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Vaccine

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peter-h:
I was getting a connection to the chip using my S10 phone but after I cycled under some 400kV power lines, I never saw it again. Hopefully the 2nd dose will restore proper function.

It was slightly unusual in that it wasn't broadcasting an SSID - presumably to reduce the power consumption.

Tomorokoshi:

--- Quote from: peter-h on March 18, 2021, 04:33:54 pm ---I was getting a connection to the chip using my S10 phone but after I cycled under some 400kV power lines, I never saw it again. Hopefully the 2nd dose will restore proper function.

It was slightly unusual in that it wasn't broadcasting an SSID - presumably to reduce the power consumption.

--- End quote ---

With one dose you can only achieve 2.5G. You need both doses to get 5G.

coppice:

--- Quote from: NiHaoMike on March 17, 2021, 10:42:36 pm ---Hence why I'm strongly against reopening schools early, since school has become bloated and overpriced. In its place, we could have online learning services instead. Hands on activities (e.g. science experiments) could be done by sending kits to the students or small workshops could be opened if that's not practical, done in such a way that possible spread would be very limited.

--- End quote ---
On line learning, as with traditional learning purely from books, works well for those who are very smart and very motivated. For the bulk of people its a poor substitute for face to face learning. MOOC was a hot topic a few years ago. Now its a topic of much disillusion.

mathsquid:

--- Quote from: tooki on March 18, 2021, 04:23:46 pm ---I could not disagree more on the online learning idea. We have to do that, and it’s simply no substitute for in-person instruction. It’s less effective, and it creates a lot more work for the teachers to boot.

--- End quote ---

I agree completely. I've been teaching fully online for the past year due to covid, and in many ways it has been problematic. I don't know my students very well. I only get a tiny fraction of the feedback I'd normally get. Preparation takes way longer. Cheating seems to be more prevalent.  I can't wait to get back into a normal face-to-face classroom. But at the same time it has forced me to reassess how I do assignments and testing. I've learned how to shoot videos using multiple sources (camera, ipad, computer windows showing computations or graphs). And I've gotten much better at writing online assignments.

So (for me anyway) this huge disruption has had some definite benefits. I'm thinking that partially online classes might become a large part of what I do in the future. I am concerned, however, that snow days may become a thing of the past.

gnuarm:

--- Quote from: DrG on March 18, 2021, 05:44:57 am ---
--- Quote from: gnuarm on March 18, 2021, 04:19:20 am ---
--- Quote from: langwadt on March 17, 2021, 11:51:21 pm ---
isn't that basically the evolve in evolution?

--- End quote ---

Evolution consists of two separate things, mutation and selection.  There is no guiding force causing mutations.  They happen randomly and constantly resulting in a genome population with variation.  When these mutations result in poor performance in the environment those organisms reproduce less often and the frequency of the genes they carry are reduced.  When the mutations result in better survivability in the environment the frequency of the gene increases. 

In a disease population that is not wide spread (no where near herd immunity numbers) there is no competition.  Many strains of the disease can spread without influence on one another.  There is no real competition.  Once herd immunity levels are approached only a significant mutation that prevents existing antibodies from attacking the virus will be able to spread widely.  That is why we need to continue to take all precautions to minimize the spread of the disease; so the disease can be brought to Australian levels where it can be tracked and traced out of existence.

--- End quote ---

I certainly agree with your final sentence – completely, but if I can add some other information (as I see it).
--- End quote ---

You are a very wise man.



--- Quote ---We can cause mutations – chemicals and radiation, for example.
--- End quote ---

In viral replication this is not significant.  In higher lifeforms using DNA, changes to the nuclear information is detected and often repaired preventing it from becoming a mutation (i.e. being expressed).  Viruses have a very high replication factor and so can more easily tolerate a higher mutation rate, so there is less detection and correction involved resulting in a much higher mutation rate.   No need to induce mutations from outside affects.



--- Quote ---The virus (SARS-CoV-2) is not alive.
--- End quote ---


I would debate that assertion, but it is of no consequence in this discussion.



--- Quote ---It requires a living cell to reproduce. It binds to the cell and hijacks the cell to follow its RNA instructions, which includes making copies. Unabated, enough cells get hijacked and you are in trouble.
--- End quote ---

<Trimmed a tour of viral replication and processing...>



--- Quote ---In each case, the vaccine can be tuned to produce an immune response better targeting a variant. The big fear, however, is that we don’t get it under control with vaccination; we could end up in a whack-a-mole situation.

If we don’t screw up, we will overcome this one and be better prepared for the next one. But that is a big “if”. Even though in the US we are up to some 2 million shots / day, and increasing, I worry. Moreover, it is absolutely a global situation that requires global eradication/control.
--- End quote ---

Yes, we were probably on solid ground until the winter (Northern hemisphere) surge.  Those numbers were insane and we have not recovered from that back to August levels yet!  Higher rates of infection result in higher rates of mutation.  With the vaccine in wide distribution we will be letting our guard down paying less attention to spreading the disease.

Our response to the rate of infection is to shelter when it is on the upswing and to relax when it is on the down swing.  This acts like a control loop maintaining a high level of infection.  In the US we had not even dropped back to the peak levels from the two previous surges before opening up and relaxing the protective regulations.  Clearly we are a nation of idiots who can't understand simple math, being led by imbeciles who can't even understand a chart. 

https://xkcd.com/2278/


--- Quote ---Sorry to go on and on but I am trying to set up an old Linksys WRT54G router - remember those? Well, I feel like I have forgotten whatever I once knew about the $!#@ things!.

--- End quote ---

You mean like the router I am connected to the Internet with?  Which version of OpenWrt are you running?  Or is it Tomato or DD-WRT? 

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