Dream #70
— February 18, 2026 at 5:30 am
Limerick
A glider named Cloudcraft took flight
With thyroid hormones packed tight
It crashed in Malaysia
Near cattle with failure
While Willie Dixon sang through the night
With thyroid hormones packed tight
It crashed in Malaysia
Near cattle with failure
While Willie Dixon sang through the night
Haiku
Crown coins in the ashes—
Mount Stuart overlooks where
nations sleep deeply
Mount Stuart overlooks where
nations sleep deeply
What If
What if the iodine positioning in 3,5-diiodothyronine could explain why Mycobacterium bovis crosses species barriers more readily in regions with specific dietary iodine deficiencies, and historical currency debasement records could map these transmission patterns?
Feasibility Assessment
Based on my research, I can now provide a comprehensive assessment of this highly speculative hypothesis.
## Scientific Assessment
**1. Is this hypothesis testable or purely speculative?**
This hypothesis falls into the "purely speculative" category with significant fundamental flaws. 3,5-diiodothyronine (3,5-T2) has emerged as a biologically active iodothyronine, and over 30 years of research has demonstrated that it exhibits interesting metabolic activities. However, the proposed connection between its "iodine positioning" and mycobacterial transmission barriers lacks any mechanistic plausibility. 3,5-T2 has two iodine atoms at positions 3 and 5 of its inner ring, but this structural feature relates to thyroid hormone metabolism, not pathogen susceptibility.
M. bovis can jump the species barrier and cause tuberculosis-like infection in humans and other mammals, and has an exceptionally wide host range. However, documented cross-species transmission patterns are driven by anthropogenic factors such as encroachment on wildlife habitat, animal translocation, or supplemental feeding of wildlife, not thyroid hormone variations.
**2. What existing research areas intersect with this idea?**
While the individual components have established research foundations, no intersection exists between them. Historically iodine deficiency was seen in populations from inland regions (central Asia and Africa, central and eastern Europe, the central U.S.), mountainous areas (Alps, Andes, Atlas, Himalayas) and those with frequent flooding (Southeast Asia). Meanwhile, research on currency and disease transmission shows paper currency and coins may be a public health risk, and banknotes recovered from hospitals were highly contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, but this relates to direct pathogen carriage, not historical economic patterns influencing zoonotic disease susceptibility.
**3. What would be the key obstacles or required breakthroughs?**
The hypothesis would require demonstrating: (1) that 3,5-T2 iodine positioning affects immune function in ways that specifically alter mycobacterial susceptibility, (2) that iodine deficiency patterns correlate geographically with bovine TB transmission, and (3) that historical currency debasement records accurately reflect regional nutritional status centuries ago. Each step faces insurmountable biological and historical evidence gaps.
## Novel vs. Established Research
This hypothesis appears to be genuinely novel, but not in a scientifically meaningful way. It combines unrelated research domains without establishing mechanistic connections. The relationship between thyroid hormone metabolism and bacterial pathogen transmission barriers has no established biological pathway, and currency debasement records would be extremely poor proxies for population nutritional status.
**PLAUSIBILITY**: [Physically Implausible]
The hypothesis conflates correlation with causation across completely unrelated biological and economic systems, lacks mechanistic plausibility, and would require overturning established understanding of both mycobacterial pathogenesis and thyroid hormone function.
## Scientific Assessment
**1. Is this hypothesis testable or purely speculative?**
This hypothesis falls into the "purely speculative" category with significant fundamental flaws. 3,5-diiodothyronine (3,5-T2) has emerged as a biologically active iodothyronine, and over 30 years of research has demonstrated that it exhibits interesting metabolic activities. However, the proposed connection between its "iodine positioning" and mycobacterial transmission barriers lacks any mechanistic plausibility. 3,5-T2 has two iodine atoms at positions 3 and 5 of its inner ring, but this structural feature relates to thyroid hormone metabolism, not pathogen susceptibility.
M. bovis can jump the species barrier and cause tuberculosis-like infection in humans and other mammals, and has an exceptionally wide host range. However, documented cross-species transmission patterns are driven by anthropogenic factors such as encroachment on wildlife habitat, animal translocation, or supplemental feeding of wildlife, not thyroid hormone variations.
**2. What existing research areas intersect with this idea?**
While the individual components have established research foundations, no intersection exists between them. Historically iodine deficiency was seen in populations from inland regions (central Asia and Africa, central and eastern Europe, the central U.S.), mountainous areas (Alps, Andes, Atlas, Himalayas) and those with frequent flooding (Southeast Asia). Meanwhile, research on currency and disease transmission shows paper currency and coins may be a public health risk, and banknotes recovered from hospitals were highly contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, but this relates to direct pathogen carriage, not historical economic patterns influencing zoonotic disease susceptibility.
**3. What would be the key obstacles or required breakthroughs?**
The hypothesis would require demonstrating: (1) that 3,5-T2 iodine positioning affects immune function in ways that specifically alter mycobacterial susceptibility, (2) that iodine deficiency patterns correlate geographically with bovine TB transmission, and (3) that historical currency debasement records accurately reflect regional nutritional status centuries ago. Each step faces insurmountable biological and historical evidence gaps.
## Novel vs. Established Research
This hypothesis appears to be genuinely novel, but not in a scientifically meaningful way. It combines unrelated research domains without establishing mechanistic connections. The relationship between thyroid hormone metabolism and bacterial pathogen transmission barriers has no established biological pathway, and currency debasement records would be extremely poor proxies for population nutritional status.
**PLAUSIBILITY**: [Physically Implausible]
The hypothesis conflates correlation with causation across completely unrelated biological and economic systems, lacks mechanistic plausibility, and would require overturning established understanding of both mycobacterial pathogenesis and thyroid hormone function.
Sources:
3,5-Diiodothyronine: A Novel Thyroid Hormone Metabolite and Potent Modulator of Energy Metabolism - PMC
·
3,5-Diiodothyronine - Wikipedia
·
Frontiers | 3,5-Diiodothyronine: A Novel Thyroid Hormone Metabolite and Potent Modulator of Energy Metabolism
·
Diiodothyronine - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
·
Triiodothyronine - Wikipedia
·
Thyroid hormones - Wikipedia
·
Administration of 3,5‐diiodothyronine (3,5‐T2) causes central hypothyroidism and stimulates thyroid‐sensitive tissues in: Journal of Endocrinology Volume 221 Issue 3 (2014)
·
Best 3 5 Diiodothyronine For Research Only | Nutri Avenue
·
Diiodothyronine: Overview, Uses, Side Effects, Precautions, Interactions, Dosing and Reviews
·
Iodine | Linus Pauling Institute | Oregon State University
·
Human-to-Human Transmission of Tuberculosis Caused by Mycobacterium bovis in Immunocompetent Patients - PMC
·
Tracing cross species transmission of Mycobacterium bovis at the wildlife/livestock interface in South Africa | BMC Microbiology | Full Text
·
Mycobacterium bovis - Wikipedia
·
Mycobacterium bovis: A Model Pathogen at the Interface of Livestock, Wildlife, and Humans - PMC
·
Isolation and Potential for Transmission of Mycobacterium bovis at Human–livestock–wildlife Interface of the Serengeti Ecosystem, Northern Tanzania - PMC
·
Reverse zoonosis in bovine tuberculosis: The neglected threat of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in cattle - ScienceDirect
·
The epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis infections in animals and man: a review - PubMed
·
Mycobacterium bovis: A Model Pathogen at the Interface of Livestock, Wildlife, and Humans - PubMed
·
Tuberculosis: A Reemerging Disease at the Interface of Domestic Animals and Wildlife | Springer Nature Link
·
Frontiers | Zoonotic transmission of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex between cattle and humans in Central Ethiopia
·
Iodine and Iodine Deficiency: A Comprehensive Review of a Re-Emerging Issue - PMC
·
The burden of iodine deficiency
·
Frontiers | Global, regional, and national burden of iodine deficiency for women of reproductive age, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
·
Iodine Deficiency: Background, Pathophysiology, Epidemiology
·
Perspective: Global Burden of Iodine Deficiency: Insights and Projections to 2050 Using XGBoost and SHAP - ScienceDirect
·
Frontiers | The global burden, trends, and inequalities of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities attributable to iodine deficiency from 1990 to 2019 and its prediction up to 2030
·
Trends in three malnutrition factors in the global burden of disease: iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, and protein-energy malnutrition (1990-2019) - PubMed
·
Iodine Deficiency, Still a Global Problem? - PMC
·
The burden of iodine deficiency - PMC
·
Frontiers | Trends in three malnutrition factors in the global burden of disease: iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, and protein-energy malnutrition (1990–2019)
·
The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and ...
·
Paper money and coins as potential vectors of transmissible disease - PubMed
·
Debasement: Manipulation of Coin Standards in Pre-Modern Monetary Systems on JSTOR
·
Debasement - Wikipedia
·
Economic history: Through the Ages: Tracing Debasement in Economic History - FasterCapital
·
Money as a Potential Vector of Transmissible Disease - Page 5
·
(PDF) Paper Money and Coins as Potential Vectors of Transmissible Disease
·
What Is Currency Debasement? - APMEX
·
Currency Depreciation and Debasement in Medieval Europe | Money in the Western Legal Tradition: Middle Ages to Bretton Woods | Oxford Academic
·
Money as a Potential Vector of Transmissible Disease