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gildings in this subreddit have paid for 58.78 months of server time

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Epidemiology35 of the 92 people (38%) who attended services at a rural Arkansas church March 6–11 tested positive for the coronavirus, ultimately killing three (cdc.gov)

submitted by PHealthyMPH | Global Health | Infectious Disease3

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PsychologyNew study finds authoritarian personality traits are associated with belief in determinism (psypost.org)

submitted by thelonious__hunk3

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PsychologyDMT-induced entity encounter experiences have many similarities to non-drug entity encounter experiences such as those described in religious, alien abduction, and near-death contexts. Aspects of the experience and its interpretation produced profound and enduring ontological changes in worldview. (journals.sagepub.com)

submitted by -AMARYANA-2& 3 more

DMT-induced entity encounter experiences have many similarities to non-drug entity encounter experiences such as those described in religious, alien abduction, and near-death contexts. Aspects of the experience and its interpretation produced profound and enduring ontological changes in worldview. by -AMARYANA- in science

[–]hush-ho 17 points18 points  (0 children)

None of the above. I think it's really cool and beautiful and amazing what billions of years of chemical reactions have created in our physical universe, and that we're among a rare type of matter that coalesced into electrified meat brains capable of dreaming and hallucinating and loving. But as amazing as those brains are, they are imperfect physical matter, and not everything they convince themselves of is accurate. I can't present proof that there isn't a supernatural realm, or any other plane of existence, but nothing I've experienced of the world gives me any reason to believe such things exist. The physical universe is beautiful and astonishing enough for me.

Tl;dr - I prefer the temporary, controlled insanity of drugs to the permanent insanity of Belief.

French researchers to test nicotine patches on coronavirus patients by boleroami in science

[–]4quatloos 84 points85 points  (0 children)

Son, no video games until you finish your cigarette. and remember, stay out of school, and don't visit your grandparents.

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Science DiscussionCoVID-19 did not come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology: A discussion about theories of origin with your friendly neighborhood virologist. (self.science)

submitted by _Shibboleth_PhD | Virology32945336& 38 more

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Social ScienceU.S. adults look to scientific organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rather than their president, to lead the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic (psypost.org)

submitted by HeinieKaboobler

CoVID-19 did not come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology: A discussion about theories of origin with your friendly neighborhood virologist. by _Shibboleth_PhD | Virology in science

[–]_Shibboleth_PhD | Virology[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Because

A) virologists are people too. They get agitated and annoyed and want to tell people to screw off. And I can tell you it has taken a lot of willpower to not be sarcastic, dismissive, or annoyed on this thread. I have probably failed often.

B) contrarians like Martenson are exceedingly good at inciting that reaction by pretending to know more than they do

C) If you're a plumber, and someone asks you "so, fellow plumbologist, are you a pro- or anti-plunger? Do you agree with the assertion that toilet snakes actually cause clogs? By scratching up the sides of pipes and causing places for dirt to accumulate?" ...

What do you say? Like, honestly, if I'm being 100% honest. This entire thread, this entire contention, is ridiculous to virologists. Most consider the entire conversation about intentional engineering to be a firm non-starter.

We don't really need such convoluted or ridiculous explanations when the field has thought about and considered the possibility of zoonotic transmission, and theorized about what it would look like. it looks like this. Many virologists have wanted to do more and more to monitor these things and prevent them for years. decades.

The conversation demonstrates a total and complete lack of virology training or education in any conventional sense of the word. Because we have, as a field, considered the possibility, examined lots of evidence, and dismissed it as firmly implausible.

But I don't want to dismiss the many people who are misunderstanding the evidence as beyond help. So I wrote this.

Kidney injury seen in more than a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: U.S. study by c-dy in science

[–]Piccolo-frame 9575 points9576 points 224& 6 more (0 children)

Doctor here, when dealing with ARDS which is often seen in sicker covid patients, a dry lung is a happy lung. This means we’re often trying to keep these patients “dry” with diuretics in order to optimize their respiratory status. The use of these diuretics can cause a temporary acute kidney injury (aki).

Edit: wow didn’t expect this to blow up. thank you for the updoots kind strangers!

I made this comment because I think diuretic use is an interesting confounder that wasn’t mentioned in the original article. It’s Important to note that this is only part of the story and likely only relates to the acute kidney injury, not so much with regards to the renal failure or need for dialysis. We don’t know exactly why that’s happening, it could be from sepsis, a lack of blood flow, clots, or the virus. We know very little about why this is happening and it’s important not to draw any big conclusions from a lot of what we’re hearing. A lot of the research that’s being published now is very poorly validated. It’s great that it’s being put out there, but we shouldn’t be making any sweeping decisions unless we have much better information. With regards to this article, and like the authors mentioned, the conclusion to take away is that we may need to expand our dialysis capacity in the future.

Please take anything you hear, especially from people on the internet like me, with a grain of salt. I’m only an er resident who had some unfortunate timing being stuck in the ICU when all of this was at its peak.

Take good care of yourselves out there folks, we’ll get through this together!

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PsychologyPeople who avoid meat consumption tend to have worse psychological health than those who eat meat, according to new research published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (psypost.org)

submitted by HeinieKaboobler& 2 more

Antibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments by occhiolist42 in science

[–]worldspawn00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So. you know how snake antivenom is made, you inject snake venom into a horse, and the horse's immune system makes anti-venom antibodies that we harvest as antivenom. These are horse-anti-venom antibodies, now if you take antibodies and inject them into a different animal, that animal's immune system will eventually recognize those antibodies as foreign namd make antibodies against them, so for antivenom injected into a human, what you usually end up with is human anti-horse antibody antibodies, same thing for the llama antibodies. It gets fun because they can be chained, so you can start with horse, then tag it with mouse anti-horse, then rabbit anti-mouse, then llama anti-rabbit, etc... to create larger aggregates for better visualization in test kits.

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MedicineAntibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments (cell.com)

submitted by occhiolist4232

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EpidemiologySpeech droplets generated by asymptomatic carriers Covid-19 are increasingly considered to be a likely mode of disease transmission. (pnas.org)

submitted by nick314

After choir practice with one symptomatic person, 53 of 61 (87%) members developed COVID-19. (33 confirmed, 20 probable, 2 deaths) by PHealthyMPH | Global Health | Infectious Disease in science

[–]DunderLubbin 119 points120 points  (0 children)

Being alive is a terrible underlying condition. The number of things it puts you at risk for is staggering.

Antibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments by occhiolist42 in science

[–]already-taken-wtf 7043 points7044 points  (0 children)

In Brief - Using llamas immunized with prefusion- stabilized betacoronavirus spike proteins, identify neutralizing cross-reactive single-domain camelid antibodies, which may serve not only as useful reagents for researchers studying the viruses causing MERS, SARS, and COVID-19, but also potential therapeutic candidates. Crystal structures further reveal how these antibodies bind spike proteins to prevent virus entry into cells.

Antibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments by occhiolist42 in science

[–]thisdude415PhD|Biomedical Engineering 136 points137 points  (0 children)

Therapeutic antibodies (antibodies as drugs) are just proteins, encoded by a gene.

We “discover“ them by immunizing animals with an antigen of interest: typically mice, but sometimes rats, llamas, or chickens. Often these animals are transgenic and have human immunoglobulin genes.

Antibodies are Y shaped protein complexes. In humans/mice/rats/chickens, IgGs have 2x2 protein chains: two heavy chains and two light chains. In camelids, like camels and llamas, they have heavy chain only antibodies: just two heavy chains. The two “arms” of the Y (variable regions) cause binding to a target, while the base of the Y (constant region) drives immune effector function.

Once you find a good antibody by screening (itself a topic of many pages), you sequence the B cell heavy and light chain genes that made it, then you “humanize” the protein by copying and pasting the human Fc (a constant region of antibody) over the animal genes. This reduces immunogenicity. Then you use molecular biology to put that gene sequence into a plasmid.

Then you use that plasmid to transfect cells in culture (typically HEK or CHO), and then those cells start to spit out tons of therapeutic antibody protein. A couple steps of purification and packaging, and then you have a medicine!!

So, yeah, we can be treated with llama antibodies, sorta. We have to edit them to make them more human first, which is why the drug is is made using biotechnology rather than just an infusion of llama serum (which would cause an immune reaction).

Feel free to ask questions: I work in a biologics discovery department for a pharma company

People who avoid meat consumption tend to have worse psychological health than those who eat meat, according to new research published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition by HeinieKaboobler in science

[–]PoppaStar 9060 points9061 points 222& 11 more (0 children)

“This study was funded in part via an unrestricted research grant from the Beef Checkoff, through the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The sponsor of the study had no role in the study design, data collec- tion, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report.”

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10408398.2020.1741505?needAccess=true

Edit: Thanks for the awards. A lot of people are responding as if I had an agenda. I simply posted where the funding came from. I’d do the same thing if people were asking where the funding came from regarding anything being researched. A lot of others are drawing attention to the issues. Suggesting it’s peer reviewed means suggests there is accountability in peer review... there is not. I’ve done peer review, I work and went to school with peer reviewers. There are tricks to the role and empirical research to vet the data in the article under review is not one of them.

Edit: Do a search for yourself regarding happiness and vegetarians and you’ll find equal counterpoints. It’s almost as if mental wellness is a confounding effect of life in general and not easily correlated or caused by diet.

Astronomers just stitched together an unprecedented portrait of Jupiter in infrared — and realized its Great Red Spot is full of holes by 69yeeterbeater69 in science

[–]WhatsUpDaddyCat 5348 points5349 points 3 (0 children)

If you don’t want to go to Business Insider you can read the press release here:

https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-21?news=true

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EnvironmentStudy finds Intolerable bouts of extreme humidity and heat which could threaten human survival are on the rise across the world, suggesting that worst-case scenario warnings about the consequences of global heating are already occurring. (advances.sciencemag.org)

submitted by Halicin2& 3 more

Study finds Intolerable bouts of extreme humidity and heat which could threaten human survival are on the rise across the world, suggesting that worst-case scenario warnings about the consequences of global heating are already occurring. by Halicin in science

[–]CaptainCupcakez 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"Its hard to imagine a more glorious time"

We're in the middle of one of the largest mass extinctions in history.

Study finds Intolerable bouts of extreme humidity and heat which could threaten human survival are on the rise across the world, suggesting that worst-case scenario warnings about the consequences of global heating are already occurring. by Halicin in science

[–]gnovos 1396 points1397 points  (0 children)

Imagine where you live 9-14 degrees warmer on average.

Even more terrifyingly, imagine where your food is grown being the wrong temperature for the crops grown there.

Study finds Intolerable bouts of extreme humidity and heat which could threaten human survival are on the rise across the world, suggesting that worst-case scenario warnings about the consequences of global heating are already occurring. by Halicin in science

[–]hughnibley 699 points700 points 4& 6 more (0 children)

A large amount of what you're seeing here is not significantly different than conspiracy theorists whipping themselves into a frenzy.

Reddit is filled with many who want to feel smarter and morally superior to others. Go look through the comments and focus on that. The implication, over and over, is that the author of the comment knows the truth, is morally superior, ahead of the curve when compared to "most" people. Few, if any, of these comments come from actual scientists with any knowledge or experience in climate science, and even scientists in that field are not immune to the temptation.

Elitism, intellectual dishonesty, tribalism, and fearmongering have no place in science.

The reality here is COVID-19 has moderately increased fatality rates for those who are already at high risk for disease and the world has pretty much shut down to protect those people. Most people are at no real risk, but we collectively have worked together to protect those who are.

Then, the climate is changing. We have many scientists warning about potential scenarios, but nothing near any of the worst predictions have happened so far. Things could take a turn for the worse, but how frequently it comes up in the news shows how focused we are, in general, on it. 150 years ago trains were the peak of technological progress. 75 years ago we had just started figuring out nuclear fission. Today being almost anywhere in the world in a few days is comparatively trivial, we're having serious discussions about traveling to other planets and living there, when a pandemic breaks out we're testing potential vaccines within months, and people from all over the world are discussing scientific observations on this very thread. Sure, the next 75 years could bring doom, but more likely than not humanity will continue to show its ingenuity.

It's hard for me to imagine a more glorious time in all of human history.

Edit: Thank you all for the kind responses and others for your feedback or criticisms (seriously). I strongly believe that acting from a place of optimism and confidence (while staying true to the scientific method) will always produce better results than one of fatalism and fear. I also believe focusing on the best in those around us and their potential to act instead of any inaction will always result in more cooperation and better outcomes. I apologise if I came off as overly critical or harsh - my intent was not to attack, but to point out that fatalism isn't science, and I don't think it's really helpful to anyone.

Police stop fewer black drivers at night when a 'veil of darkness' obscures their race by LaromTheDestroyer in science

[–]ImN0tAsian 199 points200 points  (0 children)

I am not the OP you replied to, but I think I have an answer you may appreciate. As an aside I agree with the findings of the paper but believe that the most important takeaway is the ability to pinpoint specific municipalities that have severely "biased tendencies" and to correct the behavior. When it comes to broad application for all of America, here are my concerns:

Were I to fancy a guess, the main point of concern with the severity of the damning conclusion is that out of the municipal police departments selected for data collection, about half of them (17 of 35) are in former Jim Crowe states that already have an established history of traffic stop bias against blacks and other minorities relative to the rest of the country. This tees up the conclusion based on the sampling data alone, but is an important conclusion nonetheless. An argument can be made that severe suspected offenders (Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama) being excluded could counteract the sampling bias on their own but without the data it is merely speculation.

In regards to high density white populations in the north, I believe it may be a combination of the two factors of 1) racism being a product of the lack of inclusion and 2) minorities trend "more aggressively" towards the lower end of the economic disparity the less represented they are in a given population.

In regards to your second question, the municipalities chosen may have been sufficient to tighten the confidence interval so the study could draw a proper conclusion. Were the municipalities chosen for data collections taken from more states/demographic distributions, a broad generalization or application would be more justified.

In particular, areas where the Latin population is the largest monority almost excluded from the data. In their methods, they restricted data to be fitting black, Hispanic, or white as the ternary, which begs the question regarding whether a larger Latin minority would significantly impact the "veil of darkness" conclusion. The locations chosen in Texas, for example, contains three from DFW, which is the "whiter metropolitan area" (compared to SA, Austin and Houston). While there are three municipalities in SoCal and one in Texas with a high Latin population relative to the black minority, I do not believe it is sufficient representation if the data is restricted to three options and the majority of the sampling focuses on just two.

I also am a bit disappointed in how they had 255 Million traffic stops available and they reduced their sample size to 95M. I am concerned that the limited year range and other imposed restrictions on the data were in an attempt to force a conclusion.

Granted, these statements regarding my hunches are based on the key initial assumption that every state has different innate legal identities (e.g. traffic stop laws designed to "target a demographic") and while racial discrimination is assumed to be present in every population, its severity covers a broad range of expected outcomes depending on the locale.

Just my unsolicited 2¢

Finnish basic income pilot improved wellbeing, study finds by Fosse22 in science

[–]Karmanoid 3736 points3737 points 2 (0 children)

The main draw of UBI is that it's no strings attached. Being able to start a business knowing you still can pay bills, or work freelance, or go back to school is a huge relief for most.

I personally wish the US had universal healthcare and some form of UBI being started. I work a job that I could become independent and make more per hour but work less hours if I didn't need the health benefits and stability of my current employer. I'd be able to take jobs on a when I want to work basis instead of a standard schedule. But our system keeps me stuck.

Police stop fewer black drivers at night when a 'veil of darkness' obscures their race by LaromTheDestroyer in science

[–]richard_sympson 3063 points3064 points  (0 children)

The full paper, instead of the press release, is here, for everyone with questions after reading the press release. They also have supplemental material here.

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