mcsb4's comments

Iranians were the first to publish about the synthesis:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rcm.7757

https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/do/10.1002/sepspec.1591c...

I am pretty sure that the Porton Down military research facility next to Salisbury is capable or producing it too - but that doesn't mean they produced the specific poison used to attack the Skipals.

The same for VX gas that was used to kill Kim Jong Un's brother in Malaysia. VX was indeed invented by the brits but I would seriously doubt that they killed Kim Jong-Nam.

Edit: this is just factual information. What kind of fscking loosers do downvote this? Go get a reality check.

The fact that it was invented in Russia doesn't mean that this sample was Russian made. Every decent chemist can produce that stuff. We were also shown powerpoint slides of Saddams truck-mounted labs of WMD - they just didn't exist. The second mission was to "win hearts and minds". Result: 1,000,000 people dead. Women, old people, children and toddlers included. Just watch collateral damage again. Do it 100,000 times and you know what happened in Iraq. Plus a dash of abuse and torture of prisoners of war in the Abu Ghraib prison. There are plenty of things I doubt when I hear about them.

Well, the US is since WWII meddling with elections in other countries. And not only that but actively toppling foreign governments. The few millions some Russians may have spent on ads are a drop in the sea compared to the billions and billions that PACs and SuperPACs have spent.

I don't know what happened there but the official version leaves some serious doubts open. For example there was a long time talk of a "nurse" that found them. Only by accident it was revealed that this nurse was the head-nurse of the UK forces, i.e. in the rank of a general, well versed in chemical warfare. Also why was never the full tracks of the two Russians the victims revealed? There is CCTV on every corner in the UK. The story of the Russians was bogus but so is the official story. It wouldn't be the first time the gov stretches the truth. See for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony

Edit: downvoting because it doesn't fit your world view? At least have the balls to reply.

Anecdotelly, in Europe the countries worst hit by the virus have the most strict confinement: Italy, Spain and France.

Makes you wonder if there is a correlation to Vitamin D insufficiency due to lack of sun light.

I had a smartphone that at some point started to randomly create touch events. Kind of like if you put it in your pocket while the screen is unlocked.

I don't remember any physical light switch that ever switch on or off by itself.

In an aircraft flying through turbulences I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing that all switches are pyhsical. Try to use your smartphone while jogging...

As I wrote:

Bacteriophage MS2 - 23nm :

Surgical mask 89.52% filtering

Tea towel one layer 72.46% filtering

-> Thus still ~70% filtering of 23nm particles for the one layered towel. They didn't put the number for a two layered towel in there, I wonder if it did beat the surgical mask.

Homemade masks made of a double layer of tea towel cloth are not only protecting others but also protect yourself nearly as effectively as N95 masks.

The original research was made by PHE - Public Health England and the results are:

B atrophaeus - ~1um :

Surgical mask 96.35% filtering

Double layer tea towel 96.71% filtering

Bacteriophage MS2 - 23nm :

Surgical mask 89.52% filtering

Tea towel one layer 72.46% filtering

The full paper is on researchgate, title: "Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?"

Also every super market should have the use of hand sanitizer obligatory at the entrance.

There is a pretty good video for simulations of the epidemic spreading [1] - it is not going to stop until we either have a vaccine or ~60% of the population have antibodies. So the choice is to sit the next 12-18months at home or we fight the transmission of the virus.

Masks cost nothing compared to the economic disaster that we are running into. The virus spreads via mouth and nose and secondary via the hands. So just stop it at the source.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxAaO2rsdIs

Did you read the NPR article? The very first chart shows that there is a big difference between the various countries. The logarithmic scale allows for much better visualisation than the almost nonsensical charts on the John Hopkins statistics page. The circles are also a completely inadequate visualisation. I.e. much better would be coloring countries by incident rate per 100.000 inhabitants.

They do a good job collecting all the data but a seriously bad job visualising them.

> So if you are infected and not showing symptoms ie. not coughing/sneezing then arguably the mask is not doing anything.

It prevents you from touching your mouth and your nose and thus getting it on your hands.

There is an excellent video visualising the spreading of germs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5-dI74zxPg

How To See Germs Spread (Coronavirus) by Marc Tober

Maybe that convinces you.

Many people don't know they are infected and also there is not enough testing capability in many countries. For example Heidi Klum tired to get tested after catching a cold and it took her several days to be accepted for a test. Now she is not exactly your average Joe and would be willing to shell out a few 1000 dollars to get tested.

Unless that situation changes, masks are a good alternative. And yes, only if everybody wears them.

Again another article that doesn't even mention the use of masks and hand sanitizer.

The cost of the epidemic now goes into the trillions, self-made cotton masks are cheap compared to the economic damage. They can be disinfected in boiling water and if everybody uses them they will help to stop the spreading of the virus.

In all the countries mentioned in the article people wear masks when in public, often just against pollution (i.e. Thailand).

The moment we open our mouth we spread germs, even more so when we speak. And when we touch our nose or mouth, we have them on our hands.

Thus entering a supermarket without a mask and without first disinfecting the hands should be forbidden.

Social distancing is one thing, stopping the virus at the source is another and seemingly very effective measure.

Heat at 56°C kills the SARS coronavirus at around 10000 units per 15 min (quick reduction).

Hence I'd assume that boiling will be reasonably effective.

Source: WHO https://www.who.int/csr/sars/survival_2003_05_04/en/

The biggest challenge is to overcome the mental block of decades of onetime use masks that have to be disposed in incinerators and be produced by ISO 9001 certified medical factories.

During world war 2 it was normal to use reusable cotton masks. They just need to be put into boiling water for a few minutes to kill sars-cov-2 at 100%.

You should try to get into touch with C. Drosten from Charité hospital Berlin. He recently stated in an interview that self-made masks could have a certain value, so he is not totally averse to this concept and Spahn [1] will listen to him.

China has been promoting it, now czech republic is doing it. If Germany also starts promoting it, that will help immensely.

The same goes for the hand sanitizer, any +70% alcohol/ethanol will do. No need to be from a factory with medical certifications.

I am in France, there is a total lock down here but police still wears no masks and so does nobody else. Super markets have no hand sanitizer at the entrance so the virus will continue to spread.

Masks cost nothing compared to the economic damage of the shut down.

[1] German minister of health

Edit: For those downvoting me, I'd sincerely be interested to hear your arguments.

I have to correct the number to 160.000 per week thus 23.000 per day.

Source: https://www.zeit.de/amp/news/2020-03/18/corona-test-erforder...

The recipe in China was social distancing, masks and hand sanitizing. Somehow in China politicians understood the concept that germs coming out of your mouth and nose can be most effectively stopped right there - they even advocated makeshift masks while ramping up production of surgical and n95 masks.

I am currently in France and the only measure is social distancing. Police dont wear masks, no hand sanitizer at supermarket entrance. It is simply not available although it is mostly just 70% alcohol. I have masks and I wear them when I go out but people (strangers) even tell me on the street that they are useless. I think Louis Pasteur is agitatedly turning in his grave.

It looks like we'll have to wait until China can supply us with enough masks. Until then pressing "unpause" will start the epidemic all over again - if the confinement is going to halt it.

> The sun doesn't only rise and set once a year at the north Pole! Is this a joke?

> Edit: -3 for correct science. Good work HN

You have to explicitly say that you are a flat earther. Otherwise people on HN assume standard science as source of knowledge.

If you are not a flat earther, you might consider watching this video while closely observing the north pole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLRA87TKXLM

Also Stellarium is an outstanding piece of FOSS software, you can play with your position, time of day and time of year. Please dont file a bug report because the sun does only set once per year at the north pole. Stellarium is not made for flat earthers.

I can't find the source anymore, but the latest Roche AG systems are capable of doing 4000 tests per day. The last generation was 1000 tests per day. Germany also is doubling the capacity of intensive care beds from 28000 to 56000. There is enough money for the machines. Also look at the ratio of infected to dead: 7000->20, while Italy 30000->2000. Just more tests.

As the article states, India is currently doing 500 tests per day. Germany is doing 160.000 tests per day.

There seems to be a second virus in the west: DMTMW - dont mention the M word - M like mask. Purely looking at the data, the doubling of the infection rate in western countries is between 2-3 days.

Looking at Asian countries:

Japan: 8-9 days - many people wearing masks

Thailand: 10+days - most people wearing masks

China: negative values - all people wearing masks (not just in Wuhan) and handsanitizer everywhere

Cost for masks: 0.2$/person per day.

Let's hope that China can ramp up the mask and hand sanitizer production to supply the rest of the world asap, because the west doesn't have the capability.