StringJunky

I was going to make a thread called "You couldn't make it up", with this as the subject. They contain thorium oxide, an alpha emitter. They are supposed to ionize the air but alphas don't do that.

Yes, I think the draconian measures needed to start there. Maybe they'll do that next time.

I think the way some in the US talk about freedom is way overrated, It's not to be at any cost.

There can be no freedom without civic responsibility. This needs to start with embedding it into schoolchildren from the beginning of their education.

Thanks. I remember that from someone here some years ago. Pretty spot-on I thought.

OK

I think this is the overall MO of the forum: when you open your mouth, your brains are on parade. It is that which is judged, along with any evidence. Markus is a case in point, being a rather good autodidact without a PhD iirc.

You realize Markus is speculating himself? I don't know enough if my post contradicts his idea.

This is my little hunch, it's perhaps a function of the way our brain processes information, and what it mentally creates from that. I will add I'm more biologically minded in this subject than physics. I kind of feel it would be a good idea for cognitive neuroscientists and the other sciences to consult each other on this, to understand how the human observer affects the phenomenon. I don't think it is a rigidly objective phenomenon that you can solely apply numeric/quantitative anaysis to properly describe it.

OK

Probably more stringent control of international travel may have helped to slow the spread better. Earlier notification by Beijing would have helped. The Trump administration didn't help by ostracising China about it, calling it the "China virus", so it's very important not to encourage a judgemental blame culture in such health matters... the only response will be withdrawal from co-operation, as we've seen.

Generally, I agree but if it was something like Ebola or Rabies and one is uncooperative, then involutary incarceration is necessary, likewise if covid19 mutates to the same level of virulence or other harm. If ones presence harms the well-being of a community, resolving that trumps personal freedom.

Right, ok.

Does a decentralized health system hamper NIH's ability to collate timely live data compared to what the NHS has available?

It's a bit of a rigmarole in the beginning on PC, but I bet it's worse doing it on the mobile. I'm not surprised at the teething issues because this is the first time 99+% of those alive now have been in a global medical emergency. The real world logistics for delivering treatment and containment at this scale have yet to be learned, I think. I will say that I might be less willing to do this in a country with a decentralized private health system, like the US. I still value my medical privacy, and don't think I would be so trusting that it won't be exploited for profit in some way. I hold the concept of the NHS in pretty high esteem, even with the problems it has.

I've decided to do my bit and become a surveillance datapoint by lateral flow testing twice a week under NHS guidance. I report the results online. I've had two AZ's and just had a Pfizer booster. Harking to an earlier point of yours, I'm disappointed emphasis is not moving towards less vaccinated countries... rather short-sighted and collectively selfish.

Two versions of Bach's Prelude No.1 Gives me chills this one:

Wouldn't that suggest it's been through peer review if Nature accepted it for publication?

I don't know. I don't think it can be random, it has to be sequential to make that moving wave; A static wave, like in the double slit experiment, can be randomly distributed. Just guessing here really. I appreciate that a lot of these terms are defined by consensus, but I don't know if my understanding of this is formally correct.

A single figure will not make a Mexican wave, but a multiplicity will. You cannot deduce that phenomenon from a single figure. It is much like a murmuration.

That would really send you into a vortex.

I've seen that shape along a vibrating guitar string, with a crt tv acting as a strobe source with the room lights out. It was totally accidental and I was never able to repeat it; positioning and angle was obviously very critical. The guitar was laid flat on the floor and I was idly picking strings just listeng to its tone.

Yes, ok, +1, I shouldn't have assumed 'vast majority' (naughty me) but for those that do, the point stands, I think.

Here's an example of emergence I like: a Mexican wave as an emergent phenomenon.

This sentiment is absurd for the vast majority of trans-females. Not to put too fine a point on it, but what are they going to 'get off' with if they have been surgically reassigned? It's an incredibly serious commitment. The real reason for feminists kicking off about it is that "women have fought for a long time for equal rights, now men are hijacking it"... words to that effect. They want to keep that gender/sex space for themselves; for those that "menstruate"! Clearly, they wish to discriminate. Ironic.