Links: Science!

Starting with stories related to science, and ending with some Covid-related links. Scientists are starting to catch up with what people were reporting all along about Covid and other chronic infections.

2023 Analytical Laboratory Finalists at Analog Magazine. I haven't read these yet, and I might get back to them.

debunking the conquest narrative by
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg engages with the story of the conquest of the Holy Land from an archaeological research perspective.

BIBLE SPOILER ALERT: Eventually, the Israelites make it to the Holy Land, wage war and kill a lot of people, as commanded. They take the land– as God had told them to.
[...]
Israelite conquest?
Didn't actually happen.

Can You Hear a Meteor? by Marc Lailanilla. This is so cool! Turns out people were correctly reporting their experience all along.

Death, Lonely Death by Doug Muir. A paean to Voyager 1. ETA: And all is not yet lost. These NASA scientists and programmers are amazing!

Tackling long-haul diseases by Allison Guy.

“Long covid looks exactly, and I mean exactly, like chronic Lyme.”
Michal “Mikki” Tal, MIT immunoengineer

Scientists Have Proven That Severe COVID-19 Is a Thrombotic Disease by São Paolo Research Foundation.

In the study, the researchers found that endothelial injury tended to precede two common processes in cases of respiratory distress: significant alveolar-capillary membrane leakage, and intra-alveolar accumulation of fibrin (associated with blood clotting and wound healing).

Long Covid ‘brain fog’ may be due to leaky blood-brain barrier, study finds by Nicola Davis.

Campbell said the results were not a surprise as disruptions to proteins involved in clotting could go hand in hand with disruption to cells that lined blood vessels. “The whole concept that a lot of these neurological conditions, including brain fog, could be treated by simply regulating the integrity of the blood-brain barrier is really exciting,” he said.

And, bearing witness. Testimonials of the Collectively Abandoned. A Letter to Our Anarchist, Socialist, and Radical Leftist Comrades.

This zine aims to give a voice to the people, forced into continued 'COVIDing'. By describing day to day situations, concrete problems that might arise, we hope to show what living under these conditions can look and feel like. We hope that this illustrates our demand, as expressed in our previous zine, for a radical left that keeps taking this horrendous disease seriously and is willing to protect ourselves and our comrades.

I voted!

California has 100% vote by mail, so I filled out the ballot at home over a few days and then biked over to an outdoor drop box. After I slid it in carefully to avoid the rain-damp edges of the slot, a canvasser I hadn't noticed asked me if I was a registered voter. As I walked my bike back to the street, I said, "No, I just put in a ballot for no reason." She said, "Oh," and laughed, and then apparently the penny dropped because she said, "B*tch," as I rode away. Listen, lady, you're the one who interrupted me.

While filling out the ballot, I asked a politically aware friend for advice and also looked around online for information and endorsements. If you're also in the East Bay you might find some of these useful.

I voted for Biden for president and Barbara Lee for both Senate races, since they're consecutive. Yeah, they're old. They know what they're doing and I'm going to support them. Biden because the alternative is too terrible to contemplate and Barbara Lee because she's a powerful Black woman and I want to see her in the Senate.

Here's some info on the Democratic Central Committee. I voted for the Progressive Power slate.

I voted for for Lateefah Simon for Barbara Lee's Congressional seat. My politically knowledgeable friend said that the Democratic party had anointed her as Barbara Lee's successor and cleared the field of meaningful opposition to her.

John Bauters for Alameda County Supervisor. I really debated between him and Bas, but ended up choosing him, both because he's more experienced (which usually favors white men :-( ) and because he has done amazing things for Emeryville's bike route network.

Michael Johnson for Alameda County Judge.

I voted No on Prop 1. It's been endorsed by all the papers, but the price tag is high enough, and I've seen enough concerns about existing county clinics getting defunded that I turned it down. If it does pass, hopefully they'll put the money to good use.