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Hantavirus in humans: a review of clinical aspects and management

Hantavirus infections are part of the broad group of viral haemorrhagic fevers. They are also recognised as a distinct model of an emergent zoonotic infection with a global distribution. Many factors influence their epidemiology and transmission, such as climate, environment, social development, ecology of rodent hosts, and human behaviour in endemic regions. Transmission to humans occurs by exposure to infected rodents in endemic areas; however, Andes hantavirus is unique in that it can be transmitted from person to person.

FDA Approves Novel Weekly Basal Insulin for T2D

The FDA has approved once-weekly insulin icodec-abae (Awiqli; Novo Nordisk) for use in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D), with a current projected launch in the second half of 20,261 for the 700-units/mL dose. This novel treatment option is a first-in-its-class therapeutic, freeing patients living with T2D from their strict schedule of daily basal insulin injections and reducing total injections from 7 to 1 for each 7-day period.

Its indication is as an adjunct to diet and exercise for improved glycemic control, as well as for patients also taking mealtime insulin or another common oral antidiabetic agent and/or a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. A prescription is required, and administration is with or without food via a prefilled FlexTouch device on the same day each week.

Data from 4 of the trials in the phase 3a ONWARDS program and 2,680 adult patients with uncontrolled T2D support this approval; their primary end point of interest was reduction in hemoglobin A1c. Overall, the ONWARDS program encompasses 6 phase 3a trials and more than 4,000 adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) or T2D.

Insulin icodec-abae (Awiqli; Novo Nordisk) is now approved for use in the US, Canada, European Union, Switzerland, and 12 other countries.

Why The Multiverse Could Be Real

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The multiverse pops out of quite a few theories in physics, and has been proposed as a solution to certain vexing problems. But it’s also been argued that the very idea of a multiverse is just bad science. That it’s unfalsifiable and a dead-end to inquiry and as bad a violation of Occam’s razor as you could imagine. But the multiverse might also exist. Can something that exists be bad science?

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Von Neumann Probes: The Self-Replicating Robots That Could Consume the Galaxy

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What happens when machines can build more of themselves—and never stop? In this episode of Entropy Rising, Jacob and Lucas unravel the strange, fascinating world of von Neumann probes: self-replicating systems that could mine asteroids, build Dyson swarms, and maybe even terraform entire planets. But the same tech could go off the rails—accidentally wiping out alien life, turning planets into grey goo, or mutating into something far worse. Are these machines the key to a post-scarcity future, or the seeds of cosmic disaster? We explore the science, the speculation, and the existential questions behind one of the most provocative ideas in futurism.

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There Is No Formula: Why AI Cannot Solve What Matters Most

There is no formula for love. No formula for meaning. No formula for great art, for grief, for living a life that matters.

But we keep looking for one anyway. Increasingly, we look for it in AI.

In my new essay, I argue that this is a category error with a real cost. Some problems lend themselves to calculation: fusion, protein folding, and route optimization. With enough compute, they yield. Other problems do not bend at all. They cannot be solved. They can only be lived.

When we mistake the second category for the first, we bring what I call the Hammer of AI to questions that ask for wisdom, presence, and judgment.

Then we are surprised when the hammer keeps breaking the very thing we were trying to mend.

The piece draws on Tolkien, Vaclav Havel, Carlos Castaneda, and the Japanese art of Kyudo to argue that what we actually need in the age of AI is not another formula. It is the wisdom to know when there is no formula at all.

When complexity arrives in your life, do you reach for the hammer or for something else?

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Quantum Entangles the Heavens

As the United States, Europe, and China compete to shape the future of the Earth-Moon corridor, strategic advantage will depend not only on launch capacity or lunar infrastructure, but also on advances in quantum technologies. Just as secure systems are critical on Earth, satellites and space-based systems underpin high-value, high-impact operations from financial transactions and navigation to scientific discovery and classified military missions.

Quantum technologies, which enable new levels of speed, sensitivity, and security, are emerging as critical tools to improve existing extraterrestrial systems. Modern digital communications are secured by encryption built on math problems that are extremely difficult for regular computers to solve, but that sufficiently advanced quantum computers could eventually crack. Quantum communications technologies could add a new layer of protection by making it easier to detect when someone is trying to intercept sensitive information. Quantum sensors can measure position and time with an accuracy that GPS only approximates. Lastly, quantum computers could unlock new capabilities beyond current computational limits, from designing advanced materials to optimizing increasingly complex satellite networks.

Countries are racing to match their space and quantum ambitions with national strategies. The White House is reportedly drafting an executive order to strengthen US competitiveness in quantum technologies. The rumored draft directs multiple US government bodies, including NASA, to develop a five-year roadmap to expand quantum sensing and networking capabilities. The EU’s 2025 Quantum Europe Strategy highlights “Space and Dual-Use Quantum Technologies” as one of its five strategic focuses, and China’s 15th Five-Year Plan has called for expanding the country’s ground-to-space quantum communications network.

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