MetaFilter posts tagged with bioweapons

Cotton Kills

CheeseDigestsAll — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:30:28 -0800

NASA recently released a series of photographs documenting the loss of the Aral Sea over the past ten years. The Aral Sea could be the poster child for human damage to the ecosystem. In a mere four decades, it has gone from a surface area of 68000 km^2 to less that a quarter of that, with a 10x drop in water volume. As its Wikipedia article points out, this is the equivalent of completely draining two of the five Great Lakes. Much of the water has been lost to making Uzbekistan the fifth largest producer and second largest exporter of cotton, a notoriously water-hungry crop. Other disasters inflicted on the sea include destruction of the fishing economy, loss of wildlife, industrial waste, pesticide and fertilizer pollution, enormous dust storms, and a bioweapons lab. In the last few years, the water level in the north has risen slightly due to a rescue effort, but it is only a partial success in a plan with a limited scope.

Images-skin disease diagnosis

hank — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:05:10 -0800

What's That? -- skin trouble and bioterrorism, diagnostic help Probably not safe for work viewing

Soft target attacks

spock — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:26:39 -0800

What's next — Soft Target Attacks : Aerosol mists of biohazards in public places, like shopping malls. Or the National Mall in Washington DC on Sept. 24th of this year (see also: Salon story). Coincidentally (?) the University of New Mexico and Cerus Receive $23 Million to Develop Tularemia Vaccine (the agent detected on Sept. 24th). More terrorism scare released now to distract from the Plame indictments soon to come?

They're out to Get You!

squalor — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 14:30:16 -0800

Paranoia Time!
CIA drops Big Bad Bio Bombs on anti-war protesters???

Fun with antrax

jeffburdges — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 09:03:33 -0800

The U.S. Military is buying bioweapones production systems, with a focus on Anthrax. The Sunshine Project, a German group opposed to biological weapons development, uncovered U.S. Army contracts for equipment to produce the anthrax bacillus anthracis Sterne in 1,500 litre quantities, and other unspecified biolgical agents in 3,000 litre batches. All equipment was to be stationed at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. It seems unlikely that the U.S. is living up to its commitments to the Biological Weapons Convention.

As a reminder, the post 9/11 anthrax attack upon the U.S. used weponized anthrax produced in the U.S. [1] [2], most likely at Fort Detrick. The attack is generally believed to have been committed by conservative elements in American society, partly due to the choice of targets and the existence of a simultaneous harmless attacks. Lt. Col. Dr. Philip Zack is believed to have been involved in smuggling the Anthrax out of Fort Detrick, if not in the actual attacks as well [3] [4].

U.S. bioterrorism research leaps past defensive tactics

eraserhed — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 18:13:03 -0800

U.S. bioterrorism research leaps past defensive tactics - Scientists are now able to explore creating genetically engineered superbugs, plus the means to mass-produce and spread them ... 'If any other country set forth a program like this, U.S. intelligence undoubtedly would call it an offensive program,' said Edward Hammond, head of the Sunshine Project, a group in Austin, Texas, that tracks bioweapons and biodefense issues.

Weapons of Mass Delusion?

Artifice_Eternity — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:36:46 -0800

Maybe there are no weapons, after all... "On February 24, Newsweek broke what may be the biggest story of the Iraq crisis. In a revelation that "raises questions about whether the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] stockpiles attributed to Iraq still exist," the magazine's issue dated March 3 reported that the Iraqi weapons chief who defected from the regime in 1995 told U.N. inspectors that Iraq had destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical and biological weapons and banned missiles, as Iraq claims...." This is the same defector cited by the Bush administration numerous times as a reliable informant on the scope of Saddam's long-term WMD plans.

US Soldiers At Risk from Chem Attacks

owillis — Thu, 20 Feb 2003 11:19:41 -0800

If Saddam Hussein were to use chemical/biological weapons in an Iraq conflict, how safe would soldiers in the field be? The Department of the Defense says "no problem", but some of the men on the ground seem to believe otherwise. The gear the soldiers will use to protect themselves and their water supply appears to be old, prone to failure while the training received in the usage of these tools looks inadequate. It could be the return of "Gulf War Syndrome" (PDF).

specialk420 — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 14:46:21 -0800

U.S. helped Iraq start bioweapons program

"I don't think it would be accurate to say the United States government deliberately provided seed stocks to the Iraqis' biological weapons programs,'' said Jonathan Tucker, a former U.N. biological weapons inspector. "But they did deliver samples that Iraq said had a legitimate public health purpose, which I think was naive to believe, even at the time."

" -isn't iraq just another case of blowback and is anyone asking what the next round of "blowback" will be if we go in again?

snowgoon — Tue, 21 May 2002 08:17:50 -0800

Mystery Illness such a mystery? Help needed! (old news, new information?) OK, I'm going to try and do this without naming names... The British troops in Afghanistan have been struck down by a mystery illness recently, with an investigation finding that the illness was just a "winter vomiting" bug.
I've heard different. The source may have been an Al Qaeda terrorist who had been captured. The 'mystery illness' may have been caught when the British or US government used biological warfare to make it easier to find and capture members of Al Qaeda. Can anyone help verify this? I should stress I only have word of mouth from a friend of a friend. All very speculative, but I've not been able to find anything else on this... yet...

gimonca — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 09:37:45 -0800

Too many neighbors? Bioweapons can help solve that problem. Recently declassified documents say that one of Australia's leading scientists suggested just that in 1947.

Yelling At Nothing — Sat, 12 Jan 2002 20:40:50 -0800

More ammo for the "U.S. brought it on themselves" crowd, courtesy of the New York Times.

"One report obtained by Dr. Zilinskas from the government is "Development of `N' for Offensive Use in Biological Warfare." `N' was the code letter for Bacillus anthracis, the germ that causes anthrax. Another is "The Stability of Botulinum Toxin in Common Beverages." The germ-derived substance is the most poisonous known to science."

Seems that the United States has been selling instructions for the creation of bio-weapons.

stbalbach — Sat, 27 Oct 2001 10:42:15 -0800

Air disinfection system developed in the mid 90s for mold and mildew could also nullify anthrax attacks. Seems like a simple and cheap solution here today for building air disinfection. Ahh aint technology great.