Coffee Break: Vaccines Continued, Ancient Art, Renewables, Ignis Fatuus Explained, Good Sleep, and Jane Goodall

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Part the First: More Vaccine Nonsense Courtesy of the US Government.  At the first meeting of ACIP that he chaired, Dr. Martin Kulldorf asked for some grace because, “We are rookies…there are many technical issues that we might not grasp as of yet.”  It is difficult to come up with an equivalent statement.  Perhaps this: “Look, I know we are losing the war on the ground in Ukraine, but you have to understand we are rookies at logistics after the Quartermaster Corps was dissolved for some reason or other.” As an aside, The US Army Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee is very much worth the visit.  But I doubt the uniform worn by Stonewall Jackson when he was shot by his own men under a full moon at Chancellorsville late on May 2, 1863, is still on display.

Martin Kulldorf is one of the three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration who was fairly lionized as a brilliant Harvard scientist in In Covid’s Wake, which was discussed here on September 24^th.  The ACIP meeting is just one shining example of vaccine nonsense at large in the world, which continues with the mishegoss involving the HepB vaccine.  Yes, HepB is a sexually transmitted virus.  No, HepB is not only a sexually transmitted virus:

The Trump administration is continuing its push to revise federal guidelines to delay the hepatitis B vaccine newborn dose for most children. This comes despite a failed attempt to do so at the most recent meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

CDC scientist Adam Langer outlined research showing incidences of unvaccinated children born in the U.S. to mothers who tested negative, later becoming infected with hepatitis B. Langer serves as acting principal deputy director for the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention.

Langer told the vaccine advisory panel that the virus can survive for over seven days outside the body on surfaces. During that time, contact with even microscopic traces of infected blood on a school desk or on playground or sporting equipment is enough for a child to be infected. This means unvaccinated children not considered at high risk can still be exposed in everyday environments, or by an infected caregiver.

“We do have data that says that it can happen and that it is likely to happen.  Though the exact cause of infection may not be clear in documented cases of children of hepatitis B-negative mothers becoming infected, “I can tell you that it didn’t come from the mother and it didn’t come from injection drug use and it didn’t come from sexual contact, so that means that it had to have been some kind of casual contact.

Yet during the debate, some members gave little credence to the risk of transmission to children through household contact.

Such as:

ACIP member Evelyn Griffin, an obstetrician and gynecologist, asserted that doctors could ascertain an entire household’s hepatitis B status by asking the mother.

“How are they going to know?…if 50% of people don’t know that they are hepatitis B-positive, you can ask all you want, and nobody knows.”

The committee members, all handpicked by Kennedy, ultimately decided to table the vote on whether to delay the newborn dose after inconsistencies in the wording of the text of the resolution (were brought up).

“The notion that hepatitis B is only confined to transmission for prostitutes, drug users, etc. is such an ignorant and uninformed way of approaching infectious disease,” internist Jason Goldman, the president of the American College of Physicians and its liaison to ACIP, said when reached after the meeting.

One might add that sexual abuse of minors is not exactly unheard of.  And this, once again:

Babies infected at birth have a 90% chance of developing chronic hepatitis B, and a quarter of those children go on to have severe complications, like liver cancer, or to die from the disease.

In 1991, federal health officials determined newborns should receive their first dose of a hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, which can block the virus from taking hold if transmitted during delivery. From 1990 to 2022, case rates of hepatitis B declined by more than 99%. While parents may opt out of the shots, many day care centers and school districts require proof of hepatitis B vaccination for enrollment.

I would add that when I began working in a laboratory attached to a large teaching hospital the HepB vaccine was highly recommended.  Yes, I am an “n =1” experiment, but I barely felt the needle sticks and the shots had no side effects.  Medical students are required to get the vaccine before starting medical school.  There is no treatment for HepB, by the way, and the vaccine protects against infection, unlike some others.  This will not end well.

Part the Second. Brilliant Artists of a Very Old School. In another triumph of archeology, and luck, 12,000-year-old rock art was discovered in northern Arabia. The art speaks for itself, and the people who carved the images:

Newly discovered prehistoric artwork suggests how a pioneering sect of desert nomads, unknown to history until now, carved out an existence about 12,000 years ago in the harsh environment of northern Arabia.

At four remote sites near Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert, researchers are puzzling over 130 life-sized animal images emblazoned on rocky outcrops. Wild camels dominate the carvings: 90 of them run alongside other ancient beasts that once roamed the arid landscape. Sweeping antlers of sure-footed ibex appear prominently. Ancient horselike equids are shown with their young. A depiction of an auroch, an extinct, hulking bovine that required plenty of water, suggests wetter environs—but only slightly wetter, say the archeologists who discovered the artwork. Their sediment analysis reveals seasonal lakes at two of the sites: ephemeral watering holes that were possibly shared by hunter-gatherers and other animals. And the camel etchings give clues to the circumstances of the encounters. At the time, livestock had yet to be domesticated, and camel herds still ran wild. Indeed, the desert-adapted camel stands out as the ancient artists’ favorite subject.

The people who made this rock art while standing on a high narrow ledge should make us proud to be their successors!

Part the Third: China Continues to Lap the West.  According to this article in Scientific American, the Chinese are very serious about renewable energy:

China has revealed its goal for slashing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, providing a glimpse into how global emissions might change over the next decade. In a video address to the United Nations Climate Summit on 24 September, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced that China will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 7% to 10% from peak levels by 2035.

The pace at which China cuts emissions will have profound global impact. The country has accounted for 90% of the growth in the world’s CO_₂ emissions since 2015 and it is now the largest GHG emitter in the world, responsible for around one-third of the global total, according to the Asia Society Policy Institute, a think tank based in New York City. Analysts have warned that China’s action could make or break the 2015 Paris agreement.

In 2020, Xi pledged that China’s CO_₂ emissions would peak before 2030 and that the country would achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Some researchers say China’s CO_₂ emissions will probably peak soon if they haven’t already.

Is this hype?  Are the Chinese exaggerating?  Do the Chinese need to exaggerate? Are they serious?  I’ll go with “No-No-No-Yes” for now, while remembering previous colleagues who said with utter conviction that the Chinese would never surpass the West in science and technology.  When I was the youngest person in the lab and met my first Chinese scientist from the PRC who had fallen victim to the Cultural Revolution, that smugness had at least a slight air of plausibility.  That time is long gone, however.

Now, will this achievement make any difference in the trajectory of climate collapse due to human cupidity coupled with stupidity?  Probably not, but that is another matter altogether.  Will the West, led by an America That Is Made Great Again, follow the Chinese in this effort to mitigate climate collapse?  Rhetorical question.

Part the Fourth: The Disenchantment of Nature Doesn’t Make It Any Less Beautiful.  Will-o’-the-Wisps have long been attributed to burning methane – the blue flame of a gas range or Bunsen burner – but until recently no one knew the mechanism.  A current paper in PNAS has this covered. Microlightning is the answer.

Will-o’-the-wisps, ghostly blue flames seen at night in marshlands and long attributed to methane cool flames, have remained scientifically unexplained, a mystery caused by the lack of a known ignition mechanism. Here, we demonstrate that spontaneous electrical discharges, termed “microlightning”, can occur between rising methane-containing microbubbles in water. High-speed optical imaging reveals brief flashes between charged bubbles, arising from strong electric fields at curved gas–liquid interfaces. These discharges initiate nonthermal oxidation of methane, producing luminescence and measurable heat under ambient conditions. Our findings offer a scientific basis for ignis fatuus and reveal a general mechanism by which electrified interfaces can drive redox reactions in natural environments without the need for external ignition sources.

Ignis fatuus remains one of my favorite scientific terms.  Literally “foolish fire,” which applies to more than will-o’-the-wisps in a bog at night.  I have never seen this, but I have seen many bioluminescent mushrooms on very dark nights.  They are frequently crawling with ants, perhaps the ants spread spores?  For a luminescent demonstration I did for middle school students back in the day I worked on bioluminescent sea creatures, try this.  Go into a very dark room and rapidly crush a Wint-O-Green lifesaver with a pair of pliers (wear glasses or safety goggles).  The blue flashes due to triboluminescence are simple fun for kids of all ages.

Part the Fifth: Good Sleep Leads to Good Health.  According to this article in Nature, “Chuck the gadgets, the fads and the alarm. Circadian research reveals how important your body’s internal clock is to blissful slumber.”

From TikTok videos touting mouth tape and weighted blankets, to magazines ranking insomnia-curbing pillows, sleep advice is everywhere. And it’s no wonder. People all over the world complain of insomnia and not getting enough sleep, driving a market for sleep aids worth more than US$100 billion annually (emphasis added; we are a sick society).

But scientists warn that online hacks and pricey tools aren’t always effective. And failed attempts to remedy the situation could have negative effects, says Andrew McHill, a circadian scientist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. “It could discourage people from finding help, and things could get worse,” he says.

Circadian rhythms are real and they matter.  But we moderns ignore them, to our detriment.

Instead, researchers point to the lessons coming from circadian science, which over the past five decades has exposed a network of biological clocks throughout the body. This timekeeping machinery ensures that physiological systems are primed to do the right things at the right times – such as defend against pathogens, digest food and sleep. But circadian clocks don’t cycle precisely on their own. To stay in sync and function optimally, they need regular calibration from sunlight, daily routines and other cues.

Modern life doesn’t often cooperate. People spend much of their time indoors. They eat late into the night. They shift sleep schedules between workdays and weekends, effectively jet-lagging themselves. The toll is steep. In the short term, circadian disruption and insufficient sleep can reduce cognition, mood and reaction time. In the long term, they can increase risks of infections, diabetes, depression, dementia, cancer, heart disease and premature death.

We all know what sleep deprivation does to our “cognition, mood and reaction time.”  That it leads to the other outcomes is generally not appreciated.  So, what to do?

For better sleep and overall health…scientists emphasize three basics: contrasting light and dark, consolidating mealtimes and keeping sleep times consistent. “Simply taking a walk outside during the day and reducing our light exposure in the evening could have great effect.”

In another “n =1” self-experiment, I have found that walk around the block during the workday and sleeping in a very dark room seem to work, without the Paxil, Ambien or another “anxiolytics” recommended by any number of members of the PMC, from medical students to professors of medicine.

And I will be working on this advice, which makes perfect sense, better very late than never:

Calorie intake is also intricately linked with circadian rhythms and sleep. The human liver at 10 a.m. and the human liver at 10 p.m. are very different organs. The same can be said for other parts of the body that process food. Hunger hormones, digestive enzymes and glucose-regulating insulin have rhythms, too.

Late morning to early afternoon is when the body is usually most prepared for incoming calories. Eating late in the evening disrupts clocks and leaves key steps of digestion incomplete. It can also disrupt the gut microbiome, which could contribute to insomnia. What’s more, late meals send blood to the gut and raise core body temperature, countering the natural night-time dip that promotes sleep. And they elevate glucose levels and uncouple liver and kidney clocks from the core clock in the brain, raising the chance of midnight toilet trips.

Manoogian and others suggest reviving the old adage: Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon and a peasant at dinner. That last meal, they say, should fall at least three hours before bedtime, ideally with no subsequent snacks or caloric drinks.

Moderation in all things, including these rules.  That late dinner with lots of wine with friends?  And those stretches of deadlines make fatigue inevitable?  Take the time to sleep them off.

Part the Sixth: Jane Goodall Has Died.  I learned this while writing the first draft of this Coffee Break.  This inevitability leaves this Earth without one of its true heroes:

Scientific American spoke with Goodall in 2010 to mark her 50th anniversary with chimpanzees and asked her what she considered her most significant contributions.

“Breaking down this perceived sharp line between us and other creatures,” Goodall said. “I think chimpanzees have helped people understand that we are part of and not separated from the animal kingdom, and that has opened the way to having respect for the other amazing beings with whom we share the planet.”

Those of us of a certain age who grew up watching National Geographic Specials featuring Jane Goodall (go to 14:45 for an early key to her success and present and future human failings), Louis B. Leakey, and hundreds of other outdoor scientists will never forget what they taught us, notwithstanding the whataboutism from certain circles that is inevitable in the days to come.

See you next week!