Paula writes:
Coyote and deer
Oh yes they will prey quite easily on even mature whitetail bucks although they can’t take them down as quickly as a pack of wolves of course (but there are so many more coyotes)…
They will go after them like an ermine attacks a rabbit, until they are too exhausted and succumb.
Paula in MN
(I have done a lot of Bowhunting myself)
Suellen writes:
I’ve been listening for a long time, way back before COVID, almost to the very beginning of TWIV. I also listen to all the other TWIX podcasts.
Today, there is an article in the New York Times by Jeff Shaman, and whenever I see an article or editorial by someone who’s been on TWIV or one of your other podcasts, I find myself reading it because somehow I feel I know the writer AND I know that, if they have been on your podcast, they are writing something that’s worth reading. Same with TV — if Dr. Daniel is on the news, or Peter Hotez or (of course) Dr. Fauci, I find myself paying more attention because I TRUST that person. And I trust that person because he or she has been on your podcast.
I don’t even know if you realize that you are having this effect on your listeners. A lot of us are not scientists, and we are flooded with talking heads who want us to think one way or another about COVID, vaccines, global warming, etc. It is hard to know who to trust. But I have found that I immediately trust anyone who’s been on your podcast — not just because I trust you all to bring us only the best scientists, but also because I’ve had a first-hand experience of hearing that person talk about his or her science.
Just another reason to pat yourselves on the back for a job very well-done!
Keep podcasting! You are making a difference!
Suellen in Roswell, GA
where it’s winter again for a few days. 40 F today, going up to only 48 but next week, back to the 60’s
Saskia writes:
Dear TWiVers
In the latest issue of the german podcast “Das Coronavirus Update”, Christian Drosten discusses, amongst many other things, the following preprint on medRxiv (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.27.21268278v1.full-text):
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC Transmission in Danish Households
Frederik Plesner Lyngse, Laust Hvas Mortensen, Matthew J. Denwood, Lasse Engbo Christiansen, Camilla Holten Møller, Robert Leo Skov, Katja Spiess, Anders Fomsgaard, Maria Magdalena Lassaunière, Morten Rasmussen, Marc Stegger, Claus Nielsen, Raphael Niklaus Sieber, Arieh Sierra Cohen, Frederik Trier Møller, Maria Overvad, Kåre Mølbak, Tyra Grove Krause, Carsten Thure Kirkeby
I would love to hear your opinion on this!
Christian Drosten liked this preprint and discussed it quite in detail.
In the abstract, the authors write:
“Our findings confirm that the rapid spread of the Omicron VOC primarily can be ascribed to the immune evasiveness rather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility.”
This is what you TWiVers say since omicron popped up!
Thank you so much for your great work! I listen to all of the TWiX-podcasts since spring 2020 and, as many of your listeners write, it feels as if I knew you all.
I hope Vincent can come to Zurich this year, since he couldn’t come in 2021. I would love to listen to his lecture, live and in person.
Best wishes for 2022 to you all, Alan, Amy, Brianne, Dickson, Kathy, Rich and Vincent!
Saskia
PS: The pandemic situation in Switzerland is not very good. Only 69% of the total population are vaccinated with at least one dose (76% of age 12+, 90% of age 65+). You can find the “Status report for Switzerland and Liechtenstein” here: https://www.covid19.admin.ch/en/overview
Saskia
Zürich
Stephen writes:
Dear TWiV Team,
Listening to yesterday’s episode 851, there was some discussion of the failure of the 2 dose regimen in children 2 years to 5 years old. Amy said that 2 doses did not produce any antibodies. However that is not what Pfizer reported. Their press release says that “Compared to the 16- to 25-year-old population in which high efficacy was demonstrated, non-inferiority was met for the 6- to 24-month-old population but not for the 2- to under 5-year-old population in this analysis.” That means (as far as I can tell) that for 2-5 year olds antibody levels were not as high as for 16 to 25 years olds some level of antibodies were produced–maybe even enough to offer some protection if not as much.
What I find really interesting is that for 6 to 24 months the antibodies are at similar levels as for 16-25 year olds so 2 doses would probably be enough for them. It really makes me wonder though if 2 doses at a slightly higher level would be enough for 2-5 year olds to produce ‘non-inferior’ levels of antibodies (the current dose is 1/10th of the adult dose). Though perhaps that study would take longer to set up.
Thanks,
Stephen
JP writes:
Greetings Vincent and TWiV-folk,
After hearing your pick regarding “The Secret of Life” at the end of the most recent TWiV, this favorite photo of myself sprung to mind. Though I did my Ph.D. in London at the now defunct Imperial Cancer Research Fund, I only learned Rosalind Franklin was buried in north London decades later. At my last visit (after a scientific conference at the University of Reading) I made the pilgrimage to the Willesden Jewish Cemetery to visit Rosalind’s grave. The workers there forbade any photographs out of adherence to Jewish law/respect for the dead, but when one found out I had traveled all the way from the States he offered to take photos of me! Here I’m placing a stone from the M.I.T. campus on her grave in tribute to her and Nancy Hopkins from whom I took an introductory lab class in phage genetics.
In college when I studied the story of the discovery of the structure of DNA in a history of science class, I learned of Rosalind Franklin and, harboring the limited capacity only a naive and stupid teenager could possess, thought her story was sad one. It was only there at her gravesite with the perspective of middle age that the enormity of the tragedy of her early death fully came to down on me: only 37 years old when she passed. It’s probably sacrilege, but the notion crossed my mind of how interesting it might be to test her remains for BRCA1/BRCA2 as a way of completing the circle: she helped initiate the revolution of genetic medicine, wouldn’t it be fitting if medicine could determine her ovarian cancer had a genetic basis.
Best,
JP
Bethany writes:
Hello all,
Thank you for making all of this education so much fun.
I’m writing because I have depended on rapid tests quite a bit to decide whether or not to visit with family. I do not engage in a lot of high risk activities, but I have visited family after air travel and tested daily for antigens during my stay out of caution. I was under the impression that I would be most likely to test positive through a rapid test (e.g. Binax Now) when I was most contagious. Recently, however, I have been hearing stories of people who don’t test positive for antigens until they are symptomatic. I also understand that people tend to be most contagious pre-symptom onset. This worries me because it sounds like people aren’t testing positive for antigens until they are past a period when they are potentially very contagious. Am I missing something? Is this new to the omicron variant?
I would appreciate any insight you can offer.
Gratefully yours,
Bethany
Anthony writes:
The Charles Lee of Fort Lee does not appear related to Robert E, Lee.
During the War of Independence, Robert E, Lee’s father led a spectacular raid in what became Jersey City,
“In 1779, he led a handful of men on a night raid on Paulus Hook, New Jersey. The men marched thirty miles in wet terrain that damaged their gunpowder. Armed only with bayonets when they arrived, they took the British completely by surprise and captured 158 prisoners.”
FWIW
Anthony
http://AnthonyOlszewski.com
Damien writes:
Dear Esteemed Professors,
It was with some significant horror that I was informed of the great powers of Scientists to create life. Allow me to paraphrase, “The bacteria has computers for parents. “
Leo Laporte had a futurist speaking about synthetic biology near the end of the episode and the suggestion was we have such a good understanding of the genetic code that we can create life or design sequences that would target an individual, once again I paraphrase “companies would have a fiduciary requirement to disclose to the market if the CEO was to become sick.”
I do not believe either of the above is possible with our current understanding of biology nor the techniques we currently have. I would write to Leo outlining this but I believe that you all would have much more credibility than a PhD qualified Chemist who left academia over 20 years ago. While I remain scientifically curious, with a broad interest beyond the chemistry of photosynthesis which was my PhD topic, I do not feel I am sufficiently across the cutting edge of microbiology to counter Ms Webb’s assertions.
I think it is dangerous for the public to think what was presented is realistic today. I hope that you may wish to listen to the podcast then reach out and possibly present to Leo’s audience the true state of the art of what is possible.
Yours sincerely
Damien K. B.Sc.(Hons) PhD
Melbourne Australia
p.s. please excuse the poor grammar/spelling as I am writing this on my phone.
p.p.s. It is a warm 30C day with very light cloud cover (1/8) and calm winds.
Alex writes:
Hi guys. So, when I first “tuned in” and heard you start the show with your weather reports, I thought it was a little curious, but fine, it’s your thing, I live in the UK so… I started to notice, that when you get snow, I get snow about two weeks later. In fact, knowing about your weather turned out to be rather useful!
Also, Vincent: you mentioned not liking “Vince”, so in my head, your name is now spelt: Vincen’t 🙂
Keep up the good work,
Alex