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MASKS THAT ONLY DO HALF THEIR JOB The masks with an exhaust valve are all the rage because the air in the mask stays less hot/humid if you don’t have to exhale through the filter body; BUT only your inhalation gets filtered.   THIS PROTECTS ME FROM YOU, BUT NOT YOU FROM ME OK, I'm really, really selfish. Got a problem with that? It’s being  Exposed*  that this kind of mask only does half the job. It protects you but does not protect others from you. Your aerosols escape unrestricted, unfiltered and as infectious as if you had no mask. There will be a huge stink about this disclosure. EVEN THE MIGHTY N-95 IS DEEPLY FLAWED BY AN EXHAUST VALVE Ahead-of-the-curve magazine,                                                                        ...

ARE WE ALL RACISTS?   It takes a high mind to control low instincts.  1. Evolution has rewarded “tribalism” with survival and breeding opportunities over the millennia, from way back in our pre-homo sapien forebearers’ time.  When one troop of primates fought with another troop for food, territory, females, etc., the troop that stuck together the tightest usually won. When we evolved into sapiens, troops became tribes, and the tribes who fought the hardest because they feared and hated the other tribe usually won. Those of our ancestors who became leaders instinctively exploited the danger of “the other."  The millions of years of tribalism being a survival positive trait gradually infused the genetics of all humanity with tribalistic instincts.  These instincts are deep, way below our cognitive mind.   “Otherness = threat/rage” is a reflex response deep in our primitive brains. 2. RACE IS A CLEAR “TRIBAL MARKER,” at least to our primitive inst...

Human Wisdom * When you are trying to digest all the Covid-19 "information" around, what do you believe and who do you trust?  Here is a bit of guidance from two Scottish scientists** on avoiding  really destructive communication Fear or Hope? The temptation to draw overly simple and sensational conclusions is understandable, because it captures the attention of the public and can potentially catalyze much needed action in policy development and research arenas. However, fear-based messages often backfire. This strategy has the grave risk of undermining trust in science and can lead to denialism, fatigue, and apathy.  Embracing nuance allows us to balance accurate reporting of worrying losses with hopeful examples of wins. Hope is a more powerful engine of change than fear. AMEN! Maria and Gergana!! *There are many other wisdoms. The wisdom of the flea, ...of the Remora, ...of the dandelion ** Maria Dornelas 1 ,...

100+ Degrees in Siberia... hottest temperature ever recorded north of Arctic Circle Hot air balloon masquerading as climate disaster. BUT...  Because it's...            1. Not about Covid-19            2. Not about Trump            3. Not about the economy (yet) ...You might not have heard it. As a public service, here are a couple well done stories on this jarring bit of climate news:  Science News      Science News AP (Associated Press)     AP (Associated Press) And some solid commentary on how much of the world is pretending climate change ain't going to clean our clocks is a flaw of journalism. Media Matters I thought a little apocalyptic news of another flavor might be a thoughtful distraction. scooter

Looked Like Horrible News. Now It's Great News! Our Daubers Were Down, but Then... I'm a Dauber, but I'm obviously UP! ... came the correction. Thank you Science! (Surely by now, you know this news has nothing to do with wasps, mud daubers or otherwise.) Here's the great news:                                                                                Covid Patients Testing Positive After Recovery Aren’t Infectious, Study Shows By  Heesu Lee  and  Jason Gale May 18, 2020, 9:15 PM MDT   Updated on  May 19, 2020, 3:19 AM MDT So those sailors on the Roosevelt, all those South Koreans and others who test positive again after recovering from Covid-19 didn't actually catch it again. They are (most likely)* now immune, and n...

Two Upbeat Bits of Pandemic News* 1. There is a new, 100% accurate antibody test & 2. T cells for COVID-19 ‘bode well’ for long-term immunity Once a sci-fi guy, always a sci-fi guy.  On March 29 I started saying stuff like this: 1. Give EVERYBODY the  antibody test  for Covid-19.       (and the virus test too) 2. Quarantine all positives. 3. Do comprehensive contact tracing. Quarantine all contacts. 4. Drop all social distancing for those with the "well and immune" antibody load. My Big Assumptions - Slightly ahead of reality So, there was no accurate, mass producible antibody test way back then (six weeks ago). I assumed there was, and I made the larger assumption that antibodies meant at least temporary immunity. That also had not been confirmed. My sci-fi sense was optimistic. These  Two Upbeat Bits of Pandemic News prove out those two assumptions! First the antibody test: Don't Bogart that... Loo...

May, 2003 Duff Cast His Sci-Fi Eye to the Distant Future May, 2020  * ( Honest. That was the day the piece was  first posted, and that was the predicted time. I promise I have not fudged the date. I reposted  it in 2011, adding some pictures.) It was about my fixation on inter-basin water movement to save the Western States. No More Floods, No More Droughts The Prediction That Ran Amuck May 2020     The Mississippi River is approaching flood stage in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.  The Corps of Engineers monitors the levees and dikes with the giant web of depth gauges and flow meters.  The U.S. Weather Bureau is predicting major rainstorms in several of the watersheds.  Supercomputers are crunching trillions of numbers and putting options in clear graphical displays in front of Corps decision makers.   America The Beautiful ... The tale goes on about how America overcomes a looming environmental disaster...

So "Conservatives" Don't like a Pandemic Shutdown. Give me liberty, and some of us death! Neither do Bangladeshi Muslims. Never miss an important funeral! There is a powerful strain of the same - what? - disregard for the truth in health warnings?  Maybe it's a guy thing  (OK, there a a few women in the Austin demonstration, but mostly guys.) There are even old guys in both groups. BOFs; Brave Olde Farts. We know various Republican and Trumpster groups organized the U.S. anti-lockdown "spontaneous" rallies. Paid for by the likes of Betsy DeVos.  Not sure if anybody organized the Bangladeshis. Maybe the white cap manufacturers. Not sure why this strike me as ironical.

We don't need to Go Back to Normal We need to Go Back to Better   "Better" would mean:      Everybody who works full time will make a LIVING WAGE              A "living wage" means enough to COVER THE BASICS              "The basics" means THE NECESSITIES and a bit left over. "The necessities" means food, shelter, healthcare, education,  sick leave, child care, paid vacation, retirement contribution.              " A bit left over " means something to save, invest, give away, contribute, blow. Whoa!! The richest nation in the world can definitely afford  to assure it's workforce makes a living wage. We have to decide if that's what we want to do. The cost could be a reduction in profits for private companies and increase in costs of  non-profits.  The benefits could be a far healthier and ...

A Ray of Hope in  A VERY credible source. This line caught my eye: " ... p otential utility as an effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2" You can call me Novel Every week I read Science Magazine cover-to-cover.  It's one of the 'gold standard' journals.  The world's scientific research output is prodigious.  I find hope in that.     Put on your science specs and plow through this bit of promising research.  Abstract  Coronaviruses (CoVs) traffic frequently between species resulting in novel disease outbreaks, most recently exemplified by the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Herein, we show that the ribonucleoside analog β-D-N 4 -hydroxycytidine (NHC, EIDD-1931) has broad spectrum antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and related zoonotic group 2b or 2c Bat-CoVs, as well as increased potency against a coronavirus bearing resistance mutations to the nucleoside analo...

Salvation of the Economy UP & RUNNING (Experimentally, of course) ...in one small, rich, Colorado town. Telluride The Original Big, Simple, Winning Plan (Click to read) 1. Give EVERYBODY the antibody test for Covid-19. 2. Quarantine all positives. 3. Do comprehensive contact tracing. Quarantine all contacts. 4. Drop all social distancing for those with the "well and immune" antibody load. I.e. kickstart the economy back into life. ) A wise decision by a government entity? Nah... Its tests are being donated by Mei Mei Hu and Lou Reese, a married couple who live part of the year in the county seat of Telluride and are executives at United Biomedical, a biotech company that developed the test. Full article in Medium-Elemental I'd say this is THE plan! Scott Gottlieb, MD, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner under President Trump, and Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act und...