Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - May 26th
A few weeks ago, we heard about a few people getting sick on a cruise ship, from something most of us had never heard of: the hantavirus.
Then, a couple of people died, and some others got pretty sick and the news media started to do what they do best: breathlessly report on it. It's the next pandemic!
Scientists, particularly those with experience in diseases and epidemiology, were drowned out. The truth is that while this is "something," it's not quite what it has been built up to be. It's treatable if caught early. Different strains spread differently, but generally you have to be in very close quarters. It originates via rat droppings, and much of it originates in Argentina, as it turns out (hence why there was an outbreak on a ship that left from that country).
The media just focuses on it being awful, and will report on stories like the woman who is quarantined here in the states, but who wants to leave and is throwing a fit about her rights. (I would assume because it makes a great headline and gets clicks).
...And they miss the story about another man in the same facility, who sees that this is the right thing to do, and talks about how the kindness of strangers touched him. People send care packages, and drop off coffees. He's had some unexpected and pleasant interactions with the staff - and he adds that he will not let what's happened deter him. He still plans to travel the world!
Oh, and of course the media also decides to add ebola into the story, for good measure. They conflate both diseases, even though they are vastly different in almost every way.
That's not to say there's no danger and we shouldn't pay attention. But, we should focus our attention in the right places.
My point is that once again, we should look behind the hype. Listen to those who know something about the topic. Don't doom scroll and immediately assume the worst because that's what you see popping up on social media.
===
I’m always fascinated by the fact that new discoveries can lead to new scientific concepts and update a long-held theory.
Here’s another example of how indigenous people migrated between the Americas - and they did it in waves for various reasons is pretty remarkable.
|
In a way, this harkens back to the original moon missions. Computers (ie, the people - mostly women - who did the computing by hand) figured out the most efficient way to get to the moon, orbit it, and come back to earth… and have a fairly precise landing spot (yes it was many 10s of miles, but it was a reasonable calculation in the 1960s).
Here, a scientist looked at the path that a meteor took in its path between mars and earth, and figured out that we could theoretically have a “fairly short” trip to mars because of the orbital mechanics and whatnot.
It’s a cool way to look at the way in which we can get to the red planet.
|
I have noted in the past that shipping is one of the biggest industries we have these days. Getting goods around the globe is something everyone wants a piece of. Who controls ports, shipping lanes, and the transit corridors will shape - or reshape - the world economy.
And the Panama Canal is a choke point from which many counties and shipping companies want to move away.
Enter Mexico’s Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which is an overland route to get goods from the pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. Essentially, the ship is unloaded at a port on the Pacific, and put onto rail cars and then moved across the expanse in a few hours, and reloaded onto another ship.
So far, it’s seen some successes. But there are still a lot of concerns and things to consider.
But Mexico is making a power play.
|
I’m not convinced this solves anything in its current state. However, the concept that the startup is using recycled car batteries (and other larger scale batteries) to supply power in an ever-power-thirsty world is a good step in the right direction.
And, I couldn’t help but think of Edison’s notion of having smaller power plants to produce DC power (as opposed to what we do today with large plants, power distribution, and AC power that was fleshed out from a Nikola Tesla idea) is sort of the answer as our power needs change.
|
In case you missed the memo, the Soarin’ attraction at Epcot made a change this week to temporarily go from “Soarin around the world” to “Soarin over the USA” in honor of our nations 250th anniversary (or as Patrick refers to it: the Semiquincentennial; And yes, his opening bit is cute)
Some kind soul recorded it and put it online. And my honest opinion is that it sucks.
It’s a lot of CGI and things don’t look “right”… plus the things they chose to show aren’t really representative of America. What of our historical places (like Boston or Philadelphia?), landmarks that really define the country (yeah, there's mount Rushmore, but what of the Golden Gate or the St. Louis Arch?), our great national parks (and the redwoods maybe?), or a sense of how vast our country is?
It’s just underwhelming. I am disappointed that Disney whiffed on this opportunity. Especially given how good they often are at such things.
You can watch it here:
To be fair, I opted to write some code which reads the question and gives the right answer - most of the time, within milliseconds. But it was always fun to see my player on the leaderboard.
|
Bonus: in this increasingly anti-science environment, it's nice to be reminded of a better way of looking at the world. Here's an "oldie but goodie" from Carl Sagan. He breaks down evolution and separates fact from belief, in a non-threatening way.
Bitchin' Dave's newsletter is published weekly. Please feel free to forward it around. If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to geezergamer92@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment