But sometimes they get it right. Rachel Carson, for instance, and DDT. Footnote: The harpsichord began to return as a popular instrument after WWII and with the "ancient music" revival. Turns out you could build an historically accurate harpsichord except for the "plectra", the little bits that actually pluck the strings. Crow quill, from molted crow feathers, had become too soft to use so various plastics were substituted. When DDT was banned, crow quill became harder and is now once again used for the purpose. Doesn't actually prove anything of course but...yeah.
a mathematical equation that predicts the end of humanity https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/6/28/18760585/doomsday-argument-calculation-prediction-j-richard-gott
As a kind of update I thought you all might like to know that the world did actually come to an end in 2012. Really. No joke. https://www.fark.com/goto/10504043/twitter.com/NickHintonn/status/1154523206692331520
Yeah, you guessed it. It's the end of the world. Again. This time it's an asteroid that's going to do the trick. I think that's a good idea for a movie . . . https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1175626/asteroid-nasa-bennu-aphophis-end-world-osiris-rex-planet-strike-probability-spt
Wikipedia: "It has a cumulative 1-in-2,700 chance of impacting Earth between 2175 and 2199." So, spend your last 56,000 days wisely, I suppose.
All you Doomsday Preppers better get ready because here it comes . . . https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1ZM1ZJ Wuhan on lockdown. Too little too late . . . https://www.dw.com/en/china-locks-down-city-at-center-of-virus-outbreak/a-52103638
I don't think another corona virus will End The World As We Know It but falling fertility rates have already tipped the scales in much of Asia and the Americas, including China and soon to include India. Depopulation is in the cards, folks. Once that process begins it's incredibly difficult to reverse it. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-bricker-ibbitson-women-lower-birth-rate-20190224-story.html
I was more worried about SARS than I am about this one. That one had a higher mortality rate, as I recall. Most people who catch this Wuhan one seem to have a pretty mild illness.
a convergence of IT and Epidemiology https://www.cnet.com/news/heres-how-to-track-the-coronavirus-spread/
I love it when threads crossover each other, even if it's just in my own mind. Because no one would really believe that China would shut down Hong Kong with the coronavirus as an act of blunt control. Shutting down Hong Kong (sorry, it can't be helped, it's for everyone's best interest) as a punishment for defiance is even worse than spitefully shutting down that bridge in New Jersey. China using the coronavirus to shut down Hong Kong would be an act of biological warfare. So no one would ever do that. Would they (that paranoid moment brought to you by 'not enough sleep.' https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/25/hong-kong-leader-declares-citywide-virus-emergency-over-coronavirus.html
While I'm one who is often reluctant to raisee an alarm, and to some extent would prefer an aloof mentality towards anxiety or worry... and to enjoy meme's like this... I think we're certainly starting to get to a point of concern. It's been a long time since I've read the Hot Zone or Virus Hunters of The CDC, but the epidemiology of this is certainly starting to become concerning. China Orders Centralized Response Chinese Doctor at Frontline of Epidemic Fatally Succumbs to Virus Reports of Actual Number Exceeding 100,000 Chinese Doctors Begging for Help China Scrambling to Build Additional Hospital in 10 Days China Scrambling to Build Another Hospital in 6 Days Virus Spreads to Europe, Australia, and United States President Xi States Warns of Grave Situation
Rumors leaking out of China suggest that this disease might be a lot worse than they are reporting. Numbers of cases and numbers of deaths might be seriously under -reported. Wuhan (one of China's largest cities) has been locked down, with public transportation halted and military roadblocks on highways. Reports of mob scenes at train stations as people tried to get on the last trains leaving. Markets are reported to be cleaned out. People have been told to stay in their homes and avoid contact with other people. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Unconfirmed reports that dead bodies are lying in hospital hallways. Hospitals are telling sick people to return home and self-medicate if their symptoms aren't too severe. Much of this is coming from Chinese social media since the mainstream media is all reporting the government line, everything under control and showing well-equipped hospitals where everyone is receiving top notch care. But rumors/reports on social media can be inaccurate and can lead to panic. (So expect the internet in Wuhan to be shut down. Maybe other places too.) The United States has said that it's chartering aircraft to evacuate the 1,000 or so US citizens in Wuhan. They say that if there's room those planes will take other foreigners too. They promise that everyone on the flights will be carefully screened for the virus so as not to spread it in the US. Reports that the disease has been confirmed in 29 or China's 31 provinces. Beijing is closing tourist sites like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Small number of cases in a number of other Asian countries, from Japan to Thailand (mostly recent arrivals from China who have been isolated). One or two cases in the US too.
sounds bad https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047613/china-coronavirus-wuhan-residents-describe-doomsday-scenes
Many smaller cities in Hubei are also being locked down. In Wuhan they have banned all private vehicles from the city and only officially authorized vehicles are allowed. They are rushing a 1,000 bed military field hospital into operation to handle the hospital overflow. 14,000 hazmat suits have been shipped to Wuhan. France is organizing evacuation flights of French nationals from Wuhan. (There's a French owned automobile plant there.) All tourist group tours to China as a whole have been halted. The foreign expat community in Beijing is growing alarmed. There are rumors in the foreign community (it might only be rumors) that a total halt to transportation China-wide might be coming. Xi Jinping has called the situation "grave". Is the situation really that bad? Have rumors taken the place of facts? Is a nation of more than a billion starting to panic? I really don't know. https://apnews.com/b2810cebad305f66112a0c68be0f8c9a https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/25/wuhan-coronavirus-safety-china/ To keep it in perspective, the flu actually kills thousands of people every year, in the US alone. (They aren't kidding when they tell you to get your flu shot.) But... the flu doesn't overwhelm hospitals like we are hearing about. That's one of the things that makes me think this is a lot worse than they are saying publicly. Of course, many of those people going to these Wuhan hospitals may not have this disease at all, but might just be suffering from colds or mild flu. Ironically, they may end up catching the disease at the hospital.
Lots of rather inflammatory stuff is going around the internet, including allegations (coming from Taiwan?) that this virus escaped from a biological warfare laboratory (the Wuhan Institute of Virology), allegedly not far from where the disease first appeared. Probably untrue (in my opinion) but an example of what people are starting to say. (A very ugly rumor if people in Taiwan are starting it just to stir shit in China.) But it does start to look like something much larger is happening than the Chinese government is currently admitting. This isn't just a new variety of flu if people are mobbing hospitals and people are collapsing and dying in the hallways and on the streets. Probably a lot more fatalities than whatever they say it is. Something has them scared. https://twitter.com/Taihoku1895/status/1221313136927469568 https://twitter.com/Taihoku1895/status/1220930885328859137 https://twitter.com/Taihoku1895/status/1220680935659597824 https://twitter.com/Taihoku1895/status/1220327417954226176 https://twitter.com/Taihoku1895/status/1220291840869449728 https://twitter.com/razumov_egor/status/1220331812569985025 https://twitter.com/HuXijin_GT/status/1220216412716691456