Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) 🦠🤧🧬📑🦟🧀
@mackayim.bsky.social
forever virologist but not a working one. past researcher. PCR guy. past lab manager. husband. dad. reader. writer. fixer. bad typist. learner. australian. #MasksWork https://virologydownunder.com/
Russia can fire about 100 ballistic missiles at Ukraine every month at a sustainable pace, presidential adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov warned He said Russia has intensified strikes on civilian warehouses for food and retail, locating them through informants euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/05/f...
For under $120, Russia can get Ukrainian warehouse bombed. Here’s how it finds its targets
Russia can launch around 100 ballistic missiles at Ukraine each month.
euromaidanpress.com
Zelenskyy suggested the shortage of anti-ballistic missiles reaching Ukraine may be partly political, a way to make Kyiv "more compliant" He said Ukraine has been receiving three times fewer interceptors since early 2026 euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/05/f...
Fewer air-defense missiles from partners may be attempt to make Ukraine more compliant, Zelenskyy says after Russia’s attack killed 17 civilians
President Zelenskyy said political motives may lie behind the reduced supply of anti-ballistic missiles to Ukraine
euromaidanpress.com
The contrast to a PLANNED NASA mission could not more more stark.
PBS News@pbsnews.org · 3h agoA four-ton upper stage of a SpaceX rocket is believed to have hit the moon at 5,400 mph. The rocket launched a pair of lunar landers last year, but the company says solar activity and gravity put it on a collision course with the moon. https://to.pbs.org/3TVa2af
Add Meta to the list of companies with AI agents going rogue. An AI model from the parent company of Facebook and Instagram hacked into another company’s systems during cybersecurity testing, a spokesperson confirmed. https://cnn.it/4c5jMVD
"The U.S. has expended so many Patriot missiles... in the war against Iran," says retired Army Col. Robert Hamilton. "The numbers I'm seeing are from about 2,330 before the war, we're down to about 800 right now. So we have expended almost two-thirds of our Patriots." https://to.pbs.org/3RuPKUs
Retired Army colonel explains why Patriot missiles are so valuable and in short supply
To discuss the air defense shortage in Ukraine and the impact on its ability to defend itself from Russia, Amna Nawaz spoke with retired Army Col. Robert Hamilton. He’s now president of the Delphi Glo...
to.pbs.org
Begins to look like a slow-motion, remote-control Pearl Harbor: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
The Leipzig drone bomb marks a dangerous escalation for Europe
Initial evidence suggests aerial drone, found near Ukrainian cargo planes at German airport, came from Russia
theguardian.com
BILD has published a photo of the explosive-laden drone found beside a Ukrainian An-124 at Leipzig Airport. Explosive-laden drones operating at the heart of NATO are no longer a hypothetical threat but a reality.
🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 20h ago❗️A drone fitted with an explosive detonator was discovered beside a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft at Leipzig Airport, BILD reports. Airport operations were temporarily suspended, and German police are investigating possible sabotage.
German counterterrorism authorities are leading an investigation into an explosive-laden drone that was found overnight at Leipzig airport.
German anti-terror police investigate explosive drone found at Leipzig airport
Semtex-laden drone, found just meters from a Ukrainian aircraft, failed to detonate.
politico.eu
German police halted flights at Leipzig airport overnight after a drone rigged with a possible explosive charge was found next to an Antonov transport plane (a Ukrainian cargo jet). Leipzig is a hub for Western arms bound for Ukraine. www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/flug...
Flughafen Leipzig: Mögliche Sprengstoff-Drohne legt Luftverkehr zwischenzeitlich lahm
Am Flughafen Leipzig wird neben einem ukrainischen Transportflieger eine Drohne mit einem Zünder gefunden. Die Bundespolizei schließt einen gezielten Sabotageakt nicht aus.
sueddeutsche.de
The Leipzig drone bomb marks a dangerous escalation for Europe
The Leipzig drone bomb marks a dangerous escalation for Europe
Initial evidence suggests aerial drone, found near Ukrainian cargo planes at German airport, came from Russia
theguardian.com
The escalation management crowd is weirdly quiet about North Korea giving Russia ballistic missiles to bomb Ukraine. 🤷♀️
Crews bolted a US anti-tank missile to an Israeli radar and a Dutch truck—none of it built for this—into a launcher that hunts Russia's cheap drones. And it does the job without burning a Patriot worth more than the drone it stops. 🔗 euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/05/a...
⚡️ Trump rejected Zelenskyy’s request for more Patriot missiles, citing depleted US stockpiles after Ukraine missed 28 incoming Russian missiles overnight. united24media.com/world/trump-...
Trump Rejects Zelenskyy’s Patriot Request as Ukraine’s Air Defenses Missed All 28 Russian Missiles
Trump denied Zelenskyy's request for Patriot missiles due to US stockpiles and Middle East needs, days before 24 ballistic missiles hit Kyiv.
united24media.com
AFD Blog `EM&I: Genetic evolution, phylodynamics, geographic spread of #H9N2 avian influenza viruses in China from 2014 to 2025: an increasing potential #zoonotic risk' afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/08/em-g...
afludiary.blogspot.com
🇺🇸 CNN: The U.S. has depleted nearly 80% of its THAAD interceptors, about half of its Patriot missiles, and significant numbers of other precision munitions during the Iran conflict. It prompted senior military commanders to warn that key stockpiles are dangerously low.
Ukraine's SBU says it carried out 100+ strategic strikes inside Russian-controlled territory during the latest 40-day campaign targeting Moscow's military infrastructure. The agency says a new phase has now been approved. euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/04/o...
Over 100 strategic targets struck in Ukraine’s 40-day campaign against Russia’s war machine
Ukraine's Security Service says the operation combined deep strikes on air bases, oil facilities, air defenses, and shadow fleet vessels with battlefield attacks on more than 21,000 Russian military…
euromaidanpress.com
Fascist Russia knows Ukraine now lacks the ability to intercept ballistic missiles, as its allies failed to provide them from their own stocks, never scaled up production. Kyiv now pretty much defenseless- I didn’t hear anything that sounded like an interception in this latest attack.
Euan MacDonald@euanmacdonald.bsky.social · yesterdayRussian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv - 8 missiles reported incoming so far. Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missiles also said incoming. Explosions in Kyiv. More launches - now 10 missiles incoming.
❗️Serhiy Flash: The war of attrition has entered its next phase. The enemy is attacking everything in a row: retail warehouses, food warehouses, logistics hubs, enterprises, construction material warehouses.
⚡️Multiple fires have broken out across Kyiv as Russia's ballistic missile attack on the capital continues. Fires were reported in the Obolonskyi, Desnianskyi, and Kyiv-Sviatoshynskyi districts, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Emergency services are responding.
Multiple fires break out across Kyiv amid Russian ballistic missile attack
Multiple fires broke out across Kyiv amid Russia's ongoing ballistic missile attack on the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said early on Aug. 5.
kyivindependent.com
"...the more risk-focused the public communication was perceived to be, the greater the sense of unease – and this correlation was around three times stronger among scientists than in journalistic reporting." www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/about...
Study highlights the particular importance of science communication for risk perception | MedUni Vienna
meduniwien.ac.at
"Conspiracy theory experts have warned prominent politicians espousing conspiracy theories could attract disillusioned voters, and it was important to debunk myths in that situation clearly" www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
One Nation's new Victorian leader promoted conspiracy
The new state One Nation leader warned of a debunked "globalist" plot to control Australians.
abc.net.au
Bank accounts held by President Donald Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend. https://to.pbs.org/3TAajiN
Trump bank accounts were closed due to concerns over possible money laundering, Capital One says
The court filing is tied to a lawsuit filed against Capital One by one of Trump’s financial holding companies shortly after he was sworn into office a second time.
pbs.org
DRC Ebola: 3,674 cases, 1,621 deaths for a case fatality rate of 44.1%: 7sur7.cd/2026/08/02/e...
Ebola : plus de 1600 décès enregistrés en RDC (Rapport)
Le rapport épidémiologique sur la maladie à virus Ebola, publié le vendredi 31 juillet 2026, fait état de cinq provinces et de 48 zones de santé touchées.La province de l’Ituri compte les zones de san...
7sur7.cd
PHAA CEO Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin told a Senate Committee about the massive disparity in money and political influence between the Alliance for Gambling Reform who seek to minimise public health harms, and big harmful industries.