May 11, 2020
Monday
(Happy belated Mother's Day!)
The discussion continues to evolve in the media. It is clear that perspective changes over time. Keep an eye on the data when digesting the hype.
-------
Data Visualization Update
State comparisons:
https://public.tableau.com/views/Coronavirus-ChangeovertimeintheUSA/2_Corona?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
Rt data
https://public.tableau.com/shared/7FH637YGW?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
FT data is still the best visualization I have found for country comparisons.
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&cumulative=0&logScale=1&perMillion=0&values=deaths
Don't forget the weekend reporting lag. And, take a look at Germany, South Korea, and China. Case #'s are up a bit - track and trace, and quarantine will determine what this means.
------------------
CDC released some new guidance last week on a symptom-based strategy for discontinuing isolation. The "key findings" section is worth reading. Note that government-sponsored biohazard labs have cultured the coronavirus to get at the data behind item #2: "At this time, replication-competent virus has not been successfully cultured more than 9 days after onset of illness. The statistically estimated likelihood of recovering replication-competent virus approaches zero by 10 days (CDC unpublished data, Wölfel 2020, Arons 2020)."
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/strategy-discontinue-isolation.html
On the ground with contact tracers. Neat.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/10/1001534/first-person-america-covid-19-contact-tracer-experience/
And here is why we need contact tracers - an epidemiologist's tweetorial on the issues of modeling disease transmission. It is a complex topic, to be sure.
https://twitter.com/AdamJKucharski/status/1259441483184320517
It will be interesting to see if 1) our recently quarantined task force leaders (Fauci, Redfield, etc.) end up appearing in front of the Senate subcommittee and 2) if anything substantive comes of the discussion.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/11/14-questions-for-fauci-redfield-and-the-other-trump-officials-on-the-u-s-coronavirus-response/
Who is quarantined:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52604671
Here is one more article from STAT news that describes the struggles of running drug trials in the middle of a pandemic. This article touches on the difficulty of no one wanting to be in a placebo arm of a trial when there is a glimmer of hope from the drug arm.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/11/inside-the-nihs-controversial-decision-to-stop-its-big-remdesivir-study/
In follow up to my comments about which type of USB port or Bluetooth chipset I would have installed in my head, I offer an article on BioHacking.
https://theconversation.com/from-coronavirus-tests-to-open-source-insulin-and-beyond-biohackers-are-showing-the-power-of-diy-science-138019
This article calling for a re-thinking of the science fair touches home with me. I'm sure many of you have felt the pressures and frustration of parent-driven experiments that do not stimulate an interest in science or thinking.
https://www.wired.com/story/whats-wrong-with-science-fairs/
Here is the best not-real article on this https://www.huffpost.com/entry/that-fake-science-fair-poster-that-went-viral-i-made-it-heres-why_b_5053008
I do not read GQ. Really. However, my wife likes to listen to cooking podcasts, and I heard the author of this article interviewed regarding the thoughts and concerns about releasing an article about the best restaurants that are mostly now closed (temporarily, we hope). It made me a little sad and a lot hungry. But the photos are enjoyable, and the opening discussion on the art of running restaurants is worth the time. You can feel these things too!
https://www.gq.com/story/best-new-restaurants-list-2020
I was able to find an article that did not mention coronavirus though it is still creepy and funny all at the same time.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/05/victorian-mothers-hidden-photos-their-babies/611347/
Infographic of the day - it is an older article, but very relevant to how we perceive the meanings of words.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/measuring-perceptions-of-uncertainty/
Not sure where this came from, but I am sure there are a ton of readers who could help me confirm the veracity of this infographic:
https://i.redd.it/msqtdehmnxx41.jpg
--------Bonus Round: 1980's edition
I accidentally had an 80's nostalgia weekend. I did not intend to. It started on Saturday night with a movie about the Biosphere 2 project and concluded last night with the Spike Jonez Beastie Boys documentary on Apple+. Both had me revisiting childhood memories from a more adult perspective. Funny how the same data can be interpreted differently 30 years apart and with a broader context. Two peripheral takeaways that I think are worthy of note:
Molly Ringwald is an actress that made movies I struggled with as a kid. On the one hand, they were representative of a teenage point of view when very little else was offering this (see article below). However, the point of view provided was far different than what I experienced at that age (+10 awkward, -20 all the other stuff). Much like my adult-reflections on my childhood feelings about the Beastie Boys (thanks to that documentary), it is interesting to revisit her movies (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles) from her adult viewpoint and a 2018 cultural context.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink
Thor Heyerdahl was not a 1980's icon. However, before the internet, he was a very public figure who was famous and espoused "sciency" sounding theories on ancient civilizations and human migration patterns. To the me of age 10-14, it was fascinating in the same kind of way Indiana Jones inspires kids to want to be archeologists. And, much like Hunter Thompson, Heyerdahl was a sort of gonzo-anthropologist, testing his theories through adventurous expeditions (Kon Tiki, for instance). He showed up in the Biosphere2 movie as an early consultant and source of inspiration to the founders of the project. And as I refreshed my memory of Heyerdahl's work, I was reminded that he was more show than substance, in many ways.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-voyage-kon-tiki-misled-world-about-navigating-pacific-180952478/
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
-AW
(Happy belated Mother's Day!)
The discussion continues to evolve in the media. It is clear that perspective changes over time. Keep an eye on the data when digesting the hype.
-------
Data Visualization Update
State comparisons:
https://public.tableau.com/views/Coronavirus-ChangeovertimeintheUSA/2_Corona?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
Rt data
https://public.tableau.com/shared/7FH637YGW?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
FT data is still the best visualization I have found for country comparisons.
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&cumulative=0&logScale=1&perMillion=0&values=deaths
Don't forget the weekend reporting lag. And, take a look at Germany, South Korea, and China. Case #'s are up a bit - track and trace, and quarantine will determine what this means.
------------------
CDC released some new guidance last week on a symptom-based strategy for discontinuing isolation. The "key findings" section is worth reading. Note that government-sponsored biohazard labs have cultured the coronavirus to get at the data behind item #2: "At this time, replication-competent virus has not been successfully cultured more than 9 days after onset of illness. The statistically estimated likelihood of recovering replication-competent virus approaches zero by 10 days (CDC unpublished data, Wölfel 2020, Arons 2020)."
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/strategy-discontinue-isolation.html
On the ground with contact tracers. Neat.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/10/1001534/first-person-america-covid-19-contact-tracer-experience/
And here is why we need contact tracers - an epidemiologist's tweetorial on the issues of modeling disease transmission. It is a complex topic, to be sure.
https://twitter.com/AdamJKucharski/status/1259441483184320517
It will be interesting to see if 1) our recently quarantined task force leaders (Fauci, Redfield, etc.) end up appearing in front of the Senate subcommittee and 2) if anything substantive comes of the discussion.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/11/14-questions-for-fauci-redfield-and-the-other-trump-officials-on-the-u-s-coronavirus-response/
Who is quarantined:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52604671
Here is one more article from STAT news that describes the struggles of running drug trials in the middle of a pandemic. This article touches on the difficulty of no one wanting to be in a placebo arm of a trial when there is a glimmer of hope from the drug arm.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/11/inside-the-nihs-controversial-decision-to-stop-its-big-remdesivir-study/
In follow up to my comments about which type of USB port or Bluetooth chipset I would have installed in my head, I offer an article on BioHacking.
https://theconversation.com/from-coronavirus-tests-to-open-source-insulin-and-beyond-biohackers-are-showing-the-power-of-diy-science-138019
This article calling for a re-thinking of the science fair touches home with me. I'm sure many of you have felt the pressures and frustration of parent-driven experiments that do not stimulate an interest in science or thinking.
https://www.wired.com/story/whats-wrong-with-science-fairs/
Here is the best not-real article on this https://www.huffpost.com/entry/that-fake-science-fair-poster-that-went-viral-i-made-it-heres-why_b_5053008
I do not read GQ. Really. However, my wife likes to listen to cooking podcasts, and I heard the author of this article interviewed regarding the thoughts and concerns about releasing an article about the best restaurants that are mostly now closed (temporarily, we hope). It made me a little sad and a lot hungry. But the photos are enjoyable, and the opening discussion on the art of running restaurants is worth the time. You can feel these things too!
https://www.gq.com/story/best-new-restaurants-list-2020
I was able to find an article that did not mention coronavirus though it is still creepy and funny all at the same time.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/05/victorian-mothers-hidden-photos-their-babies/611347/
Infographic of the day - it is an older article, but very relevant to how we perceive the meanings of words.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/measuring-perceptions-of-uncertainty/
Not sure where this came from, but I am sure there are a ton of readers who could help me confirm the veracity of this infographic:
https://i.redd.it/msqtdehmnxx41.jpg
--------Bonus Round: 1980's edition
I accidentally had an 80's nostalgia weekend. I did not intend to. It started on Saturday night with a movie about the Biosphere 2 project and concluded last night with the Spike Jonez Beastie Boys documentary on Apple+. Both had me revisiting childhood memories from a more adult perspective. Funny how the same data can be interpreted differently 30 years apart and with a broader context. Two peripheral takeaways that I think are worthy of note:
Molly Ringwald is an actress that made movies I struggled with as a kid. On the one hand, they were representative of a teenage point of view when very little else was offering this (see article below). However, the point of view provided was far different than what I experienced at that age (+10 awkward, -20 all the other stuff). Much like my adult-reflections on my childhood feelings about the Beastie Boys (thanks to that documentary), it is interesting to revisit her movies (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles) from her adult viewpoint and a 2018 cultural context.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink
Thor Heyerdahl was not a 1980's icon. However, before the internet, he was a very public figure who was famous and espoused "sciency" sounding theories on ancient civilizations and human migration patterns. To the me of age 10-14, it was fascinating in the same kind of way Indiana Jones inspires kids to want to be archeologists. And, much like Hunter Thompson, Heyerdahl was a sort of gonzo-anthropologist, testing his theories through adventurous expeditions (Kon Tiki, for instance). He showed up in the Biosphere2 movie as an early consultant and source of inspiration to the founders of the project. And as I refreshed my memory of Heyerdahl's work, I was reminded that he was more show than substance, in many ways.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-voyage-kon-tiki-misled-world-about-navigating-pacific-180952478/
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
-AW
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