I started this post as a place to collect scientific programming discussing COVID-19. The Guardian’s Science Weekly – “Covid-19: can ibuprofen make an infection worse?” (March 26, 2020) Nicola Davis speaks to Dr Ian Bailey about the current guidance on taking ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during a Sars-CoV-2 […]
The first thing I noticed when I turned onto one of the main roads during my run was the lack of cars. The road should have been two thick streams of cars – people fleeing Sunday services to get to their favorite restaurants before everybody else. If people attended services […]
Let’s end this day on a note of wonder. It’s Pi Day! (March 14, or 3-14). Pi is an irrational number… it cannot be written as the ratio of two integers. It’s a number that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its own diameter. It shows […]
Things people panic-buy (and stores seem to have run out of) when faced with a serious respiratory virus: Toilet paper Tissue Paper towels Cleaning supplies Oatmeal Fresh Beef Fresh Chicken Pasta Milk Fresh vegetables, including avocados Frozen vegetables Eggs Bread Yellow onions Bottled water Things people do not buy (still […]
Today was a good running day. It was a really good running day. I don’t know what it was, but I haven’t felt this good running in a long time.
My institution issued the policy against work-related international travel around 8pm Central European Time. I was at CERN when it happened. I sought guidance from higher-ups at my institution: if you don’t get on the first flight back to the U.S., you can’t come to campus for 14 days after […]
Disease is one of those stresses on our systems that prompts and promotes the spread of misinformation. All of us are hungry for information about how to respond to this disease, but with that desire comes a certain level of credulousness that lets in misinformation. Check out the latest podcast […]
COVID-19 is stressing systems in interesting ways. One thing we are seeing with increasing frequency in the U.S. is schools switching to “online teaching” for the next several weeks (perhaps even for the rest of the terms this academic year). Below, I share some of my perspectives on strategies for […]
Jodi got invited by the DFW Tap Talks organization to give a short talk for the public. I tagged along for the event. I have always wanted to check out one of these “science on tap” talks, and I was not disappointed! It was a great night of 20 minute […]
Jodi and I are off to Milwaukee, via Chicago, for the weekend. For two hours this week, I had some peace. Flights have some practical uses; one is to firewall you from the nonsense so rampant in this world.
As expected, and nicely summarized by the American Institute of Physics: President Trump’s latest budget request largely repeats past proposals to sharply reduce funding for non-defense R&D programs across the federal government. However, it includes a stronger emphasis on research tied to the administration’s “Industries of the Future” focus areas, […]
The Washington Post article below [1] is a nice summary of what is currently digested from the executive branch’s FY2021 federal budget proposal. That dropped yesterday. Specifically regarding agencies that fund basic, curiosity-driven science, these excerpts are indicative of the pattern of proposed effects: The Energy Department would get a […]