# Codename Foliant



## Foxbat (Mar 15, 2018)

Given the recent  events in Salisbury, I thought this was an interesting article.
Novichoks (translation: newcomers) are fourth generation nerve agents developed in the USSR in the 1970s under the codename _Foliant_. They are designed to act within minutes and the account at the end of this article would imply that father and daughter would probably be permanently disabled if they survive.

Novichoks are five to eight times more deadly than a VX nerve agent (used on Kim Jong Un's brother) and some variants have been specifically designed to resist nerve agent antidotes. The component parts are not on a banned list and are therefore safe to deliver to its target as a  'binary agent' (safe until two parts are combined) but stockpiles were meant to have been destroyed in 2017.

Given all this information and the complexity of the agent , it's easy to see how and why  the UK and its allies are pointing the finger at Russia.

What are Novichok nerve agents?

Sometimes technology can be a terribe thing


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## Venusian Broon (Mar 16, 2018)

We don't have a WA forum anymore so I will refrain from spelling it out, but this is one of these stories where every single 'avenues' of what could have happened is deeply disturbing. There really is no best case option here.


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## Edward M. Grant (Mar 20, 2018)

Sadly, it's only going to get worse. These kind of weapons are going to become easier and easier to make.

No-one's going to want to live in a city once schoolkids can print out the Ebola virus in their basement.


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