CDC has a website with details about Monkeypox.
Category: science
Nothing is Impossible?
The mural of Muhammad Ali throwing a punch next to the impossible quote is finished. It’s on the south side of the ICOR Boxing building, which faces Highway 6.
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
Muhammad Ali’s name is lettered below his picture. It’s highly improbable he created the impossible quote. An Adidas ad campaign copywriter named Aimee Lehto probably wrote it, according to Quote Investigator.
I think it’s possible that Ali might have said it, although I can’t prove it like I can prove that the Korean war veteran Howard William Osterkamp said “All gave some…some gave all,” but probably didn’t create it.
I’ll have to concede there are some things that are impossible, like licking your elbow.
But I don’t think it’s impossible for us to be kinder. And I know I’ve made excuses for not doing something because I lacked confidence or skill—and saying that it was because it’s impossible.
Many things that used to be impossible have been done. The list of impossible things tends to look shorter as I get older. It speaks to the temporary nature of what we think of as impossible. It is about realizing my potential.
In a way, impossible is a dare, a challenge to do more in spite of what I think are my limitations.
If you turn the last line of the impossible quote backwards, it says “Nothing is impossible.”
But I dare you to lick your elbow.
FDA Advisory Committee Green Lights Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine
The FDA Advisory Committee endorsed the Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine at their meeting June 7, 2022. It awaits the FDA Director’s decision and, if endorsed by the director, would next go to the CDC Advisory Committee for their evaluation, which looks like it might be scheduled later this month.
Parody or Fake Science?
I was just looking at the IMDb reviews of 3 TV shows, one of which we think is hilarious and a couple of others we watch mainly because there’s nothing else on and we’ve already played cribbage for entertainment. In my opinion, one of the shows is a parody of science (and by extension fake science), and the other two are fake science. And I think the parody is a lot more entertaining the others.
Let’s list the shows with their IMDb reviews links:
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch
We can’t watch Mountain Monsters anymore because it’s available only on the streaming network now and it’s not worth chasing (although it was uproariously funny).
One way to keep this post from getting too long is to let you look at a few reviews of all three on IMDb and compare them.
I don’t know what you think, but I have always thought that Mountain Monsters is a parody of shows like the other two, which try to be scientific but fall far short.
First, we need a definition of parody. Merriam-Webster says:
Parody: “a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule.”
I think it’s probably also good to know the difference between parody and satire.
Now we think The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch and Expedition Bigfoot are failed attempts to come off as science-based so-called reality shows. They take themselves too seriously. You can probably tell that from the IMDb reviews. The casts never find anything noteworthy, jump at their own shadows, and generally are terrible actors.
If you then read the reviews for Mountain Monsters, maybe you can see why we’d classify it as a parody. Most reviewers call it pure entertainment. It’s unpretentious and clearly pokes fun at the other two. I even found one reviewer who pointed out the credits at the end of Mountain Monsters has a disclaimer saying no animals were hunted. We hadn’t noticed that, but it’s probably because we were still laughing so hard at the hillbilly antics.
The cast of Mountain Monsters are probably better actors, but forgivably often can’t stop themselves from laughing at their own jokes.
FDA Advisory Committee Meeting on June 7, 2022 for New Covid-19 Vaccine
The FDA Advisory Committee will meet on June 7, 2022, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM ET to discuss the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine EUA application.
The vaccine is a SARS-CoV-2 Recombinant Spike Protein Nanoparticle Vaccine (SARS-CoV-2rS) with Matrix-M1 Adjuvant.
What is Monkeypox?
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics epidemiologist, Dr. Karen Brust, MD, provides essential information about Monkeypox, which has been in the news a lot lately.
Heads Up from University of Iowa Health Care: Why Vaccinated People Still Catch Covid-19
Some people still get Covid-19 symptoms despite being vaccinated. University of Iowa Health Care infectious disease expert, Dr. Dan Diekema, MD, MS, explains why.
Bigfoot on Blood Moon May 2022!
For the first time we watched a total lunar eclipse on the night of May 15, 2022. It was a cool night. I used two cameras in an effort to make the most of my first effort in getting pictures of the event. I’m a novice and I’m sure it shows, of course. We had a lot of fun.
I used a point and shoot Canon Powershot SX610 HS, a small camera we’ve had for years. And I used a Nikon D3400 on a tripod. I started taking pictures shortly after 8:30 PM.
I’m not used to the night noises outside and could not make out what sounded likely raspy growling. At first, I thought it was Bigfoot and actually thought I got a shot of it stalking across the moon where it teleported along with its luggage. Bigfoot is actually an interdimensional critter. And they don’t travel light.
On the other hand, Sena thought the noises were made by White Tail deer and she was right. I found a YouTube that showed them making exactly the same noises we heard. Later I heard a Barred Owl hooting.
Do Blood Moons Make Aliens Fart?
I have a couple of questions about the total lunar eclipse that’s occurring tonight. First, where’s the best place to observe it? If you consult the best advice on how to watch it, you learn that the first phase (which in Iowa City, Iowa happens at 8:32 PM) is visible in the Southeastern part of the sky and at 3.4 degrees altitude.
Great, it sounds like I need to be where there are no trees or buildings and lying on my belly. The next phase is at 9:27 PM, which is not much better because the altitude is only 11.4 degrees, at 129 degrees azimuth. I’m still learning this jargon, but again, do I need to be able to fly above the tree line to see the first couple of phases?
Should we climb up on our roof to see the lunar eclipse?
Any suggestions are welcome. The next question involves the well-known strangeness that happens during eclipses. Insects and other animals can get goofy about their diurnal cycles and, oh yeah, aliens get really gassy and develop uncontrolled farting.
The Alien Flatulence Syndrome (AFS) is well-described in the scientific literature. No, I’m not going to have a list of references at the end of this post, and it’s for the same reason Beetlejuice won’t tell Lydia his name:
“Because if I tell you, you’ll tell your friends, your friends are callin’ me on the horn all the time, I gotta show up at shopping centers for openings and sign autographs and shit like that and it makes my life a *hell*. Okay? A living hell.”
You can ask anyone on the Ancient Aliens crew for all the evidence you want that Blood Moons cause aliens to fart, then the bowel gas eruptions levitate them to the Blood Moon—where they open used flying saucer dealerships. And that’s the reason why you see so many UFOs.
Which leads us to the explanation for aliens shape-shifting into humans in order to live among us, and do things like play baseball like Exley in the historically accurate X-Files documentary “The Unnatural.” The real reason is they want to be able to buy Beano without being mobbed and forced to show up at shopping centers for openings, sign autographs and so on. Aliens hate lunar eclipses.
I may have to update this post as the lunar eclipse drama approaches tonight—if I can stay awake. This thing gets pretty close to our bedtime.
Just to update us on the total lunar eclipse Blood Mood tonight, we can see the livestream on timeanddate if we’re yawning around the time it starts. Or you can wait for my snapshots, similar in quality to my previous shots of the Worm Moon and Snow Mood in 2021 (I’m just kidding, don’t do it!):
Total Lunar Eclipse Starts May 15, 2022
We’ve never seen a total lunar eclipse, but it’ll happen May 15-16, 2022. It happens over several hours. For us in Iowa City, Iowa it starts at around 8:30 PM on May 15, 2022 and ends at around 2:00 AM on May 16, 2022.
You don’t need any special eclipse glasses and you can see it with your bare-naked eyes. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and Moon and lines up precisely so that it blocks the Sun’s light, which otherwise reflects off the Moon. Find more at the Farmer’s Almanac.
There’s a web site to find out when you can see it where you live.
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