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#1

Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...

Last post by zorkan - Today at 01:02:47 PM

Best that he does not play chess.  He seems incapable of anticipating or calculating the probability of moves by other players, such as Canada. I suspect that Trump would succumb to "Fools Mate".

We're mere spectators to a game where Putin plays chess and Trump plays checkers on the same board.
Trump's art of the deal might work in business but not in politics.

On the Jonathan v (the unbeatable) Stockfish video the machine makes a disastrous mistake near the end.
Similar to Kasparov (the unbeatable) v Deep Blue where the human makes a disastrous mistake.
Makes you think.

#2

Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...

Last post by Recusant - Today at 07:06:27 AM

He cheats at golf but he can't at chess.

Didn't go on to the other links but found this mildly amusing. The reverse charisma of the youtuber didn't hamper it much. 

I agree with the comments of my two fellow members above. It's always been all about the grift with the Donald. The memecoins are *chef's kiss* for outright unashamed venal corruption.

Some sideways New York connections resulted in the misfortune of my being aware of the existence of that pestilent fool well before he got real national exposure. I noted the piggish look to his eyes even then. That in combination with absurd tinted thatch, tinted face, and the way he arches his upper lip gives him an unmistakably porcine effect. It's only progressed over the years. He wouldn't be out of place as an ambitious but inept player in the Harkonnen family. 

#3

Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...

Last post by Dark Lightning - Today at 04:07:34 AM

Crashed and burned some casinos, as well.

[not]

#4

Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...

Last post by Icarus - Today at 03:23:38 AM

Best that he does not play chess.  He seems incapable of anticipating or calculating the probability of moves by other players, such as Canada. I suspect that Trump would succumb to "Fools Mate".

Chess be damned, he has parlayed his early presidency into a hugely profitable scheme.  I mean.... What the hell?  Watches, bitcoin, now telephones, are all  big time profit makers for he and his family. Then there were bibles and Trump trading cards, Trump water,Trump steaks, Trump Sneakers, Trump Sunglasses, and Trump University.  Oh wait. The Trump university thing was not a profit maker.     

#5

Politics / Re: Duke of Bullshit: "The" Do...

Last post by zorkan - June 18, 2025, 04:13:42 PM

Should it be true that Trump plays chess, what would it mean to the global stage?

He cheats at golf but he can't at chess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWyPuMpfoLg

I'll wager he can't beat Stockfish at any level > 2.
https://listudy.org/en/play-stockfish.

It can only be beaten at level 8 with the deadly Urusov gambit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC2P6VUYu78

[Abstract:]

#6

Science / Re: COVID-19

Last post by Recusant - June 18, 2025, 04:33:14 AM

If verified and scalable for our species this could be a game-changer.

"Scientists discover llama antibodies that shut down COVID — and its future variants" | ScienceDaily

Scientists have discovered a unique class of small antibodies that are strongly protective against a wide range of SARS coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1 and numerous early and recent SARS-CoV-2 variants. The unique antibodies target an essential highly conserved site at the base of the virus's spike protein, effectively clamping it shut and preventing the virus from infecting cells. The findings, published in Nature Communications, offer a promising route to developing broad-spectrum antiviral treatments that could remain effective against future viral variants.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, continues to be a potential threat as it evolves into newer variants that are resistant to currently approved antibody therapies. Resistance largely emerges because antibodies typically target virus regions, such as the receptor binding domain of the spike protein, that also frequently mutate, enabling escape from antibody recognition.

To address this, a research team led by Prof. Xavier Saelens and Dr. Bert Schepens at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology explored a different strategy by focusing on one of the more stable subunits of the spike protein. The so-called S2 subunit is critical for the virus's ability to fuse with host cells, a process essential for infection, and it is more conserved across different coronaviruses.

The team turned to llamas (more specifically a llama called Winter). Llamas generate so-called single-domain antibodies, also known as VHHs or nanobodies, that are much smaller than the antibodies generated by most animals, including humans. The researchers identified several llama antibodies that strongly neutralize a broad panel of SARS coronaviruses.

What makes these antibodies particularly promising is their unique mode of action: they act like a molecular clamp. They latch onto the poorly exposed, highly conserved region (a coiled coil of 3 alpha helices) at the base of the virus's spike protein. In doing so, they lock the spike protein in its original shape, physically preventing it from unfolding into the form the virus needs to infect cells.

The antibodies showed strong protection against infection in lab animals, even at low doses. And when researchers attempted to force the virus to evolve resistance, the virus struggled, producing only rare escape variants that were much less infectious. This points to a powerful, hard-to-evade treatment option.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"Ultrapotent SARS coronavirus-neutralizing single-domain antibodies that clamp the spike at its base" | Nature Communications

Abstract:

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies can prevent severe disease in SARS-CoV-2 exposed individuals. However, currently circulating virus variants have evolved to gain significant resistance to nearly all neutralizing human immune system-derived therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that had previously been emergency-authorized for use in the clinic.

Here, we describe the discovery of a panel of single-domain antibodies (VHHs) directed against the spike protein S2 subunit that broadly neutralize SARS-CoV-1 and −2 with unusually high potency. One of these VHHs tightly clamps the spike's monomers at a highly conserved, quaternary epitope in the membrane proximal part of the trimeric Heptad Repeat 2 (HR2) coiled-coil, thereby locking the HR2 in its prefusion conformation.

Low dose systemic administration of a VHH-human IgG1 Fc fusion prevented SARS-CoV-2 infection in two animal models. Pseudovirus escape selection experiments demonstrate that the very rare escape variants are rendered almost non-infectious. This VHH-based antibody with a highly potent mechanism of antiviral action forms the basis for a new class of pan-sarbecovirus neutralizing biologics, which are currently under development. In addition, the unique quaternary binding mode of the VHHs to the prefusion HR2 could be exploited for other class I fusion proteins.

[Abstract:]

#7

Science / Re: new cosmology stuff

Last post by Recusant - June 17, 2025, 02:43:09 AM

As I understand it at least some philosophers have concluded that all we can know is a human version of reality. I think it's a fairly close relation to a hypothetical non-humanly perceived reality but then I would, wouldn't I? It seems like we can understand some important stuff about reality, anyway.


Item below could be important if true. The authors seem pretty sure of their findings.

"Astronomers have found the home address for the universe's 'missing' matter" | Phys.org

A new landmark study has pinpointed the location of the universe's "missing" matter, and detected the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) on record. Using FRBs as a guide, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and Caltech have shown that more than three-quarters of the universe's ordinary matter has been hiding in the thin gas between galaxies, marking a major step forward in understanding how matter interacts and behaves in the universe.

They've used the new data to make the first detailed measurement of ordinary matter distribution across the cosmic web. The research is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

For decades, scientists have known that at least half of the universe's ordinary, or baryonic matter—composed primarily of protons—was unaccounted for. Previously, astronomers have used techniques including X-ray emission and ultraviolet observations of distant quasars to find hints of vast amounts of this missing mass in the form of very thin, warm gas in between galaxies. Because that matter exists as hot, low-density gas, it was largely invisible to most telescopes, leaving scientists to estimate but not confirm its amount or location.

Enter FRBs—brief, bright radio signals from distant galaxies that scientists only recently showed could measure baryonic matter in the universe, but until now could not find its location. In the new study, researchers analyzed 60 FRBs, ranging from ~11.74 million light years away—FRB20200120E in galaxy M81—to ~9.1 billion light years away—FRB 20230521B, the most distant FRB on record. This allowed them to pin down the missing matter to the space between galaxies, or the intergalactic medium (IGM).

"The decades-old 'missing baryon problem' was never about whether the matter existed," said Liam Connor, CfA astronomer and lead author of the new study. "It was always: Where is it? Now, thanks to FRBs, we know: three-quarters of it is floating between galaxies in the cosmic web." In other words, scientists now know the home address of the "missing" matter.

By measuring how much each FRB signal was slowed down as it passed through space, Connor and his team tracked the gas along its journey. "FRBs act as cosmic flashlights," Connor, who is also an assistant professor of astronomy at Harvard, said. "They shine through the fog of the intergalactic medium, and by precisely measuring how the light slows down, we can weigh that fog, even when it's too faint to see."

[Continues . . .]

The paper is behind a paywall. There is a preprint version but I think I saw some difference just in the abstract. Abstract quoted below more or less as published.

Abstract:

Approximately half of the Universe's dark matter resides in collapsed halos; significantly less than half of the baryonic matter (protons and neutrons) remains confined to halos. A small fraction of baryons are in stars and the interstellar medium within galaxies. The majority are diffuse (<10⁻³ cm⁻³) and ionized (neutral fraction <10⁻⁴), located in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and in the halos of galaxy clusters, groups and galaxies.

This diffuse ionized gas is notoriously difficult to measure, but has wide implications for galaxy formation, astrophysical feedback and precision cosmology. Recently, the dispersion of extragalactic fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been used to measure the total content of cosmic baryons.

Here we present a large cosmological sample of FRB sources localized to their host galaxies. We have robustly partitioned the missing baryons into the IGM, galaxy clusters and galaxies, providing a late-Universe measurement of the cosmic baryon abundance, Ω_bh₇₀ = 0.051±0.006 where Ω_b is the baryon density parameter and h₇₀ is the scaled Hubble constant.

Our results indicate efficient feedback processes that can deplete galaxy halos and enrich the IGM (total baryon fraction in the IGM is f_IGM = 0.76±0.10), agreeing with the baryon-rich cosmic web scenario seen in cosmological simulations. Our results may reduce the 'S₈ tension' in cosmology, as strong feedback leads to suppression of the matter power spectrum.

#8

Laid Back Lounge / Re: Life of Taxpayers

Last post by Vocaloldfart - June 16, 2025, 01:09:14 PM

https://taxjustice.uk/blog/worlds-top-tax-havens-are-british-territories/

That is a SURPRISE. Pommie tax havens.. I want one

#9

Laid Back Lounge / Re: Life of Taxpayers

Last post by zorkan - June 16, 2025, 01:05:37 PM

https://taxjustice.uk/blog/worlds-top-tax-havens-are-british-territories/

#10

Pseudo-science, Conspiracy Theories, and Other Loads of Bull / Re: Triangles

Last post by zorkan - June 16, 2025, 12:48:37 PM

Not to be outdone on the tourist trail, Wales also has it's very own triangle.

https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/23846324.ufo-sightings-pembrokeshire-broad-haven-triangle-story/

But what is puzzling is that St. Brides Bay is more like a square than a triangle.

Interesting that nearby on a headland a military base called RAF Brawdy was actually a tracking station for Russian submarines in the Irish Sea during the Cold War.
"Is it possible" it was also a tracking station for aliens spacecraft as has been claimed.