§ɦṛɛɗɗịɛ ßịⱺ𝔩ⱺɠịᵴŧ

“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” - Rich Feynman

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Cake day: March 19th, 2022

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  • Well, since SearXNG aggregates results from more than 70 search engines and not solely Google, it’s a safe bet they’ll be fine regardless of Googles moves. However, sourcing results from Google may be impacted, but they still have many other options built in aside from Google. Whoogle being a proxy only for Google makes it reliant on Google, so their upstream changes will be very noticeable. This being the case, I’d say switching to SearXNG is going to be the best move as it has redundancy built in making it not dependent on any one engine.














  • When I did 4+ months of research into avian influenza a year ago, most the literature I sourced used variants as the term, but I don’t see why strain wouldn’t work as well. Also, you’re comment about if H5N1 or H3N2 doesn’t cover the fact that the H5N1 variant would likely uptake aspects of H3N2 genome (or whatever was the prior most common variant) into it’s genetic makeup.

    Virology is an insanely intricate field as no two viral families have much in common at all. Viruses are fascinating as while they are truly as simplistic as it gets, they still have highly specific task they each evolve to ensure their future reproduction.

    Fun fact about viral infections, both the human placenta and myelin sheath are results of an ancient ancestor of ours having a retroviral infection!





  • While this isn’t incorrect, it’s also not the full story. Influenza is an intricate virus, with mutations and obfuscation built into it’s reproduction cycle. A virus that kills it’s host is not a good virus, as a virus relies on it’s host to reproduce. This is why the flu is the most deadly when it initially gains a new host species. But over time, it will mutate to become less deadly for the host, allowing it to spread more effectively. Additionally, whenever an organism is infected with two different flu viruses, they can conduct reassortment and generate novel flu variations. So overtime, the flu will become less lethal via mutations, making it different from the orginal. Most flu variations stem from bird flu’s due to the migratory patterns of birds. But they then mutate substantially, otherwise they’ll be unable to infect more host. Meaning, it’s not the same flu, but more so the jumping off point of new variations which can combine with others or mutate by themselves just depending on the specific environment.






  • Right! But, if you zoom out, it’s not exactly too wild. Ground squirrels have voles beat in size and they have habitat overlap with both living underground. Additionally, dietary shifts give animals the flexibly to respond to changes in the environment plus foraging risks and opportunities. It’s been known since the early 2000’s that squirrels can supplement some of their diet with insects or bird eggs/baby birds. Knowing this, it starts to make a lot more sense ground squirrels would hunt voles, as the environment is rapidly changing, they’re known to already hunt a bit, and voles could be their annoying neighbor.