@timothychase.bsky.social
Interests include quantum computation, climatology, evolutionary biology, photography, hiking, and the Mandelbrot set.
2/2: waves and the inflationary period of exponential expansion preceding the leisurely expansion of the Big Bang. (The B-mode polarization turned out to be due to galactic dust that had been inadequately accounted for.) He argues "following the science" isn't always aligned w/ wisdom and morality.
December 2, 2025 at 7:28 PM
2/2: waves and the inflationary period of exponential expansion preceding the leisurely expansion of the Big Bang. (The B-mode polarization turned out to be due to galactic dust that had been inadequately accounted for.) He argues "following the science" isn't always aligned w/ wisdom and morality.
1/2: Brian Keating. He is a cosmologist that was involved in the study of the CMB (cosmic microwave background left over from when the universe first became transparent) and BICEP2 (which at time was thought to have discovered B-mode polarization in the CMB indicative of primordial gravitational...
December 2, 2025 at 7:21 PM
1/2: Brian Keating. He is a cosmologist that was involved in the study of the CMB (cosmic microwave background left over from when the universe first became transparent) and BICEP2 (which at time was thought to have discovered B-mode polarization in the CMB indicative of primordial gravitational...
PS PRD1 uses a lytic enzyme P15 when releasing it's virions from the bacterial host. Suitably stabilized, this enzyme may have a future among a new family of antibiotics, "enzybiotics".
November 24, 2025 at 5:07 AM
PS PRD1 uses a lytic enzyme P15 when releasing it's virions from the bacterial host. Suitably stabilized, this enzyme may have a future among a new family of antibiotics, "enzybiotics".
3/3: Bacteria can keep their plasmids while becoming resistant to PRD1, but this involves a fitness cost. Ironically, PRD1 was originally discovered in sewage, but it could play a supporting role with antibiotics.
A bit of a drama I suppose, but as Hendrix once taught us, "life's a phage".
A bit of a drama I suppose, but as Hendrix once taught us, "life's a phage".
November 24, 2025 at 4:48 AM
3/3: Bacteria can keep their plasmids while becoming resistant to PRD1, but this involves a fitness cost. Ironically, PRD1 was originally discovered in sewage, but it could play a supporting role with antibiotics.
A bit of a drama I suppose, but as Hendrix once taught us, "life's a phage".
A bit of a drama I suppose, but as Hendrix once taught us, "life's a phage".
2/3: through the independent acquisition of a pINV virulence plasmid, rendering them enteroinvasive. Bloody stools, increased transmission. On the otherhand, bacteriophage PRD1, a wayward relative of adenoviruses, only attacks bacteria with p and w incompatibility group plasmids, e.g., shigella....
November 24, 2025 at 4:31 AM
2/3: through the independent acquisition of a pINV virulence plasmid, rendering them enteroinvasive. Bloody stools, increased transmission. On the otherhand, bacteriophage PRD1, a wayward relative of adenoviruses, only attacks bacteria with p and w incompatibility group plasmids, e.g., shigella....
1/3: I remember reading that it's a great place to find bacteriophages, too, and they can teach bacteria new tricks, e.g., antibiotic resistance, adhesion and new metabolic paths. Phages can carry plasmids, and according to a classic, several lineages of shigella evolved from comensual e. coli...
November 24, 2025 at 4:27 AM
1/3: I remember reading that it's a great place to find bacteriophages, too, and they can teach bacteria new tricks, e.g., antibiotic resistance, adhesion and new metabolic paths. Phages can carry plasmids, and according to a classic, several lineages of shigella evolved from comensual e. coli...
as well as Hubei in 2019 where SARS-CoV-2 first appeared. Could wildlife farms in China or elsewhere provide a birthplace for the precursor responsible for next betacoronavirus pandemic?
November 15, 2025 at 8:07 PM
as well as Hubei in 2019 where SARS-CoV-2 first appeared. Could wildlife farms in China or elsewhere provide a birthplace for the precursor responsible for next betacoronavirus pandemic?
All clades of betacoronavirus save the sarbecovirus are now known to include coronaviruses with furin cleavage sites, and even in nature recombination events between clades aren't uncommon. Moreover Yunnan was a source of wildlife trade in Guangdong in 2003 where SARS first appeared...
November 15, 2025 at 8:04 PM
All clades of betacoronavirus save the sarbecovirus are now known to include coronaviruses with furin cleavage sites, and even in nature recombination events between clades aren't uncommon. Moreover Yunnan was a source of wildlife trade in Guangdong in 2003 where SARS first appeared...
species, and likely coinfections by different coronaviruses and subsequent recombination events. Such work could prove invaluable as a first line of defense against future coronavirus epidemics, whatever their scale. Such scientists would be sentinels standing watch for the sake of humanity.
November 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM
species, and likely coinfections by different coronaviruses and subsequent recombination events. Such work could prove invaluable as a first line of defense against future coronavirus epidemics, whatever their scale. Such scientists would be sentinels standing watch for the sake of humanity.
Sidenote: if I were a virologist, particularly one specializing in coronaviruses, I can think of few places which would afford more fascinating field work than the wildlife farms of Yunnan, especially given the wide variety of hosts and their associated coronaviruses, spillover events between...
November 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Sidenote: if I were a virologist, particularly one specializing in coronaviruses, I can think of few places which would afford more fascinating field work than the wildlife farms of Yunnan, especially given the wide variety of hosts and their associated coronaviruses, spillover events between...
mixed species and transmission between farms) will promote frequent spillover between species and coinfections, conditions which would be especially conducive to even less frequent recombination between classes. It should also be noted that even in our species the presence of a furin cleavage...
November 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
mixed species and transmission between farms) will promote frequent spillover between species and coinfections, conditions which would be especially conducive to even less frequent recombination between classes. It should also be noted that even in our species the presence of a furin cleavage...
Save the sarbecovirus subclade, furin cleavage sites are known to exist in all subclades of betacoronaviruses including it's two small sister clades. Recombination frequently occurs within the subclades and occasionally between them. Wildlife farming conditions (cramped and unsanitary with...
November 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Save the sarbecovirus subclade, furin cleavage sites are known to exist in all subclades of betacoronaviruses including it's two small sister clades. Recombination frequently occurs within the subclades and occasionally between them. Wildlife farming conditions (cramped and unsanitary with...
two larger subclades (embecovirus and morbecovirus) was known to exist in the hibecovirus clade and more recently has been found in the nobecovirus clade.
Please see:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Please see:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
A Novel Nobecovirus in an Epomophorus wahlbergi Bat from Nairobi, Kenya
Most human emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, originating in animal hosts prior to spillover to humans. Prioritizing the surveillance of wildlife that overlaps with humans and human activities can increase the likelihood of detecting viruses ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
two larger subclades (embecovirus and morbecovirus) was known to exist in the hibecovirus clade and more recently has been found in the nobecovirus clade.
Please see:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Please see:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
... highly conserved protein domains. Furthermore, while we have as of yet to discover another sarbecovirus with a furin cleavage site, we know that, due to coinfection, recombination somewhat infrequently occurs between subclades of betacoronaviruses, and cleavage sites are quite common in the...
November 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
... highly conserved protein domains. Furthermore, while we have as of yet to discover another sarbecovirus with a furin cleavage site, we know that, due to coinfection, recombination somewhat infrequently occurs between subclades of betacoronaviruses, and cleavage sites are quite common in the...
conditions might easily promote the transmission of a precursor between widely-varying species of mammals, especially with intermittent transmission occurring between farms. To some extent it might select for generalists capable of transmission between more varied species of hosts due to more...
November 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
conditions might easily promote the transmission of a precursor between widely-varying species of mammals, especially with intermittent transmission occurring between farms. To some extent it might select for generalists capable of transmission between more varied species of hosts due to more...
Fascinating stuff! I am l left wondering what light this might shed on the zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 in the wildlife farms of China. Less hygienic conditions, cramped, small-scale farmers often having vastly different species of mammals in close proximity with one another. These sorts of...
November 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Fascinating stuff! I am l left wondering what light this might shed on the zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 in the wildlife farms of China. Less hygienic conditions, cramped, small-scale farmers often having vastly different species of mammals in close proximity with one another. These sorts of...
multidisciplinary projects, with each individual bringing their particular training, skills and insights into what becomes at least for a time a shared often tightly knit community. I have little doubt that such projects often result in friendships that last a lifetime.
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
multidisciplinary projects, with each individual bringing their particular training, skills and insights into what becomes at least for a time a shared often tightly knit community. I have little doubt that such projects often result in friendships that last a lifetime.
best be described as a shared state of flow. Plato understood this as did Aristotle and the members of his Peripatetic school. They would engage in conversation while walking together in shared goal. Something similar to this exists in scientific collaborations nowadays, particularly in the...
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
best be described as a shared state of flow. Plato understood this as did Aristotle and the members of his Peripatetic school. They would engage in conversation while walking together in shared goal. Something similar to this exists in scientific collaborations nowadays, particularly in the...
sorts with someone who doesn't necessarily share my views. We can learn from one another's insights, and as I learned in the Great Books program at St. Johns College with class discussions gently led by tutors, insights have a way of building upon each other, occasionally into what may perhaps...
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
sorts with someone who doesn't necessarily share my views. We can learn from one another's insights, and as I learned in the Great Books program at St. Johns College with class discussions gently led by tutors, insights have a way of building upon each other, occasionally into what may perhaps...
like, but don't waste time debating those who are invested in calling themselves skeptics. Its a waste of your time and energy. I will still comment on someone's comment, though. Elaborate on a given point, encourage them and give them some support. I might even try to establish a dialogue of...
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
like, but don't waste time debating those who are invested in calling themselves skeptics. Its a waste of your time and energy. I will still comment on someone's comment, though. Elaborate on a given point, encourage them and give them some support. I might even try to establish a dialogue of...
And whatever the source of their motivated reasoning, they end they are trapped in their views. In a sense they are bots made of flesh and blood. But more recently, especially with the agentic LLMs you are increasingly likely arguing against a bot made of zeroes and ones.
Write essays if you...
Write essays if you...
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
And whatever the source of their motivated reasoning, they end they are trapped in their views. In a sense they are bots made of flesh and blood. But more recently, especially with the agentic LLMs you are increasingly likely arguing against a bot made of zeroes and ones.
Write essays if you...
Write essays if you...
Then with the lesser "skeptics" you are likely speaking to someone who is invested in their views as a matter of their worldview and their view of their place in it. In large part this is likely a matter of their need to belong to a group as a matter of shared political or religious views.
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Then with the lesser "skeptics" you are likely speaking to someone who is invested in their views as a matter of their worldview and their view of their place in it. In large part this is likely a matter of their need to belong to a group as a matter of shared political or religious views.