Heliox: Evidence, Empathy, and the Human Tapestry: Season 4 Review buzzsprout.com/2405788/episo… helioxpodcast.substack.com/p… Thanks for listening! #podcast #informationoverload #criticalthinking #knowledgeframework #storytelling #evidencebasedthinking #empathy #complexsystems

Experts Praise Public For Adapting To Constant Illness Without Asking Follow Up Questions

If you enjoy #SaltingTheVibes on Linkedln, I am now posting PMC COVlD updates there too and have upgraded my profile picture to include the Flo Mask. (link in next)

We released our latest metagenomics preprint. I’m really excited about this study. The unofficial title is ‘conquer the dark matter, volume 1’ 1/ medrxiv.org/content/10.64898…

Discovery of a 14-protein biomarker that predicts lung cancer 5.6 years before it is diagnosed, even in non-smokers, and an anti-inflammatory medicine that prevents its progression. And, challenging dogma, the proteins are not coming from cancerous cells!

HELIOX 🇨🇦 | Rewiring AI to Reward Human Genius Jun 14, 2026 • S7 E14 • 43:33 The machines were never built to make you smarter. They were built to keep you there. Here's how we change that. 🧵

autonomous robot driving through the field at night. no chemicals. no pesticides. just UV light killing pathogens and pests while everyone sleeps. this is @tricrobotics. this is what chemical-free pest control looks like at scale.

The most powerful antibiotic you’ve never heard of was sitting under scientists’ noses for decades. A team from the University of Warwick and Monash University has discovered a hidden molecule that’s over 100 times stronger than existing antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA and VRE. It’s called pre-methylenomycin C lactone – and it was quietly lurking inside a well-known bacterium studied since the 1950s. Streptomyces coelicolor is a familiar name in microbiology, known for producing the antibiotic methylenomycin A. But no one had tested the intermediate compounds created during its production – until now. By deleting specific genes in the bacterium’s biosynthetic pathway, researchers uncovered two previously unknown intermediates. One of them, pre-methylenomycin C lactone, turned out to be a game-changer: 100x more active against Gram-positive bacteria than methylenomycin A. The compound worked exceptionally well against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), two of the deadliest superbugs on the World Health Organization’s priority list. Even more promising: in lab tests, the bacteria didn’t develop resistance to the compound – a rare outcome in antimicrobial research. ["Discovery of Late Intermediates in Methylenomycin Biosynthesis Active against Drug-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacterial Pathogens." Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2025]

Could #LongCOVID be leaving behind early fingerprints of Parkinson’s disease? ➡️ In a 16-country study of >11,000 participants, people with LongCOVID showed significantly higher rates of multiple prodromal Parkinson’s-like features—including loss of smell, constipation, daytime sleepiness, dizziness, cognitive problems, urinary symptoms, depression, and dream-enactment behaviors. 1/

Our latest preprint is out, where we investigated a profound SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological anomaly: BA.3.2.2 is selectively infecting children. Here, we show that the lack of ancestral-strain immune imprinting is promoting BA.3.2.2 pediatric infections. 1/9 biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…

Dr. Tim Henrich presented new findings surrounding long term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 proteins & RNA in Long COVID gut tissue at PolyBio’s recent Spring symposium. “We actually see [gut viral persistence] in both areas, the epithelium—which turns over every several days to week—to the lamina propria where you have long-lived myeloid immune cells… suggesting there may even be replication in some individuals,” said Henrich. Using a highly sensitive method of detecting viral RNA, “around 20-25% of the time, we see detection… all the way up until 3-4 years after initial infection” in Long COVID patients.

I’m so excited. My secret (not so secret) observational experiment is about to begin. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for wastewater surveillance. FIFA World cup. 1/ @SecureBio scientificamerican.com/artic…

Not every day you see an odds ratio of 50 (for interleukin-10 autoantibodies and a common HLA allele). ~80% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have this HLA allele These individuals (~3.5% of IBD) may benefit from B cell depletion (such as achieved via CAR T). nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NE… nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NE…

I'm quite fond of my orbital prefrontal cortex.

Yay I saw another masker at the airport just now! It’s a no brainer to mask when traveling, I wish more people would. #MaskUp

The pro-inflammatory role of microglia is considered a key driver of Alzheimer's disease. Today @NeuroCellPress discovery of an epigenetic regulator of microglial mitochondria in the experimental model that may be amenable as a target for therapy or prevention cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S08…

Let's Find A Kinder Way To Blame Long Covid Patients

HELIOX 🇨🇦 | Silicon Alchemy — The AI Engine of Global Physical Discovery Jun 10, 2026 • S7 E12 • 59:15 Carbon on a soap bubble in a Toronto lab. Doesn't pop. Lighter than styrofoam. 5× stronger than aerospace titanium. An AI designed it. 🧵

🧵 HELIOX 🇨🇦 | The Algorithmic Apothecary Jun 6, 2026 • 54:16 Since 1950, new drugs approved per $1B of R&D spending has been halving every 9 years. Better science. Worse outcomes. Scientists call it Eroom's Law — Moore's Law written backwards. 🧵

What if giving everything away is the most successful survival strategy on Earth? 🍓 The serviceberry tree has known this for 50 million years. New episode of Heliox drops today. 🧵 🎧 buzzsprout.com/2405788/episo… 📖 helioxpodcast.substack.com/p…

I did the math 30% to 40% of REPORTED COVID cases in 🇨🇦 hospitals are HOSPITAL ACQUIRED ACTUAL COVID cases are ~ 60% to 80% hospital acquired 5% to 10% of hospital acquired COVID patients DIE So, in hospitals we need universal: 1. TESTS 2. N95s 3. UPPER AIR UV / FARUV