Getslow

First launch in almost a decade. I’m downright giddy right now.

Within 10 minutes they launch and the rocket lands safely on a drone ship in the ocean. A lot of big brains working on these projects.

The Falcon project is amazing. I can only imagine how much money is saved being able to reuse the entire first stage rocket.

What is The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension? Article I read stated that they & the FBI were both investigating the case.

Apparently Minnesota has a statewide agency that is designed to assist law enforcement all over the state with a variety of matters. I just looked it up and didn't learn a ton, but state government apparently likes having it around for the flexibility of quickly shifting resources to investigations and projects that need it.

I don't know if this is on here or not but just FYI.

 

From the New England Journal of Medicine, May 21, 2020:

 

"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."

So we have doctors in Column A that suggest masking will help slow spread. And we have doctors in Column B that say they're not particularly helpful.

Where does that leave us?

A pragmatic approach suggests erring on the side of caution while studies continue.

The virus RNA is novel. But at the end of the day - its a well-known mechanical structure that is not really novel at all and it certainly seems to be coming out that this thing mechanically transmits and moves around like other viruses. It just does not seem to have new or magic powers that should create long term, radical changes to our way of living.

There has been suggestion that the higher rates of transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 over its obvious comparison, SARS-CoV-1, is that it replicates more in the upper respiratory tract than its predecessor, which located itself primarily in the lower respiratory tract. They discuss it in the article I posted above. I think that was something of a surprise early on and may have hampered early responses.

I thought this was new news since it was specific who should (and my implication should not) need a mask.

 

I still do not like the CDC logic on this since it assume lots of hyper-contagious, completely asymptomatic carriers and assumes the mask actually do something of practical good in public settings - something never proven or scientifically demonstrated.

 

Originally, the panic over completely asymptomatic carriers was triggered by a sole study - that was found to be flawed since the original never talked to the one patient attributed to being a completely asymptomatic carrier. When in fact she was show definite signs of illness.

 

Article:

 

Study claiming new coronavirus can be transmitted by people without symptoms was flawed | Science | AAAS

 

Chinese researchers had previously suggested asymptomatic people might transmit the virus but had not presented clear-cut evidence. “There’s no doubt after reading [the NEJM] paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring,” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told journalists. “This study lays the question to rest.”

 

...

 

“During her stay, she had been well with no sign or symptoms of infection but had become ill on her flight back to China,” the authors wrote. “The fact that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of 2019-nCoV infection may warrant a reassessment of transmission dynamics of the current outbreak.”

But the researchers didn’t actually speak to the woman before they published the paper. The last author, Michael Hoelscher of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Medical Center, says the paper relied on information from the four other patients: “They told us that the patient from China did not appear to have any symptoms.” Afterward, however, RKI and the Health and Food Safety Authority of the state of Bavaria did talk to the Shanghai patient on the phone, and it turned out she did have symptoms while in Germany. According to people familiar with the call, she felt tired, suffered from muscle pain, and took paracetamol, a fever-lowering medication. (An RKI spokesperson would only confirm to Science that the woman had symptoms.)

 

And then there is the study - that cites an asymptomatic carrier (not sure if totally asymptomatic) that apparently did not infect any of the 455 people who they came in contact with.

 

A Study on Infectivity of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Carriers - PubMed

 

Conclusion: In summary, all the 455 contacts were excluded from SARS-CoV-2 infection and we conclude that the infectivity of some asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers might be weak.

 

As with even the first study this seems rushed - and its also from China - and it uses words like 'some', 'might' and 'weak'.

 

Bottom line - asymptomatic, public transmission is not at all the issue - based on evidence - that warrants public masks, IMHO. But the CDC is the last word, regardless of their track record to now.

The novel virus is so new that information is changing by the day. They initially thought it more similar to the SARS-CoV-1 virus that China pretty well contained during that outbreak. It's proven to be a more difficult beast.

The most recent thing I've read was an editorial in yesterday's [EDIT: republished from April] New England Journal that's trying to make sense of the limited studies we currently have of asymptomatic transmission. It concluded with a recommendation for masking, but the editorial itself is rightly centered on skilled nursing facilities and the additional precautions needed there that exceed our current standards.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2009758

WHO - mask only needed by healthy people if they are caring for someone infected, sneezing and coughing (I would argue you should stay home if that is case).

 

When and how to use masks

 

 

From above:

 

 

• If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19.
  
• Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
  
• Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  
• If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.
  

Which contradicts information in their own Q&A. It appears to be because the WHO draws a distinction between a medical mask and a non-medical mask and the way in which they switch between them is unclear on the site.

Q&A: Masks and COVID-19

"WHO recognizes that there are many questions about the use of face masks to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in the community, and that many countries are recommending that people wear them. Wearing a medical mask can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases, including COVID-19. However, the use of a mask alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection. Other measures such as physical distancing and hand hygiene should be adopted."

Regarding use of non-medical masks:

"Although their protective effectiveness to the wearer is unknown, they may protect others if the wearer is a pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carrier."

The WHO's position has been the same for months: they won't take a position on questions involving non-medical masks for the general public.

The CDC has done so and recommends masking in situations where social distancing is difficult or impossible.

How to Protect Yourself & Others | CDC

Why would the players think they should get paid the same amount as a normal season? Is that what's happening?

The league and the players agreed back in March that once the season started, players would be paid their normal salary prorated on a per-game basis. So with the 82-game schedule the league proposed, the players would already be paid only half their normal annual contract. The players expect the league to honor that agreement. The owners argue that was negotiated expecting fans in the stands and so with higher available revenues.

However, I expect both sides to come to a reasonable conclusion here. The league's first proposal was a non-starter, just like they knew it would be, slashing salaries an additional 33 percent, on average. They didn't start the negotiations with their best offer, but with their best-case offer. Both sides will figure this out because nobody wants a lost season.

I think I saw earlier that the scrub date is May 30.

GAHHHH!

Scrapped 15 minutes before launch.

Bad weather.

Yes, I saw a story on TV over the weekend with the two astronauts. The reporter commented on the high tech cockpit, monitors, etc.

If the two-part photo I posted shows up, the top one is the screens from the interface on the screen from inside the space shuttle Endeavor. That last launch was only nine years ago.

The future is now.

That's the interface the pilots see in the cockpit. It genuinely feels like real-life has caught up to sci-fi here.

Set to go just after 4:30 pm today. Had it on in the background for a couple hours now.

First manned launch from American soil since the last shuttle flight in 2011.

I'm fascinated by this. As a long-time supporter of the space program, I've been waiting a long time for this.

I can get 1 and 2 about any time. I’ll be the outlier and take door number 4.

There are times I've really enjoyed a trip like No. 4. But in these last couple years as I've been settling into a new office in a new town and trying to get my client base together while working 50+ hours every week, going somewhere where I can just be still, relax, function without a clock and just breathe has been incredibly appealing.

The loss of the Michigan trip next month will hit me really hard when the time comes, even if we've rescheduled it for later this year. 10 days on the lakefront is EXACTLY what I need after the last few months.

No. 5 I think. As long as the cabin has a great view. I can stay up there for days with someone else cooking and be content.

No. 1 also has promise for the same reasons.

Always had this thing about Isle Royale National Park. It's the least-visited national park (other than the ones in the remotest parts of Alaska), and there's a good reason for that: it's in the far northwestern corner of Lake Superior near the Canadian border and is accessible only by a couple boats from Minnesota or the UP or by sea plane. It closes entirely from November until April.

But photos I've seen make it look incredible.

Cookies top the list.

There's nothing like a good french onion soup.

Would the real Tony Fauci please stand up.

 

In short as PP92 pointed out recently (but seems like years ago) I don't trust anyone at this point.

It's not about which version of him is real and which isn't. It's about looking at constantly updated information and revising as you learn things. That used to be called "maturing" and we embraced it.

He changed his recommendations as new information came out regarding just how long someone could carry this virus while exhibiting no symptoms. A thing we now know to be true, which is that someone could carry it for weeks and have no idea, wasn't universally understood back in March.

You could always contact Dr. Fauci and tell him that everyone you know who has actually studied medicine disagrees with him. :idunno:

Sure. Fauci agrees with them. That 40-second out-of-context clip in which Fauci worries about the use of masks giving people a false sense of security (and concerns about shortages in the first weeks of the outbreak which were the context of all that and conveniently removed by the internet's finest). Let's replace it with a full 17-minute interview from six weeks ago in which Fauci encourages the use of face coverings. Comes at about the 3:50 mark.

What Dr. Fauci wants you to know about face masks and staying home as virus spreads | PBS NewsHour

You've got to stop reading the way-too-online nuts. They'll lead you to hell before they tell you anything real.

I was thinking the same thing about a double-blind mask study. Or even a meaningful study on the most common items used as masks and their effectiveness.

 

If masks are "required" then we should have very strict scientific standards on the types of masks that are required. I would assume at a minimum the requirement should be a N95 mask but if we are serious it should be the next level of protection up.

 

Also, until every last person (which means everyone on TV and everyone every where for that matter) is wearing a mask full time I don't want to hear about masks. In other words, there should be ONE STANDARD that applies to everyone and anything short of that is unscientific.

That's the silliest standard I've ever heard.

N95 masks and respirators are designed for the maximum protection of the WEARER. It's designed to filter out foreign particles and molecules to protect your respiratory system from all sorts of dangerous stuff.

That is NOT the purpose of a cloth mask for your face when you walk in to pick up your carryout from the restaurant down the street.

The cloth mask is designed to protect OTHERS from your respiratory emissions. It is just one element of a larger personal responsibility regimen (along with hand washing, social distancing, etc.) to slow the community spread of the disease.

Pub Trivia. Used to play at least one night almost every week. Had our Wednesday night spot and our Thursday night spot. Mostly I just miss going to my favorite bars in Louisville.

The WHO says no masks.

 

And Fauci made it clear previously - masks are not good.

 

 

 

Personally, no mask. I carried a Veterans Crisis Line bandana in my pocket will making the runs this weekend - just in case anyone made an issue of it.

 

I noticed employees who where working hard with their mask down - for good reason - they could not breath and get enough 02 for the tasks they were doing. Masks are restrictive to natural body operation. To imply they should be worn for extended period (i.e. 8 hours an employee working in home and garden would do) is silly at best - dangerous at worst.

Last I saw, the WHO's position on masks was that they weren't taking one and deferring to national health organizations to make their own recommendations, which takes us to the CDC, which recommends masks in areas where social distancing is difficult.

I don't know the context of that clip of Fauci, but in that context, he's not wrong. It's also not what we're talking about. He also uses the term "perfect protection", which obviously isn't what we're talking about either. Maybe some context of when he said that and why would be helpful.

There were apparently allegations of sexual misconduct that were found to be "without merit" when they could not be corroborated, according to the USA Today article this morning.

If I were put on my "The-Institution-Is-Protecting-Itself-First" conspiracy theory hat, then I'd say this internal investigation found just enough to fire the coaches they needed to fire without finding enough to make the university itself liable for anything.

I can feel my brain biggening from all the awesome science being referred to in this thread.

Masks help stop spread. That's it.

The CDC says so. Johns Hopkins says so. The Mayo clinic says so.

What's the problem here?