On reading Characterization of highly pathogenic clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 mink influenza viruses, by T Maemura, L Guan, C Gu, A Eisfeld, A Biswas, P Halfmann, G Neumann and Y Kawaoka. eBioMedicine 2023;97: 104827 October 2023.   Mediterranean coast by French watercolorist Ernest Designolle (1850-1941)   The dominant influenza A viruses circulating among birds and chickens...

Probable cause, preponderance of evidence, and beyond reasonable doubt Alex Washburne Jan 28, 2024 I had previously made the case that the totality of circumstances surrounding SARS-CoV-2 origins is sufficient for probable cause to believe the virus originated in a lab. In addition to the circumstances surrounding the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the evidence we lack...

Deciphering the tracks left in the genome of SARS-CoV-2 & drafts of DEFUSE Alex Washburne Jan 26, 2024 Without any formal training, I learned how to track animals as a natural consequence of my love of the outdoors, my curiosity about the lives of animals, and my statistical mind. Having grown up spending considerable time...

On reading ‘The epistemic value of gain of function experiments,’ by Arturo Casadevall, Ferric. C. Fang and Michael J. Imperiale. mSphere 2023.   Still life, 1975 by André Lwoff. Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine 1965 along with Jacques Monod and François Jacob.   This article emphasizes the need to use words precisely; to make...