Back with another #FreeLoveFriday. Last time, we covered how Mastercoin/@Omni_Layer pioneered digital asset issuance on blockchains. Today, let’s discuss @Chainlink and the vital role it plays in connecting blockchains to the real world.

I have said repeatedly that digital asset issuance is the killer application for blockchains. The next frontier is bringing real world assets to networks like @AvalancheAVAX, but we often face a significant problem:
Namely, how do you get data from the real world onto blockchains and into applications running on them? More critically, how do you achieve that securely and transparently in real-time? Smart contracts are tamper-proof, but they're only as reliable as their input data.
Enter ChainLink in September 2017, with a whitepaper outlining a vision for a decentralized network of “oracles,” entities that inject facts from the external world into blockchains in a suitable format for smart contracts.
Until ChainLink, oracles were trusted and centralized. This is a huge problem for high-value assets and smart contracts. High value projects, such as @CelsiusNetwork, @synthetix_io, @Aaveaave and others depend critically on oracle data.
As these networks grow to handle more value, “Oracle Extractable Value” goes up and oracle security becomes a significant issue.
In 2018, ChainLink commercialized “Town Crier” technology built by @initc3org at Cornell. Town Crier uses Intel’s SGX technology to harden their defenses against tampering and reduce the trust required of the oracle operator.
@SergeyNazarov and team have done an amazing job in overhauling what we knew about oracles, strengthening smart contracts, and spurring healthy competition with more oracle projects.
So what’s next? I think one of the biggest challenges facing oracles is how to deliver granular, real-time data at low cost. I have some ideas for how to solve these for good, but I’ll save them for another thread.
Let’s just say that Avalanche subnets and ChainLink’s decentralized architecture are a very good match, and that’s one of the many reasons why we have forged a partnership.

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Microorganisms in biofilms are enclosed by an extracellular matrix that confers protection and improves survival. Previous studies have shown that viruses can secondarily colonize preexisting biofilms, and viral biofilms have also been described.


...we raise the perspective that CoVs can persistently infect bats due to their association with biofilm structures. This phenomenon potentially provides an optimal environment for nonpathogenic & well-adapted viruses to interact with the host, as well as for viral recombination.


Biofilms can also enhance virion viability in extracellular environments, such as on fomites and in aquatic sediments, allowing viral persistence and dissemination.