Numlock News: May 5, 2025 • Volcano, Venom, Thunderbolts

May 05, 2025

By Walt Hickey

Welcome back!

Just Dudes Being Guys

The latest break in the quest for a universal antivenom is a guy from Wisconsin who spent about 18 years injecting himself with 650 calibrated and escalating doses of venom and endured over 200 snakebites in a quest to build immunity to 16 deadly snake species. The absurdity of the situation aside — listen we all got some darkness in us and while I can’t come up with them this instant, I’m sure there are worse ways to deal with them than systematically getting bitten by snakes — scientists analyzing this man’s blood have found antibodies that may neutralize the venom of multiple snake species. The new study, published in the journal Cell, claims this may be a key first step to a universal antivenom. The paper, which makes for outstanding reading, describes this man as “a hyperimmune human adult male donor was identified with a documented 18-year history of 856 self-immunizations to venoms, spanning 2001–2018.” The two antibodies found in the serpentine daredevils’ blood were found to protect mice from the venom of 19 deadly snake species.

Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times

Volcano

There have been 11 volcanic eruptions in the vicinity of Grindavik, Iceland, which is about 25 miles east of the country’s capital and largest city. Lava flows have destroyed several houses, and at this point, few residents remain. It’s the latest sign of a renewed era of volcanic activity on the island, which has always had some level of activity with its 30 volcanic areas and hundreds of hot springs. However, the southwest is entering a new phase of heightened volcanic activity that will probably last 300 to 400 years. Infrastructure and development plans will have to change, given that the six volcanic systems in that part of the country are getting rowdy after 800 years of dormancy, and that 80 percent of the residents in the country live within an hour of Reykjavik.

Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir, Bloomberg

Bolts

Thunderbolts* opened to a solid $76 million domestic and another $86.1 million overseas for a start of $162.1 million globally, which was in line with expectations. Given the solid reviews and decent word of mouth, this movie may be the ticket to snap Marvel’s recent rough streak. Overall, ticket sales were up 95 percent over the same weekend of last year, which is a good sign for the long-awaited box office recovery. Sinners posted a great third week, making another $33 million to a $179.7 million domestic total, and A Minecraft Movie is now approaching $400 million domestic and $1 billion worldwide. On a rough note, the controversial Alec Baldwin movie Rust was released to just $25,000 in 115 theaters, a dour note to end that grim saga.

Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

The Brutalist

The West African nation of Ghana is now several years into a $400 million cathedral fiasco. A pet project launched by the former president sunk $58 million in public money into a national cathedral that is currently just a deeply expensive hole in the ground. Designed by a star-chitect and yet actively dragging down the national economy, a valuable plot of land in the middle of Accra has become a point of local mockery and scorn as the current administration wants little to do with the boondoggle. I mean, who am I to talk, though, when my nation’s capital wants to hand over an incredibly valuable plot of land and invest a fortune in public monies to a temple designed to venerate [checks notes] my favorite football team’s division rivals, The Washington Commanders.

Ruth Maclean, The New York Times

Baijiu

China’s liquor business is dominated by baijiu, a local spirit that commands $165 billion worth of business but is headed into a growth slowdown this year. The country’s ongoing property crisis has dinged consumer confidence, and that’s showing up in booze sales numbers: sales of baijiu increased just 5.3 percent in 2024, the slowest growth since 2020, and production was actually down 1.8 percent. There are over 8,000 distilleries of baijiu in the country, but the top ten producers have a 54 percent market share, and the really premium stuff is controlled by just three main players, Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao. Overall, though, Baijiu accounts for 90 percent of liquor sales, with brandy and cognac as a far distant second.

Wataru Suzuki, Nikkei Asia

Geoengineering

The concept of deliberate solar geoengineering to counter the imminent impact of climate change is still a controversial bit of science, but a new study found solar geoengineering may at least be feasible with current technology. A core concept under consideration is the release of sulfur dioxide particles into the atmosphere at high altitudes, reflecting solar rays, which research suggests could lead to a cooling effect that could reduce the warming effect of climate change. However, research generally suggests that the most effective height for the particle spray is 12.5 miles above Earth, well above what most existing aircraft can safely fly. A new study published in Earth’s Future found that, while only 35 percent as efficient, spraying particles at lower altitudes of 8 miles above the surface would still works. Simulations that 12 million metric tons of reflective sulfur dioxide at 8 miles altitude and 60 degrees latitude in spring and summer would result in a 0.6 degrees Celsius cooling effect.

Chelsea Harvey, E&E News

Rooms

As it stands, Egypt currently has 220,000 hotel rooms and an additional 28,600 hotel rooms in the pipeline as of the end of last year, accommodating 15.8 million tourists last year. The country is aiming for 30 million visitors by somewhere between 2030 and 2031, and that would require a major build-out in hotel capacity. The hotel business in Egypt has been attractive for foreign investors, drawing $43.75 billion in foreign direct investment last year, just under half of which came from the UAE, which invested $20.4 billion and is looking to develop the country’s Mediterranean coast.

Josh Corder, Skift

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