Charles Auguste Coulomb (1736-1806). 

Repose en paix, Antoine Lavoisier.  Considered the Father of Modern Chemistry, Lavoisier was a pioneer in the Chemical Revolution, whichever way you want to look at it (he recognized and named oxygen and hydrogen, helped construct the metric system, discovered that thingy about matter’s mass always remaining the same, etc., etc.), but being associated with (and at times financially dependent upon) the Ferme générale and hailing from the aristocracy contributed to his losing his head to Madame la Guillotine on this date in 1794 at the age of 50.

In 2011, a medical mystery began inside an operating room in Guadeloupe, a small French island in the Caribbean. A 54-year-old woman needed surgery, and as part of the regular process, doctors tried to find a matching blood type for a transfusion. But something very unusual happened—her blood didn’t match any of the known types. This rare and confusing reaction set off alarms in the lab and left the doctors puzzled. The case was soon referred to France’s national blood service, called Établissement Français du Sang (EFS), to find out what was going on. This one mysterious case eventually led to the discovery of a completely new blood type, now officially named “Er.”

Left: photographic capture of the cat righting reflex [Marey 1894] with zero angular momentum. Right: output of our algorithm controlling the cat shape through a skeleton rig with point masses.

New Post has been published on http://unclesamsmisguidedchildren.com/frankenvirus-will-scientists-awaken-an-ancient-killer/

Frankenvirus! Will Scientists Awaken an Ancient Killer?

A team of scientists have been finding large ancient viruses in the permafrost of Siberia. The problem is, they have no idea whether those viruses are lethal  to humans and/or animals. While some scientists feel the viruses are not dangerous, others are not so sure.  They are considering re-awakening the virus by placing it in a petri dish with an amoeba to see how it performs, but want to make absolutely certain it is not lethal.

The latest of 4 giant viruses – Photo PNAS

Giant Viruses

Awakening a long dead pathogen could prove disastrous. Since 2003, there have been 4 giant viruses found, two of which were found by the French research team that discovered the last one – Mollivirus sibericum (soft Siberian virus).

Scientists claim the virus is about 30,000 years old, but there are skeptics who disagree with that figure.

These giant viruses are extremely “complex” as opposed to viruses like Flu- (Influenza). Mollivirus sibericum has 500 genes, and the first giant virus found has 2,500 genes. Influenza A, on the other hand has only 8. The size of this one is a whopping .6 microns – the definition of a “giant” virus at .00002 of an inch.

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U.S. Scientists re-awakened the Spanish Flu virus  in 2004 from the lung tissue of a woman found in Alaska in order to learn why the virus was so virulent. Thus far their experiment has not posed a major threat. (As far as we know).

Does the agenda have something to do with climate change?

The region in which the giant viruses are found is one that is rich in oil, and currently sought after for drilling. Will concern over these viruses be enough to stop development and drilling in arctic areas? Worry over whether “climate change” will awaken the viruses on its own seems to be  common theme among many scientists as well.

“Some viral particles which are still infectious can, in the presence of a receptive host, [lead to] the resurgence of potentially pathogenic viruses in Arctic regions…If we are not careful, and we industrialize these areas without putting safeguards in place, we run the risk of one day waking up viruses such as smallpox that we thought were eradicated.” Professor Jean-Michel Claverie

Do viruses in the arctic regions pose a threat to human or animal life? – photo via AFP (Dominique Faget)

A portrait of Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet by Marianne Loir. 18th century.