zhihuachen.bsky.social

"SARS-CoV-2 is too well-adapted to humans [hence, insert your favorite conspiracy theory]".

That was never right because, for one, SARS-CoV-2 is a pandemic virus so it necessarily had to be "well-adapted".

Now, a new study shows the same is true for BANAL-236 - a related virus isolated from bats.

An additional detail that I have not seen elsewhere

source: bsky.app/profile/ncco...

Correspondence regarding “Geospatial analysis of open-source intelligence data to early detect laboratory-acquired infections, using the 2019 brucellosis laboratory leak in China as a case study” - In... Infection -

Two weeks ago, a paper came out, claiming that the 2019 Brucella leak in Lanzhou, China, could have been detected months before it was publicly reported.

Problem: no proof was provided to support this extraordinary claim, as we explain in a letter to the editor.

Details follow ▫️1/6🧵

“Furin cleavage site”, that is. Just casually, and naturally, sitting there in one of the most evolutionarily active parts of the genome.

Mystery solved.

That was really wild when it happened. 😂

Maybe an even more inside baseball in these documents -- but it's key:

No mention of furin cleavage site in the slides...

which matches a remark made by Peter Daszak in an email to David Morens in May 2021, made public by FOIA ▫️1/8
#CovidOrigin

www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

6 Sep 2022 Twitter conversation First-author Valentin Bruttel: You are just not getting it, or don't want to get it. Obviously there will be a lot of "almost" BsmBI/BsaI sites in every 30kbp genome. The point is that SARS2 is the only one consistent with synthetic virus ligation protocols/the experiments planned in the WIV Preempt proposal. Zhihua Chen: Nope. The two nucleotides in Wuhan-Hu-1 (10438, 11654) that you have alleged to be perfectly altered to remove Bsal sites exist naturally in RpYN06. Your theory is bankrupt.

This isn't an isolated case. It's part of a pattern.

The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis requires omitting contradictory data such as RpYN06.

Worse, authors knew about this contradictory data a month and a half *before* they even published their preprint.

22-Oct 2022 headline from The Economist A new paper claims SARS-CoV-2 bears signs of genetic engineering But it has yet to be peer reviewed. And others strongly disagree

🧵Remember the preprint claiming SARS-CoV-2 has a "synthetic fingerprint"?

It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”

I took its claims seriously.

The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.

arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833

Science Journalist Jon Cohen on Preventing the Next Pandemic | KQED We talk to about overcoming denialism and what scientists around the world are doing to keep the most dangerous pathogens at bay.

I really enjoyed this podcast with @cohenjon.bsky.social where he talks about his recent book and the broader, often strange, world of infectious diseases.

With so many non-science journalists opining on topics they know little about, this is a breath of fresh air!

www.kqed.org/forum/201010...

On an Arctic archipelago, frozen soil may preserve a hidden history of viruses Scientists are hunting for ancient RNA in Svalbard’s permafrost, hoping to shed light on the evolution of viral diseases

I am fascinated by how viruses evolve - and not just since #SARSCoV2 has shown us at the global stage how consequential virus evolution can be for us.
In my new story in @science.org I got to explore how researchers are probing deeper into the past with old RNA virus genome.
So a 🧪 thread…

Here’s an op-ed I wrote arguing to get back to a focus on the relevant facts when it comes to pandemic origins.

I wrote it in response to a debate that’s played out over the last year in Norwegian media that rarely slows down to check what’s true and false.

This guy spent his entire life online and the authorities haven't released one detail about his online activities. Now why is that?

I'm hearing a lot of assertions from public officials that Robinson definitely had a left-wing ideological motivation. However, this is coming from folks who have an agenda of their own. I am keeping an open mind and waiting to see what kind of evidence is presented to support this characterization.

Free speech update...

This nyt article has to be one of the most insane things they've ever published

Striking how many, including the sitting president, perpetuate the lie that Thomas Crooks & Luigi Mangione were violent Leftists, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Crooks was registered Republican described as "definitely conservative" by classmates; Mangione was a Gray Tribe / SSC centrist.

zhuanti.ziti88.com

Bottom 红something 缘. 红土缘？

@zachhensel.bsky.social and I have a new paper on the origin of SARS-CoV-2! 🧪

There are a lot of reviews on the topic already, so we tried to do something different: characterize "lab leak" scenarios, and directly address those on SARS-CoV-2's furin cleavage site.▫️1/9

doi.org/10.5802/crbi...

He doesn’t mention that Zhengli Shi’s group had published RaTG15 earlier, disproving the theory.

He does mention another conspiracy theory that the sequencing data Zhengli Shi published must’ve been fake, though.

So, again, there’s no chance Shi can publish anything that’d disprove lab leak.

‘Really quite shocking’: Inside the ugly transition at the Pentagon The effort to obstruct the Biden team is unprecedented in modern presidential transitions and will hobble the new administration on key national security matters.

www.politico.com/news/2021/01...

Some reporting of the DOD civilian transition tension at the time.

Our Story The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.

web.archive.org/web/20210120...

That page was first updated to contain the picture in question in the afternoon of Jan 20, 2021 eastern standard time. So the change definitely happened on Biden’s first day. Wondering what went down at DOD then.

bsky.app/profile/ryan...

Could it even be Trump 1 gift to Biden?

Wait. We are forgetting 孙悟空!

Numerous references to 孙悟空 as 猴精 in 西游记.

卻說玉帝拆開表章，見有求助之言，笑道：「叵耐這個猴精，能有多大手段，就敢敵過十萬天兵？李天王又來求助，卻將那路神兵助之？」

He’s also called a 怪 once though. 😂

這個是太乙雷聲應化尊，那個是齊天大聖猿猴怪。

He’s born of a stone. So not really a 猴精 but a 石头精 that developed as a monkey.

太平廣記 : 草木十 : 賈秘 - Chinese Text Project 賈秘 - full text database, fully browsable and searchable on-line; discussion and list of publications related to 賈秘. In English and simplified and traditional Chinese.

I can’t either. // Found 7 树精 from ctext here. 😆 ctext.org/taiping-guan...

It’s always 打怪 in video games so definitely 怪 is the more beat-worthy variety. 😆

Comptes Rendus. Biologies: Theories of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 in the light of its continuing evolution

by Florence Débarre, Zach Hensel
@flodebarre.bsky.social
@zachhensel.bsky.social

bit.ly/3I2X2tJ

Economic viability of high-performance cycle systems: Energy and cost efficiency insights This study evaluates the economic viability of high-performance cycle systems through a comprehensive analysis of energy and cost efficiency factors i…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Another one in ESR!

This is just amazing!