A nation must think before it acts.
In recent months, you may have heard of Novichok: it’s the nerve agent, developed by the Soviet Union in the ‘70s and ’80s, that was used to attack a former Russian spy and recently put a British man in the hospital and killed his partner. Novichok can enter the body through either inhalation or ingestion, and it works rapidly once it’s in: victims can start to exhibit symptoms 30 seconds after Novichok enters the body. Inside the body, Novichok blocks nerves from communicating with muscles; on the outside, pupils shrink before the convulsing and vomiting starts.
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