Sublime

The age of global pseudonymous scientific publication has begun. This is a well-sourced article making the case for laboratory escape & contrasting to zoonosis. Has explicit epistemology. Avoids obvious tinfoil hat gotchas. Provides links. Worth reading. https://t.co/kR3tLLC22K https://t.co/NJ4sCRWfP7

We are passionate defenders of allowing scientists to conduct their research with as few limits on intellectual curiosity as possible, and calling for a ban is not something that we do often or lightly. However, every rule has exceptions, and this is one of them. Unless compelling evidence emerges showing that mirror bacteria do not pose... See more

A: Let’s talk about delay, then. How do you think we can delay scientists from discovering these pandemic-capable agents? K: There are two ways that are the most promising. Number one: we can find a way to make people liable for causing catastrophe. We can set the bar very high, say, something like 10 million deaths worldwide — direct or indirect —... See more

That means that in principle, humanity could crowdsource threat identification. Instead of warning the world about a new threat, scientists who are very concerned about a particular way that biology could be used to cause harm could contact a curator of the secure DNA system and say, “I’m really worried about this.” If the curator agrees, they can... See more