Author: Matt Kristoffersen
I’ve been a fan of Atlas Obscura ever since it started out as a web site cataloging the world’s weirder places. Since then, it has grown into a far bigger operation, offering books, trips, and other features. Recently they’ve put together a series of online courses. I’m delighted to announce that next month I’ll be teaching a course called “The Meaning of ‘Life.'”
Here’s the course description: Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, June 4, 2021”
The New York Times, May 28, 2021
The German company CureVac said on Friday that its Covid-19 vaccine had passed its first interim analysis, but that it was not yet ready to share data on how well it protects against infection. The shot could be cheaper and more accessible to low-income countries that lack vaccines.
The company said that an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board found no safety concerns. But the board did not share any efficacy data, suggesting that it’s not yet clear just how much protection the vaccine provides.
“The trial will continue to collect sufficient data in order to conduct statistically significant efficacy analysis,” the company said in its statement.
The New York Times, May 27, 2021 (with James Gorman and Benjamin Mueller)
On the heels of President Biden’s abrupt order to U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, many scientists reacted positively, reflecting their push in recent weeks for more information about the work of a virus lab in Wuhan, China. But they cautioned against expecting an answer in the three-month time frame of the president’s request.
After long steering clear of the debate, some influential scientists have lately become more open to expressing uncertainties about the origins of the virus. If the two most vocal poles of the argument are natural spillover vs. laboratory leak, these new voices have added a third point of view: a resounding undecided.
Continue reading “Scientists Don’t Want to Ignore the ‘Lab Leak’ Theory, Despite No New Evidence”
The New York Times, May 26, 2021 (with Michael D. Shear, Julian E. Barnes and Benjamin Mueller)
WASHINGTON — President Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies on Wednesday to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, indicating that his administration takes seriously the possibility that the deadly virus was accidentally leaked from a lab, in addition to the prevailing theory that it was transmitted by an animal to humans outside a lab.
In a statement, Mr. Biden made it clear that the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies had not yet reached a consensus on how the virus, which prompted a pandemic and has killed almost 600,000 Americans, originated in China. He directed them to report back to him in 90 days.
“I have now asked the intelligence community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion,” the president said.
Continue reading “Biden Orders Intelligence Inquiry Into Origins of Virus”
The New York Times, May 24, 2021
A team of scientists announced Monday that they had partially restored the sight of a blind man by building light-catching proteins in one of his eyes. Their report, which appeared in the journal Nature Medicine, is the first published study to describe the successful use of this treatment.
“Seeing for the first time that it did work — even if only in one patient and in one eye — is exciting,” said Ehud Isacoff, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the study.
Continue reading “Scientists Partially Restored a Blind Man’s Sight With New Gene Therapy”