Coronavirus thread

Started by JBS, March 12, 2020, 07:03:50 PM

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krummholz

#7620
Quote from: Madiel on March 21, 2023, 03:13:49 PMYou posted the link previously, because I remember reading it. In my view he had backed away from his previous comments a heck of a lot. EDIT: Found it again, he basically seems to have moved to saying he has no opinion one way or the other.

I'd have to reread the interview to see if my impression changes - my recollection is that he concedes that it might have arisen naturally, but that it still looks like a very unlikely occurrence.

QuoteI think it's very easy for people to reason that if something looks significant to humans, it must have been GIVEN significance. The reality is that shuffling of genetic sequences is happening constantly, and the great majority of them do absolutely nothing in practice and so we ignore them, or simply never see them.

The microbiological world is a bit like that room full of monkeys with typewriters, only typing much much faster than the monkeys ever could and the room is huge. And some of this feels a bit like people think it's not possible that one of the monkeys could have managed to accidentally type the word "beach".  When of course no-one is going to comment on the many, many times that the same monkey generated nonsense.

Well put, and that is exactly what I was getting at. Humans tend to have very inaccurate intuition when it comes to situations where the actual sample size is orders of magnitude larger than what we imagine it is. We also don't have a good feel for the probability of *something* that by itself may be very unlikely, but among a collection of many very unlikely outcomes, the chance of ONE of those outcomes occurring at SOME point is not really that small, given sufficient time. As you put it, sooner or later one of the monkeys is going to type "beach" or some other common word, and we typically underestimate by orders of magnitude both the number of possible words and the number of monkeys at work.

Florestan

Irrespective of the pandemic's origin, in a normal world all gain-of-function research would be permanently banned worldwide effective immediately and an international body, similar to the IAEA, would be created with the mission to inspect all virology institutes and labs worldwide at least twice a year to make sure the ban is observed and the safety regulations are complied with. Uncooperative countries, institutes or labs would be subjected to international sanctions.

But since we are living in a completely abnormal world, none of that would happen, of course.

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Madiel

Quote from: Karl Henning on April 18, 2023, 06:05:57 AMOpinion — Why reports of period weirdness after covid shots were ignored

Sexism in medical science yet again.

I did hear about this side effect at some point (obviously not relevant to me personally), and it came with an assurance that it wasn't a long-term problem, but I think the article is pretty spot on. It would have been MUCH better if the symptoms were addressed properly before the vaccine rollout.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!


Karl Henning

In a happy milestone, a Boston hospital [Tufts Medical Center] reports zero inpatients with COVID-19
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Cambridge's COVID experiment at giving poor families $500 month will continue, and grow

The city will grow its universal basic income program to cover roughly 2,000 low-income families, no strings attached
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Todd

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Karl Henning

COVID made us retreat into our corners. In some ways, a worrisome new study says, we haven't left them.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Madiel

Quote from: Karl Henning on May 10, 2023, 09:44:31 AMCOVID made us retreat into our corners. In some ways, a worrisome new study says, we haven't left them.

You didn't provide a link if you were intending to.

But really, something like a pandemic causing permanent social changes is not a surprise. Past events like this have. At some point during the Covid pandemic, a podcast I listen to had an episode about some past examples. Perhaps the most memorable is how the massive famine of 1816 is linked to the invention of the bicycle as a substitute for horses.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Wendell_E

#7631
Quote from: Madiel on May 10, 2023, 09:13:54 PMYou didn't provide a link if you were intending to.

But really, something like a pandemic causing permanent social changes is not a surprise. Past events like this have. At some point during the Covid pandemic, a podcast I listen to had an episode about some past examples. Perhaps the most memorable is how the massive famine of 1816 is linked to the invention of the bicycle as a substitute for horses.

I googled and found this article (from yesterday) with that title: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/covid-made-us-retreat-into-our-corners-a-worrisome-new-study-says-we-havent-left-them/ar-AA1b0Sc4
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain

Karl Henning

Quote from: Madiel on May 10, 2023, 09:13:54 PMYou didn't provide a link if you were intending to.

But really, something like a pandemic causing permanent social changes is not a surprise. Past events like this have. At some point during the Covid pandemic, a podcast I listen to had an episode about some past examples. Perhaps the most memorable is how the massive famine of 1816 is linked to the invention of the bicycle as a substitute for horses.
Here's the link.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Madiel

I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Florestan

#7634
Quote from: Madiel on May 11, 2023, 12:52:40 PMWants me to subscribe.

No, it wants you to leave your corner...  (insert irony emoticon)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Karl Henning on June 02, 2023, 10:48:59 AMHigh concentrations of COVID detected at all 14 New York City wastewater treatment plants
Interesting that they say "50 or more per 100,000.  Wonder what the highest number was?  To me that sounds like a low number, but it would also be interesting to know what earlier figures were when they thought there to be low numbers?  And no, I'm not in the medical field.  If a sharp uptick, I would suspect that there might be concerns of a new variant.

Anyone here know more about this?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Karl Henning

State health rapid response team deployed to Chelsea (Mass.) Veterans' Home after new COVID-19 outbreak
As of midday Monday, 15 residents and 9 staff members had tested positive
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Karl Henning on June 05, 2023, 12:31:14 PMState health rapid response team deployed to Chelsea (Mass.) Veterans' Home after new COVID-19 outbreak
As of midday Monday, 15 residents and 9 staff members had tested positive
That's horrible news.  :(

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Que