Patient zero is a misleading term with problematic origins to start with, but this is especially weird because she didn't spread anything, she was just the first hospitalized, it was spread in the food, obviously, because *it's botulism*

https://archive.ph/j0PzA

🚨 Independent SAGE returns with its fortnightly briefings on 8th Sept.

For our Autumn sessions, we return with a bit of a refresh on the format - "looking forwards with lessons learnt".

Join us on the live this Friday 130pm uk time!

#MastodonNews July 31, 2023

Tech media has the #BBC story now...

The Verge: BBC launches an ‘experimental’ Mastodon server / The BBC is trying out a Mastodon server for six months. >>> https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/31/23814556/bbc-experimental-mastodon-server-twitter

“The principles of the Fediverse, with an emphasis on local control, quality content, and social value, are far more aligned with our public purposes than those of avowedly commercial networks like Threads or Twitter.”

Edit: links... https://social.bbc/about @BBCRD, @BBC5Live, @BBCRadio4

To understand Musk's renewed obsession with X and focus on financial services, you REALLY need to understand the X/Confinity merger that became PayPal.

And, particularly, the Peter Thiel-led coup that kicked Musk out as CEO/Chief Strategist.

Here's how that happened. 1/🧵 #history #technology

Excellent new paper: Global insect decline is the result of wilful political failure: A battle plan for entomology https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.9417

"The final point for the entomologist's battle plan is to develop the perfect simple catchphrase with longevity and impact to effectively set concern for insect wellbeing globally for the next decade or more" - Anyone got an advance on #LittleThingsThatRunTheWorld?

#entomology #conservation #ecology

#Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on Earth, but in Aus 🇦🇺 and NZ 🇳🇿 two-thirds of species still haven't been named! In our #subterranean #ecosystems, this figure reaches a staggering ~95%. 🔍🪲🦗🪳

📸: Glow worms (Arachnocampa flava), David de Groot

Some cool new work from our group that was just published regarding "sample-initiated #outbreak investigations" in @IAFPFood Journal of Food Protection

#epidemiology #infectiousdisease

These investigations are conducted retrospectively after #molecularsubtyping links isolates from product or environmental samples to past clinical samples. They are also a good way to detect ongoing contamination issues.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X23067613?via%3Dihub