In the News: Science needs to know where Covid-19 comes from
Audio 04:40
View of the Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China.
Photo taken during a visit by a team of experts from the World Health Organization, February 3, 2021 © AP - Ng Han Guan
By: Sébastien Duhamel
11 mins
Publicity
Imagine. What if you are told that the virus that brings the planet to its knees could come from a lab leak? It is a conspiracy thesis, you will answer surely… Well more only because there is "
of the leak in the ideas
", says us
Liberation
. Yes, "
the trail of the laboratory leak is no longer taboo
" among the scientific community, confirms
Le Figaro
. So certainly, "
this track is neither the majority, nor the most probable, but no, it is not a conspiracy theory"
, insists
Le Monde
.
Indeed, "
new elements are sowing trouble
" about the origin of the virus, explains the newspaper.
Reason for which, "
about twenty scientists publish in the journal Science, a letter calling to explore [this] hypothesis of a laboratory accident
" in Wuhan.
The Chinese city is considered to be the hotbed of the pandemic.
Authorities among the signatories
The signatories are far from being illuminated but, rather, luminaries. Far from fantasy,
Le Monde
notes in the list of names the presence of a certain Ralph Baric, a microbiologist from the University of North Carolina in the United States. “
Not only is he one of the most renowned coronavirus specialists in the world
, reports the daily,
but he has already worked closely with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
"In 2015, alongside Chinese researchers, Ralp Baric had"
succeeded in constructing, on the basis of a bat coronavirus, a virus highly pathogenic for humans
". His study had "
hit the headlines
"
, the journal
Nature
then qualified his work as "
risky
". Ralph Baric therefore calls today to investigate the thesis of a leak in Wuhan.
Yes, scientists need to know. Especially since
Le Monde
also returns to "
the Chinese cover-ups
". Cover-ups brought to light by the publication of three academic works: “
A doctoral thesis and two master's theses carried out in recent years at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Written in Chinese and
"
disclosed on the Twitter account of an anonymous scientist familiar with shattering revelations
", the three works contain "
important information
" says
Le Monde
. "
They question certain data on the number and nature of coronaviruses stored in Wuhan, on the experiments carried out on these viruses and even on the integrity of the viral genetic sequences published
"by the Chinese institute.
The alarming impact of screens on children and adolescents
It is an effect of Covid-19, precisely, and here it is the parents who need to know. What impact did screens have on children during the crisis? You might as well be clear right away, the result is not brilliant. It is a "
warning signal
" that
Le Figaro
launches
this Saturday in the front page. Of course, scientists had already warned about the risks associated with the intensive use of screens by the youngest, "
but after a year of confinement and distance learning, the results are worrying
", estimates
Le Figaro
. Children and teenagers have been "
forced for more than a year to face to face with their machines
". Between studies, games, series and social networks, they are "
intoxicated
"And"
young people develop alarming behaviors
", we read.
It is certain, "
the confinements have radicalized addictions to screens
",
develops Professor Richard Delorme, head of the child psychiatry department at the Robert Debré hospital in Paris.
To the point, he says, that some young people “
can develop suicidal tendencies when we ask them to stop, when we take away the smartphone or tablet…
” These are extreme cases, but more broadly, writes
Le Figaro
, the use of screens during confinement has developed depression, difficulty concentrating and learning difficulties.
We cannot say it enough: read a book!
Or go to the theater.
It will soon be possible, the world of culture is preparing its return to school for this Wednesday, May 19, the
Liberation front page
tells us this Saturday
.
In a few days, the “
couch culture
” will be over.
Is there extraterrestrial life?
The need to know too. "
The truth is elsewhere,
" fans of the
X-Files
series would say
.
In any case, it is certain, the hunters of UFOs (Unidentified flying objects) them “
need to know
”. "
Meeting of the third type
" this Saturday in
La Croix
.
The Catholic daily devotes its front page and a ten-page dossier to it. "
After the CIA declassified
2,000 pages of documents on my UFOs
in January , after the former US intelligence director announced the publication of a report on the subject by June 1,
" the newspaper went to discuss with those who, in France, "
take very seriously
»What are also called UAPs, unidentified aerospace phenomena.
“
Men and women who dissect the testimonies and scan the sky to unravel its mysteries.
Volunteers, reports
La Croix
, who sometimes investigate in connection with the very serious National Center for Space Studies, the Cnes. Yes, if you did not know, there is even in France "
a public service of UFOs
". Attached to Cnes, it is GEIPAN, the study and information group on unidentified aerospace phenomena. It processes “
up to 600 testimonies per year,
”
La Croix
tells us
. Its mission is "
to find a pragmatic explanation
" for the observations, and it turns out "
sometimes impossible
», We read again.
Yes, the truth may well be elsewhere.
A mystery of history
Another mystery to read in
Le Parisien - Today in France
: a bottle in the sea may have been thrown from the Titanic before it sank in 1912. It was found four years ago on a beach in Canada. Inside was a letter possibly written by a French teenager who was traveling on the liner. So,
"real find or big hoax
?" "Asks
Le Parisien
. Scientists are also hard at work here, those from the University of Quebec at Rimouski. They have just published their first conclusions and, whether it is the glass of the bottle, its stopper, the paper or even the ink used, nothing for the moment allows to dispute the authenticity of this letter, they explain to the
Parisian
.
Not enough to authenticate it for sure either.
From viruses to space, including the sea, science still has a lot of mysteries to unravel.
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