Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Saturday September 21 2019, @06:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the what's-bad-for-bugs-ain't-so-good-for-people? dept.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49770369

Canadian researchers say they may have identified the cause of a mystery illness which plagued diplomatic staff in Cuba in 2016.

Some reports in the US suggested an "acoustic attack" caused US staff similar symptoms, sparking speculation about a secret sonic weapon.

But the Canadian team suggests that neurotoxins from mosquito fumigation are the more likely cause.

The Zika virus, carried by mosquitoes, was a major health concern at the time.

So-called "Havana syndrome" caused symptoms including headaches, blurred vision, dizziness and tinnitus.

It made international headlines when the US announced more than a dozen staff from its Cuban embassy were being treated.

Cuba denied any suggestion of "attacks", and the reports led to increased tension between the two nations.


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by rylyeh on Saturday September 21 2019, @06:31AM (18 children)

    by rylyeh (6726) <{kadath} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday September 21 2019, @06:31AM (#896737)

    But what about the folks that were in china?

    --
    "a vast crenulate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss."
    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:18AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:18AM (#896748)

      Toxins floating around in China is normal?

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:32AM (14 children)

      by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:32AM (#896750) Journal

      There were reports of this from other places, agreed.

      tinnitus =/= crickets chirping

      True story, I am a musician and I have tinnitus. I hear no crickets chirping or anything remotely like this. And if it was sprayed over the whole city these reports are too localized. I kindof feel like I'm being told a lone gunman did the las vegas shooting.

      Unsatisfory explanation here from the BBC, who of late have been less and less helpful at discerning reality which probably has something to do with the current failure of that entire nation to function.

      thesesystemsarefailing.net

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Barenflimski on Saturday September 21 2019, @08:10AM (5 children)

        by Barenflimski (6836) on Saturday September 21 2019, @08:10AM (#896757)

        I have trouble telling if its the crickets inside my head or outside my window sometimes. I'm serious as well and even play music. I've even asked other people to clarify what we are all hearing a few times. Sometimes its just me.

        • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Saturday September 21 2019, @08:20AM (4 children)

          by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Saturday September 21 2019, @08:20AM (#896762) Journal

          interesting, search confirms lots of people hear crickets in their ears.

          I do think tinnitus should just be the ringing and we should come up with a different name for it, because if my tinninus turned into crickets it would freak me out like a totally new thing.

          Just semantics. I hope you get by, it's not too bad I hope?

          The ringing I understand physically what it is, but a sound like a cricket chirp, I don't know how the ear/mechanism could fabricate that....

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 21 2019, @12:42PM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday September 21 2019, @12:42PM (#896790) Journal

            but a sound like a cricket chirp, I don't know how the ear/mechanism could fabricate that....

            The brain probably is involved. A phantom signal generated by the ears or something in between and then processed by the brain to make a recognizable sound. That's my stab in the dark.

          • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @05:56PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @05:56PM (#896862)

            The ringing I understand physically what it is, but a sound like a cricket chirp, I don't know how the ear/mechanism could fabricate that....

            It doesn't You really are hearing it. It's interference from the multiple listening devices in your home. Since the FBI, CIA, KGB, MI6, NSA, DEA, Scientologists, Mormons, VFW, MSF, the city council and the PTA are all surveilling you, it's not surprising that there's RFI [wikipedia.org].

            I'm surprised you didn't recognize this immediately. You're usually so good at detecting conspiracy.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @11:34PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @11:34PM (#896948)

              You forgot Disney and Jiminy Cricket.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @12:02AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @12:02AM (#896957)

                You forgot Disney and Jiminy Cricket.

                Come on man. Everyone knows that Jiminy Cricket is dead. Murdered by a hit squad hired by AFTRA.

                I was born at night, but it wasn't last night. Geez Louise!

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @10:55AM (7 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @10:55AM (#896775)

        tinnitus =/= crickets chirping

        https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/symptoms-causes/syc-20350156 [mayoclinic.org]

        Medicine disagrees. I'll quote it for you since you clearly seem too lazy to read real medicine texts and come up with your own conclusions

        Tinnitus symptoms may include these types of phantom noises in your ears:

                Ringing
                Buzzing
                Roaring
                Clicking
                Hissing
                Humming

        The phantom noise may vary in pitch from a low roar to a high squeal, and you may hear it in one or both ears. In some cases, the sound can be so loud it can interfere with your ability to concentrate or hear external sound. Tinnitus may be present all the time, or it may come and go.

        Tinnitus cause all types of repeating noises. Now, if you are hearing voices, that's probably not tinnitus.

        And yeah, chemically damaging yourself probably will result in all sorts of weird symptoms and permanent disabilities.

        • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Monday September 23 2019, @06:46AM (6 children)

          by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Monday September 23 2019, @06:46AM (#897442) Journal

          I prefer words with as specific definitions as possible and I distrust authoritarive sources as a rule. I did read the same article you quoted prior to commenting.

          Saying tinnitus is 'any possible sound short of voices' in your ear, is such a wildly inexact definition for a word that it has no use.

          Having played drumset in many rock concerts and drumline in marching band, For 30 years now I have had daily experience with a very specific thing that is tinnitus, described by every other musician.

          If you say now this includes clicking, roaring, ticking, chirping, I have no idea what you are talking about, it is a different condition.

          So yes in this case I argue with 'medicine' and call them lazy, as contemporary medicine always is when they are dealing with a condition that can not easily be verified by a second person.

          My concern is however semantical, not medical. Good luck believing modern medicine on every single word they say, just like they have the food pyramid incorrect for a hundred years, they make errors, especially when it is convenient and it allows them to dismiss their patients with a wave while collecting office fees.

          I am also an intellectual so I find intellectual discussion interesting, which you apparently are not and do not, preferring to go find some 'authority' and put an end to inquiry.

          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 23 2019, @03:51PM (3 children)

            by Freeman (732) on Monday September 23 2019, @03:51PM (#897619) Journal

            I am also an intellectual so I find intellectual discussion interesting

            Citation, needed. Considering the "discussion" that went on in your journal, I beg to differ. You attacked both posters who posted discussions that were directly related to the topic at hand. Also, advertising your site or others, isn't helping you any.

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
            • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Monday September 23 2019, @04:13PM (2 children)

              by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Monday September 23 2019, @04:13PM (#897636) Journal

              I'll put that in my hat. This is the way I have chosen forward though. You are allowed not to like it. Writers advertise their work, and there is a full book worth of material on my site for free and open for discussion, I think it is rude to shit on that. It's why the internet sucks right now.

              If you can't see those two responses were not in any way authentic and exhitibited jtrig bs, you should read up on that stuff. One of my primary reasons for being here, with my real name, is to discuss and devise new ways to handle this.

              I proposed an idea that is new and original, an actual proposed partial solution that might help fight propaganda and the tyranny of tv watching masses, plus the rise of extremists who listen to no one but themselves. An intellectual would be like, 'hm maybe ill give it a shot' or 'maybe ill ask a question.'

              but what I get in response is 'THIS IS THE STUPIDEST IDEA IVE EVER HEARD WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOURE TRYING TO LIGHT THINGS ON FIRE', and like they really mean it, like I might react if I were really mad about something. Runaways' comment is outright bizarre, like if MLK said he wanted to march on washington and within 15 minutes he got here and said 'Oh, so you want to burn down washington.' Then the fbi shows up and declares me an extremist, that's how this shit works, if you were born yesterday and didn't know.

              and I just can't respect that. I don't see why you should think I should, but you get to have your own values.

              • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 23 2019, @04:25PM (1 child)

                by Freeman (732) on Monday September 23 2019, @04:25PM (#897642) Journal

                Perhaps, to your detriment, the only other person who's used their real name in their tag (on this site) was literally insane. He was pretty well liked, or at least added some color to the discussions. He was pretty smart, but he had his troubles; as do we all.

                While Runaway may dig at you, he's intelligent and provides interesting thoughts. Attacking people that disagree with you, literally labels you as an extremist, and extremists aren't known for their rational thought.

                --
                Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
                • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Monday September 23 2019, @06:53PM

                  by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Monday September 23 2019, @06:53PM (#897735) Journal

                  I will keep an eye on this. I appreciate you saying though.

                  I hope you can understand how it pisses me off when I write about a peaceful non-violent boycott/demo and debating method, and someone comes by to post something that is considered a crime, if not terrorism. And people upvote it so that is the first reaction other people see. And not an actual constructive idea to be found. To me d2500 and globaldebate.net is an obvious solution with deep grounding in philosophy and media analysis. People are literally having parts of their mind put to sleep, and extremist factions are being carefully cultivated through sophisticated ideological silo'ing, like trump voters will not see most of the news that I read, at all, ever. They are kept like babies in a cradle. I'm trying to do something, I think all of our lives are at risk and we are so used to it not all going to actual hell that we are hypnotized into thinking it can't.

                  I have experienced a lot of my posts and ideas being so poison-pilled by spammy first-commenters, and it is an FBI consensus cracking tactic to prevent any new ideas or movements ever forming outside of their control, whether whitting or not.

                  Anyone original and nonconforming is treated as insane in the united states, you/we are trained to do that and you have to really work to actually be able to independently evaluate something new without falling into gleichshaltung.

                  If a 32 bit computer first saw a 64 bit computer, he might say that is crazy too. I have in the past thought things that were difficult to read were insanity(focault, academic papers), and sometimes they have been(scientology lol).

                  I like long big trains of thought that get down to the root of things, most people do not and this tires them out and they have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the point.

                  That is just what writing is about. The answer is always more and better writing. Check out my 'Expanded Definitions' page, where I point out that the english language is being changed rapidly to make it nearly impossible to communicate coherently about ideology. Only someone who hates english and doesn't need it would even consider a course like that, and it is very concerted.

                  'Extremism' is actually just 'angry people', don't forget. Never address why the population we are going to bomb/silence/villainize is angry, they are just declared a new noun, extremist. Trump is an extremist, aipac is extremist, epstein is extremist, the nsa is extremist, ice is extremist, all of these people are making real extreme changes and anyone resisting them is the one on the defensive, it's all quartebacked from CNN and the New York Times, which are frankly foreign propaganda outlets who are worshipped as the center of our culture, and they are the center of the disease. And extreme in what they are advocating and in what they decide to exclude from news.

                  We don't need more information nearly as much now as we need people who disagree to actually argue with each other in a polite manner. There isn't going to be a new anderson cooper or semi-deity come to preach a solution, if that happens it's going to result in genocide and a political purge, likely first of the people with whom israel does not want to argue with on their quest for lebensraum.

                  Why do I bother I don't know. I just want to know if the sky goes dark tomorrow at least I was a person working on solutions and trying to spread useful information rather than fancily decorated feces, as is the fashion.

          • (Score: 2) by DeVilla on Wednesday September 25 2019, @01:13AM (1 child)

            by DeVilla (5354) on Wednesday September 25 2019, @01:13AM (#898351)

            Saying tinnitus is 'any possible sound short of voices' in your ear, is such a wildly inexact definition for a word that it has no use.

            Tinnitus can make you hear a number things, but it's not called tinnitus based on you hearing thigns. It's called tinnitus based on what's causing you to hear those things. The same root cause could present it self differently in different people.

            If that causes you trouble, good luck wrapping your head around things like lyme disease and various autoimmune diseases.

            • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Wednesday September 25 2019, @11:13AM

              by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Wednesday September 25 2019, @11:13AM (#898441) Journal

              This is all just scientific work that has not been done yet, potential subvariants of tinnitus, yet you want to present all we know now as a permanent fact.

              Do you understand how the mechanism for a ringing tinnitus differs from a chirping tinnitus? Forcing the eardrum to operate at maximum flux in a loud environment streteches things out and overloads the mechanism, resulting in lowered sensitivity, perceived as a ring, as I understand it.

              How does stretching the eardrum and messing with the signal/noise ration result in anything other than a flat signal, generating instead a complex waveform?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:35AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:35AM (#896751)

      Use Occam's razor, please.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysterical_contagion [wikipedia.org]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @02:20AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @02:20AM (#896982)

        Imma not gonna use Occam's razor, someone told me it creates hysterical contagion.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday September 21 2019, @01:22PM (3 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Saturday September 21 2019, @01:22PM (#896794)

    All international problems looks like foreign aggressions...

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 21 2019, @02:25PM (2 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday September 21 2019, @02:25PM (#896807) Journal

      But, Rosco, the Cubans were being aggressive! They were trying to kill innocent mosquitoes!! We gotta defend those poor mosquitoes!

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday September 21 2019, @04:30PM (1 child)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday September 21 2019, @04:30PM (#896840)

        I picture "aggressive fumigation" in the vicinity of the embassy, perhaps only to be sure that the diplomats don't come down with Zika, perhaps a bit of "F-you and the horse you rode in on, you want fumigation? I'll give you FUMIGATION!"

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @03:14AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @03:14AM (#896999)

          Or maybe it's more like, those assholes will complain like hell if they get zika so make sure they fumigated thoroghly. The poor brown people, meh. Don't bother so much.

  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 23 2019, @03:55PM

    by Freeman (732) on Monday September 23 2019, @03:55PM (#897624) Journal

    This explanation is plausible and requires no physics voodoo. Obviously, it's wrong. Please, continue to blame imaginary acoustic attacks or aliens as you see fit.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(1)