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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 29, 2021 14:20:24 GMT
The reason I went back to the "origins of life" etc is because viruses are perhaps the earliest form of complex life (there's an interesting discussion to be had about whether or not they're actually alive). So you kind of have to start at the beginning . And on that particular point, the Royal Institute talk I posted in another thread is worth a listen to: Are Viruses Alive? - with Carl Zimmerand at 14:50 also shows a model of Sars-Cov2 at the atomic level.
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corto
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Post by corto on Nov 29, 2021 14:24:23 GMT
Am deleting a triggering post. my point was that we need to boost ASAP. and that focussing on masks misses the point. But not worth starting a fight. Tried to book a booster. Nothing available in 20 miles radius until 30th December. If that's countrywide there needs to be an infrastructure boost first, otherwise it's all show and babble.
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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 29, 2021 14:26:44 GMT
Just been to Sainsburys, in London. ~50% of people not wearing masks. better than my local tesco's, but round here I've always said that if you want to see decreasing levels of sanity when it comes to mask wearing and social distancing, go to Waitrose, Sainsburys, Tescos, in that order.
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Nov 29, 2021 14:35:55 GMT
There are some parts of what you wrote that I like but some patronising although perhaps that's understandable given my previous recent posts which were/are trying to convey detail and subtly that is hard to express. Yeah on re-reading it my first para was pretty clumsy. That para was aimed at bobo as much as anybody else and I could have made that clear. I certainly didn't mean to patronise, and I apologise if it came across that way. What I was trying to say was that there are people out there who don't understand something, and start to research things, and for any number of different reasons go off in the wrong direction - anti-vax sentiment, or QAnon etc. It's not hard to imagine somebody, particularly if they don't have some kind of scientific education, going "What's all this about COVID then" and hitting up the internet. From there it's not too much of a leap to see them, because of some combination of complexity / disliking of the message / FUD / political suasion heading in the wrong direction. What I wasn't trying to say was that you were guilty of this. The internet (and eg wikipedia) is amazing. It's not perfect. Anyway, biology is messier than maths. But I think you'll agree that even maths has some pretty gnarly aspects to it (eg Godel's Incompleteness Theorem).
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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 29, 2021 14:38:19 GMT
Interesting to note that the first of your links I clicked on (Viruses and yes sorry I jumped ahead) stated in the very first sentence, indeed the fourth word, that viruses are submicroscopic ! I guess their definition excludes electron microscopes.... Presumably because for hundreds of years the term 'microscope' meant something you used to magnify images formed with visible light. So microscopic meant something you couldn't see with the naked eye but could see with a microscope. Even today, when the general public refer to 'a microscope' they are referring to what might now be more strictly referred to as an 'optical microscope' but only because we now have more than one type 'microscope'.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Nov 29, 2021 14:39:05 GMT
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IFISAcava
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Post by IFISAcava on Nov 29, 2021 14:50:36 GMT
Am deleting a triggering post. my point was that we need to boost ASAP. and that focussing on masks misses the point. But not worth starting a fight. Tried to book a booster. Nothing available in 20 miles radius until 30th December. If that's countrywide there needs to be an infrastructure boost first, otherwise it's all show and babble. if you are eligible and it's a 1 month wait that is abysmal and inexcusable. When I booked I had 10+ convenient options starting the same day, which is what it should be.
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archie
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Post by archie on Nov 29, 2021 14:57:32 GMT
Am deleting a triggering post. my point was that we need to boost ASAP. and that focussing on masks misses the point. But not worth starting a fight. Tried to book a booster. Nothing available in 20 miles radius until 30th December. If that's countrywide there needs to be an infrastructure boost first, otherwise it's all show and babble. If you've tried the booster booking site and the walk-in availability site then try your GP surgery. They might be able to book you in more locally.
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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 29, 2021 15:42:59 GMT
The problem with that headline and statement is that it works from the premise that if it is no more 'deadly' (word they use but I would say 'more dangerous') then the worlds current response is an overreaction. Or rather it comes from the standpoint that since we don't know whether it is more deadly, the response de facto is an overreaction. That is a conflation of two different things. Quite clearly, we don't yet know whether it is inherently more or less 'deadly' than existing variants. We don't yet know whether existing vaccines will still have a high effectivity against it. I've not yet heard anyone (sensible) make the case for new restrictions based on contradicting that. Instead, we know that it has a significant potential for vaccine escape based on the differences in makeup. If we don't do anything until we have the answer to that, by then it will be too late. By that measure, putting additional fire breaks in now, based on the information we have, is prudent and proportional. If it then turns out to be no worse than anything else, it doesn't mean action now was an 'overreaction': it is after all simply an already known - and indeed wished for - potential outcome.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2021 15:50:59 GMT
RT is not a source of honest reporting or factual evidence, it is an organ of the state and its mouthpiece.
We have been here before
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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 29, 2021 15:55:30 GMT
meanwhile back in the real world: booster jabs extended to all over 18's, and the gap from completion of first vaccination (second jab) reduced down to 3 months. That is despite the fact they acknowledge that there is a better outcome if the gap is 6 months. I think we can conclude that they are 'concerned'.
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corto
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Post by corto on Nov 29, 2021 16:03:08 GMT
Tried to book a booster. Nothing available in 20 miles radius until 30th December. If that's countrywide there needs to be an infrastructure boost first, otherwise it's all show and babble. if you are eligible and it's a 1 month wait that is abysmal and inexcusable. When I booked I had 10+ convenient options starting the same day, which is what it should be. Checked again and the availability on the NHS booster booking site is the same; 30Dec. However, they do not have all walk-in options (if any). There are apparently suitable earlier walk-in options this week. There are also different local walk-in locations and times on the NHS walk-in booking site as compared to the one set up by the city council. I shall just check tomorrow; it's not a long walk.
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james100
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Post by james100 on Nov 29, 2021 16:04:23 GMT
Yes, that might explain why the NHS booking site currently has a "queue" of over 3000 people accessing the system.
Meanwhile, having tried for several days to get an appointment earlier than 200 days post vax #2 I am still unable to do so. And I'm quick off the mark as my GP hasn't even contacted me yet.
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corto
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Post by corto on Nov 29, 2021 16:08:31 GMT
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Steerpike
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Post by Steerpike on Nov 29, 2021 16:12:40 GMT
Interesting investigation today of the detail behind the BMJ mask meta-analysis.
"ONS survey results on prevalence shows that the Scottish and English approach to masking although formally different since July has made no meaningful difference to Delta" - Oxford University’s Professor James Naismith
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