(Not EE but BIO) Lab explosion - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 08:15:01 pm
content: This is technology related but not directly EE. It is however a piece of news EE'ers would not want to miss."On Monday, a gas explosion occurred at Vector, the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in the science town of Koltsovo, some 20 km (12 miles) from Novosibirsk, the third most populous city in Russia.The research centre isone of only two placesin the world allowed to retainstock of the Variola viruses that cause smallpox. The other one is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) facility in Atlanta....The chances that the blast somehow let loose a plague onto the world seemexceedingly small......the fact it also housesEbola, bird flu, anthrax, and a bunch of other nasties;..." [bold added]It has been reported at many news outlets. Below link is to the ScienceAlert.com article.ScienceAlert.com, Sep17, 2019 "Explosion at Russian Lab That Houses Smallpox Sends Internet Into Panic"Link here:https://www.sciencealert.com/explosion-at-russian-lab-that-houses-smallpox-sends-internet-into-panicEDIT: Originally posted in the wrong section (general computing) - I deleted that and re-posted it here in general chat.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 08:40:56 pm
content: I've moved this post out of the computing section. In future, no need to double-post. It will eventually be moved if required.Also, you're correct, this isn't EE... not sure why it needs to be on EEVblog?

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 01:27:52 pm
content: Maybe he should have talked about Cats to stay on topic !!

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 05:44:59 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on September 17, 2019, 08:40:56 pmYeah, I had my reservation about posting. But this is an apparently major weapon's lab exploded with Ebola and the likes around with potential to do major harm.Folks here likes technology, a weapons lab certainly is high tech stuff so I decided to post with expectation that there would be a technology discussion. Judging from the lack of follow on discussion, it is clear I was mistaken.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 06:03:57 pm
content: I wonder what plans Russia (and the other countries) have to contain Ebola if it gets out and becomes widespread?. That's NASTY disease and it spreads like wildfire.I'm not forgetting that they had to transfer one of the Ebola patients from Africa to the US for treatment. That's simply not doable for anything other than a very few cases. It also would seem to point out that the facilities for effectively treating Ebola areextremelylimited.Did anyone else take note that this is the 2nd explosion of an important laboratory in Russia in the past month! It would seem that Russia isn't as advanced as they're like the West to think that they are.

author: FreddieChopin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2019, 07:45:46 pm
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on September 18, 2019, 06:03:57 pmIt's not that they aren't advanced. They have lots of brilliant minds doing great things (like Buran program). It's just a combination of their personality traits, to name a few:Don't care about stuff if it's not yoursOrthodox christianity - it's "God wills it" on steroidsThere'll always be a waySlavic people don't give up no matter how dire situation getsI won't do it? Hold my cigaretteAugust curseState owned enterprises pretend to pay and we pretend to work - with no one willing to change anythingetc.It's that mentality that gave us Kursk, K-19, Soviet Union sticking around until 90s, Chernobyl, Yeltsin,Kramatorsk, Eastern Front during WW2, RTG powered lighthouses, Lada Samara and countless other disasters.

author: dmills
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2019, 02:40:58 am
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on September 18, 2019, 06:03:57 pmNot really, it is not actually all that dangerous from a plague perspective, as it requires contact with body fluids to spread, and does not survive long outside a viable host (Complex virus with lots of ways to fall apart).It is spectacularly nasty to TREAT (That whole body fluids thing is a right pain if you are a medic), but outside of some fairly specific conditions it is not much of a threat, Variola (Or even an airborne flu) it ain't.I do wish people would take Flu more seriously, that is the one that worries me.Regards, Dan.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2019, 02:45:35 am
content: Anyone that doesn't take the flu seriously should read up on the 1918 flu epidemic!

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2019, 03:28:30 am
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on September 19, 2019, 02:45:35 amYeah, I read about that ages ago. People would drop dead suddenly. In South Africa there was a case where seven people died on a tram between one stop and the next, including the driver. Worldwide 21,000,000 people in total or something like that.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2019, 03:52:56 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on September 19, 2019, 03:49:39 amJust see that as part of natural selection, its just pity those innocent kids.