Bartman for Vox
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
If China were to invade Taiwan, the American response could depend on its key ally.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XyyVxz">
TOKYO, Japan — If we’ve got to pick a year, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/cia-chief-says-chinas-xi-little-sobered-by-ukraine-war-2023-02-02/">it’s 2027</a>. Imagine <a href="https://www.vox.com/china">China</a> is harassing Taiwan with near-constant flyovers of fighter jets and drones. Beijing has increased the frequency and scale of its amphibious exercises, so much so that it is getting hard to know what is a run-of-the-mill military drill, and what might be the start of the real thing: a full-scale invasion of Taiwan.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uS7grL">
Because in this hypothetical future, the real thing is looking increasingly possible.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ITjVGd">
In it, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has spoken with urgency about the country’s “<a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/what-xi-jinpings-major-speech-means-taiwan">national rejuvenation</a>” — that is, when Taiwan, which China views as a separatist province, is “reunified” with the mainland. The United States and its allies are promising an unwavering response to any Chinese military escalation, without saying exactly what that entails. Taiwan says it seeks peace, but will defend itself from attack if necessary. US and Chinese diplomats are shuttling through Singapore, and Bali, seeking an offramp, even as US intelligence suggests Xi wants to act, and act now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ta9owU">
Then, Xi does. A massive cyber assault overwhelms Taiwan’s networks, immobilizing critical infrastructure. Chinese ships sever Taiwan’s undersea cables, and with it communication among its islands. Missiles strike Taiwanese government and military sites, the opening salvo to the large-scale amphibious assault that China was practicing in full view of the world.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hO4nMr">
The United States will now have to decide if the promised unwavering response means defending Taiwan. If the president and <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> decide yes, America’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/defense-and-security">national security</a> interests demand a US military intervention, then he (because it’s <em>probably </em>still going to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-seeks-knockout-punch-iowa-delivers-first-verdict-republican-race-2024-01-15/">be a he</a>) has another call to make. This one is to Japan, the US’s key ally, to ask some version of the question: Will you let us use our military bases?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8u26f8">
On the other end of the line is the Japanese prime minister, who knows that the US has tens of thousands of troops stationed at <a href="https://www.usfj.mil/About-USFJ/">85 military facilities on Japanese territory</a>, a foundation of the security alliance between the two countries. Who also knows China has a likely arsenal of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-doubled-number-missiles-needed-to-target-us-bases-japan-2023-10">some 1,000 medium-range ballistic missiles</a> that could target those US bases, and by extension, the cities of Japan and its 127 million citizens. Who knows that Japan’s <a href="https://visitokinawajapan.com/destinations/yaeyama-islands/yonaguni-island/">westernmost island is only about 70 miles from Taiwan</a>. Who knows that whatever decision he or she makes, it could very well decide the outcome of any war before it’s barely begun.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NSc41q">
What does Japan do?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g7ttfb">
Like it’d tell you now.
</p>
<h3 id="UDYJlh">
Why Japan may be the key to any real war over Taiwan
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UAyMUi">
It is not 2027. Even if it were, it is not a foregone conclusion that China would be ready and willing to mount a costly full-on invasion of Taiwan by then. If you ask plenty of sober-minded experts today, it’s not even highly probable. Xi <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/APEC/Why-Xi-tried-to-assure-U.S.-he-has-no-plans-for-Taiwan-invasion">reportedly told President Joe Biden</a> in November that China did not have a plan for military action in Taiwan in 2027 or 2035.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EHnee2">
So maybe it won’t happen in the 2030s, or even the 2040s or by 2050 — <a href="https://globaltaiwan.org/2019/04/chinas-possible-invasion-of-taiwan-part-ii-2025-2030s-2049-or-2050/">some of the other estimates floating out there</a> as to when China could attack Taiwan. Ideally, China would never. China has said that it seeks a “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/china/xi-jinping-taiwan-reunification-intl-hnk/index.html">peaceful reunification,</a>” though they have not ruled out achieving one by force.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NhQzfi">
Even then, a full-scale invasion may be the most extreme of all courses — there are plenty of ways China <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/beware-china-salami-tactics-in-taiwan-strait-invasion-united-states/">can use force or coercion</a> against Taiwan that fall short of a storming-the-beaches-style assault. But Xi has made clear his vision of China is incomplete without Taiwan. “The reunification of the motherland is a historical inevitability,” he <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/01/xi-china-taiwan-unification-speech">said</a> in his recent New Year’s address.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AtDUxe">
Taiwan <a href="https://esc.nccu.edu.tw/PageDoc/Detail?fid=7801&amp;id=6963">increasingly opposes unification with</a> China, and <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/taipei-beijing-and-status-quo">the majority of people in Taiwan want to preserve a version of the status quo</a>. Lai Ching-te won Taiwan’s January presidential election on a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/1/13/24037173/taiwan-china-lai-ching-te-democracy-taipei-united-states-vote-elections">platform of preserving Taiwan’s democracy and sovereignty</a>, and that is likely to keep Taipei moving closer to Washington than Beijing. US and China relations may have <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/7/23948974/china-us-nuclear-weapons-talks-biden-xi-summit-2023">thawed</a> a bit since their spy balloon nadir last year, but <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/3/1/23619934/congress-china-xi-competition-committee">both US parties</a> see China’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/china-army/">rapid-paced military buildup</a> and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/brics-summit-2023-seeking-alternate-world-order">geopolitical ambitions</a> as a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2022/9/19/23320328/china-us-relations-policy-biden-trump">threat</a> to America. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Biden administration</a> has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/10/us/politics/biden-vietnam-hanoi.html">cultivated</a> and <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/camp-david-us-japan-korea-trilateral-summit-exchange-among-csis-japan-and-korea-chairs">deepened</a> <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-unveils-first-ever-pacific-partnership-strategy/">its partnership and security ties in the Indo-Pacific</a>, and though it may not say so explicitly, it certainly looks like a coalition to deter China.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q20rwq">
Which is why, even if an invasion is unlikely, or even decades away, the question — <em>What might Japan do if China invades Taiwan, unprovoked? </em>— has become more urgent. Japan’s answer could shape how the US prepares for any armed confrontation over Taiwan, its outcome, and whatever world emerges after.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UTosOS">
Whether it wanted to or not, Japan itself cannot intervene to defend Taiwan. Japan’s post-World War II constitution <a href="https://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html">renounces war</a>, and so its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are just that, a military that exists to defend its territory. (Japan has, especially in recent years, <a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/japans-evolving-position-use-force-collective-self-defense">pushed against those constitutional parameters</a>.)
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="guhFF5">
What Japan does have is a security alliance with the United States. This treaty commits the US to defend Japan in the event of an attack on its soil, in exchange for America’s use of Japanese territory for “<a href="https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/n-america/us/q&amp;a/ref/1.html">the purpose of contributing to the security of Japan and the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East</a>.” That is, military bases. About 55,000 US forces are based in Japan, and US military facilities <a href="https://www.usfj.mil/About-USFJ/#:~:text=U.S.%20military%20forces%20are%20dispersed,to%20a%20single%20antenna%20site.">span 77,000 acres</a>, the majority in Okinawa prefecture. In any war with Taiwan, the US would need to deploy naval vessels and fighter jets from these locations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cAEvEl">
But the use of these military bases requires prior consultation: Japan must grant the US permission to use these facilities in combat beyond the defense of Japan. If Taiwan invades, and the US wants to intervene, Japan has its own dilemma: to say yes potentially signs Japan up for war, leaving itself vulnerable to attack from China. To say no could unravel the US-Japan alliance, leaving itself vulnerable by cutting off its only security guarantor.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dY0tXQ">
If Japan does say no, seeing the risks to itself and its population as too great, in any fight with China, the US <a href="https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/230109_Cancian_FirstBattle_NextWar.pdf?VersionId=WdEUwJYWIySMPIr3ivhFolxC_gZQuSOQ">is probably toast</a>. The American military would likely be crushed if it intervened without being able to deploy its assets from Japan, but potentially strategically defeated if it did not intervene at all.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GolSwp">
“China succeeding in taking over Taiwan should mean the US is out, which means Chinese hegemony, at least in this region, is expanding,” said <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/people/yoshihide-soeya/">Yoshihide Soeya</a>, professor emeritus of international relations at Keio University. “That would mean that Japan would have to think of the national strategy to live under such Chinese influence, and I don’t know if under that scenario, if the US-Japan Alliance is still there. Maybe not — and then it’s a totally different world.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="World Data Locator Map, Taiwan" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Wa1A5kPWj6vQlLpbfOIKv9oePiM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25246000/641462692.jpg"/> <cite>Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</cite>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uECIki">
Even if Japan says yes and lets the US use its bases, it is no guarantee of an unchanged world. Some of that may depend on exactly what type of affirmative answer Japan gives. It could just grant access to the bases and attempt to remain out of the battle — though that may be as much China’s decision as Japan’s. In addition to granting that access, Japan could choose to provide logistical or operational support to the US from the start. That’s an outcome that some wargames, <a href="https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/230109_Cancian_FirstBattle_NextWar.pdf?VersionId=WdEUwJYWIySMPIr3ivhFolxC_gZQuSOQ">including one published last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)</a>, suggest would considerably improve the US and its allies’ fortunes, giving them a chance to fend off China. But it would come at costs and heavy losses, for the United States and for Japan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tr8Mcv">
“The question is: Would we be willing to sacrifice ourselves to defend Taiwan?” said <a href="https://www.grips.ac.jp/list/en/facultyinfo/michishita_narushige/">Narushige Michishita</a>, executive vice president and professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Japan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jBvM5V">
“That’s partly why — although I think Japan is severely becoming more committed to the defense of Taiwan — Japan has never said, or the government has never, ever said: ‘We will defend Taiwan,’” Michishita added.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TqSxnZ">
“The Japanese government is walking a tightrope.”
</p>
<h3 id="BXJktT">
How Japan got here
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZHRuUd">
“I myself have a strong sense of urgency that Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220610-ukraine-today-could-be-east-asia-tomorrow-japan-pm-warns">said in spring 2022</a>.
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Japan saw the <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia-invasion-ukraine">war in Ukraine</a> as both a wake-up call and an opportunity. <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a>’s full-scale invasion rocked the rules-based international order, an order that Japan sees as integral to its own political and economic security interests. Japan also saw its own vulnerability reflected back in Russia’s assault, and it started thinking more seriously about what it might need as a middle power if similarly threatened. “Japan would need resiliency and sustainability. This is the lesson learned from Ukraine,” said Koichi Isobe, a retired lieutenant general with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
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In December 2022, Japan articulated this vision <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/whats-new-japans-three-strategic-documents">when it updated its national security and defense strategies</a> and made commitments to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/no-japan-is-not-planning-to-double-its-defense-budget/#:~:text=Because%20the%20Japanese%20government's%20actual,new%20FY2023%2D2027%20spending%20plan.">significantly expand its defense budget over the next five years</a>. Japan also made plans to invest in <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2023/08/japans-counterstrike-learn-from-south-korea/#:~:text=Japan%20is%20planning%20to%20invest,intertwined%20and%20essential%20parts%20of">counter-strike capabilities</a> as a deterrent to outside attacks.
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“Post-war Japan has long refrained from playing or even seeking a role in geopolitics, let alone the military domain,” Soeya said. But these documents focus on that agenda, and put Japan’s defense capabilities as a central component of coping with an unpredictable and chaotic world.
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“In terms of emphasis on key elements, it’s a paradigm shift,” Soeya added.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hoPT0D">
This shift was dramatic, but the foundations were already in place. Japan, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/30/18100066/japan-shinzo-abe-sdf-emperor-china">especially under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe</a>, had invested more in its military and expanded its defense capabilities and partnerships. The Ukraine war reinforced the reality Japan already recognized: China’s rise, <a href="https://www.vox.com/north-korea">North Korea</a>’s threats, and the US’s rising America First posture meant Japan needed to be proactive about strengthening and protecting its security and interests amid such global instability.
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America is Japan’s essential ally. The election of <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> did not undo it, so much as convince Japan that it needed to prepare for a world where America was more isolationist, more unpredictable, and a weaker power, especially against an ascendant China. Japan would need to get better at defending itself. And it probably needed to hedge and foster bonds with other like-minded countries in the region and beyond — <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_220118.htm#:~:text=At%20the%20Vilnius%20Summit%20in,space%2C%20supply%20chains%20and%20resilience.">like deepening ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)</a>. All of this wasn’t — couldn’t be — a strategy to replace the US. In preparing to fight for itself, Japan was equalizing the partnership a bit more, showing the US how much more of a capable, and essential, partner it could be.
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“I say this more dramatically than literally,” US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel told Vox in November about both the US and Japan national security strategies, “but we could have written theirs, and they could have written ours. That’s how closely aligned they are on North Korea, China, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait. [They’re] just incredibly complementary documents.”
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“I think we’re at the first iteration of a new chapter called alliance projection, and closing the chapter on alliance protection,” Emanuel added.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Joe Biden, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stand at podiums in front of a “Camp David” sign." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nvlFo9uUrOLIOUTkKJzvh3fhWNk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25246014/1608424326.jpg"/> <cite>Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
US President Joe Biden hosted the Japanese prime minister and South Korean president at Camp David in August 2023 as part of its broader push to deepen the US’s partnership and security ties in the Indo-Pacific.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vp4zKJ">
These 2022 security documents (in total, three major ones), were an official coming out for this long-building policy. And in them, many saw that Japan was more obviously preparing for the potential it might be drawn into a war. “To me, it’s vividly clear that Japan is changing its course and getting committed to the defense of Taiwan,” Michishita said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ApUOHe">
Japan getting more committed to the defense of Taiwan is not quite the same as an actual commitment. Japan has an interest in “<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/18/taiwan-us-china-strategic-ambiguity-military-strategy-asymmetric-defense-invasion/">strategic ambiguity</a>,” as does the United States, which also tries (and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/19/biden-leaves-no-doubt-strategic-ambiguity-toward-taiwan-is-dead-00057658">sometimes fails</a>) to pursue a similar course on Taiwan. But Japan’s defense investments and new national security strategy are a sign it knows it needs to prepare for a possible Taiwan emergency.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="auLj08">
The United States is central to all of it. Many current and former government and military officials told me Japan recognizes that this current security order is tenuous — but it still sees it as the best one it’s got. Which is also the strongest case for Japan granting permission to the US to use its bases. Otherwise, it all goes away.
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“If the US requests for support from Japan, and if Japan turns it down, then the Japan-US alliance will collapse,” said Kyoji Yanagisawa, director of the International Geopolitics Institute Japan and former defense official who served decades in the Japanese government.
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This is also why many see the idea that Japan could somehow sit out a Taiwan conflict implausible. “[A] Taiwan war is our war,” said <a href="https://www.nbr.org/people/nobukatsu-kanehara/">Nobukatsu Kanehara</a>, of Doshisha University, and former top adviser to Shinzo Abe.
</p>
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Japan’s territory would be too close to the conflict, leaving it vulnerable, both to potentially being caught in the crosshairs — or as a future target. China might want to expand, Isobe said, and it “might not stop at Taiwan.”
</p>
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Hirotaka Yamashita, a retired lieutenant general with the Ground Self-Defense Forces, pointed out that thousands of Taiwanese civilians will likely still seek to evacuate to safety, including to the islands that lay between Taiwan and Japan, on fishing boats, commercial vessels, or motor boats. A Chinese takeover of Taiwan, said Isamu Ueda, a Komeito representative and member of the committee on foreign affairs and defense in the Japanese legislature, will affect Japan, physically and economically — Japan, like so much of the rest of the world, is reliant on semiconductors and other supply chain inputs from both Taiwan and China. “It will destroy the international order in East Asia and in the Pacific region,” he said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LxmE3r">
All scenarios Japan wants to avoid. But it may still not avoid them, even if it grants US access to its bases. “Is Japan going to accept the missiles coming over to Japan in order to maintain the alliance — or to have the alliance collapse by turning down the request from the US?” Yanagisawa said.
</p>
<h3 id="6nv5Hm">
Japan’s domestic politics are the big unknown
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q61N8b">
If this all happens — if China launches an assault on Taiwan, if the US wants to intervene, if the missiles start flying — Japan will have to decide about the US bases. The US and Japan, as allies, will probably have talked about this scenario a lot, so Japan’s response probably won’t be a total surprise. But planning and preparations are one thing, the imminent threat of missiles landing on your territory is another. And any Japanese leader will ultimately have to decide whether to sell the public on the potential for inviting war against Japan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WyAwg9">
The military wargames may seem complex, but the political ones are even more so. The Japanese public <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/09/28/how-global-public-opinion-of-china-has-shifted-in-the-xi-era/#:~:text=Japanese%20views%20of%20China%20have,if%20not%20the%20most%20negative.">has broadly negative views of China</a>, but getting into war with Beijing is another issue. A recent survey conducted by a Stanford researcher showed that support for Japanese involvement in a Taiwan emergency <a href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/cost-taiwan-contingency-and-japans-preparedness">declined if China promised not to attack Japan.</a> Plenty of officials and military experts pointed out to me it would be foolish to trust China. And <a href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/cost-taiwan-contingency-and-japans-preparedness">support</a> for any Japanese military involvement increases if China threatens Japan, or any of its outlying islands. But the tradeoff that a Japanese leader has to make is a possible future threat of war versus an imminent one.
</p>
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China is likely to be aware of this and may even be starting to try to sow these fears. A Chinese <a href="https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/in-propaganda-video-china-threatens-to-nuke-japan-after-japan-vows-to-defend-taiwan">propaganda video</a> last year appeared to threaten Japan with nukes if it sought to defend Taiwan, a particularly potent threat given <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/atomic-bombings-of-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki">Japan’s history</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Uniformed men with helmets stand in a line, while a “No more US bases” sign can is held in the foreground." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BBadJaEmfUTGk0Xq5ManCRt9kKM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25246131/1243733310.jpg"/> <cite>Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
This picture taken on August 24, 2022, shows anti-base protesters outside Henoko US base in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="17SAD4">
Many experts and officials I talked to thought this was a huge reason why Japan was walking this tightrope on the Taiwan emergency question: There is likely a huge gap between what the political elites believe, and what the public sees. “Japanese politicians, when talking about defense <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy">policies</a> to the public, they always say that we are buying missiles to protect people’s lives,” Yanagisawa said. “But that’s wrong because national defense is essentially the people costing their lives to defend their country.”
</p>
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“That narrative lacks reality,” he added, “so I’m really worried what is going to happen when Japan is in an emergency.”
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The Japanese public most aware of the trade-offs are likely those already familiar with the US presence. The majority of US military facilities are in the islands of the southern Okinawa prefecture, where public disapproval of military bases is <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230606/p2a/00m/0na/019000c">as high as 70 percent</a>. US officials have tried to take steps to change that. But it remains true that people in these areas, which are most at-risk in Japan given their proximity to US facilities, are also those who already have a skeptical view of the US presence — and it’s unclear how that may sway over Japan’s larger national security decisions.
</p>
<h3 id="p3HNN5">
Are we asking the right questions about Taiwan — and Japan?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Vq28c">
Asking what Japan might do if China invades Taiwan is a bit of a black-and-white question in a situation that has few of them. There is a whole range of options between the current status quo and a full-scale invasion. China could potentially seize an outlying Taiwanese island — think Russia in Crimea in 2014. Beijing might keep at its gray-zone tactics or attempt a blockade. Tensions could escalate, and maybe there’s a miscalculation or unintentional confrontation between the US and China that leads to a larger standoff. Even in an invasion, the politics, the leaders, the timing, what is happening in the rest of the world — all of it will shape the answer to that question.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Urm7OS">
Still, many experts and current and former officials I spoke to, both in Japan and the US, believe Japan’s stance on Taiwan is still a question worth asking. You plan and prepare for war so you don’t have to go to it — and knowing what kind of war it might be enhances both. “If your goal is to deter, you need the capability plus the credibility,” said retired US Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. “The belief that Japan will be an active participant in combat operations is a really big element in this in a positive way.”
</p>
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If Japan is going to at least grant access — which is, on the whole, experts’ most common response — then many thought both the US and Japan should take greater steps to prepare for it. In some ways, Japan is: In December, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-military-budget-us-china-missile-5e1e2c40890b3ca8ea682c2dc91f9553">Tokyo approved an increase in its military budget</a> and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/22/japan-eases-curbs-on-weapons-exports-raises-defence-budget-to-record-56bn">loosened a ban on lethal weapons exports</a>, which will allow Japan to better coordinate on a couple of key weapons systems with the US and may also help boost the country’s defense industry. Japan is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ALwt3gSm7w">also developing a fighter jet</a> with Italy and the United Kingdom.
</p>
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At the same time, many experts pointed out that as ambitious as Japan’s moves may be, it’s still very much unclear whether the defense spending is <em>enough</em> if Japan’s military is drawn into a conflict over Taiwan. Spending alone also isn’t enough: It would also require thinking about what you might need to fight a war alongside the US, such as improving interoperability or communication between forces, and hardening infrastructure on military bases and civilian infrastructure to protect against Chinese missiles. Quiet initiatives are happening, for example, to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-eyeing-japanese-shipyards-warship-overhauls-says-us-ambassador-2024-01-19/#:~:text=YOKOSUKA%2C%20Japan%2C%20Jan%2019%20(,Rahm%20Emanuel%20said%20on%20Friday">get Japanese civilian shipyards to repair US naval ships</a>, which saves money now, but would be very handy in the event of a conflict.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eJJ2aY">
Yet deterrence is itself a tricky and unpredictable calculation. The more committed, the better the credibility. But it can also be an accelerant, entrapping countries on a path to miscalculation, and war. “My frustration has to do with the fact that if you’re worried about those worst-case scenarios, then that should motivate you to move in the other direction — trying to talk about and think about efforts to prevent this collision course from nearing realization,” Soeya said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1ADkl9">
And if the collision course is realized, if China and the US do go to war over Taiwan, no choice Japan makes will single-handedly solve it. But all parties do have an interest in preventing it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iLmPe7">
“There is no winner or loser in a war,” said Yamashita. “What is left is only the destroyed land and damage to people like what we see today in Ukraine and <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a>. A Taiwan emergency needs to be averted.”
</p>
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<em>This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Foreign Press Center of Japan.</em>
</p></li>
<li><strong>America no longer has a monopoly on deadly drones</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A drone perched on top of a large billboard over a crowd of people." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N3nqe_Tb3aUY-vY_vv5W85wmVZI=/189x0:4492x3227/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73095649/509522112.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Iranians walk past a Shahed 129 drone displayed during celebrations in Tehran to mark the 37th anniversary of the Islamic revolution on February 11, 2016. | Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The deaths of three US service members in Jordan show how a symbol of American omnipotence has become a major vulnerability.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v0sWIJ">
The US military has gotten used to owning the skies. American air superiority in recent conflicts has been so complete that <a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/109356/air-superiority-advantage-over-enemy-skies-for-60-years/">no US ground troops have been killed by an enemy aircraft</a> since the Korean War, which ended more than 70 years ago.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0Fc2Gs">
Depending on your definition of “aircraft,” however, that may have changed on Sunday, when <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/politics/us-identifies-three-soldiers-killed-in-attack-in-jordan/index.html">three US troops were killed</a> in a drone strike on a US base in Jordan near the Syrian border. More than 40 service members were injured in the strike, according to the Pentagon. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/29/jordan-drone-strike-who-are-islamic-resistance-in-iraq-and-what-is-tower-22">Islamic Resistance in Iraq</a>, an umbrella group of militias backed by the government of <a href="https://www.vox.com/iran">Iran</a> that oppose both the US’s presence in the region and its support for <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a>, took responsibility for the attack. Tehran has denied involvement, but Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday that “we know that Iran is behind it.” <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> vowed to “hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” and a number of<a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/28/gop-biden-iran-soldier-deaths"> GOP lawmakers have called for direct strikes against Iran</a> in retaliation.
</p>
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Singh did not specify the exact weapon used but described it as a “one-way-attack unmanned aerial system,” meaning it was designed to crash into its target and explode. This indicates it may be similar to the so-called “kamikaze drones” that Iran has supplied in large numbers to the Russian military for use in Ukraine. The drone <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-american-service-members-killed-jordan-iran-5cb774fd835a558d840ae91263037489">reportedly struck near the troops’ sleeping quarters</a>, accounting for the high number of casualties. A <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iranian-allies-brace-for-u-s-response-to-deadly-drone-strike-99378749?mod=world_lead_story">report in the Wall Street Journal </a>suggests that the militia drone may have evaded air defense systems because it was mistaken for a US drone that was due to return to base at the same time.
</p>
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The attack is far from the first of its kind — since <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a>’s October 7 attacks on Israel, Iran-backed groups have <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-backed-attacks-us-troops-middle-east-since-oct-7-2024-01-28/">targeted US troops more than 150 times </a>with drones, rockets, and missiles, causing dozens of injuries, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-says-three-us-service-members-killed-drone-attack-us-forces-jordan-2024-01-28/">most of them traumatic brain injuries</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DRzLU4">
But Sunday’s attack marked the first fatalities among US troops in the burgeoning regional conflict. And at least according to publicly available information, the three troops who died also appear to be the first US service members ever killed by an enemy drone. (Two US troops were killed by <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/two-u-s-soldiers-killed-in-friendly-fire-drone-strike/#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20known%20case,commanders%20mistook%20them%20for%20Taliban.">friendly fire in a Predator drone strike</a> in <a href="https://www.vox.com/afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> in 2011; a US contractor in Syria was killed in a drone strike in March 2023.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tbUJ8g">
Yet Paul Lushenko, a US Army lieutenant colonel and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Legitimacy-of-Drone-Warfare-Evaluating-Public-Perceptions/Lushenko-Raman/p/book/9781032614281">expert on drone warfare</a> who teaches at the US Army War College, told Vox that a fatal enemy drone strike on US troops “wasn’t a matter of <em>if,</em> it was a matter of <em>when</em>. All militaries, the United States included, are vulnerable to these capabilities.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qe6ZUG">
The Jordan attack is one of the most dramatic signs yet of a shift in the role drones are playing on battlefields around the world, and a sign of their impact on the global balance of power.
</p>
<h3 id="N4g8q1">
The second drone age
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mgfUWY">
In the decade or so following its <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/america-first-drone-strike-afghanistan/394463/">first combat drone strike of the</a> war on terror in Afghanistan in 2001, the US enjoyed a <a href="https://www.japcc.org/chapters/c-uas-future-threats-military-uas-terrorist-drones-and-the-dangers-of-the-second-drone-age/">near monopoly on this technology</a>. The US military, the CIA, and a few select allies used drones to hunt or monitor terrorists and insurgents outside officially declared battlefields, and to provide air support to ground troops in the war on terror.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="teN0ti">
As drone expert and director of the tech policy institute at Cornell University James Rogers<a href="https://www.japcc.org/chapters/c-uas-future-threats-military-uas-terrorist-drones-and-the-dangers-of-the-second-drone-age/"> has written</a>, “UAS [unmanned aerial systems] like the Predator, Reaper and unarmed Global Hawk became symbolic of a post-9/11 period where military robotics surged forward to become the spearhead of American and allied force deployment.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KXvzM2">
In this period, the debate around drones focused mainly on the ethics and legality of a tool the US could use to strike virtually anywhere with minimal risk to its own soldiers. By the time of the Obama administration, the main worry was that the US had become overreliant on a tool that, in the words of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/former-defense-secretary-gates-warns-against-lure-of-drone-warfare/2013/10/23/c5bdc734-3c2d-11e3-a94f-b58017bfee6c_story.html">former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates</a>, rendered warfare “bloodless, painless, and odorless” to the American public. The idea that such a weapon could be turned against US forces was not on the agenda.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="COvqQe">
But the world of drone warfare has since democratized. In 2010, around 60 countries had some sort of military drone in their arsenals. By 2020, i<a href="https://dronecenter.bard.edu/files/2020/03/CSD-Databook-Update-March-2020.pdf">t was up to 102</a>, according to a report from Bard College’s Center for the Study of the Drone. <a href="https://www.japcc.org/chapters/c-uas-future-threats-military-uas-terrorist-drones-and-the-dangers-of-the-second-drone-age/">Forty of those countries</a> had or were in the process of acquiring drones that could launch deadly attacks, as opposed to surveillance drones. The numbers have almost certainly grown since then.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x5ALjo">
The US is no longer the world’s top exporter of military drones — <a href="https://www.vox.com/china">China</a>, whose drones have been used in Yemen, Myanmar and Ethiopia, has <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/24/how-china-became-the-worlds-leading-exporter-of-combat-drones">supplanted </a>it. <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a>, Israel, Iran, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/turkey">Turkey</a> are major exporters as well. Turkey’s flagship Bayraktar TB2 drone was so popular in the early days of the Ukraine war that it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3FGWPMjl6M">inspired a viral folk song</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hohGUi">
Often the drones that are most effective in today’s wars are not the most advanced systems like the Predator and Reaper but cheap, replaceable models. These include the Iranian-supplied Shahed “kamikaze” drones that Russia has used in massive quantities to target Ukrainian cities as well as <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/drone-warfare-ukraine">off-the-shelf consumer quadcopters </a>that have been adapted for military use.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2fwc7x">
The perception of drones’ role has also shifted. Until recently, they were thought of as a weapon states used against terrorists outside traditional war zones. Now, in conflicts like the recent civil wars in Libya and Ethiopia and the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, they’ve been used by conventional armies on the battlefield. In Ukraine, the use of surveillance drones to spot enemy troop movements and guide artillery fire has been so effective that Ukraine’s top military commander <a href="https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2023/11/01/the-commander-in-chief-of-ukraines-armed-forces-on-how-to-win-the-war">says they’ve made ground maneuvers basically impossible </a>for both sides and contributed to the war’s current stalemate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V0H0V7">
Beyond the battlefields, cheap but lethal drones are turning up everywhere from <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-cartels-more-bomb-dropping-drones-mexico-army/">Mexican drug cartel hits</a> to presidential <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/06/americas/venezuela-maduro-apparent-assassination-attempt/index.html">assassination attempts in Venezuela</a>. Rebels in Myanmar have started<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-rebel-drone-maker-of-myanmar/"> producing them with 3D printers</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YT4Or7">
The shift has been so pronounced that Chris Woods, an investigative journalist and co-founder of the drone strike monitoring site <a href="https://airwars.org/">Airwars</a>, has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/14/turkey-second-drone-age/">said that</a> “we are now clearly within the second drone age, that is, the age of proliferation.”
</p>
<h3 id="LizF9V">
Weapon of the weak
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gXKVkh">
According to <a href="https://www.960cyber.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2353270/miniature-menace-the-threat-of-weaponized-drone-use-by-violent-non-state-actors/#sdendnote5sym">one US Air Force study</a>, the first recorded successful use of a combat drone by a “violent non-state actor” came in 2013, when Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-drones-wreak-havoc-on-syrian-rebel-bases/">carried out a strike on rebels in Syria</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l9zxUX">
Since then, the use of drones by these groups has become a defining feature of warfare in the region. ISIS used swarms of <a href="https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/01/drones-isis/134542/">cheap drones to great effect</a>, including an <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/sofic/2017/05/16/socom-commander-armed-isis-drones-were-2016s-most-daunting-problem/">incident in 2016</a> that became known as the “day of the drones,” when it targeted Iraqi forces with more than 70 of them during the Battle of Mosul. The drones were $2,000 off-the-shelf quadcopters that ISIS had adapted to fire explosives.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p744Wd">
Iran, meanwhile, has been <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-784135">steadily increasing drone exports</a> to its proxy groups throughout the region. And perhaps no group has used drones to greater effect than Yemen’s Houthis, who carried out an<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/drone-attacks-on-saudi-oil-facilities-spark-explosions-and-fires/2019/09/14/b6fab6d0-d6b9-11e9-ab26-e6dbebac45d3_story.html"> audacious drone attack on Saudi Aramco facilities in 2019</a> that temporarily knocked about 6 percent of the world’s oil supply offline. Since the war in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> began, the Houthis have used drones in many of their <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24010092/houthis-red-sea-shipping-yemen-israel-gaza">attacks on shipping in the Red Sea</a>. Hamas has also built up a sizable drone arsenal, which it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-security-failure.html">used to disable</a> Israeli surveillance systems during the October 7 attacks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N4p6dI">
In a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/aef5901e-4b9c-4561-a559-a6b7197bafe1">2022 interview with the Financial Times</a>, Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of US forces in the Middle East, said that because of the proliferation of cheap “Costco drones” in the hands of militant groups, “air superiority is something that we no longer have all the time.” He predicted that drone warfare would lead to a new “IED moment” for the US, referring to the improvised explosive devices that killed more than 2,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
</p>
<h3 id="EQpcTJ">
Unfriendly skies
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r3Gd2e">
Drones are a tough problem for the US to innovate its way out of, given the fact that, for nonstate militias, their advantage is in how <em>low-</em>tech they are. In 2017, a US general told reporters about a US ally, likely Israel, that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/17/a-u-s-ally-fired-a-3-million-patriot-missile-at-a-200-drone-spoiler-the-missile-won/">had fired a $3 million Patriot missile </a>against a quadcopter “that cost 200 bucks from Amazon.com.” That’s not really an effective use of resources, and militant groups have become adept at using swarms of cheap drones to overwhelm air defenses. More recently, the Pentagon has taken something of an “if you can’t beat them, join them” attitude, <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/08/28/pentagon-unveils-replicator-drone-program-to-compete-with-china/">announcing a program known as “Replicator” last year </a>that aims to develop swarms of small “attritable” drones for use in a potential conflict with China.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a0U9su">
<a href="https://warontherocks.com/2024/01/getting-left-of-launch-in-the-counter-drone-fight/">Lushenko argues</a> that rather than focusing on shooting down drones on their way to their targets, US policy should focusing on dismantling and disrupting the networks and supply chains that allow these drones, and the components used to make them, to proliferate. (It’s akin to disrupting drug kingpins rather than trying to bust dealers on the street.) But he acknowledges that this is a “tough proposition that will take a lot of coordination and a lot of in-the-trenches, bureaucratic work.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1WBdZX">
Most of all, Lushenko says, “we have to recognize that this is the new normal.” Unfortunately, that means the deadly attack in Jordan is unlikely to be the last of its kind.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1tnn9f">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gIOSzk">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="slZbgC">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yCJU4a">
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>HPSL to sponsor Indian Derby on Feb. 4</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>Art Of Romance, Elfin Knight and Stellantis impress</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Enabler, New Dimension and Exceed catch the eye</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>It’s a historical tie, we will benefit from India team’s visit: Pakistan tennis fraternity</strong> - The last time an Indian Davis Cup team travelled to Pakistan was way back in 1964.</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>Zeeshan Ali is both captain and coach for Davis Cup tie against Pakistan</strong> -</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>IMA Andhra Pradesh chapter recalls services of doctors who died during pandemic on COVID Martyrs’ Day</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>Samajwadi Party announces 16 candidates for Lok Sabha polls, Dimple Yadav to contest from Mainpuri</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>Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority organises training programme on road accident claims</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>Opposition UDF blames government for fiscal crisis, walks out of Assembly</strong> - Congress MLA Roji M. John moving an adjournment motion holds the 2016-2021 LDF government primarily responsible for the present crisis. Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal accuses the Centre of pushing State into crisis asks Opposition to join February 8 Jantar Mantar protest</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>Man hacked to death in Hanamkonda, previous enmity suspected</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>Ukraine war: Nothing but rubble in shattered ghost town Avdiivka</strong> - After months of fighting in Avdiivka, residents are reporting that Russian troops have entered the town.</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>Eurovision: Liverpool to hand over key to Malmo</strong> - Liverpool will officially hand over the keys to Eurovision in a ceremony in Malmo, Sweden later.</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>Vladimir Kara-Murza: Fears for Russian activist after secretive jail move</strong> - The UK is “deeply concerned” after contact is lost with jailed Ukraine war critic Vladimir Kara-Murza.</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>US sells $238bn of weapons abroad in record year</strong> - Sales negotiated by the US government spiked 56%, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stoked demand.</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>Bi-2: Russia anti-war band arrested in Thailand faces deportation</strong> - The rock band was touring Phuket and could be deported back to Russia, activists warn.</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>ChatGPT is leaking passwords from private conversations of its users, Ars reader says</strong> - Names of unpublished research papers, presentations, and PHP scripts also leaked. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1999872">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>OpenAI and Common Sense Media partner to protect teens from AI harms and misuse</strong> - Site gave ChatGPT 3 stars and 48% privacy score: “Best used for creativity, not facts.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1999788">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Beware of scammers sending live couriers to liquidate victims’ life savings</strong> - The scams sound easy to detect, but they steal billions of dollars, often from the elderly. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1999805">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apple warns proposed UK law will affect software updates around the world</strong> - Apple may leave the UK if required to provide advance notice of product updates. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1999789">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After 32 years, one of the ’Net’s oldest software archives is shutting down</strong> - Hobbes OS/2 Archive: “As of April 15th, 2024, this site will no longer exist.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1995023">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Smiths had no children and decided to use a proxy father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr.Smith kissed his wife and said, “I’m off. The man should be here soon.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer rang the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. “Good morning madam. You don’t know me but I’ve come to….” “Oh, no need to explain. I’ve been expecting you,” Mrs. Smith cut in.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Really..?” the photographer asked. “Well, good..! I’ve made a specialty of babies.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That’s what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a seat. Just where do we start..?” asked Mrs. Smith, blushing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch and perhaps a couple on the bed. Sometimes the living room floor is fun too; you can really spread out.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Bathtub, living room floor..? No wonder it didn’t work for Harry and me.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well, madam, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I hope we can get this over with quickly,” gasped Mrs. Smith.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Madam, in my line of work, a man must take his time. I’d love to be in and out in five minutes, but you’d be disappointed with that, I’m sure.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Don’t I know!!” Mrs. Smith exclaimed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures. “This was done on the top of a bus in downtown London.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh my God..!!” Mrs. Smith exclaimed, tugging at her handkerchief.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“And these twins turned out exceptionally well when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with.” The photographer handed Mrs. Smith the picture.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“She was difficult ..?” asked Mrs. Smith.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I finally had to take her to Hyde Park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep, pushing to get a good look.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Four and five deep..?” asked Mrs. Smith, eyes widened in amazement.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yes”, the photographer said. “And for more than three hours too. The mother was constantly squealing and yelling. I could hardly concentrate. Then darkness approached and I began to rush my shots. Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just packed it all in.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Mrs. Smith leaned forward. “You mean they actually chewed on your, eh……equipment?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That’s right. Well madam, if you’re ready, I’ll set up my tripod so that we can get to work.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Tripod..??”, Mrs. Smith looked extremely worried now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
"Oh Good God Yes..! I have to use a tripod to rest my Canon on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s much too big for me to hold while I’m getting ready for action.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Madam..? Madam..?….. Good Lord, she’s fucking fainted..!
</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/1aelemm/the_smiths_had_no_children_and_decided_to_use_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aelemm/the_smiths_had_no_children_and_decided_to_use_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A well-dressed drunk man walks into a bar</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He approaches the bar and shouts: “Bartender! A drink for everyone, a drink for me, and a drink for yourself!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The bartender pours all the drinks. The whole bar cheers and they all drink.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Afterwards, the bartender hands the bill to the man, who just shrugs and says “Oh, I didn’t bring my wallet with me tonight. Sorry!” The bartender proceeds to beat the living daylights out of the man and throws him out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next night, the same man stumbles into the bar. “Bartender!” the man happily shouts as he approaches, “A drink for everyone, a drink for me, and a drink for yourself!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The bartender thinks, ‘<em>This guy can’t be that stupid. I hope for his sake that he came to pay for last night’s drinks too. Also I feel pretty bad about beating him up yesterday, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.</em>’ So he pours all the drinks, the whole bar cheers, and they all drink. The bartender hands the bill to the man, and he again shrugs and says, “Oh, I forgot my wallet again. Sorry!” The bartender proceeds to beat the man even harder than before and kicks him out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
On the third night in a row, the bartender can’t believe his eyes when he sees the man return. “Bartender! A drink for everyone, and a drink for me!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The bartender is fuming and grins sardonically. “What? No drink for me tonight?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The drunk looks at him and says “Nah man, you get too violent when you drink.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Hipp013"> /u/Hipp013 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1ae4n00/a_welldressed_drunk_man_walks_into_a_bar/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1ae4n00/a_welldressed_drunk_man_walks_into_a_bar/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>At the height of the French Revolution, two aristocrats and a blacksmith were in line to be guillotined. The Executioner gave them option to lay face-up, and if the guillotine malfunctioned, they would be pardoned.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The 1st aristocrat said, “I will not be humiliated” and faced upwards. The blade was released, but miraculously stopped inches away from him neck. The Executioner let him go. The 2nd aristocrat said, “I’m just a brave as he is,” and got on his back. Again, the blade stopped just inches from his neck, and he was pardoned. The blacksmith told the Executioner, “I’m equal to them” and laid on his back. Just before the Executioner pulled the release, the blacksmith said, “Wait! I think I see the problem with the blade!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Major_Independence82"> /u/Major_Independence82 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aecfsv/at_the_height_of_the_french_revolution_two/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aecfsv/at_the_height_of_the_french_revolution_two/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I caught the flu in Madrid on a recent business trip.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Whilst sniffling and coughing and rolling around in the hotel bed, I realised I needed medical attention, so I called the concierge to get help.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh, so you’re sick!” came the reply. “Not a problem, we’ll send our very own hotel doctor up to your room right away!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The doctor strolled into the room within seconds, and whilst I stuttered and tried to comprehend the situation, he gave me some medicine to ease the symptoms. When I finally stammered out “h…how does the hotel have their own doctor on call? I’m <em>amazed</em> you got here so quickly…”,he simply shook his head and cracked a smile, and replied:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Nobody expects the Spanish inn physician.”
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/iamdecal"> /u/iamdecal </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1ae2dqt/i_caught_the_flu_in_madrid_on_a_recent_business/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1ae2dqt/i_caught_the_flu_in_madrid_on_a_recent_business/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two Christians were lost in an Arabian desert…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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The first day is hot, and they’re miserable after running out of food and water. The night is surprisingly cold and even worse than the day. The second day and night are even worse.
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On the third morning, hotter than the past 2 days, they see a mosque. “We’re saved!” exclaims one. The other is wary and says he doesn’t think they’ll help Christians. The first says he doesn’t care, he’s so hungry he’d rather be killed than starve. The second one decides to tell them he’s Muslim.
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They arrive and the first man says he’s Christian and asks for help. The Muslims are very friendly and tell him they have plenty of food and water for him.
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The second one tells them he’s Muslim. The reply: “Salaam, brother! Happy Ramadan!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ixz72"> /u/Ixz72 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1advn2n/two_christians_were_lost_in_an_arabian_desert/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1advn2n/two_christians_were_lost_in_an_arabian_desert/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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