The university behind a deadly SARS-CoV-2 hybrid claims it didn’t have to gain clearance from the authorities
The Boston University researchers who developed an unusually deadly strain of the virus that causes Covid-19 did not clear their endeavor with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the agency claimed on Monday, announcing it would be seeking answers as to why it only learned of the experiment through media reports.
The original grant application did not specify that the work might involve gain-of-function-type research, NIAID microbiology and infectious diseases division director Emily Erbelding told STAT News, adding that none of the group’s progress reports mention this crucial detail. NIAID and its parent agency the National Institutes of Health partially funded the study.
Despite multiple NIAID and NIH grants listed in the preprint paper, however, director Ronald Corley of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories insisted on Tuesday that the school had paid for the research on its own. Corley argued the federal funding had merely gone toward developing a system that would later be used in the controversial work. Besides, he said, the work didn’t qualify as gain of function because the resulting strain had only killed 80% of the infected mice, while the original Wuhan strain of the virus had killed 100% of the mice it was tested on.
READ MORE: US scientists create new lethal Covid variant
The researchers had created a hybrid of the original Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2 with the spike protein from the less-severe Omicron in an effort to discover whether the latter’s spike mutations were responsible for the milder illness experienced by those infected.
A gain-of-function experiment gone awry remains one of the main theories to explain the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in 2019, along with the theory that it originated from a bat at a Wuhan livestock market. However, there still has not been any investigation that would either confirm or deny any of the theories.
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Nvidia would be barred from shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China under bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday, Bloomberg reported. A Chinese expert said the move is shortsighted, noting that tightening restrictions despite domestic industry opposition will only accelerate China’s tech innovation and further diminish Nvidia’s chances of reentering the Chinese market.
Known as the Secure and Feasible Exports Act, the bill would order the US Commerce Department to halt export licenses for sales of chips to adversaries, including China and Russia for at least 30 months. Any processors more powerful than those already approved for export to those nations would be subject to the measure, the Bloomberg report said.
The legislation comes as the White House weighs whether to allow Nvidia to export the....more below
Niger has threatened legal action against Orano after allegedly finding 400 barrels of harmful radioactive core materials near a uranium site
Niger’s military government has accused French state nuclear group Orano of “radioactive pollution” and “predatory behavior” after officials said they found hundreds of barrels of radioactive waste abandoned near a former uranium site in the north of the country.
The Mining Ministry said inspectors discovered about 400 barrels of dangerously high levels of radioactive core materials at Madaouela, close to the uranium hub of Arlit, where Orano used to operate. Local measurements reportedly peaked at 10 microsieverts per hour, compared with a normal level of 0.5. Authorities also said tests found harmful substances capable of causing respiratory disorders.
Niger’s justice minister, Alio Daouda, told reporters on Tuesday that the company will face legal proceedings for “mass crimes,” including harm to the environment, public health,...
Sofia Lyskun cited political pressure to cut ties with Russia as among the reasons for her decision
European diving champion Sofia Lyskun has renounced her Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Russian passport, citing political pressure in Ukraine to cut ties with Russia. The head of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee, Vadim Guttsait, called her decision a “betrayal.”
A four-time European champion and two-time Olympian, Lyskun claimed she was repeatedly reprimanded for staying in touch with her first coach, who had relocated to Moscow after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. She said staff at training camps told her that “no one else was in contact with Russians,” and she could not understand why such remarks were directed at her.
The 23-year-old Lugansk native argued that Ukrainian sport portrayed itself as “outside politics,” yet athletes “were the first to feel the pressure.”....more below
https://www.rt.com/russia/628964-ukrainian-diver-russian-passport/
