Monthly Archives: October 2021

In Case You Missed It…

Posted on October 16, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

…a week of Mad Biologist posts: Rage Is the Appropriate Emotion Very Cautiously Very Optimistic About a Third Vaccination Vaccine Mandates Still Work The State of COVID-19 in D.C.: The Decline Is Slowing Anti-Vaccinationism Isn’t New. At All (On the … Continue reading →

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Links 10/15/21

Posted on October 15, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Real-world data show that filters clean COVID-causing virus from air Flatworms Are Metal. They can tear themselves in half and regrow complete bodies. They can retain memories despite decapitation. And if you chop them into little … Continue reading →

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Anti-Vaccinationism Isn’t New. At All (On the Ahistoricity of the Modern Pundit)

Posted on October 15, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

One of the darkly amusing phenomena of the pandemic has been watching Thinky Thought Leaders who’ve made a career out of knowing Econ101 and Stats101 and then broadcasting their HAWT TAEKS flounder around because they lack domain expertise and domain … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Vaccination | 4 Comments

Links 10/14/21

Posted on October 14, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: An economic evaluation of the Whole Genome Sequencing source tracking program in the U.S. (we could have had COVID sequencing up and running by July 2020, if we had wanted to–the federal government can do this … Continue reading →

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If You’re Calling for New Democratic Messages, Be Clear about What You Mean

Posted on October 14, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Last week, Ezra Klein had an interview with polling wunderkindt David Shor, whose political wisdom Klein distills to (boldface mine): All this comes down to a simple prescription: Democrats should do a lot of polling to figure out which of … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, Polling | 2 Comments

Links 10/13/21

Posted on October 13, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Effects of Synonymous Mutations beyond Codon Bias: The Evidence for Adaptive Synonymous Substitutions from Microbial Evolution Experiments Close cousins of SARS-CoV-2 found in a cave in Laos yield new clues about pandemic’s origins Can Nuclear Fusion … Continue reading →

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The State of COVID-19 in D.C.: The Decline Is Slowing

Posted on October 13, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

And in a couple of wards, stalling. Before we get to that, only Ward 3 is below the German rollback threshold of 50 new cases per 100,000 per week–which also is the threshold the CDC suggests schools for all grades … Continue reading →

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Links 10/12/21

Posted on October 12, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Why Do Species Get a Thin Slice of π? Revisiting Lewontin’s Paradox of Variation (excellent) Toxic stress and burnout: John Henryism and social dominance in the laboratory and STEM workforce Analysis of Genomic DNA from Medieval … Continue reading →

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Vaccine Mandates Still Work

Posted on October 12, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Given our inability to improve building ventilation, have enough masking in enough places, or adopt affordable, widespread rapid testing, we’re going to need them. We’ve seen over the last few weeks how successful mandates have been in getting people vaccinated, … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 | 3 Comments

Links 10/11/21

Posted on October 11, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Tylenol could be risky for pregnant women – a new review of 25 years of research finds acetaminophen may contribute to ADHD and other developmental disorders in children Serendipity and foresight prepared the world to fight … Continue reading →

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