- ‘Megalopolis’: After Wild Speculation, What Exactly Is So ‘Bats—’ About Francis Ford Coppola’s Opus? Variety
- A Plea for Someone to Save Megalopolis | MZS Roger Ebert
- Francis Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Locks Competition Slot At 77th Cannes Film Festival: The Dish Deadline
- Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Faces Uphill Battle for Mega Deal: “Just No Way to Position This Movie” Hollywood Reporter
- Forty years and $120m later: Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis to debut at Cannes The Guardian
Tag Archives: Bats
Auburn star Johni Broome bats away a spectator’s hand before realizing it’s Morgan Freeman – CNN
- Auburn star Johni Broome bats away a spectator’s hand before realizing it’s Morgan Freeman CNN
- He did not just do that! Auburn’s Johni Broome swats away actor Morgan Freeman sitting courtside CBS Sports
- Morgan Freeman: Auburn Tigers basketball star angrily smacks away a spectator’s hand on the sideline… before realizing it’s the acting legend! Daily Mail
- Watch Auburn’s Johni Broome’s unexpected interaction with actor, Ole Miss fan Morgan Freeman AL.com
- Auburn’s Johni Broome apologizes after smacking Morgan Freeman’s hand during game New York Post
The debauched world of Ozzy Osbourne – biting bats to Sharon finding him in bed with the nanny – Daily Mail
- The debauched world of Ozzy Osbourne – biting bats to Sharon finding him in bed with the nanny Daily Mail
- STEEL PANTHER’s MICHAEL STARR On OZZY OSBOURNE’s Retirement: ‘It Comes To An End For Everybody Eventually’ BLABBERMOUTH.NET
- Ozzy Osbourne vows to ‘get back on stage as soon as possible’ in first interview since retiring from tou… The US Sun
- Zakk Wylde offers Ozzy Osbourne support in his retirement: “When you are ready to roll – we roll” Louder
- Zakk Wylde tells Ozzy Osbourne: “When you are ready to roll, we will roll” Guitar World
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Covid-like virus is discovered lurking in bats in southern China
A Covid-like virus discovered lurking in bats in southern China is one of five with the potential to jump to humans, scientists say.
The virus, known as BtSY2, is closely related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid, and is ‘at particular risk for emergence’.
It’s one of five ‘viruses of concern’ found in bats across China’s Yunnan province that are ‘likely to be pathogenic to humans or livestock’, the scientists say.
The team warn of potential new ‘zoonotic’ diseases – those caused by pathogens that pass to humans from other animals.
A Covid-like virus discovered lurking in bats in southern China is one of five with the potential to jump to humans, scientists say. Evidence already suggests SARS-CoV-2 originated in horseshoe bats (pictured)
The research was led by researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Shenzhen, the Yunnan Institute of Endemic Disease Control and the University of Sydney.
It has been detailed in a new study published as a preprint paper, yet to be peer-reviewed, on the bioRxiv server.
‘We identified five viral species that are likely to be pathogenic to humans or livestock, including a novel recombinant SARS-like coronavirus that is closely related to both SARS-CoV-2 and 50 SARS-CoV,’ the team say in the paper.
‘Our study highlights the common occurrence of inter-species transmission and co-infection of bat viruses, as well as their implications for virus emergence.’
For the study, the researchers collected rectum samples from 149 individual bats representing 15 species, in six counties or cities in China’s Yunnan province.
RNA – nucleic acid present in living cells – was extracted and sequenced individually for each individual bat.
Concerningly, the researchers noted a high frequency of multiple viruses infecting a single bat at one time.
This can lead to existing viruses swapping bits of their genetic code – a process known as recombination – to form new pathogens, according to Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham.
‘The main take-home message is that individual bats can harbour a plethora of different virus species, occasionally playing host to them at the same time,’ Professor Ball, who was not involved in the research, told the Telegraph.
Overview of the samples analysed in this study. (A) Locations in Yunnan province China where bat samples were taken. Pie charts indicate the composition of bat species sampled at each location, while the total area of the pies are proportional to number of captured individuals. Colours indicate different bat species (B)
A virus in bats known as BtSY2 is closely related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid (depicted in artistic rendering). The team did not speculate on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak
‘Such co-infections, especially with related viruses like coronavirus, give the virus opportunity to swap critical pieces of genetic information, naturally giving rise to new variants,’ he said.
BtSY2 also has a receptor binding domain – a key part of the spike protein used to latch onto cells human cells – that’s similar to SARS-CoV-2
BtSY2 also has a ‘receptor binding domain’ – a key part of the spike protein used to latch onto cells human cells – that’s similar to SARS-CoV-2, suggesting the virus can infect humans.
‘BtSY2 may be able to utilize [the] human ACE2 receptor for cell entry,’ the team add.
ACE2 is a receptor on the surface of human cells that binds to SARS-CoV-2 and allows it to enter and infect.
Yunnan province in southwestern China has already been identified as a hotspot for bat species and bat-borne viruses.
A number of pathogenic viruses have been detected there, including close relatives of SARS-CoV-2, such as bat viruses RaTG1313 and RpYN0614.
The team did not speculate on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak.
Evidence already suggests SARS-CoV-2 originated in horseshoe bats, although it’s likely the virus passed to humans through pangolins, a scaly mammal often confused for a reptile.
SARS-CoV-2 is likely to have its ancestral origins in a bat species but may have reached humans through an intermediary species, such as pangolins – a scaly mammal often confused for a reptile (pictured)
Likewise, it’s thought the lethal outbreak of the Ebola virus in Western Africa between 2013 and 2016 stemmed from bats.
Yunnan, the region identified by the new study, is also home to pangolins, which are consumed as food in China and are also used in traditional medicine.
According to a 2021 study in the journal Science of the Total Environment, it’s possible the virus jumped from bats to Sunda pangolins and masked palm civits in Yunnan.
They were then captured and transported to a wildlife market in Wuhan, more than 1,200 miles away, where the initial Covid outbreaks occurred.
Scientists discover a new virus lurking in bats: Similar pathogens kill up to one in three humans
Scientists have discovered a new virus lurking in bats.
The Kiwira virus — a type of hantavirus — has been found in free-tailed bats in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There is currently no evidence to show that Kiwira virus could pose a threat to humans but researchers are conducting follow-up studies.
Hantaviruses are usually found in rodents and spread to humans through contact with infected animals, with a disease the virus can cause killing up to a third of those it infects.
The group of viruses can trigger mild flu-like illness symptoms but also excessive bleeding and kidney failure.
It comes after MPs warned last week that Britain’s biggest animal disease facility — responsible for monitoring animal-borne infections — has been left to crumble.
The Kiwira virus – a type of hantavirus – has been found in free-tailed bats in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
There is currently no evidence to show the virus could pose a threat to humans but researchers are conducting follow-up studies. Map shows where virus has been detected (crosses) and the regions the free-tailed bats inhabit (blue area)
Detailing the new virus in the journal Viruses, the researchers, led by Dr Sabrina Weiss, head of public health at the Centre for International Health Protection in Berlin, noted that free-tailed bats cover ‘large regions’ of Sub-Saharan Africa.
And the species is known to roost ‘inside and around human dwellings’, so a ‘potential spillover of the Kiwira virus to humans must be considered’, they warned.
Research is to be carried out among bats in the area to better understand their make up and whether it is possible for the virus to spread to humans.
While no cases have been spotted in people so far, the researchers said hantavirus often triggers general fever-like symptoms so may be hard to spot.
How the disease can affect humans depends on what type of hantavirus it is.
Sin Nombre virus — a hantavirus spread by deer mice in the USA — can trigger a syndrome that kills up to one in three humans, whereas Puumala virus — commonly associated with bank moles — has a mortality rate of less than one in 200.
There is currently not much evidence to suggest the Kiwira virus poses a significant problem to bats either, with just six out of 334 bats from Tanzania and one out of 49 bats from DRC found to be carrying the disease.
However researchers said: ‘Hantavirus disease often manifests as a febrile illness with non-specific symptoms […] and might be easily overlooked.’
The viruses are primarily spread to humans through contact with an infected animal’s urine, faeces and saliva. However, in rare cases, the viruses can spread between humans.
Chelsea Wood, an assistant professor of parasite ecology at the University of Washington, spoke of the risks in National Geographic.
There is currently not much evidence to suggest the Kiwira virus poses a significant problem to bats either, with just six out of 334 bats from Tanzania and one out of 49 bats from DRC found to be carrying the disease
She said: ‘The scary thing about these zoonotic viruses is that the spillover process is happening all the time. Covid is a great example.’
It comes after it was revealed that the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) headquarters — the site tasked with stopping animal-borne infections in their tracks — was found to have been ‘left to deteriorate to an alarming extent’.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee warned the APHA site, near Weybridge, Surrey, would cost up to £3billion to fix it over the next 15 years.
That is despite the Covid pandemic showing how easily an animal-sourced virus can plunge the world into chaos.
APHA’s Weybridge site is the UK’s primary science facility for managing threats from animal diseases.
Dame Meg Hillier MP, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘These diseases are devastating for our food production systems, the economy and, when they jump the species barrier to humans as Covid did, to our whole society.’
APHA’s Weybridge site is the UK’s primary science facility for managing threats from animal disease but the Environment Department (Defra) has ‘comprehensively failed in its historical management’ of the complex
In June, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report on Covid, saying bats most likely transferred the virus to humans.
The new report, called Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), said a zoonotic origin was the most likely explanation for the emergence of the novel coronavirus.
The first human cases were reported in December 2019 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
However, the report said that neither the original animal source, the intermediate host, nor the moment the virus crossed over into humans, has been identified.
That is chiefly because a lot of data is missing, the report said, particularly from China.
Bats And Humans Are Closer Than Ever, And The Risks Have Never Been So Clear : ScienceAlert
The link between habitat destruction, climate change, and the emergence of new viruses has never been more evident than during the pandemic.
The arrival of SARS-CoV-2 and the spread of COVID-19 brought into sharp focus how human activities such as deforestation can bring wild animals bearing viruses closer to humans.
In a new study, researchers sought to provide more granular data collected over 25 years in Australia to illustrate the connections between habitat loss, animal behavior, and viral spillover.
Specifically, the scientists looked at the bat-borne Hendra virus, which mainly infects fruit bats (also known as flying foxes); the virus can jump over into humans via horses.
“Interactions between land-use change and climate now lead to persistent bat residency in agricultural areas, where periodic food shortages drive clusters of spillovers,” behavioral ecologist Peggy Eby of the University of New South Wales in Australia and colleagues write in their published paper.
Zoonotic spillover describes how viruses and other pathogens found in animals can leap into humans, sometimes with deadly consequences. Hendra virus is one example; HIV, Ebola, rabies, and the plague make a grim shortlist of other zoonotic diseases.
Hendra virus – named after the Brisbane suburb where it was discovered in 1994 – can cause severe or even fatal illness in humans and horses. Most often, infected bats feeding in horse paddocks transmit the virus, and since 2006, the frequency and range of Hendra virus spillovers in Australia have increased.
In this study, Eby and colleagues dug into decades of data to study rapid changes in bat behavior that coincided with Hendra virus spillover events in southwest Queensland between 1996 and 2020. The timing and location of these events were mapped against data on bat roosting sites, foraging areas, local climate, food supplies, and habitat loss.
“From approximately 2003 through 2020, bat behavior and the incidence of spillovers changed rapidly: The number of roosts tripled, and 40 spillovers were detected,” Eby and colleagues report.
Fitting the data to a statistical model, the researchers showed how climate and land-use changes drive bats to live in agricultural and urban areas, increasing the risk of Hendra virus spillover into horses.
By 2018, nearly a third of natural fruit bat habitat in 1996 had been cleared, sending bats flocking to urban areas to roost, though most spillover events (86 percent) occurred in agricultural areas where horses roam.
Drought-inducing El Niño events also caused winter food shortages for bats, heralding an increase in roosts closer to human-populated areas where bats could presumably find food.
Not only do food shortages and habitat loss thrust bats into areas where humans and horses live – increasing the number of human-animal encounters – but past research suggests nutritional stress can lead to increased viral shedding in bats.
“The timing of Hendra virus spillover clusters in winter, months after the food shortages in the previous year, may be due to the cumulative effects of nutritional stress overlaying high energy requirements in winter (thermoregulation and pregnancy) and scarce resources within suboptimal habitats,” the researchers write.
When nearby native forests flowered profusely in winter – something which is becoming increasingly rare – the bats reverted to their usual nomadic lifestyle, vacating urban and agricultural areas in favor of their natural habitat, and spillover events did not occur during these periods.
Protecting remnants of native forests, particularly winter-flowering forests that provide nourishment when food is scarce, “could be a sustainable, long-term strategy to reduce spillover and protect the health of livestock and humans,” the researchers conclude.
Reproducing a study like this in other areas where zoonotic diseases are common could reveal the dynamics contributing to those outbreaks and inform strategies to curb the risk of infections.
But long-term data stretching back decades on viral reservoir hosts, especially bats, are sparse. And even with our data, it keeps coming back to the same problem: Humans consistently destroying habitats and bulldozing biodiversity.
A 2020 analysis of around 6,800 ecological communities on 6 continents found that as biodiversity declines, the animals that survive and thrive, such as bats and rats, are also the ones more likely to host potentially dangerous pathogens, concentrating the risk of zoonotic disease outbreaks.
“We’ve been warning about this for decades,” Kate Jones, an ecological modeler at University College London who co-authored that study, told Nature when it was published in August 2020.
“Nobody paid any attention.”
The latest study was also published in Nature.
Astros silence Yankees bats yet again, win ALCS Game 3 to move within 1 win of sweep, World Series
New game, same story: The Houston Astros took ALCS Game 3 from the New York Yankees by using a robust pitching staff to utterly quash any hopes of offense. This time, they allowed only three hits in a 5-0 win, subduing the Yankee Stadium crowd and taking a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Astros, in their sixth consecutive ALCS, are now one win away from their fourth World Series in six years — and their third postseason triumph over New York.
The Astros are an undefeated 6-0 in the postseason so far.
Cristian Javier, a breakout arm in 2022, made his first postseason start Saturday night after 12 October relief outings. He struck out five Yankees, walked three and allowed only one hit. Houston didn’t exactly hammer Gerrit Cole, but they applied enough pressure to post five runs. First, Chas McCormick cranked a two-run homer after a Harrison Bader and Aaron Judge miscommunication in the outfield extended the inning.
Then, Cole left with the bases loaded in the sixth, only to watch reliever Lou Trivino allow all three runners to score. In total, the Yankees ace was charged with five runs, only three earned.
A stagnant Yankees offense hit the low point of its dismal series. Giancarlo Stanton’s fourth-inning double was their only hit heading into the ninth inning, when the Yankees mounted a brief but futile challenge. Manager Aaron Boone’s second lineup shuffle — moving Anthony Rizzo to the leadoff spot — still found no joy.
Houston trade deadline acquisitions Trey Mancini and Christian Vazquez came up with the key RBIs in that sixth inning to shush Yankee Stadium. Generally relegated to the bench, the pair came through as reports indicate Astros owner Jim Crane may not retain GM James Click — who he hired in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.
But whatever the longer-term future holds for the Astros, the immediate future involves a chance to sweep the Yankees and head to the World Series. They’ll have Lance McCullers Jr. on the mound trying to do just that on Sunday at 7:07 p.m. ET. He’ll face the Yankees’ Nestor Cortes Jr., hero of ALDS Game 5 against Cleveland.
Need to catch up on the major October storylines? We’ve got you covered.
Braves vs. Phillies takeaways: Atlanta ties NLDS behind bats of Olson, Riley, d’Arnaud
The Atlanta Braves broke through against Philadelphia Philles ace Zack Wheeler with a two-out rally in the sixth inning, and that plus the excellent pitching of Kyle Wright allowed them to take Game 2 by a score of 3-0. That win evens the best-of-five National League Division Series at a game apiece.
The series now shifts to Philly for Game 3 on Friday. The winner of this series will advance to the NLCS to face either the Dodgers or Padres.
Now for some takeaways from Game 2.
Kyle Wright pitched a gem
After Max Fried’s shaky outing in Game 1, the Braves needed a good outing from Game 2 starter Kyle Wright. He gave them that and then some. Wright twirled six scoreless innings against the Phillies, and along the way he allowed two hits, struck out six, and walked only one. Of his 83 pitches, 52 went for strikes. In suffocating the Phillies, Wright leaned heavily on his fastball and curve, and he also mixed in his sinker. That was essential, since Wright’s four-seamer in Game 2 was down about a full mph relative to his regular-season average fastball velocity.
In terms of Game Score, which is a quick-and-dirty Bill James metric that measures a pitcher’s dominance or lack thereof in a given start (50 is average and anything 90 or higher is an absolute gem), Wright put up a 73. Just twice during the regular season did he exceed that figure, and those two starts came against the Pirates and Marlins – two lineups that can’t compare to Philly’s.
Zack Wheeler was almost as good
Wheeler was dominant in his Wild Card Series start against the Cardinals, and during the regular season he racked up 25 strikeouts against only one walk in his three starts against Atlanta. He pitched in a similar vein on Wednesday in Game 2, as he struck out five and walked one with four hits allowed in six innings of work. Even in the sixth, when the Braves put those three runs on the board, they never squared him up and instead did their damage with well-placed grounders that eluded the Philly infield defense.
The Braves put together an unlikely big inning in the sixth
Speaking of which, the Braves may have salvaged the series with that bottom of the sixth. Five straight runners reached base with two outs, which is something the Braves managed to do just five times during the 162-game regular season.
Wheeler retired the first two batters of the frame, but then Ronald Acuña Jr. reached when a pitch from Wheeler drilled him on his right elbow. Dansby Swanson then walked, and Matt Olson singled and plated Acuña on a pull-side grounder that first baseman Rhys Hoskins couldn’t quite secure. Austin Riley kept with the theme, as he singled on a soft dribbler to Wheeler down the third-base line that scored Swanson. Finally, Travis d’Arnaud singled on a ground ball up the middle to bring Olson home with the third and final run of the game. That was margin enough for the Atlanta bullpen.
Kyle Schwarber’s struggles continue
Schwarber during the regular season was a force for Philly, as he put up a 130 OPS+ and led the NL with 46 homers. These playoffs, however, have yet to be kind to him. He went 0 for 7 with four strikeouts in the Wild Card Series against St. Louis, and in Game 1 against the Braves he was 0 for 5 with a strikeout. Add in what he did in the Game 2 loss – 0 for 4 with three strikeouts – and he’s now 0 for 16 with eight strikeouts in the 2022 postseason. Needles to say, the Phillies need their top slugger to find his level back at home.
It’s now basically a best-of-three series
With the series tied 1-1, this NLDS is now in essence a best-of-three affair with the Phillies’ holding home-field advantage (Games 3 and 4 will be at Citizens’ Bank Park, and Game 5, if necessary, will be back in suburban Atlanta).
In Game 3 on Friday, Phillies co-ace Aaron Nola will go for the hosts opposite an Atlanta starter to be determined. The big question is whether rookie right-hander Spencer Strider will be able to make the start. He’s on the Braves’ NLDS roster after being out since mid-September with an oblique injury.
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Coronavirus detected in bats shows resistance to vaccines – The Hill
Story at a glance
- Researchers are studying the coronavirus in animals to get an understanding of what is circulating in animal populations.
- One study finds a bat coronavirus can enter human cells.
- In laboratory tests, it was also able to resist antibodies from SARS-CoV-2.
The World Health Organization’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in May that because of reduced testing and sequencing “we are blinding ourselves to the evolution of the virus.” Similarly, because coronaviruses are found in other mammals, it is important to be aware of what is circulating among animal populations. A team of researchers at Washington State University and Tulane University School of Medicine is aiming to do just that.
In a paper published in PLoS Pathogens, they detail two coronaviruses detected in a population of horseshoe bats in Russia. The lineages of the viruses are separate from original SARS-CoV-1 from 2003 and SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for the current pandemic.
However, the researchers think that it is useful to study coronaviruses in wild animals to understand viral evolution and potential for crossover into humans.
They sequenced the bat coronaviruses and tested them in the laboratory against human cells. The bat viruses had a receptor binding domain, a part of the virus that can bind to molecules on the membranes of cells, that were able to help them enter human cells.
The team also tested the viruses against SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and serum from individuals vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2 that contained antibodies. One of the two bat coronaviruses was resistant to both monoclonal antibodies and vaccine-induced antibodies. They had a similar result when they tested it against antibodies from someone who recovered from an infection of an omicron variant.
“We don’t want to scare anybody and say this is a completely vaccine-resistant virus,” says Michael Letko, who is assistant professor in the Paul Allen School of Public Health at Washington State University and led the study, to TIME. “But it is concerning that there are viruses circulating in nature that have these properties—they can bind to human receptors and are not so neutralized by current vaccine responses.”
One of the main concerns is if these bat coronaviruses can combine with SARS-CoV-2 and lead to new variants. If these new variants inherit immune evasive characteristics, that could be a problem for us.
While it’s not a signal for alarm, studies like this will be important to know what lineages and versions of coronaviruses are circulating in the wild and how they may relate to what’s circulating in humans. Letko says, “These viruses are really widespread everywhere, and are going to continue to be an issue for humans in general.”
Mariners throw a darty, don’t invite the Padres’ bats, win 6-1
It’s possible Luis Castillo is a warlock. There’s no other explanation than a soul sold to some devilish entity or eldritch horror when confronted with pitches making hypergeometric expeditions off their expected path. For a Padres lineup well-outfitted with established stars and capable role players, Castillo’s stuff was nonetheless overpowering. Even Juan Soto was left in shambles by La Piedra, which traditionally translates as “The Rock” but in this case may be closer to ““The One Who Rocks.”
His six innings were not without stress, multiple runners reaching scoring position due in part to some key questionable balls, but four hits and a walk over six shutout frames to nine punch outs is an appropriate show of dominance, bending reality to his will one clench of a raised fist at a time.
Pursuit of power has led many lesser folk astray, but fortunately for Castillo, he had three compatriots able to offer compelling demonstrations of their own. First was the youth, Seattle’s Simba slugging the memory of last night’s shutout into the stands on the first pitch he saw. Two hitters later, Eugenio Suárez continued Geno Appreciation Week in the city of Seattle, gifting a Mike Clevinger offering the key to the first row of seats in deep right center field. Not only did that two-run jack give Seattle a 3-0 lead they’d never relinquish, it gave a fan the chance for one of the best home run catches I’ve seen in some time.
For Julio, the rest of the game was a celebration. A lashed single later, as well as a stolen base following a hit by pitch which pushed him to the 25-25 club, a mark only reached by rookies named Mike Trout and Chris Young, and even they not until their second calendar seasons in MLB.
For the Mariners, it was enough to be up three, but even more compelling that they chose not to settle. Carlos Santana drove in Rodríguez and Ty France with a three run blast to well and truly obliterate Clevinger’s Pacific Northwest vacation. The bullpen did the rest, resting Paul Seward luxuriously given their comfortable lead and not tempting fate as they did Sunday. A 6-1 victory over their counterpart in the NL Wild Card race, up early and rarely in doubt. This game marks the final time the Seattle Mariners face a team with a winning record until the postseason. If they look like they have tonight, let’s hope they get that chance.