h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This raises the question, what would Elvis do?

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Leave the building another way?

If the top half of the door on the right isn't an exit, does that make the bottom half a cat flap?

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The marauding hordes from that polite country of Canada will read the sign and not try to exit through it.

Those are all entries to the outside world, so definitely not an exit.

An exit from one place is an entrance to another. At my health center, you can only go in one door and out another. This has something to do with containing COVID-19. They might as well try that, as new studies show little effectiveness for masks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3vY2LyQn1A&t=223s

Not 'new studies.' *A* study. Here's a different study:

Abaluck et al. 2021, "Impact of community masking on COVID-19: A cluster-randomized trial in Bangladesh." Science 375:6577. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi9069.

http://egc.yale.edu/largest-study-masks-and-covid-19-demonstrates-their-effectiveness-real-world

This link directly addresses the Cochrane Review with regard to its methodologies.

'Yes, masks reduce the risk of spreading COVID, despite a review saying they don’t: An updated Cochrane Review suggests face masks don’t reduce the spread of COVID in the community. But there are several reasons why this conclusion is misleading.'

http://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/yes-masks-reduce-risk-spreading-covid-despite-review-saying-they-dont

These must have been done in the 1970's ???

Hippy days = Way Out Man!!!

I remember in the 70s seeing an English exit sign that said 'way out'. I thought, 'O-kayyy...'

First time in the Greek embassy in Bonn, getting a visa to move to Greece. I looked up and saw that the exit sign was marked 'Exodus', and cracked up.

I love seeing "fire-door" Do "they" light it if it gets cold outside ???

Did the Greek embassy also have doors marked Genesis (Entrance) and Leviticus (Authorised personnel only. Trespassers will be cursed up to the seventh generation)?

Nope. Just 'exodos', which is Greek for 'exit'.

being a genius in something's and not in others

"door"(the word, meaning) Where did it come from ?

IE:front door/back door/side door/stage door etc etc

That word is ancient, Prof. It goes all the way to Proto-Indo-European. Which means people have had doors for thousands of years, and they've called them something that sounds like 'door' or 'portal' for a very long time.

From the Online Etymological Dictionary: '*dhwer-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "door, doorway." The base form is frequently in dual or plural, leading to speculation that houses of the original Indo-Europeans had doors with two swinging halves.'

Which is interesting. As Herman's Hermits might put it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jNmGxYnLMQ

and
Thank you DmitriAppreciated info

Anytime!

Scientists are doing their jobs when they are looking for flaws in each other's works. What I took away from the links that were provided is that if you can wear high-quality masks 24/7, you can probably avoid catching Covid-19. If that's what you want to do or have to do, fine.

The HMO I go to hands out cheap blue masks to everyone at the door. Maybe they've done studies of their own, or maybe they're just following the advice of the NIH or CDC.

As a society, we can't always figure out how someone who was exceptionally careful caught Covid-19, or why someone else who was careless didn't.

Someday, maybe many years from now, perhaps scientists will understand why some people's immune systems repel disease, and why other people's don't.

Thin, young, well-nourished people with no co-morbidities have a statistical edge against Covid. If they are women, so much the better. If they have access to excellent health care, they may have an edge in surviving it if they catch it.

And then there are the people who are in excellent shape and take every precaution, and get sick from it anyway. They aren't very numerous, but it would help science if they could be studied to find out why.

I've tried to understand where the threshold is in terms of case levels, to determine whether there is still an emergency.

Last month, COVID-19 was scaled down around here to the same level as the flu. No testing required, no quarantine (although general advice is to stay at home if you are sick from any disease) no more mass vaccinations. (probably something like the annual flu sho will be introduced for sensitive groups (maybe even in the same shot).

The other side of the story is that front line medical staff that got long COVID in the early stages want / need financial support. Instead of doing this in general and quickly, the authorities want to look into it case by case (so it will take ages).

My brother (50yo) got long COVID early 2020 (before the vaccines) and hasn't recovered since (with no hope for improvement, so far). He can do 2 or 3 20 minute activities spread over a day before falling over. Activities as in: Reading a newspaper, having a short chat with his neighbour, training his airways by playing the flute.
He was pretty healthy before, although he has had a period of chronic fatigue some 20 years ago.

I'm sorry to hear that. I have a friend who says she has long Covid, but I just saw her on facebook, on a ski slope with her husband. If she can ski, she's probably not too badly off.