The Great Vaccinator

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The Great Vaccinator

12/3/20 by WNYC Studios

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/116075677
Episode: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/audio.wnyc.org/radiolab_podcast/radiolab_podcast20greatvaccinator.mp3

Until now, the fastest vaccine ever made – for mumps – took four years. And while our current effort to develop a covid-19 vaccine involves thousands of people working around the clock, the mumps vaccine was developed almost exclusively by one person: Maurice Hilleman. Hilleman cranked out more than 40 other vaccines over the course of his career, including 8 of the 14 routinely given to children. He arguably saved more lives than any other single person. And through his work, Hilleman embodied the instincts, drive, and guts it takes to marshall the human bodyโ€™s defenses against a disease. But through him we also see the struggle and the costs of these monumental scientific efforts.

This is a really fascinating podcast about a fascinating scientist.

Fence

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Taken on Monday December 31, 2018

December 10, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! Happy 7:15 AM Sunrise โŒ›๏ธ! Two weeks to Christmas Eve ๐ŸŽ…. Mostly cloudy and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜ There is a west-northwest breeze at 15 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. There is a inch of snow on the ground. โ˜ƒ ๏ธTemperatures will drop below freezing at around 8 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Didn’t sleep very well last night ๐ŸŒƒ, but breakfast and coffee is cooking now. ๐Ÿฅž Pancakes as usual. ๐Ÿฎ Ran out of milk, I was going to get it after my evening walk but I didn’t. ๐Ÿšถ๐Ÿป I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t be able to make my morning walk as I didn’t get a real early start but I’m walking. My headphones ๐ŸŽง aren’t working real well but so be it. Mild morning so I’m just wearing the vest. Feels more like early April than December.

Today will be partly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 43 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 28th. Northwest wind 10 to 16 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 52 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1966. 6.1 inches of snow fell back in 2014.โ„

I am working downtown today at least for a few hours ๐Ÿ’ผ, and I’m obviously not thrilled about riding the bus ๐Ÿš during a major uptick of pandemic, where they are reminding us to sign in and out for contact tracing purposes. ๐Ÿ‘พHI, we’re from the government and we want you to know we are putting under arrest as you might have a virus that you may die from. ๐Ÿ“ž That Missouri beef farmer I follow on YouTube had a good quarrentine from his deer ๐ŸฆŒ blind I heard. At one level I will be glad when the vaccine is widely available.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:49 am with sun having an altitude of 24.4ยฐ from the due south horizon (-46.4ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (239ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is 3 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 48 seconds over yesterday.

This evening I am doing more of the interview with John Wolcott ๐Ÿ“žover a Zoom although I will just be doing the audio because I haven’t upgraded my phone yet for the extra data. Two weeks though. Lately though I’ve already started to burn through a lot of data on my phone ๐Ÿ“ฑ because it’s too cold to work from the library. I will definitely need the extra data come January when work is busier and it’s too cold to work down at the library parking lot.

Tonight will be partly cloudy ๐ŸŒค, with a low of 27 degrees at 2am. Four degrees above normal, whichn0 is similar to a typical night around December 2nd. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2019, we had clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1988.

Today in 1978, Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ๐Ÿ•Š for their work ending the Arab-Isreali conflict. Also, in 1817 Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state. ๐Ÿด๓ ต๓ ณ๓ ญ๓ ณ๓ ฟ

Showers this weekend. โ˜” Saturday, a slight chance of showers after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 45. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 37 degrees.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Christmas Eve ๐ŸŽ… when the sun will be setting at 4:26 pm with dusk at 4:58 pm. On that day in 2019, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 25 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2015.

Setting Sun 2

Shots – Health News : NPR

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U.S. Purchase Of More Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine Doses Could Be Tricky : Shots – Health News : NPR

With Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine poised for Food and Drug Administration authorization for emergency use, there's speculation about when the United States will buy another batch of doses — and whether the Trump administration already missed its chance.

Although a Pfizer board member says the government declined to buy more doses beyond the initial 100 million agreed upon in July, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told PBS Newshour that this is inaccurate. The company never made a formal offer saying how many doses it would deliver and when — two things that are needed to sign an additional deal.

350.org Founder on DiNapoliโ€™s Divestment Decision

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350.org Founder on DiNapoliโ€™s Divestment Decision

The change was eight years in the making, but New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s decision to divest the state’s massive pension fund from fossil fuels over four years is an enormous victory for environmentalists, according to climate activists and author Bill McKibben.

“It’s a huge part of this global divestment effort that’s now at about $15 trillion,” McKibben told Capital Tonight. “Look, the Pope and the Queen of England have both divested in the course of this year but they don’t have as much money as the Comptroller of the State of the New York. It’s the largest pension fund that divested yet, breaking the record set three years ago by Scott Stringer who divested the City’s pension fund.”

The latest state pension fund valuation is at $226.4 billion.

I know that has been a big fight for a long time for a lot of people. I am also a member of the state pension system and I think it does send a strong message on what should be future investments of the fossil industry. 

But I also understand the hesitance of the state to divest for wi many years. Indeed, my personal portfolio is a bit heavier on energy stocks compared to the market as whole, as I bought some years ago as a hedge against energy price driven inflation / recession. 

I also think the energy industry is primed to be in the forefront of the renewable energy industry, just because energy companies own a lot of land and infrastructure like power lines and transformers. And it's not like we don't all use fossil energy - I like my big jacked up truck. Even if my future property is small and off grid, I'll still need diesel for my tractor and pick up truck, propane for cooking, and lots of products made using fossil fuels. Or the plastic wrapper the food comes in and goes up in smoke in the burn barrel. But cities need to go on a diet from all the massive fossil fuels they consume.

Climate change is real and effects us all, especially those who live close to the land. But it's also mainly an urban problem caused by high emissions or carbon from the cities. But it's a tough nut to crack. Much more difficult than power factor or even something like the ozone hole or water pollution.