Week of January 24, 2022
Our father-son Saturday night take-out and movie time marked another surprised/not surprised moment of "I must be older than I think." I remember Fight Club as a clever, cynical, and provocative film reflecting the sentiment of the Occupy (and related) anti-capitalism movement. My underwhelmed teenagers felt the movie was an unnecessarily violent glorification of (what are now) somewhat mainstream ideas. The "hanging out with your teenagers more than you would if it weren't a pandemic thing" affords numerous opportunities for introspection. At least we agree that farm-to-table Italian carry out has an enduring, cross-generational appeal.
---- Latest Data
Case rates are falling nationally. Hospitalizations and death rates continue to rise.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
and
https://theuscovidatlas.org/map
(You need to play with the variables on this one)
Country Comparison from FT.com
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=eur&areas=usa&areas=gbr&areas=rus&areas=rou&areas=lva&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usla&areasRegional=usnv&areasRegional=usar&areasRegional=usks&areasRegional=usmo&cumulative=0&logScale=1&per100K=1&startDate=2021-06-01&values=cases
The CDC weekly review discusses the value of boosters and the use of well-fitted N95 masks.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
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A collection of articles and Twitter threads in answer to questions I have been getting over the last two weeks:
What do I do if I become ill with Omicron?
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22841852/covid-drugs-antibodies-fluvoxamine-molnupiravir-paxlovid
Should I deliberately contract Omicron since it is seemingly milder?
NO.
https://time.com/6133419/should-i-try-to-get-omicron/
and
Eric Feigl-Ding highlights (in his dramatic style) data that indicates coronavirus may damage T-cells (similar to the way HIV behaves).
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1483471476439326723?s=20
If I am exposed, when am I contagious? How long am I contagious?
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/coronavirus/what-is-the-incubation-period-for-the-omicron-variant-and-how-long-are-you-contagious/2732429/
How do I interpret home antigen tests in the setting of Omicron?
Dr. Jeremy Faust has a highly detailed write-up on all aspects of home testing kits and their interpretation.
https://insidemedicine.bulletin.com/your-at-home-rapid-test-questions-answered-are-five-days-of-isolation-with-omicron-really-enough
I had COVID 10+ days ago, I feel better, but my antigen test is still positive. Am I contagious? Most likely. See previous article and
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/96765
Do the vaccines protect me if I still get sick with COVID despite getting vaccinated and boosted?
YES! Against death and hospitalization!
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1483543711623512065?s=20
And against long COVID symptoms
https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1483166149110116353?s=20
Is Omicron the last variant, and will the pandemic be over soon?
Probably not, I am sorry to say.
https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1483496030683516931
Infographics!
Here is a comparison of cow and plant milk's nutritional content and environmental impact.
https://www.compoundchem.com/2022/01/11/plant-milk/
And, while we're at it, here is a good rundown of how fish and frogs avoid freezing in freezing weather(blood-based antifreeze).
https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/biochemistry/Periodic-Graphics-animals-survive-freezing/99/i4
Things I learned this week:
Sushirobo sells automated sushi prep, rolling, and slicing machines. These feel sacrilegious.
https://sushirobo.com/
I was listening to history podcasts.
The phrase "God Bless America" is far more politically charged than I realized. Thank you, Richard Nixon.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/god-bless-america_n_4676177
During the US Civil War, Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (1831-1901) was a "Radical Republican" congressman from Minnesota. He supported progressive (for the time) policies, such as antislavery and women's suffrage. Donnelly also liked conspiracy theories and speculative fiction. He also wrote books on the lost civilization of Atlantis, the concept that Francis Bacon was the actual author behind the works of Shakespeare, and a dystopian science fiction novel about a 1988 worker's rebellion. What a strange collection of ideas. His biography sent me down the rabbit hole of late 19th Century science fiction.
About Donnelly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_L._Donnelly
About 19th Century Science Fiction
https://storiusmag.com/the-19th-century-roots-of-science-fiction-d14ef75ddd61
Donnelly's notable works (in full text):
-Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882) attempts to establish that all known ancient civilizations descended from Atlantis.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Atlantis:_The_Antediluvian_World
-Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel (1883) hypothesizes that a comet hit prehistoric earth and destroyed an ancient, high civilization (Atlantis).
https://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/rag/index.htm
-Caesar's Column (1890) is a dystopian science fiction novel set during a 1988 workers revolt against a global oligarchy. Like Fight Club, but with victorian sensibilities and hot air balloons.
https://www.sacred-texts.com/utopia/cc/index.htm
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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