In COVID-19 clinical update #91, Dr. Griffin discusses final results of molnupiravir trial, Omicron variant of concern, outcomes in B-cell depleted patients, recovery in T-cell depleted macaques, peptide for induction of T cell immunity, high respiratory viral RNA loads in infants, IgA and T cells transferred to breast milk after vaccination, sensitivity and specificity of ID NOW, post-acute sequelae at 12 months, disease in low and middle income countries.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

• Update on Molnupiravir results (Merck)
• Omicron (Wikipedia)
• P681H and IFN resistance (bioRxiv)
• Synthetic DMARDS and disease severity (Ann Rheum Dis)
• Recovery in T cell depleted macaques (mBio)
• T-cell inducing peptide (Nature)
• Respiratory viral RNA load in infants (J Inf Dis)
• IgA and T cells in breast milk (Cell Rep)
• ID NOW specificity and sensitivity (J Clinical Viral)
• Risk prediction algorithm (Thorax)
• PASC in adults at 12 months (Front Med)
• Letters read on TWiV 837
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

The Taliban continues to take over provincial capitals in the north with stunning speed. The US is preparing for a rapid evacuation of personnel, and the Biden administration is dispatching 3,000 troops to help. US officials warn that Kabul could fall within 30 days. And a Hazara family tries to flee Afghanistan. Also, the US may soon open up to more foreign travelers, but require proof of vaccination. Here's a thorny question, though: Which vaccines will count? And in Algeria, wildfires that have been raging this week remain largely out of control.

The latest IPCC assessment raised alarm about the rate at which manmade emissions are contributing to climate change. Much of the focus for action is on reducing levels of carbon dioxide, however there is a more potent greenhouse gas, methane, produced by natural and industrial processes which, as Roland Pease tells Drew Shindell of Duke University and lead author on the Global Methane Assessment, is relatively easy to target for reduction.

Gut microbes and behaviour

Ball lightning

Chile mummies

How can smart tech tackle climate change?

Green energy will go a long way to tackling the problem, but integrating wind and solar into our current electricity grid is complicated. Marnie Chesterton hears how AI is being used at a wind farm on the island of Orkney to predict periods of high winds, so that excess energy can be turned into hydrogen and stored, then converted back to electricity when there’s greater demand.

Digital mirrors are also playing a major role in optimising performance, and scientists say cloud-based “twins” of physical assets like turbines can improve yield by up to 20%, allowing engineers to identify problems via computer without ever having to be on site.

Marnie visits an intelligent building in London’s financial district where sensors control everything from air-conditioning to lighting, and machine learning means the building knows which staff will be on which floor at any given time, switching off lifts that are not in use and adjusting ventilation to save on power. Its designer says incorporating this kind of digital technology will help companies achieve net zero more quickly.

And in India, more than half the population are involved in agriculture, but the sector is plagued by inefficiency and waste. Tech start-ups have realised there’s potential for growth, and are using drones to monitor crop production and spraying, giving farmers apps which help them decide when and where to fertilise their fields.

Image: Livestock farm in Brazil

Presenters: Roland Pease and Marnie Chesterton

TWiV summarizes cases of arbovirus disease during 2019 in the US, and explains a study that estimates infectiousness throughout the SARS-CoV-2 course of infection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

• Vaccine Town Halls (ASV)
• Arboviral illness, US, 2019 (MMWR)
• Estimating SARS-CoV-2 infectiousness (Science)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Dickson – Climate Reports | United Nations Brianne – Astronomy Picture of the Day: A Perfect Spiral Rich – COVID-19 false dichotomies Alan – Fixing broken machines Vincent – MKBHD Studio Tour 2021

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

Air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million deaths a year and cost the global economy nearly $3 trillion. But is the true cost even higher? Stephen Dubner explores the links between pollution and cognitive function, and enlists two fellow Freakonomics Radio Network hosts in a homegrown experiment.

Jeffrey Shaman returns to TWiV to explain how epidemiologists measure SARS-CoV-2 movement among humans, including calculation of the reproductive index, secondary transmission, and what factors affect transmission.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Jeffrey Shaman

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

• A guide to R (Nature)
• Epidemiology of three SARS-CoV-2 VOC (medRxiv)
• Impact of delta variant in India (medRxiv)
• Letters read on TWiV 792
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Brianne – The Social Lives of Giraffes Kathy – Saturn’s Iapetus, moon in 3-D Vincent – Arkansas Governor Wants To Reverse A Law That Forbids Schools To Require Masks

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

The vaccine mandates are coming. In New York, you’ll now need to prove you’re vaccinated to go to a restaurant, bar, gym or entertainment venue. Other American cities are considering similar rules. In the last week, more businesses are announcing rules about vaccines. How would it actually work to enforce these rules at millions of businesses?

Also: If you have a smartphone, listen up. This week, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) joins the panel to discuss how a high-profile member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was outed by a small publication that obtained commercially available data from his phone to figure out where he was using Grindr. Should you actually start reading those terms of service now? Should the government protect and regulate how our data is collected, bought and sold, or is it best left up to consumers and the companies themselves? Senator Wyden walks us through his ideas for that and an amendment to the infrastructure package that would impose new rules on cryptocurrency transactions. Tens of billions of dollars (an important revenue stream for the infrastructure bill) are at stake.

Then: the panel catches up on the nationwide eviction moratorium, this week’s damning report on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and why we really need to stop stanning our elected officials (looking at you, “Cuomosexuals”...).

TWiV reviews SARS-CoV-2 infection of wild white-tailed deer in the US, mRNA vaccine-mediated protection by spike-specific T cells before detection of neutralizing antibodies, and recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection in T-cell depleted rhesus macaques.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

• SARS-CoV-2 in wild deer (bioRxiv)
• Rapid T cell induction by mRNA vaccine (Nature)
• T cell depleted macaques recover from SARS-CoV-2 infection (mBio)
• Letters read on TWiV 791
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Dickson – Virgin Hyperloop shows off the future Brianne – BioNumbers Rich – Advice will evolve as COVID situation changes Alan – Mars Perseverance-themed geocaching swag Vincent – Mattel’s Barbie Turns Women Of Science, Including COVID Vaccine Developer, Into Dolls

Nancy – Vaccines at a Party Jeff – How to Survive a Plague, Part 2

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

Donald Trump fails to stop Republicans from supporting the bipartisan infrastructure deal, Joe Biden and the Democrats look to budget reconciliation as their last best chance to fight climate change, Crooked Media Political Director Shaniqua McClendon joins to talk about Vote Save America’s No Off Years campaign, and New York Times tech reporter Sheera Frankel talks to Jon Lovett about her new book about Facebook, “An Ugly Truth."