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Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#111

Post by Spooky23 »

chordalkeyboard wrote: post #101
bigbubba wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anthrax is found in the soil around the world and generally effects grazing animals like livestock, deer, etc. It is not contagious and isn't something you should lose sleep worrying about. It captures the public's attention because it has been weaponized. https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/basics/index.html

> Although it is rare in the United States, people can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. > Anthrax is not contagious, which means you can’t catch it like the cold or flu. I'm not sure what the technical definition of "contagious" is here but I'm also not sure its helpful when you can catch the disease from an infected animal.

Usually you get anthrax from contact with an animal. Pretty easy to avoid.

Weaponized anthrax spores are more virulent and spread by aircraft or other munition. You might recall just after 9/11 someone mailed anthrax to public officials in envelopes.

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#112

Post by mckirk »

randmeerkat wrote: post #106
irrational wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really was not always like this. At all. Some people blame the rise of 24 hours cable news channels. Others blame the rise of the Internet. Both of these have to do with disseminating more information to more people. Is it the fact that there is more information (quantity) or is the information itself (quality)?

That’s good to know. I don’t know, whatever it is, I really loathe it. It’s practically impossible to have a rational discussion about anything related to politics. Everything seems to degenerate into entrenched emotional arguments rather than discussing actual facts.

I think that's because a) a lot of people nowadays think their feelings hold more importance than somebody else's facts (outrage is a terrible advisor) and b) the facts themselves have become less tangible because there seems to be a myriad of sides to anything, with so many sources putting their spin on things that even just arriving at a neutral base for an argument takes more effort than people are willing/can afford to expend. Especially because that effort has to be expended against the pull of their own biases, which have gotten pretty entrenched thanks to the online echo chambers. Cognitive dissonance is exhausting, so people often just shut down and go into emotional combat mode when faced with opposing views, even when the views are presented in a sensible manner -- and mostly, they are not, because why bother if the gulf is already so large and the people on the other side are clearly idiots.

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#113

Post by effie »

randmeerkat wrote: post #72
kortilla wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> majority of the popular vote in the US voted for someone that does believe in science Why would Trump support accelerated vaccines if he didn’t believe in COVID and science?

Why would Trump’s administration and Trump himself be so anti-masks if they believed in science?

Because there is political value in supporting people's freedom to choose and rejecting totalitarian actions of political adversaries.

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#114

Post by kortilla »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #80
kortilla wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> majority of the popular vote in the US voted for someone that does believe in science Why would Trump support accelerated vaccines if he didn’t believe in COVID and science?

They know COVID is real and they almost certainly believe in science. They just don't care if it doesn't line their pockets.

Agree, but that doesn’t match the rhetoric above. The voter mindset is similar. People are choosing “the economy” over shutdowns, not ignoring science.

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#116

Post by trhway »

admax88q wrote: post #89
trhway wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A mask is worn for the others, not yourself. so, imagine one "other" without a mask and everybody around in masks (actually "face coverings" which allow air in/out from sides) commuting everyday in a densely packed bus. Do you think that "other" has much improved chances when aggregated over several months? (again, i'm not arguing against proper mask's efficiency during occasional exposure)

Yes, I don't see why they wouldn't. If everyone is wearing masks then the likelihood of transmission is lower. Also the viral load of any transmission may also be lower, which could improve the outcome.

i'm not arguing against [proper] masks lowering the transmission chance in any given case. I just don't see it having any aggregate effect. Basically i don't see the local effect translating into global.

The herd immunity is 2/3. If say 1/3 of population has already some pre-existing immunity (from casual reading of Internet it looks that some noticeable share of population does have it for Covid and it seems larger than 1/3) then the total infection rate until herd immunity is reached is 1/3. The Spanish flu hit 30% of human population for example.

So, for Moscow 1/3 is 4M. They already got 0.5M cases and currently is having, despite the tight masks/gloves/partial lockdown measures, 7K/day cases. I don't see why would it slow down, and if anything i suppose it will only go up in the coming several months. Thus in the year they will have a total of 2.5M of officially registered cases. If one adds non-detected cases one can see that it is would be in the ballpark of 4M. I.e. herd immunity, end of pandemic, masks or no masks, lockdown or no lockdown. Basically like Spanish flu scenario, and i personally just don't see how the numbers can play differently.

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#117

Post by edgyquant »

adamsea wrote: post #77
kortilla wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> majority of the popular vote in the US voted for someone that does believe in science Why would Trump support accelerated vaccines if he didn’t believe in COVID and science?

Do you yourself truthfully believe that Trump wanted to make policy decisions based on the best science available?

The most scientific policy would be to physically force everyone to stay in a room alone for months and physically force them to wash their hands after they use the bathroom, etc. This is the best way to get rid of the virus and it describes a horrific, dystopian, society.

Trump isn’t even close to the best man for the job of handling a pandemic but to pretend we should be following science to the t is politically ignorant (as most scientists would tell you.)

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#119

Post by markdown »

_zg4q wrote: post #109
markdown wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In years gone past, whatever the crisis, America would step up and lead. Many would argue that America was the one who created many of those crises in the first place. American capitalism has led the world to the brink of destruction by climate change, so a loss in status is absolutely warranted. > The really terrifying things don’t get much in the way of discourse. How can this possibly be in the same league as th…

> American capitalism has led the world to the brink of destruction by climate change This sort of alarmist language makes it really difficult to take anything you said seriously. I'm fairly confident most people think climate change is concerning, but not "on the brink of destruction" "American capitalism" is also responsible for the greatest reduction of poverty globally in all of human history. > Nothing else pale…

> I'm fairly confident most people think climate change is concerning, but not "on the brink of destruction"

Lucky for them, those people jus haven't yet experienced the destruction of a category five tropical cyclone.

> Interesting, because the United States has actually been lowering carbon dioxide emissions

You can use this excuse when talking to children or US Republicans, but it doesn't work with people who have more than half a brain.

I live on a quarter of an acre. I could use my property to make X, or I can just buy X from my neighbour and make the claim that my property isn't used to make X, and is therefore uncontaminated and clean.

You can't get China to make your polluting garbage, and then blame China for being the worlds polluter.

It's Americans who demand massive trucks to drive on hours-long commutes every day instead of building public transport; who fight wars for fossil fuels to burn.

> Interesting how America is always to blame for the world's problems.

Not interesting at all. Quite depressing actually.

Re: Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up

#120

Post by Falling3 »

effie wrote: post #113
randmeerkat wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Trump’s administration and Trump himself be so anti-masks if they believed in science?

Because there is political value in supporting people's freedom to choose and rejecting totalitarian actions of political adversaries.

It had absolutely nothing to do with freedom or rejection of totalitarianism.

He could have easily encouraged people to wear a mask and set an example by wearing one himself.

But you're right that it was about political value. Or at least perceived political value.

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