COVID Vax Mess

On By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Do you ever get mad at people who voted for Trump? He said he was going to make a mess of our healthcare system, giving RFK permission to go wild about anything health related except oil.  And yes, it is a mess right now. Take for example, getting a COVID vaccine.

For a while, some states required a doctor’s permission to get a COVID vaccine. That restriction was removed this month. At least, I think so.

I don’t live in one of those states that formed a health alliance to counteract the madness. Anyone over 6 months of age can get a COVID shot there. So naturally, getting a COVID shot became a challenge for me, even though I am old enough. I asked about getting a COVID vaccine at my local Hy-Vee. They said they had no information but might in a month. Hy-Vee by the way has donated to politicians, including “mean Ken.”

I then called the pharmacy associated with my local hospital, PRH. They said they didn’t know what was going on. After all that happened with COVID, the CEO of PRH has donated to Republicans recently. 

However, I went to Costco in West Des Moines and got a COVID shot. I’m over 65 so eligible and had no trouble getting one, except that Costco was packed. 

I’m one of those people who so far doesn’t suffer much from COVID. I’m a teacher and exposed to many germs and have had frequent colds. Since COVID is a killer cold, it’s possible my body knows how to fight it. I had it once and thought it was just a weird fever. I had a test kit about to expire, I used it, and yes, it was COVID. I believe I might have had COVID once before, in February 2020. My research students and I felt “kinda weird” and although I never had a fever, I had strange dreams.

Sadly, the government is no longer offering free COVID tests. What they are offering is photos of Trump along with a theory that scientists don’t support. How unprofessional! And untrustworthy. And unhelpful, at least to the average citizen. I’m going to have a hard time trusting other information. There was even a little Fauci bashing on a government website. This kind of thing has gotten the CDC attacked and someone killed.

Even if you don’t get very sick, COVID persists in your body. It’s aging. It can promote heart disease. It can harm veins. Long COVID is most prominent in young people and women. It can even cause anemia and heavy, painful periods.

How to debunk COVID misinformation? There’s a study for that.

Here’s an example.

Myth: COVID doesn’t affect kids. 

Reality: Pediatric COVID is more common and harmful than people think! Memory problems and anxiety are some of the persistent symptoms. 

What isn’t a myth? This year, COVID confusion abounds. I wonder why? 

The Dark Side Comes for The Moon

On By Catherine HausteinIn Uncategorized2 Comments

The nearly full moon rose like an old friend as I walked my dog last night. When my mom died in October many years ago, it rose in beauty, giving me familiar comfort and ushering me into a new phase of life.

I’ve loved watching the moon since I was a child riding with my grandpa on his tractor. The way it traversed the sky and changed phases delighted me. In fact, I thought the Moon was called the Move and would turn my grampa’s face to see it and say, “Look at the Move!”

I was so curious about what it was made of and if anything alive could be up there. I even had the privilege of watching the Moon landing with Gramps.

If we didn’t have the Moon there’ d be no eclipses, no moon dance, no moon shadow, no moon light sonata, no blue moon, no Dark Side of the Moon.

We’d see weaker tides with their ebb and flow. Marine animals wouldn’t be able to navigate or spawn. Corals wouldn’t reproduce. And what would I decorate my house with if there was no moon?

First Men in the Moon by HG Wells has been a favorite novel of mine, despite having a dearth of female characters. Two English gentlemen find themselves launched to the Moon thanks to a substance that shields their rudimentary travel sphere from gravity. Although implausible, I found this a clever twist but what unfolded on the Moon caught my imagination most strongly because it contains a shred of truth. The two men, one a businessman and one a scientist, encounter both gold and lifeforms. While the scientist wanted to learn more, the businessman schemed exploitation.

If you read reviews of First Men in the Moon the naysayers point out all the ways it’s unrealistic. But Wells got one thing right: Greed is coming for the Moon.

While scientists wring their hands at lost opportunity to study the Moon, the greedy are firing up for a moon-mining race. Yes, companies are salivating at a chance to harvest. The Moon, having once been part of earth, doesn’t have anything the Earth doesn’t but in some cases, the concentration of the materials might make them easier to mine them. As HG Wells predicted, the Moon does have water to provide for all the new exploits and it also has a rare isotope of helium, Helium-3 also designated 3He. This might be useful in providing fusion power, which so far, hasn’t been successfully achieved. After all, we’ve got to power all our AI some way. Why not shoot for the Moon so to speak?  Don’t worry. US companies are already planning to suck off the government to make this happen.

And if we don’t do it, Russia and China will. China’s been to the dark side recently so we in the US are not going to let “safety be the enemy of progress.”

I rue the day when I look up at the Moon and instead of imagining moon-rabbits, handsome men, or werewolves, I see avaricious people making money. What can I do about it? I think I will go on an internet diet and restrict my pointless searches. I’ll try to ignore Alexa  and Siri for several hours a day, even though Alexa has been calling out to me lately in a somewhat creepy way.  Although I hate to admit that Republicans ever had a good idea, my grandson says that since they banned cellphones at school, he’s been reading books again. Maybe if I disengage once a day for 4 hours, I will finally get the next novel done. When it comes to energy gobbling AI powered by elusive fusion, you know what they say: don’t obey in advance.

In praise of unisex and how to achieve prime monogamy

On By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m not the first one to wonder why in humans, it’s often the females who adorn themselves. It’s not natural and you need to look no further than newly discovered Eresus hermani

to see yet another example of this.  Which one do you think is the female?

You guessed it. The one on the left. According to biologist Paulina Mena “Evolutionarily speaking, sexual selection has to do with investment in reproduction. The mode in nature is that females invest more in making gametes and in many cases in parental care than males. This means that females maximize their reproductive success by being choosy. This is what leads to the elaborate adornments, bird songs, dances, etc. in males. They are trying to be picked.”

Of course, as my anthropologist/sociologist friends point out, not all human cultures put an emphasis on female adornment. In some cultures, males and females are equally adorned or not and in others, the men are the fancy ones.  Jeff Bass points out that “There is a general observation that there tends to be less gender equality (or more female dis-empowerment) in societies based on intensive agriculture.” This possibly comes as women are less central to economic production, and is less of a factor in industrialized countries where there’s plenty of work for women to do. In this case, adornment is less important.

When males and females look different, it’s called sexual dimorphism. (Sexual dichromatism is the term for different coloration between males and females.) As far as humans go, we don’t have exaggerated sexual dimorphism. Some studies have suggested that when males and females look similar to each other, there is less fighting and competition among males. Is grooming oneself, trying to look different, encouraging competition? If we were a gender neutral society, would we be more peaceful?

Ever since Darwin brought it up in 1871, there’s been debate on WHY certain mates are chosen over others. Sometimes, it depends on parental involvement. If the female invests more, she’s the picky one. If males invest more (as in seahorses), it’s the male who is picky. Evolutionary biologist Paulina Mena says, “Biologically speaking, it’s not so clear-cut where humans stand in this spectrum. We see females adorning themselves but the fact that males don’t wear makeup doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to get females to choose them by showing something off. They just do it in a different way. Working out to have a very athletic body could be considered the equivalent. For example it has been proposed that even intelligence and artistic expressions like music may have evolved as a way to impress females and be chosen as mates. This offends some people because they don’t want to think that cultural expressions may have its origin in sexual selection. But then again, the idea that females are driving evolution through being choosy was also something that upset people until kind of recently. They had a hard time accepting that.”

Like many animals without distinctive dimorphism, white storks are monogamous–for a while.

Monogamy is the primary type of pair bond for humans, and this is prevalent across societies. When looking back at our ape ancestors, monogamy is more prevalent when the males and females have less physical differences. To quote: in primates, minimal levels of sexual dimorphism in body weight and canine size are generally associated with monogamy and low rates of male antagonistic competition (e.g., gibbons; Harcourt, 1981) Gorillas on the other hand, where males are twice as big as females, are not monogamous.

Smaller testicles related to body size is also correlated with monogamous species.

There’s been speculation on the driving factor behind some of today’s weirder cosmetic surgery trends. One theory is that the participants are trying to enhance sexual dimorphism and have taken it to the extreme. It could follow then, that those who take their procedures seriously would be more antagonistic and less faithful.

As an author, I sometimes have to make a choice for my characters: settle down or be libertine. Most readers of novels do not like unfaithfulness. The idea of romance especially is to successfully pair bond. I will make sure to avoid having any heroes with big balls or surgery and take it from there.

For more discussion, go here.

Midyear Science News

On By Catherine HausteinIn Uncategorized4 Comments

1.Many men wish to control their fertility, and a few new products might be on the market soon. Some work by changing hormone balance, including a cream, and a newly developed pill might block the gene that directs sperm production. The later has just passed human safety standards in clinical trials.

2. July was one of the worst flooding seasons in global history. At last 134 pople were killed in Texas, 34 in China,69 in the Himalayas, and in early August, hundreds were missing in Pakistan and India.  The chemistry of why flash flooding is getting worse is outlined here. “Though floods naturally occur, increased moisture and rising temperatures from climate change are in some cases supercharging storms. According to a study in Nature, between 2020 and 2100, the size of the global population exposed to flood hazards is estimated to increase by 15.8%.”

3. Uncontrolled rage has sweeping societal consequences. A new study confirms that childhood aggression that persists into adulthood can be caused by early trauma. “Trauma during childhood can alter brain circuits that regulate attention and impulse control, increasing the risk of pathological aggression and cognitive decline in adulthood.”

5. The mysterious Shroud of Turin has captivated Christians for a long time. Is it really the burial garment laid over Jesus following his crucifixion? Radiocarbon dating has been inconclusive.  Now, the art world steps forward to suggest that the image was made from a statue and not a body.

6. Trump is dismantling science in the US . Why do we have a government that no longer serves the people and our futures? Because this is the will of at least one political party. This story dominates much of the science news so far this year.

7. mRNA vaccines are being badmouthed for no good reason. A detailed analysis of their promises and mild perils is presented here.

8. As the saying goes, we are done with COVID but COVID is not done with us. Since the government no longer approves COVID vaccines for many of us despite CDC warnings, the pharmaceutical industry is coming up with a new anti-viral drug, ibuzatrelvir. (Perhaps not in time. The COVID Vaccine even faces a ban.)

Dune Days of Summer

On By Catherine HausteinIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I spent my childhood in the Great Lakes dunes, climbing them and watching the dune creatures including numerous spiders and ant lions. Mostly what I remember is the joy (and challenge) of climbing and the feeling of being isolated, except for the company of my best pal, Kathi, who shared my love of nature and curiosity.

My son inherited the dune joy and when he and his family proposed a trip to Western Michigan including my hometown of Holland (and beloved relatives) and Sleeping Bear Dunes, I jumped at the chance.

For those unfamiliar, the dune ecosystem is characterized by shifting mounds of sand. It was formed by glaciers and can be parabolic or perched.

The Holland area features the parabolic dunes which extend all the way to the shore and provide beautiful beaches.

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People on a beach AI-generated content may be incorrect.

We did more hiking in the Sleeping Bear Dunes, perched dunes with some rigorous and beautiful hikes.

A wooden path on a hill with a body of water in the background AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Skies were hazy. Thanks Climate Change fires.

Some trails are easier than others and well stabilized. This is a National Park after all.

A person standing next to a sign AI-generated content may be incorrect.

The dunes range from 200 to 450 feet tall (on the Dune Climb shown in the next photos. Don’t go down if you can’t climb up. Sand isn’t easy to climb on because it isn’t stable. If you need a rescue, the rate is rumored to be $3,000. Here I am below (front), displaying my dune climbing skills.

We made it back after taking a less easy path.

A group of people walking through a forest AI-generated content may be incorrect.

The most challenging hike was the “double dunes” or as it is officially called, Dune Climb. Not all of us participated but for those who did, the two plus hour walk rewarded them with an otherworldly view and a fun run to the bottom.

A couple of kids running down a sand hill AI-generated content may be incorrect.

After a day of duneing, stop by Cherry Republic, for a large assortment of cherry products, ice cream and sit down casual dining.

A person walking in a garden AI-generated content may be incorrect.

And don’t forget the pie!

A box of pastries on a table AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Currently the dunes are protected by “The Sand Dune Protection and Management Act of 1976 designated these as sand dune areas, and the Act was amended in 1989 to designate 74,000 acres (29,600 ha) as Critical Dune Areas, which were characterized as “a unique, irreplaceable, and fragile resource.”

Only 25% of the Great Lakes dunes are in public, protected hands and the way things are going, we might lose access to them forever.

Washington Does it All

On By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

No, I don’t mean Washington DC, I recently took a trip to the Pacific Northwest to hang out with family in Washington State. I was greeted by a view of Mt. Rainier, an active, but beautiful, volcano.

A view of a mountain range from an airplane AI-generated content may be incorrect.

There’s plenty to do in the Pacific Northwest and we stuck close to where we were staying on Hood Canal. If you haven’t been to the area, it’s filled with hiking trails and for a Midwesterner, otherworldly sights.

A group of tall trees AI-generated content may be incorrect.

We travel with kids, and this was a kid friendly, casual adventure—no passport or make-up required. As a bonus, we encountered few mosquitos.

We stocked up at Costco and a seafood market,

A plate of seafood and watermelon AI-generated content may be incorrect.

My dreams of a new life owning a family oyster farm were dashed when I actually had an oyster slider (not shown above. )The water is cool enough that Vibrio was unlikely (more of a Florida thing) but I won’t be doing it again.

We started our hiking at Guillemot Cove. The kids were delighted by the stump house and all the baby crabs on the shore. It’s the dry season right now but we managed to see a few banana slugs.

This area had lots of toxic but pretty foxglove.

A group of purple flowers on a plant AI-generated content may be incorrect.

The next day we traveled to Ranger Hole Trail and saw a glacial waterfall. Some of us took a cold plunge. I did not.

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From there we traveled to Mount Walker to look across Hood Canal, a western lobe of Puget Sound, and view the eastern Olympic mountains and Mt. Rainier. It was a narrow, bumpy road to the top. My DIL captured this brave classic car ascending.

A car on a road with trees AI-generated content may be incorrect.

We celebrated the 4th of July in a very US way, with fireworks and unexpectedly viewing a protest. One child didn’t know why ICE would be dangerous.

And let’s be honest, why would we achieve independence from a mad king with divine rights, only to let flies die around our cheese?

A group of kids looking at fireworks AI-generated content may be incorrect.

The following day, we hiked a small portion of the vast Olympic National Park, viewing Lake Cushman and hiking at Staircase for yet another cold plunge and a climb on a downed Western Cedar.

(The following week, this area was closed due to fire.)

We ended our trip by taking a commuter ferry (from Bremerton) to Seattle for sightseeing and shopping. One of the kids thought the ferry ride was the best part.

A person looking out a window AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Here are a few other details, should you wish to avoid the weak dollar and just stay in the country for an upcoming vacation to Washington. We used the All Trails app to find our hiking spots and our trails were designated as easy. That doesn’t mean they were flat or rock free. We flew into SeaTac and rented a car. The nearest big town was Silverdale. Washington has no income tax but other taxes, including gas taxes, make up for it. I’m not a fan of this tax structure but look at all this beauty ready to be publicly accessed!

Sadly, I returned to Iowa to find out the state was abandoning one of the last shreds of public lands. Outdoorsy folks here have to leave to get satisfaction. I bet every Iowan knows someone who is going to Canada, Michigan, the Smokies, or the West Coast this summer. Meanwhile, I’m back in Iowa itching my new mosquito bites and cursing the stressful corn sweat. Once again, the kids are turning to their screens. Hopefully, Iowa will get new leadership, and our state will stop taking things from the public to reward the private.

Oil’s long, dirty, and highly useful fingers

On By Catherine HausteinIn chemistryLeave a comment
Do you think most acetic acid comes from fermented apples? Think again.

Saudi Arabia is going to cut oil production and although they say they are not doing it for political reasons, we can see our politicians here vocalizing what could be their wishes such as finishing the Keystone pipeline which would bring crude to their refinery in Texas. It’s hard to imagine that some US pols even speak against electric cars made in the USA. Or maybe not. If we all switched immediately to electric vehicles powered by wind and solar energy, would we still need oil? The answer is, yes.

Fuel oil and gas are not the only petroleum based products. The paving and roofing material asphalt is a complicated mixture of large hydrocarbons and plenty of sulfur, vanadium, and nickel impurities and is petroleum based. Tar can be made from coal or found naturally, as in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles where fossils of mammoths and dire wolves have been found. But tar and asphalt are not the only additional uses for petroleum.

Petroleum is the starting material for most of our plastics and synthetic materials, everything from fibers to pharmaceuticals, starts out as a form of oil.

Hydrocarbons can be chains or rings, and are distinguished by their composition-molecules made from just two elements, carbon and hydrogen. These materials can be light and flammable like naptha and gasoline or heavier as with asphalt and tar. Although they are useful in their own right, organic chemistry can step in and add elements to the hydrocarbons to make them into entirely new compounds. But they are the necessary beginning–the feed stock so to speak.

Here is an example of making something simple, acetic acid, as found in vinegar. Acetic acid contains oxygen in addition to hydrogen and carbon. It can be produced by fermentation as in this reaction where the acetic acid is bolded.

2 CO2 + 4 H2 → CH3COOH + 2 H2O.

It can also be made from alcohol, something you don’t want happening to your wine, for example, in this reaction starting with ethanol (as in wine) and adding oxygen naturally. It’s why you need to carefully control the amount of oxygen when wine making.

C2H5OH + O2 → CH3COOH + H2O

With the proper catalysts, acetic acid can easily be made from oil, for example as in this reaction:

2 C4H10 + 5 O2 → 4 CH3CO2H + 2 H2O

Why would anyone do this when acetic acid can be made from fermentation? We need a lot of it. Non-food acetic acid has been produced industrially since the 1960s and accounts for 90% of the usage world-wide. Over 5 million tons are produced each year. It’s a high demand chemical used to make coatings, paints, inks, and plastics such as PET. It’s one example of how we use chemical feed stock petroleum to make products we use every day.

Twenty percent of each barrel of oil is used as a chemical feed stock and when oil goes up in price, so does anything made from oil.

There are biological ways to make synthetic materials as discussed here and in my novel Lost in Waste. But as long as there is plenty of oil available, it has a long history of being used as a fuel and a feed stock and this isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Kicking the world’s oil addiction won’t be easy, unless we want to go back to life as it was 100 years ago. And we all know how some politicians love plastic bags. Fortunately, crude oil prices are still much lower than their highest point in 2008 so don’t despair. We will have plenty of low cost cigarette butts other plastics in the near future. In fact, the petrochemical industry will no longer be investigated if a plant catches on fire. That’s bad for people who lives near the plants, most on the Gulf Coast, but good for plastic prices.

Still Hot in Here

On By Catherine HausteinIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Remember 2002, when Getting’ Hot in Herre was popular? This song’s claim to fame in my mind was when my pre-teen and his friends called a radio station to request a song and this is what they asked for.

This song could be the theme song for a new generation because, yes it is getting Hot in Herre and unlike in the song, taking off all our clothes isn’t going to be enough. 

How will this heat affect us?

When the weather heats up, people tend to drink more rose wine. They also commit more violent crimes.Some are due to youths out of school but also because of  the discomfort heat causes. “Hot weather increases body temperature, which in turn increases heart rate and blood pressure. Increased blood pressure and heart rate can lead to discomfort, which researchers attribute to the correlation between high heat and increased anger and violence.”

People make poor decisions when it is hot, and this is exacerbated by sun exposure. Working in the sun decreases attention and vigilance, probably due to increased skin temperature. The body’s attempt to cool the skin robs the brain of oxygen. Added heat affects the hippocampus—responsible for memory and learning. Heat can break down the blood brain barrier, making people more vulnerable to drugs, pollution, and oxidative stress. Over time, this will lead to brain inflammation and permanent cell death. Heat increases the risk of suicide and epileptic seizures. Women have more problems regulating heat due to biological and physical factors. They have a greater connection between brain hemispheres which makes them more vulnerable to brain heat stress.   (citation)

Heat exhaustion is an extreme manifestation of the effect of high temperatures-above body temperature of 98.6 F or 37 C- on the brain.  “When the weather is hot and dry, the body becomes dehydrated, the blood thickens, and the heart may not be able to pump enough oxygen to the brain. Additionally, the human brain burns up 20 percent of the body’s energy and therefore needs to dissipate heat efficiently. In hot and humid conditions, sweating cannot cool the body and brain enough. This can lead to heat exhaustion, which has symptoms such as weakness, dizziness and headaches and, in extreme cases, heat stroke—which can then trigger delirium and loss of consciousness. A significant fraction of heat stroke survivors suffer neurological complications.” (citation)

As temperatures rise and people work in the heat, they risk Kidney disease. Intense labor in extreme heat is one of the major drivers of heat related kidney disease. Those disproportionally affected include rice farmers, construction workers, and miners. Climate change will increase the prevalence of chronic kidney disease throughout the world.

Heat strikes the world’s poor much more harshly. Above 35 degrees C ( 95F) heat mortality due to heat stroke, dehydration, and heat exhaustion increases along with heat related respiratory problems. The elderly, children, babies, and even fetuses, are also more vulnerable. Worker productivity slows in the summer as well.  It also raises costs for businesses, puts stress on infrastructure, and increases the spread of damaging mold and fungi.

Since the release of Getting’ Hot in Herre, global temperatures have increased about 0.66 C or a little over 1 degree Fahrenheit. The oligarchs have decided that a hotter climate is a price worth paying for enriching themselves. There will be consequences. Meanwhile, Nelly is debuting a new reality show this month.

Botox and empathy

On By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Close-up of a woman's face showing detailed features, including blue eyes and smooth skin texture with subtle expression lines.

Good-looking people get treated better. In particular, women use beauty to gain a sense of superiority and often groom themselves to signal that they  accept the social hierarchy.  People need to look their best to impress and the number of Botox faces in politics is obvious. There is even a specific look to some of them with the prime examples cited as Matt Gaetz and Kristi Noem. Matt Gaetz has resigned from the Senate due to ethics concerns. Kristi Noem is famously known for killing her dog and posing in front of people held prisoner while flashing her Rolex. The Trump family is rumored to have spent millions on cosmetic procedures, including Botox. Most people, including Elon Musk, see nothing wrong with giving your looks a boost. Could this affect their decision making? Maybe.

Botox is an injection made from purified botulinum toxin, a protein derived from a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. This bacteria is widely found in nature including in dust and notably in an aquatic, anerobic environments, such as found when plants or animals, including algae decompose. Many living things, alga, and invertebrates, are not harmed by this toxin. Fish and water birds are generally immune but can be killed by high concentrations of it. Pollution encourages its growth.  (citation)

In most warm-blooded animals, it produces muscle paralysis which can cause death. It is associated with eating poorly preserved food, often caused by the spores which resist high temperatures associated with cooking. Farm animals can get it from spoiled hay or silage. (citation)

In medicine, when extracted from algae, purified, and administered in controlled doses, the toxin becomes a treatment ranging from wrinkle reduction to alleviating certain medical conditions like chronic migraines, crossed eyes, and other muscle problems. (citation)

Botox works by temporarily blocking nerve signals to the muscles where it is injected. This process prevents the targeted muscles from contracting, paralyzing them, which smooths wrinkles caused by repeated facial expressions like frowning or squinting. Effects typically last three to six months, after which the muscles regain their activity. However, repeated Botox injections can train the muscles to stop working, banishing the wrinkles but causing sagging and skin damage.

Botox affects more than the muscles. It can, indirectly affect the brain. Apparently, your face muscles affect the way you process emotions. When interacting with someone else, an empathetic person will subconsciously reflect their emotions. Botox can dampen this empathy and emotional interaction. People who have Botox forehead exhibit problems interpreting and responding to the emotions of others.  There’s a flip side.

For some, it might improve mental health by dampening emotions. However, it can cause brain fog.

There’s another wrinkle to this whole Botox thing: people who are “too beautiful” can be seen as less trustworthy. This is one reason the occasionally unattractive photo of a politician probably doesn’t inflict much harm.    

Next time you see a politician, or anyone, with a face that fails to move, consider that the empathy factor could be missing. Empathy is an important leadership skill, fostering innovation and engagement. Empathy is a building block of society.

There are other causes of lack of empathy, such as burnout or stress. Fortunately, it can be relearned.

No one wants to be reminded of the advancement of old age, and being older can set you apart from the rest of society, so the Botox trend is understandable. The other day, my granddaughter studied me—with no makeup—finally said, “When you are really old and have no teeth, I’ll give you popsicles.”

The last time I saw my grandmothers, I’d stopped by on my way to a conference. We shed tears upon parting which became lonely sobs in the car. I didn’t know it was the final good-bye but the poignancy of the moment, the raw humanity, the love and advancing loss, the tenderness and the sorrow, has stuck with me forever since. I’m not sure why some of our leaders are so inhumanly calloused, but I for one, will be watching their brows and voting for empathy.

Struck by Lightning

On By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The US became strong by investing in science. Now it will lose ground to China. Cuts to agencies like NOAA, the CDC, and EPA will leave the average citizen less able to protect themselves. Is the intent of this to create a crisis or to set up another expense we all must shoulder such as private weather information or a medical treatment? I’ve got to wonder, especially given the assault on science.

Below, a recent headline:

We’ve long seen lies about science arising from politicians, there is even a whole book about it. In Iowa, evolution has become unmentionable. A group of politicians recently went against the findings of a group of scientists and declared that covid came from a lab, which most scientists don’t see evidence for. Yet most in the US believe this lie and it is being pushed, along with spooky graphics, by the White House.

Here is a somewhat thoughtful reporting on why this might be occurring. In a few words: xenophobia, racism, seeding doubt about science.

Heck, we are even seeing some challenges to long established scientific views such as germ theory and the efficacy of vaccines, as if someone somewhere is prepping for another pandemic. After all, the rich got richer during the last pandemic. Fifty-four percent richer. Why not set us up for another?

I was wondering about this, the why of it, when I saw a lightning stuck tree. As we now know, lightning is a static charge that forms when winds push ice in clouds around. The top of the cloud becomes positive and the bottom negatively charged. The negative charge in the clouds pulls positive charges on the ground towards it. The positive charges move up, using tall objects as their path. (Thank you to NOAA for this great video about it.) Tall trees that contain a lot of moisture will be prone to lightning strikes.

For most of human history, lightning was associated with deities, and often were an expression of the deities’ anger at how humans were acting. Isaac Newton had some doubts about this but it wasn’t until 1752-3 that Ben Franklin convinced humanity of the natural origins of lightning.

What does this have to do with the defunding of science?

If things have a natural cause, leaders, who perhaps consider themselves sent by god, don’t have the leverage they once had. Even back to the time of Galileo, religious leaders have been threatened by science. When natural phenomenon explains tragedies, it makes it tough for these anointed ones to scare people and control them. They can even create a crisis and fix it, or keep us in a constant state of panic, like good narcissists. Science can remove the fear by offering logical explanation. 

Fortunately for the rich people, they’ve found a workaround: fund politicians and set up phony news sources (including the White House itself) to spread lies about science and to top it off, fire scientists and defund education. They are well on their way to becoming the deities they think they deserve to be. After all, lightning does strike twice.