Monthly Archives: March 2021

156 million, 47%, perhaps even 66% of Americans are immune!

Antikythera mechanism:
Another layer learned

The device, found on the
Mediterranean Sea bottom in
2,200-yr-old shipwreck, was
designed well enough to fairly
accurately reproduce the motion
of the Sun and Moon, as well as
the planets Mercury and Venus.
But that leaves out Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn, which were also
known in antiquity.
X-rays of the almost totally
disintegrated front cover reveal
it accurately calculated the cycles
of Venus and Saturn—462
and 442 years, respectively.
“After considerable struggle,
we managed to match the evidence
in Fragments A and D to
a mechanism for Venus, which
exactly models its 462-year
planetary period relation, with
the 63-tooth gear playing a crucial
role,” said co-author David
Higgon.
There are still plenty of mysteries
surrounding the Antikythera
mechanism, however, such
as whether this latest version
could really have been built
using ancient manufacturing
techniques.
Info: shpr.fyi/antikythera2

Restaurants to 50%

Inslee bestows entire state
with Phase 3 on March 22.
Indoor spaces, like restaurants
and movie theaters, can have
50% occupancy. Up to 400 people
can attend indoor and outdoor
activities, such as concerts
and high school graduations, as
long as physical distancing and
masking is enforced. Outdoor
events with permanent facilities
can have 25% occupancy.
Info: shpr.fyi/waphase3

Yakima Fairground
vaccination site expands
to 1,200 per day

The Federal Emergency Management
Agency announced a
fixed, drive-thru vaccination site
will open March 31 at Central
Washington State Fair Park as
well as mobile vaccination units.
Through this partnership, vaccination
capacity at this location
will expand from approximately
200 vaccines per day to 1,200
vaccines per day between the
drive-thru site and mobile units.
Those seeking vaccinations
should check their phase eligibility
using Phase Finder. Then,
register for an appointment on
Prep-Mod or call 1-800-525-
0127. Proof of eligibility is required,
which may be an employer/
provider letter, work ID
badge or screenshot of Phase
Finder approval.
Info: shpr.fyi/yakfairvacc

Asotin’s Science
Olympiad team
wins championship

ASOTIN — The COVID-19
pandemic may have brought a
lot of activities to a halt, but a
science team at Asotin figured
out a way to catapult to the forefront
of competition.
The school’s Science Olympiad
team, which serves between
25 and 35 kids from fifth
to 10th grades, adapted its program
over the past year by competing
in virtual tournaments, so
students could “travel” online as
far as Boston and remain focused
on a shared goal.
The extra effort paid off.
The Asotin team recently
wrapped up its regional tournament,
featuring 30 teams from
eastern Washington, by placing
first and winning a bid to the
state tournament in April, for
the fourth consecutive year. The
small-town team, which
achieved the top slot in the region
for the first time in school
history, battled against students
from much larger Pullman, Spokane,
Moses Lake and other
schools throughout the area.
Info: shpr.fyi/asotinsci

Single Pill for COVID?

Molnupiravir, was randomly
assigned in various doses among
182 participants across several
medical centers who showed
coronavirus symptoms within a
week of testing positive and
were not hospitalized.
By day five, no one who took
the pill still tested positive for
coronavirus, while 24% of those
who got a placebo drug did.
Info: shpr.fyi/molnupiravir


Virus tolls similar
despite governors’
contrasting actions

Nearly a year after California
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered
the nation’s first statewide shutdown
because of the coronavirus,
masks remain mandated,
indoor dining and other activities
are significantly limited, and
Disneyland remains closed.
By contrast, Florida has no
statewide restrictions. Republican
Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited
municipalities from fining
people who refuse to wear
masks. And Disney World has
been open since July.
Despite their differing approaches,
California and Florida
have experienced almost identical
outcomes in COVID caserates.
How have two states
that took such divergent tacks
arrived at similar points?
California and Florida both
have a COVID-19 case rate of
around 8,900 per 100,000 residents
since the pandemic began,
according to the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Connecticut and South Dakota
are another example. Both
rank among the 10 worst states
for COVID-19 death rates. Yet
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont,
a Democrat, imposed numerous
statewide restrictions over the
past year after an early surge in
deaths, while South Dakota
Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican,
issued no mandates as virus
infections increased.
Excerpted from Associated
Press by David A, Lieb,
Info: shpr.fyi/coviddiffer

A note about the thermometer
above:
The number of Infection &
Recovery (Dark Green) I’ve
used is just the actual number
known and reported by CDC.
However, CDC, Dr. Fauci and
others suspected and reported
that very many additional, originally
perhaps 30% of the U.S.
population, had been infected
and recovered without symptoms,
without even knowing
they were sick or had COVID.
These cannot be not counted.
Probably the same percentage
of those 30% originally estimated
additional infected & recovered
are among the 32%, now
vaccinated so I have reduced the
original 30% unknown recovered
number by the percent vaccinated,
now to 19%.
I have added this 19% of us
who are probably immune as a
lightly colored green section.
This would bring our real total
American immunity to
around 66%- getting close to the
70% herd immunity goal!
This is the reason that the
daily number of new infections
and hospitalizations has
plummeted so drastically and
wonderfully.

With herd immunity,
masks and shutdowns
will prevent few new
COVID infections!

-Dave Bunting

136 million, 41%, perhaps even 61% of Americans are immune!


Restaurants to 50%: Inslee bestows entire state with Phase 3 on March 22.
Indoor spaces, like restaurants and movie theaters, can have 50% occupancy. Up to 400 people can attend indoor and outdoor activities, such as concerts and high school graduations, as long as physical distancing and masking is enforced. Outdoor events with permanent facilities can have 25% occupancy.
Spectator capacity is also expanded for high school and youth sports. High school contact sports, like basketball, wrestling and cheerleading, can resume.
The state will also move to a per-county-based system, re-evaluating counties every three weeks with the first re-assessment planned for April 12.

Vaccines effective against variants
Genetic variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging, but so far the three vaccines being used immunize against the variants very well.
Watch a video from the Journal of the American Medical Association:
Info: shpr.fyi/vacceff

British variant B.1.1.7 more serious but covered by vaccines
Infection with the new B.1.1.7 variant led to 227 (0.41%) deaths in a sample of 54,906 COVID-19 patients, compared with 141 (0.25%) among the same number of patients who were matched for age, sex, sociodemographic background, date of infection, and other factors, but infected with other variants.
Scientists say it is also 40%-70% more transmissible than currently dominant variants.
Info: shpr.fyi/b117worse

U.S. Solar Panel makers can’t compete with China
American-made solar panels “cannot compete” with Chinese prices as the demand for green energy increases under the Biden administration.
The U.S. Dept. of Commerce concluded that China violated the countervailing duty law by providing heavy subsidies to Chinese solar manufacturers. The Department calculates that China supplied solar producers with subsidies ranging “from 27.64% to 49.79%”.
These findings led the Trump administration to impose tariffs on “solar panels from China ranging from 18.56% to 35.21%,” bringing U.S. manufacturers level with the Chinese.
President Biden, while suggesting 10,000 Keystone Pipeline workers whose jobs he destroyed get jobs making solar panels, is removing those tariffs, so U.S. solar panel makers and their employees will again be unable to compete with China.
Info: shpr.fyi/solarchina

U.S. Military Rare Earth Metals Supply Threatened by China
China has the largest known rare earth reserves worldwide and is one of the major producing countries of these elements.
Roughly 80% of rare earth metals go into ultra-high-strength magnets used in many electronic products and high-temperature superalloys, especially those used to manufacture the turbine blades for commercial and military aircraft jet engines.
For example. an F-35 fighter jet contains over 900 lb. of rare earths.
China moved to tighten control over the rare-earth metals industry in what some experts see as part of its military response to the ongoing trade war with the US. Even rare earths mined in the US must be sent to China for processwing.
China may ban the export of rare-earths refining technology to countries or companies it deems as a threat on state security concerns, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mining in the Mt. Margaret metals area south of Randle may become existential for America.
Info: shpr.fyi/rarechina

Testing defense against Earth-bound asteroids
NASA Project DART will target a binary asteroid system that consists of a larger asteroid called Didymos, which measures about a half mile wide, and a smaller asteroid satellite called Dimorphos, which measures 540 feet across.
The mission will test a new planetary defense technique, requiring the spacecraft to slam into Dimorphos to change the orbital speed of the asteroid through a kinetic impact. If successful, this technique could be used to deflect asteroids that pose a threat to Earth.
Info: shpr.fyi/dartprotect

Ivermectin trial shows little benefit against COVID
In this randomized clinical trial that included 476 patients, the duration of symptoms was not significantly different for patients who received a 5-day course of ivermectin compared with placebo. Median time to resolution of symptoms was 10 vs 12 days which is not much.
Among adults with mild COVID-19, a 5-day course of ivermectin, compared with placebo, did not significantly improve the time to resolution of symptoms. The findings do not support the use of ivermectin for treatment of mild COVID-19.
Info: shpr.fyi/ivermect



A note about the thermometer above:
The number of Infection & Recovery (Dark Green) I’ve used is just the actual number known and reported by CDC.
However, CDC, Dr. Fauci and others suspected and reported that very many additional, originally perhaps 30% of the U.S. population, had been infected and recovered without symptoms, without even knowing they were sick or had COVID. These cannot be not counted.
Probably the same percentage of those 30% originally estimated additional infected & recovered are among the 32%, now vaccinated so I have reduced the original 30% unknown recovered number by the percent vaccinated, now to 20%.
I have added this 20% of us who are probably immune as a lightly colored green section.
This would bring our real total American immunity to around 61%- getting close to the 70% herd immunity goal!
This is the reason that the daily number of new infections and hospitalizations has plummeted so drastically and wonderfully.
With herd immunity, COVID will no longer necessitate masks & shutdowns!
Dave Bunting