
Stephen Hawking on knowledge…

Newly obtained emails offer glimpses into how a narrative of certainty developed about the natural origins of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, while key scientific questions remained. The internal discussions and an early draft of a scientists’ letter show experts discussing gaps in knowledge and unanswered questions about lab origin, even as some sought to tamp down on “fringe” theories about the possibility the virus came from a lab.
Influential scientists and many news outlets have described the evidence as “overwhelming” that the virus originated in wildlife, not from a lab. However, a year after the first reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, little is known how or where the virus originated. Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19, may be crucial to preventing the next pandemic.
The emails of coronavirus expert Professor Ralph Baric – obtained through a public records request by U.S. Right to Know – show conversations between National Academy of Sciences (NAS) representatives, and experts in biosecurity and infectious diseases from U.S. universities and the EcoHealth Alliance.
On Feb. 3, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) to “convene meeting of experts… to assess what data, information and samples are needed to address the unknowns, in order to understand the evolutionary origins of 2019-nCoV, and more effectively respond to both the outbreak and any resulting misinformation.”
Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced projects division recently demonstrated the ability of a U-2S Dragon Lady spy plane to remotely use computers on the ground to help process data from onboard sensors and other systems in flight. The U-2S did this by leveraging a system that Skunk Works and the U.S. Air Force recently used to show how these aircraft, as well as others, will be able to receive updates for their mission computers, including new code to add previously unavailable functionality, in mid-air in the future.
This “distributed processing” flight test took place in November, according to Skunk Works. The U-2S involved was able to establish a link to “a ground node” via a computer cloud, through which it was able to better disseminate sensor information. Doing this allowed the aircraft to make use of additional computer processing power offboard the aircraft.
John F. Kennedy Jr.’s family may have “instigated an immediate cover-up of the truth” in the wake of the tragic plane crash that killed the magazine publisher; his wife, Carolyn Bessette; and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, on July 16, 1999. Episode 12, the final segment of the “Fatal Voyage: The Death of JFK Jr.” podcast, examines the coroner’s report for JFK Jr.’s autopsy and reveals it is “full of holes.”
Jeff Guzzetti of the National Transportation Safety Board was part of the investigating team on the case and he says “their work was meticulous — and exhaustive,” unlike the report completed by the medical examiners. The coroner’s report is only one page long, and seemingly suggests a proper procedural autopsy was never completed after the crash. “It confirms he’s dead, but says nothing more,” claims investigative journalist James Robertson. “If this flimsy excuse for a coroner’s report on JFK Jr.’s body sounds like a rush job, that’s because it was,” adds podcast host and ex-homicide detective Colin McLaren.
A transgender activist called for all children to be put on puberty blockers until they can make an informed decision on their gender.
“If children can’t consent to puberty blockers which pause any permanent changes even with the relevant professional evaluation, how can they consent to the permanent and irreversible changes that come with their own puberty with no professional evaluation whatsoever?” YouTuber Zinnia Jones, also known as Lauren McNamara, tweeted this month.
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