South African Virus Matches Argentine Strain, No New Threats
“Genetic sequencing of samples in South Africa suggests that the virus is nearly identical to the version seen in Argentina and has not mutated in ways that would make it a greater threat”-@Tuliodna
Andes Hantavirus Shows Airborne Human-to-Human Spread
The detailed investigation of a prior hantavirus human-human transmission event has evidence of airborne transmission of Andes strain: Patient 1 --> Patient 4 "did not have any physical contact and simply said “hello” to each other as they crossed paths" Patient 1 -->...
Airplane Cabins Mix Outdoor Air with HEPA Filtration
This is not entirely correct (air changes ARE a meaningful metric independent of filtration), but mostly want to let people know that airplanes have excellent filtration, too - HEPA filters. Airplane cabin air is 50:50 mix of outdoor air and...
Safety Over Savings: APU Essential for Passenger Health
And…having the APU powered up makes sure everyone is safe on the airplane, and the airline is meeting Federal Aviation Regulations. Sorry - doesn’t make sense to me to save energy and fuel at the expense to human health and comfort....
Early Clues Showed Airborne Human-to-Human Andes Transmission
Important that the sequencing was done to confirm Andes (h2h strain), of course, but there were obvious early signals that this was h2h and airborne before that: --> index patient got it before boarding, second patient got it *weeks* later. Now...
Airborne COVID Transmission Confirmed on Diamond Princess
Reupping this piece from NYT when they covered our modeling of Covid transmission on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that demonstrated it was spread person-to-person through the air, when people said that couldn’t possibly be happening… https://t.co/pB5qyRFC5u https://t.co/QkW8sr7LVW
Big Law’s Trump Payments Reveal Corruption, Not Cowardice
This article changed my mental model of when Big Law caved to Trump. I thought it was just cowardice, but now recognize it was corruption. Brad Karp used his firm’s money to pay a fee to Trump, right as Trump...
Blood Test May Forecast Alzheimer’s Years Before Symptoms
A new study by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Mass General Brigham has found that a blood test has the potential to predict progression of Alzheimer’s disease ***years before*** symptoms or brain scan changes. https://t.co/WtghaB12r2
Multiple Forces, Not Just Gas, Sink Struggling Business
Sunk by high gas prices? Or sunk by congress blocking a merger with Google years ago? (or maybe, just maybe, it’s a poorly run business…)
Vaccination Quickly Halts Measles Outbreak After Decline
A play in 4 parts: 1. Measles vax rates drop below 90% 2. Measles outbreak infects 1,000 3. 20,000 measles vaccines given 4. No new cases; outbreak over "Measles vaccinations [were] the most effective single containment tool” https://t.co/rE8lSQ45VF
Cockpit Air Quality Impacts Pilot Maneuver Success
Our study of airplane pilots showed that the air quality in the cockpit was associated with whether or not pilots passed or failed advanced maneuvers, including midair traffic collision avoidance. #HealthyAir #HealthyAirplanes #IAQ #HealthyBuildings
Base AI Models Devour Startups, Even Low‑Budget Launches
Poor folks launched this on the same day Anthropic announced Claude Design (these base models are eating up new - and existing - companies at an unhealthy clip)
US Ramps up Defense, Industry, and Geopolitical Focus
The moves on Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, Cuba, the $65B allocated to restoring domestic shipbuilding, the request for 44% increase in military spending to $1.5T, and this latest news on automakers/manufacturers, all signal one thing, don't they? https://t.co/1c6qA9auTA
Griffin’s Midtown Project Boosts Jobs and Public Realm
Ken Griffin is the CEO of Citadel. He chose to build a new building in midtown NYC. The project contributes $150 million for air rights from local landmarks and $35.8 million to the East Midtown Public Realm Improvement, creates thousands...
US EV Slump Stems From Bad Cars, Not Demand
The headlines last year about the 'automakers leaving EV market b/c buyers don't want them' were so off-base. The issue was US automakers (w/ the exception of Tesla) were making sh*t EVs. The market is there. Just make a good...