From DailyMail.

December 1, 2011 – LONDON – A group of scientists is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilization. The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain, but is far more infectious and could pass easily between millions of people at a time. The research has caused a storm of controversy and divided scientists, with some saying it should never have been carried out. The current strain of H5N1 has only killed 500 people and is not contagious enough to cause a global pandemic. But there are fears the modified virus is so dangerous it could be used for bio-warfare, if it falls into the wrong hands. Virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands led a team of scientists who discovered that a mere five mutations to the avian virus was sufficient to make it spread far more easily. He conducted his tests on ferrets as the animals have become a model of choice for influenza and has similar respiratory tracts to humans. Fouchier is so prepared for a media storm that he has hired an advisor to help him work on a communication strategy. The research done was part of an international drive to understand H5N1 more fully. Fouchier admitted the strain is ‘one of the most dangerous viruses you can make’ but is still adamant he wants to publish a paper describing how it was done. The study is one of two which has caused serious debate about scientific freedom and about regulating research which might have potential public health benefits but at the same time could also be useful for bio-terrorism. The other paper, also on H5N1, was done by a joint team at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Tokyo. Both papers are now being reviewed by the U.S National Science Advisory Board for Bio-security (NSABB). NSABB does not have the power to prevent the publication but it could ask journals not to publish. Paul Keim, chairman of NSABB, said: ‘I can’t think of another pathogenic organism that is as scary as this one.

Fascinating and horrifying.

Link?

Oops, forgot.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... ntist.html

december 2012 here we come! War with someone, pandemic, economic collapse, climate change, woooooo

November 30, 2011 – TEHERAN – It’s starting to look like all those crazy 2012 prophecies might not be so wide of the mark after all. Even as the world is transfixed by the slow-motion implosion of the Eurozone, reports are emerging that Israel might strike Iran’s nuclear facilities early in the New Year. The unpredictable interaction of two such epochal events could cause a global catastrophe like something out of a bad science fiction novel. The most recent data shows that the Eurozone, and much of the world, may be slipping rapidly into recession. Property and commodity bubbles are bursting even in China. Not only that, but there is no more fiscal stimulus to be had. The global economy’s life raft is gone. The combination of the onset of a second global Great Depression, a devastating banking crisis in Europe, fragmentation of the Eurozone and rolling sovereign debt crises across the US and Europe is bad enough. This scenario is, in itself, a total catastrophe. Yet some serious economists say such outcomes are very possible within the next 12 months. However, few have thrown into the mix the ramifications of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities — also likely within the next 12 months. The Eurozone crisis and Iran’s nuclear weapons program are widely seen as discrete and unrelated events. However, they could interact in potentially horrific ways. Jeffery Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine says there is a “better than 50 percent chance that Israel will launch a strike by next July.” Israel simply cannot tolerate a nuclear armed Iran. Sanctions have failed miserably and the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report suggests that Iran could begin building a nuclear weapon within months. The Daily Mail has recently cited UK Foreign Office sources as saying that the British government expects Israel to attack Iran “sooner rather than later … We’re expecting something as early as Christmas, or very early in the New Year.” Israeli President Shimon Peres has said: “The possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option.”

Target Iran: Tehran has threatened to respond with “an iron fist,” and has warned about “aggressors and invaders being smashed from within.” A massive onslaught on Israel could be expected via Syria and Hamas. Simultaneously, terrorist attacks could happen in cities across the Western world. The political consequences of an attack across the Muslim world are incalculable, but one immediate effect of an Israeli attack would be on oil supply. The first thing Iran will do if attacked is blockade the critical oil-shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz. This would instantly send the price of oil skyrocketing to between $175 and $500 a barrel, depending on whose estimates you believe. America’s National Defense magazine says that “Under a worst-case scenario 30 day closure of the Strait of Hormuz … the U.S. would lose nearly $75 billion in GDP.” The effects on Europe would be similarly disastrous. Iran’s Navy is no match for the US Fifth fleet, but all Iran need do is slip a few mines into the water and the straits could be closed for months. Additionally, Iran might attack Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities in Dhahran, and the price of oil would instantly reach the stratosphere. Even in a best-case scenario, more stringent sanctions against Iran are now almost inevitable and these will seriously exacerbate the turmoil in financial markets, already reeling from the euro crisis. In our interconnected world, events in in Brussels and Tehran can interact like never before.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rory-fitz ... 87930.html

You really think militaries dont have stockpiles of such stuff somewhere or the other already?

On an unrelated note, the film that shares the same name as this thread is pretty decent.

I may just be paranoid, but this kind of shit really trips me out. Luckily, I do have a backup plan for when the power fails, and the grocery stores/hospitals/police stations go out of commission.

I only saw the old version... which was decent. I heard the new one was filled with PC and not worth it.

By the way,
Stephen King's "The Stand" is precisely about such a scenario...and well written too.
(till about a third of the way in - where he goes all esoteric as usual...)

I didn't know there was a new one. I'm talking about the old version I think.

Me too. Lots of food stored away, with the vehicles always at least 3/4 full of gas, water, wood, generator, batteries and even candles, to name a few. Anyone comes to get it, they will be shot on sight, no questions asked and no mercy given.

One of my favorite films too. Such a thing could easily occur, unlike a nuclear war.

Do you think aliens will be hiding in the depths of subglacial Vostok lake?

Scientists close to entering Vostok, Antarctica’s biggest subglacial lake

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html

Don't forget Omega Man with Charleton Heston.

Great movie. Only wish it would happen.

Be a fitting end to mankind. As if man was kind.