Dez Reads. With Gratitude for Anti-Venom.

Happy Friday.

Jen Hirshon and I flagged the same story this week, and she won the blurb, which leads this week’s Dez Reads. Jen looks at Tim Friede, a veritable hero who subjected himself to over 200 venomous snakebites and hundreds more venom injections over the course of his life. The result? He is producing antibodies in his blood that will help doctors save thousands of lives from snakebites across the world. I think we can all find some sort of inspiration in this insane act of sacrifice on behalf of global public health. Better Mr. Friede than me.

In other news this week, William Kim contemplates AI legislators in the UAE, Nathaniel Beach uncovers archaeological evidence that Roman gladiators fought lions for sport, Anne Marie Malecha shouts out a lady who disappeared on purpose, and I pine for the resuscitation of the American shopping mall.

There’s something for everyone this week – pick your poison. Get it?

Thanks, as always, for reading along with us.

Here we go.

Health.

BBC. ‘Unparalleled’ snake antivenom made from man bitten 200 times

Ouch! Like the idiom goes, “No pain, no gain.” Tim Friede, a man who’s turned being bitten by snakes into both an extreme hobby and a public service. Friede has made it his extreme hobby and public service to be bitten by snakes, and over the past two decades, he has endured over 200 bites and more than 700 venom injections from some of the world’s deadliest snakes.

Recently, researchers discovered Friede and were able to find superstar antibodies in his blood that could neutralize neurotoxins from a whole rogues’ gallery of deadly snakes, such as mambas, cobras, taipans, kraits, and more. It’s truly an unparalleled achievement in the field of snake antivenom research.

While I am horrified and fascinated by Friede’s dedication, I am also incredibly thankful that it was him and not me, but then again, I call my husband when I see a snake, even the garden variety kind!

– Jen Hirshon

Technology.

Financial Times. UAE set to use AI to write laws in world first

The next time you fly to Dubai, you may become subject to local laws written by AI. Last month, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government created the Regulatory Intelligence Office, an agency tasked with using artificial intelligence in legislative affairs. The idea here is bold: by leveraging a massive database from its public sector, the UAE will use AI to track how existing laws affect the country and how they can be amended to better serve its people. In theory, data-driven governance does not get much better than this proposed system.

The reason why this radically innovative idea may work in the UAE is because of its political system. Political parties are banned in the UAE, and most of its government’s decision-makers are not elected officials. This non-democratic system is what allows AI to have a direct input in state affairs. Data, not politics, is able to drive the legislative process.

Who (or what) would you rather have to make laws for our country in the future: politicians or AI? This question itself may sound far-fetched, but if more success stories of AI writing laws emerge around the world, it could be at least worth a thought for America, too.

– William Kim

History.

NatGeo. The best evidence yet that Roman gladiators fought lions: a bite mark

I love the movie Gladiator, but I always figured it was more focused on Hollywood spectacle than historical accuracy. Turns out, I may have been wrong. Archaeologists have just uncovered a centuries-old secret, revealing that Roman gladiators really did square off against the big cats of ancient legends, and the proof is etched in bone. In northern England, a skeleton buried nearly 1,800 years ago shows puncture wounds in the pelvis that match the bite of a large predator, most likely a lion or a leopard.

Using high-resolution 3D scans, researchers compared these ancient injuries to the bite marks of modern big cats, offering concrete evidence that the brutal arena battles we know from mosaics and old stories truly took place. What makes this discovery even more remarkable is its location. This wasn’t Rome, but Roman Britain, far from the empire’s capital. To stage such a bloody spectacle, the Romans would have captured a lion in Africa, transported it across the Mediterranean, hauled it through Roman Gaul, and ferried it over the Channel for crowds who wanted the same bloody drama as seen in the Roman Colosseum.

History, it turns out, isn’t just written in scrolls and carved in stone. Sometimes, it’s chewed into bone. So, I guess the only thing left to ask is, “Are you not entertained?”

– Nathaniel Beach

Crime.

NPR. Police found a missing woman 60 years after she disappeared. She wants to stay hidden

I am among the legions of true crime fans and find cold cases particularly interesting, especially those that happened in my proverbial backyard. The 1962 disappearance of Audrey Jean Backeberg from Reedsburg, Wisconsin, is a cold case with an ending that’s made for an investigative podcast or Crime TV miniseries.

The chances of solving a cold case are rare. Solving a cold case and finding the victim alive 60 years later? You have better odds of winning the Powerball (I don’t know that to be technically true; I am not one of Dez’s resident gambling experts).

But that’s exactly what happened in this case. Authorities located Backeberg, alive and well, and with no interest in being found by those she left behind. I think it’s fair to say the thought of running away and leaving it all behind has crossed the minds of most adult humans. Audrey, or whatever she goes by now, actually did it, and I think that’s incredibly brave.

Some of you are reading this and thinking, but what about her family? Who knows why Audrey doesn’t want to go back to her old life and the people in it. To that I’ll borrow from Brené Brown, “You can’t live a brave life without disappointing some people.”

– Anne Marie Malecha

Retail.

The Economist. Shopping malls are making a comeback in America

In-person shopping is a sticky phenomenon in the United States, and retailers are beginning to pivot back to brick-and-mortar stores. We have seen this trend most counterintuitively in retail banking, and now the shopping mall appears to be making a comeback.

One reason is the apparent ceiling on online shopping rates, which peaked at 16 percent of total retail sales during the COVID pandemic and have not risen from that level. This is a shockingly low number to me, an Amazon daily user, but it suggests that the in-person customer experience is still highly valued by the market.

This is good news for people who like to leave their house.

– Josh Culling

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