DrinkMonkey
@DrinkMonkey@lemmy.ca
- Comment on Nobel Prize in Lit 2024 3 weeks ago:
It’s also the Noble prize…
- Comment on Can non-airborne viruses become airborne through mutation? 2 months ago:
To properly answer, we need to define what we mean as “airborne” which has gotten a bunch of people very upset recently. Prior to the COVID pandemic, the transmission model for respiratory viruses focussed on 3 distinct models of transmission:
- Fomites are collections of excretions on surfaces containing live virus. An infectious person cough into their hand, pick their nose, or similar, then touch the doorknob. The next person touches the doorknob, then their mucus membrane (nose, eye, mouth) and they get infected.
- Droplets are large collections of excretions that are transmitted during talking, shouting, singing, coughing, or sneezing. They are ballistically expelled, but don’t remain in the air. An infected person expels these droplets, and must be in range of another person who is struck by these droplets in their mucus membranes to be infected.
- Finally, airborne transmission occurs when micro droplets small enough to ride on air currents are expelled from infected people, and non infected people inhale them into their airways.
COVID was presumed to only be transmitted through the first 2 methods. But weird things were observed, where transmission occurred when people (or ferret model experiments) were separated by barriers through which ballistic droplets couldn’t pass, like air ducts with multiple 90° bends. People also got sick after being in rooms many minutes after infected people had been present, long after ballistic droplets would have harmlessly fallen to the ground.
In reality, droplet models were just close range transmission, and airborne long range transmission of bio-aerosols, or micro droplets created from breathing, shouting, singing, coughing, or sneezing. The range was more a function of the transmissibility of the virus. Highly infective things can infect at low doses at long range. Less infective things occur with much higher doses, when people are quite close to one another. This folded in the prior models quite nicely. It was, however, not well accepted.
If a disease is to be transmitted by bio-aerosols, the disease vector needs to be able to enter the body through the surfaces with which it will interact upon being “breathed in”. This doesn’t work well for the STI viruses or bacteria, nor the malarial parasite, as they aren’t actively expelled in the respiratory system, so don’t generate bio-aerosols, and require access to highly specific host cells not easily accessed through the respiratory system at the necessary volumes to create an infection.
So, no, not really possible for non-respiratory viruses to become “airborne” in that sense.there would need to be a LOT of intermediate steps.
But diseases that we used to consider to be transmitted by the now defunct ballistic droplet model can become “airborne” (instead of “droplet”) if their ability to infect a subject becomes more successful at lower doses of pathogen such that it can occur at longer range, and over longer times.
- Comment on autoreply 7 months ago:
I used this line when cancelling with my ISP. The chat agent didn’t get the reference but responded with an “oh my” (or equivalent, I don’t really remember the details).
- Comment on Steam :: Introducing Steam Families 7 months ago:
…and you…and you…and you…
- Comment on ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Canceled After Two Seasons at Max 9 months ago:
I had strong love for the brilliance of the first 2 episodes as directed by Ridley Scott, and the absolute batshit craziness of the ones directed by his son, Luke. It was pretty clear they ran out of SFX budget for S1 during that scene though…
- Comment on Metallica-Breakin-The-Law-Mp3.exe 10 months ago:
Technically Exandria/Wildemount but you’re picking up what I’m putting down.
- Comment on Metallica-Breakin-The-Law-Mp3.exe 10 months ago:
Immediately my brain translated this to “regular gnoll…regular gnoll”
- Comment on Recommendation: Patriot / Perpetual Grace, LTD 1 year ago:
Conrad captures the male experience/perspective - especially friendships, loneliness, and expectations in a way that I feel is unequalled*. Weather Man comes to mind, but Patriot is a perfect delight. It’s like someone made a show just for me.
*Bill Lawrence is a peer, especially in capturing male friendships.
- Comment on Fun article about Lynch’s Dune Premiere 1 year ago:
When I watch a Villeneuve sci-fi it all feels very safe and respectable, like the folks involved don’t want to stray too far from the source material
I mean there was at least one rather substantial change in Arrival from the Chiang short story that made it pretty different from my perspective. Wasn’t aware there was source material for 2049 beyond the screenplay. Adapting Dune is another animal to be sure. But I’m not sure about the generalization to all of Villeneuve’s sci-fi.
- Comment on **MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 Discussion Megapost** 2023-09-08 🇬🇷💕 1 year ago:
It evaporates quickly, providing a cooling action which is soothing for sore muscles or joints (hence the rubbing part, it was used as a liniment during massage) and is an antiseptic.
- Comment on **MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 Discussion Megapost** 2023-09-08 🇬🇷💕 1 year ago:
Ok so here’s the story of Windex…
In Greece, rubbing alcohol is frequently used as a cure-all for aches and pains, zits, all the stuff we see Gus use Windex for in the first movie. But the thing is that in Greece, rubbing alcohol is dyed blue.
Upon immigration to North America, they sought out the same folk remedy of rubbing alcohol, but it was missing the characteristic blue dye. So they substituted the available item that was a blue cleaning solution…Windex.
So, there you go…
- Comment on What was the best performance by somebody not primarily known for their acting? #MovieDiscussion 1 year ago:
At first I was like, what is Anthony Edwards famous for if not for his roles as Goose, or Dr. Green?
- Comment on Donald Glover and Brother Stephen Glover to Write ‘Lando’ Series 1 year ago:
Interesting how everyone is focussed on his previous acting turn as Lando and not on his significant writing chops. To be in the 30 Rock writers room as a student at NYU (and just like Kenneth Ellen Parcell, he’s from Stone Mountain, GA) to doing absolutely everything on Atlanta (acting, writing, directing, producing), is a pretty solid resume arc. I’ll choose to trust his considerable skill.
