October 13, 2021

Wednesday

Return to Flight

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Renee, Jake, and I are headed down to Orland for a quick visit to the Food and Wine festival at Epcot. This is the first time we've been in an airport since, well, over eighteen months ago when covid brought the world to a standstill. I have to say, it feels really good to be traveling.

Jake and Renee assured me they're both smiling beneath their masks.

tags: covidtravelbackoutthere

photo published in /2021/10/13

‘I hope you die’: how the COVID pandemic unleashed attacks on scientists (nature.com)

"But Nature’s survey suggests that even though researchers try to shrug off abuse, it might already have had a chilling effect on scientific communication. Those scientists who reported higher frequencies of trolling or personal attacks were also most likely to say that their experiences had greatly affected their willingness to speak to the media in the future...."

The pandemic, and our collective handling of it, has already had societal impacts that we fail to appreciate. A chilling effect on science, and its role in the distribution of knowledge, is disturbing. And that might not be the worst of it. Have we discouraged a generation of people from going into science as a career? Medicine? I don't know, maybe it's had the opposite effect in that regard. I have heard that applications to medical school are up. I didn't expect that.

tags: covidsciencemedicine

link published in /2021/10/13

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This has always been one of my favorite views of Jake — watching him take pictures of planes from a window seat. He's still a kid in a candy store every time we fly, and I love that. It's been too long since I've seen it.

tags: flyingtravel

photo published in /2021/10/13