Science & Technology News

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by pt49

Fauci and his cronies apparently have a history of financing Chinese labs to develop viruses to kill humans.

The grant in question [$600,000 over five years] was given to a group called EcoHealth Alliance, in 2014 [thru' 2019], following the SARS outbreak, which then paid the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which collects genetic material from wildlife, and experiments with live viruses in animals, to gauge human susceptibility. The grant was directly overseen by the NIH, and it continued under the Trump administration, until it was rescinded, in April of 2020.
The abstract proposal [1], for the project, cited concerns that a disease, like SARS-CoV, or the earlier SARS outbreak, would arise from the region.

There is no known evidence, that funding, directed by the U.S. government, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, helped lead to the pandemic.

It is not uncommon for the United States to fund research projects in other countries. The NIH annually grants more than $32 billion in biomedical research funding, to organizations around the world. The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, the subset of the NIH that handles disease research, funds 8,598 active projects totaling $5,927,849,026. Many of those projects, which vary in their research goals, take place in more than a dozen countries outside the USA, in addition to thousands within the country.

[1] “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” ~ ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE, INC.
➥ https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9819304

[ImaginaryNumber]

How Can We Publish Good Science Quickly and Keep Bad Science in Check?

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/opinion/peer-review-research-studies.html

(Sadly, behind paywall)

[pt49]

Originally Posted by GordMay

[1] “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” ~ ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE, INC.
➥ https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9819304

Your link is to a .gov website... they are sure as hell not going to admit to a dam thing.
They will defend Fauci until he dies, to protect their own asses!

[Thumbs Up]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The grant in question [$600,000 over five years] was given to a group called EcoHealth Alliance, in 2014 [thru' 2019], following the SARS outbreak, which then paid the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which collects genetic material from wildlife, and experiments with live viruses in animals, to gauge human susceptibility. The grant was directly overseen by the NIH, and it continued under the Trump administration, until it was rescinded, in April of 2020.
The abstract proposal [1], for the project, cited concerns that a disease, like SARS-CoV, or the earlier SARS outbreak, would arise from the region.

There is no known evidence, that funding, directed by the U.S. government, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, helped lead to the pandemic.

It is not uncommon for the United States to fund research projects in other countries. The NIH annually grants more than $32 billion in biomedical research funding, to organizations around the world. The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, the subset of the NIH that handles disease research, funds 8,598 active projects totaling $5,927,849,026. Many of those projects, which vary in their research goals, take place in more than a dozen countries outside the USA, in addition to thousands within the country.

[1] “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” ~ ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE, INC.
➥ https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9819304

This concerns the funding of banned gain of function research and the minipulation of coronaviruses to make them more virulent. Without going into this topic too deep, (not in the mood to write a dissertation), here are some relevant articles:
https://theintercept.com/2021/11/03/...th-nih-emails/
https://theintercept.com/2021/09/06/...t-chinese-lab/
https://www.science.org/content/arti...spark-covid-19
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02903-x
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4104828
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021...earch-in-wuhan

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

This concerns the funding of banned gain of function research and the minipulation of coronaviruses to make them more virulent. Without going into this topic too deep, (not in the mood to write a dissertation), here are some relevant articles:
https://theintercept.com/2021/11/03/...th-nih-emails/
https://theintercept.com/2021/09/06/...t-chinese-lab/
https://www.science.org/content/arti...spark-covid-19
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02903-x
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4104828
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021...earch-in-wuhan

Thanks, for the articles.
The ban, on Gain-of-Function Research, was in place between October 2014, and December 2017. It’s no longer in place.

Notice Announcing the Removal of the Funding Pause for Gain-of-Function Research Projects ~ NIH, December 19, 2017
“The purpose of this Guide Notice is to notify applicants that in accordance with the December 2017 issuance of the Department of Health and Human Services "HHS Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens (HHS P3CO Framework),” the National Institutes of Health is removing the funding pause on the provision of new or continuation funding for gain-of-function research projects...”
➥ https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/...OD-17-071.html

The US moratorium on gain-of-function experiments has been rescinded.
On Dec 19, 2017, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that they would resume funding gain-of-function experiments involving influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. A moratorium had been in place since October, 2014. At the time, the NIH had stated that the moratorium “will be effective until a robust and broad deliberative process is completed that results in the adoption of a new US Government gain-of-function research policy”. This process has now concluded [1].

More ➥ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...006-9/fulltext

And ➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08837-7

[1] “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions
about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens” [2017]
➥ https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/p3co.pdf

[GordMay]

The Disintegration of the A68A Iceberg


A study [1], published in 'Remote Sensing of Environment', says that this “megaberg“ broke off from the Larsen-C Ice Shelf, in July 2017, and melted over a three-month period, beginning in late 2020, only to vanish altogether, in early 2021.

A-68a was initially 5,719 square kilometres, and was the sixth-largest iceberg ever recorded by satellites. The amount of freshwater it released, equivalent to 61 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, eventually engulfed the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, which has a delicate ecosystem, due to its remote location.

South Georgia is located in one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, and is home to millions of king and gentoo penguins, which many scientists feared would be in the path of the megaberg. The flightless birds were spared, but the study says that many plant and animal species could suffer from the diluted ocean water, and changing salinity levels.

Some impacts that melting icebergs have on their environments include introducing cold meltwater, to comparatively high salinity regions, scraping the seafloor, and destabilizing the parent ice shelf, when they break off. Icebergs also transport nutrients, such as iron, in the debris they carry, which can alter numerous oceanic properties and plankton populations.

“This is a huge amount of meltwater, and the next thing we want to learn is whether it had a positive or negative impact on the ecosystem around South Georgia,” said Anne Braakmann-Folgmann, lead author of the study and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment, in a press release. [2]

The closest recorded distance, A-68a made to South Georgia, was 62 km, on December 15th, 2020, and the researchers say that, although it did not become grounded on the seafloor, other icebergs may do so in the future. Icebergs that drag along the seafloor damage the fauna living there, which can have cascading impacts on animals up the food chain, including birds, seals, and whales.

The study says that the path A-68a took is “a common iceberg trajectory” and that “more research should be conducted to study the impact of this alteration on the marine life around South Georgia.”

[1] “Observing the disintegration of the A68A iceberg from space” ~ by A. Braakmann-Folgmann et al

Highlights
• A68 was the 6th largest iceberg on record when it calved from Larsen-C in July 2017.
• We study its full life cycle using satellite altimetry and satellite imagery.
• Until early 2021 A68A thinned from 235 to 168 m, accounting for 32% of its loss.
• Basal melting peaked at 7.2 m/month in the Northern Scotia Sea.
• The iceberg released 152 Gt of fresh water and nutrients near South Georgia ...

[1] ➥https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...757?via%3Dihub

[2] “Mega iceberg released 152 billion tonnes of fresh water into ocean” ~ University of Leeds
➥ https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/n...ter-into-ocean

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The Disintegration of the A68A Iceberg


A study [1], published in 'Remote Sensing of Environment', says that this “megaberg“ broke off from the Larsen-C Ice Shelf, in July 2017, and melted over a three-month period, beginning in late 2020, only to vanish altogether, in early 2021.

A-68a was initially 5,719 square kilometres, and was the sixth-largest iceberg ever recorded by satellites. The amount of freshwater it released, equivalent to 61 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, eventually engulfed the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, which has a delicate ecosystem, due to its remote location.

South Georgia is located in one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, and is home to millions of king and gentoo penguins, which many scientists feared would be in the path of the megaberg. The flightless birds were spared, but the study says that many plant and animal species could suffer from the diluted ocean water, and changing salinity levels.

Some impacts that melting icebergs have on their environments include introducing cold meltwater, to comparatively high salinity regions, scraping the seafloor, and destabilizing the parent ice shelf, when they break off. Icebergs also transport nutrients, such as iron, in the debris they carry, which can alter numerous oceanic properties and plankton populations.

“This is a huge amount of meltwater, and the next thing we want to learn is whether it had a positive or negative impact on the ecosystem around South Georgia,” said Anne Braakmann-Folgmann, lead author of the study and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment, in a press release. [2]

The closest recorded distance, A-68a made to South Georgia, was 62 km, on December 15th, 2020, and the researchers say that, although it did not become grounded on the seafloor, other icebergs may do so in the future. Icebergs that drag along the seafloor damage the fauna living there, which can have cascading impacts on animals up the food chain, including birds, seals, and whales.

The study says that the path A-68a took is “a common iceberg trajectory” and that “more research should be conducted to study the impact of this alteration on the marine life around South Georgia.”

[1] “Observing the disintegration of the A68A iceberg from space” ~ by A. Braakmann-Folgmann et al

[1] ➥https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...757?via%3Dihub

[2] “Mega iceberg released 152 billion tonnes of fresh water into ocean” ~ University of Leeds
➥ https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/n...ter-into-ocean

And with this irrelevant thesis we now have another person with doctor as their title.

[pt49]

Originally Posted by newhaul

And with this irrelevant thesis we now have another person with doctor as their title.

Thanks mate, I can't think of a more useless fact that should be reported on... much like April Showers falling in May.

Mother Nature does her thing in billions of ways, every single day, and icebergs calving off glaciers and such is no different.

No doubt this event will excite some scientists with nothing better to do, which will be beat up by "mainstream" media somewhere, which in turn will lead to some bored people to try and alter nature in the name of science...

But then again, it does contribute to "Global Cooling", so it will likely not be reported on to any great extent.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by pt49

But then again, it does contribute to "Global Cooling", so it will likely not be reported on to any great extent.

Perhaps you can explain how melting ice contributes to global cooling?

As I understand it ice reflects a lot more energy than water does.

[pt49]

By your logic, if ice reflects energy into our atmosphere, then the earth becoming totally engulfed in ice (as happens from time to time), would cause earths atmosphere to become unbearably hot... can you explain your logic please?

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by pt49

By your logic, if ice reflects energy into our atmosphere, then the earth becoming totally engulfed in ice (as happens from time to time), would cause earths atmosphere to become unbearably hot... can you explain your logic please?

I'm not an environmental scientist but it's pretty obvious to me that when the sunlight is reflected back into space it will results in a cooler atmosphere. Water absorbs more of that energy than ice does.

Of course the artificially increased CO2 and methane are working against that by trapping more of that energy than is natural.

[pt49]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

I'm not an environmental scientist but it's pretty obvious to me that when the sunlight is reflected back into space it will results in a cooler atmosphere.

Sunlight does not produce heat. Light absorption produces heat.
When sunlight enters our atmosphere its' absorption by said atmosphere produces heat.

Similarly reflected light also produces heat... and so sunlight that is reflected back into space off ice must heat our atmosphere on the way out just as it does on the way in.

[pt49]

When icebergs melt, they cool the water they melt in.

When icecaps melt, grasses and trees grow in their place.

Grasses and trees have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by pt49

When icebergs melt, they cool the water they melt in.

When icecaps melt, grasses and trees grow in their place.

Grasses and trees have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.

You're either a troll or you need more education.

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclope...ctic_ice_sheet

[ImaginaryNumber]

Originally Posted by pt49

Sunlight does not produce heat. Light absorption produces heat.
When sunlight enters our atmosphere its' absorption by said atmosphere produces heat.

Similarly reflected light also produces heat... and so sunlight that is reflected back into space off ice must heat our atmosphere on the way out just as it does on the way in.

Incoming radiation is at a different frequency/wavelength than outgoing radiation. Our atmosphere is more transparent to the shorter, incoming frequencies, and more absorbing of the longer, outgoing frequencies.

https://socratic.org/questions/what-...-energy-budget

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/fe.../EnergyBalance