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Can very small droplets, i.e. micro-droplets or aerosols, stay suspended in the air for hours and slowly fill a closed area with viruses?

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Micro droplets suspended in air.

Can very small droplets, i.e. micro-droplets or aerosols, slowly fill a closed area with viruses?

yes or no?


micro droplets suspended in air

Micro droplets suspended in air.

This is another topic that is difficult to address. I am not a virologist or an immunologist, so I can’t speak from an authoritative point of view. All my sources are, as usual, referred at the bottom of the page. The article is about the aerosols and if they can transmit the virus SARS CoV-2 or not. 

Here’s a link to the WHO’s advice for the public on how to stay safe during the Pandemic.

What does it take for a virus to be able to travel from one human to another?

A virus is very small, under a half micrometer. The virus SARS CoV-2 is 80-160 nanometers (nm), or 0,08 to 0,16 micrometers (µm), or 0,00008 to 0,00016 millimeters in diameter, Keep this in mind for the next step. 

The virus lives inside our body, but after some time it will need to move on. It gets fed up with just making one person suffer, and it starts spreading. It will travel from one individual to another. The virus is most prone to transmit the disease to another person from 1 – 3 days before the first symptom till a week after in patients with mild symptoms and longer if the person have persisting symptoms. 

micro droplets suspended in air

And viruses can not fly, but they can travel on anything as long as it has a reasonably flat surface, is not too cold and not too hot. Normally they reach the other host, riding on things like feces, blood, sperm, mucus or simply by riding on the humidity of the expelled air. How they do this is a question about strategy, and every virus has one or more specific ways of transmission.

So how does SARS CoV-2 move around?

The absolute majority of the transmission of the SARS CoV-2 virus is thought to be by mucus and droplets, formed by the humidity of the air when we breath out. Either by symptomatic patients who sneeze and cough, or by pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic persons who just do their normal things, talk, touch, hug, exhale, and are being close in general. The virus can stay on a surface for many hours, days even until someone touches it and then scratches his mouth or nose. It survives longer on plastic and steel than on fabrics f.ex. And through the nose, mouth, ears, or eyes, the virus gets access to the mucous membrane of the new host.

When someone breathes, humidity comes out from the mouth and shoots into the air. The humidity that you can feel inside your face-mask or you can see if you breathe on a cold window-glass, is actually millions of very small droplets of humidity. If the person is infected with a virus, then these droplets will contain that virus. 

micro droplets suspended in air

Now, with more knowledge and the use of personal protective equipment, this way of transmission is getting more difficult for the virus. We still don’t always know who is ill and who’s not, though, so we don’t know exactly who to stay away from. The testing is still a little behind, so we have to practice social distancing with everybody, just to be safe, and not let anybody come closer than 1, or 2 meters (6 feet). 

But, are we absolutely sure that the virus can’t reach us at 6 feet?

To understand this issue we have to know two things:

  • Can the virus travel with very small droplets, i.e..micro-droplets or aerosols?
  • Do we produce aerosols when we breathe, or are they just the bigger drops, those who fall to the ground?

What is an aerosol?

An aerosol is a droplet that is smaller than 5 micrometers (5 thousands of a millimeter). Remember that the Coronavirus is 0,08 – 0,16 micrometers. 

micro droplets suspended in airAerosol or micro droplets suspended in air.

The first thing to clarify is if the virus can travel on aerosols, or only on bigger droplets.

By definition, aerosols are droplets in air (or in a gas) of solid or liquid particles, small enough that they remain airborne for prolonged periods because of their low settling velocity. For spherical particles, settling times (for a 3-m fall) are:

  • 10 s for a particle of 100 μm diameter.
  • 4 min for 20 μm
  • 17 min for 10 μm
  • 62 min for 5 μm.
  • A particle with a diameter of less than 3 μm essentially does not settle. 

Do these micro droplets suspended in air actually carry the virus?

Unfortunately, we don’t know everything about this new virus… Maybe we don’t even know very much. At the beginning of the Pandemic, almost all of our information came from knowledge of other, similar viruses. And from there we have the first piece of the puzzle. The SARS CoV-1, the virus that caused the outbreak of SARS in 2003 in Asia, traveled with aerosols through the air. This was confirmed by a number of studies and was regarded as the main, or one of the main transmission routes in indoor cases. 

Many other viruses have been confirmed to be able to transmit through the air as well.

Recent studies on this specific coronavirus show that it can travel on very small micro droplets suspended in air, down to diameters of less than one micrometer. It can travel even without the droplet once it’s in the air, but it has to be pushed out together with something to start moving, and that something can be a very small droplet.

But how many viruses can travel with a micro droplet? Is it enough to make you sick? 

And here we stumble on more things that we don’t know exactly. But new information becomes available as we move on. The department of Homeland Security in the US expects the infectious dose to be somewhere between 10 and 10.000 viruses. The exact number varies and it’s imprecise, but it’s obvious that you don’t really need a lot of viruses to get ill… At least not necessarily. 

Lately, it’s also become clear that the more viruses you are exposed to, the higher the probability for you to catch the disease… And the higher the probability to develop sever symptoms. 

Any way you look at it, it’s important to reduce the number of viruses to a minimum.

sars cov-2How many micro-droplets does a normal person cough out?

Every time we exhale, droplets flow out of our mouths. When we cough or sneeze, a strong current of air is produced, and with it, there will inevitably be droplets. These droplets diminish in size as soon as they come out, as some of the liquid evaporates. They become smaller. A very small aerosol typically dries out completely a short time after being expelled, but that depends greatly on temperature and humidity. A completely evaporated droplet leaves the virus hanging by itself in the air, so-called droplet nuclei.

The same document from Homeland Security states that a human being normally expels between 100.000 and 10 million viruses an hour, by breathing. But that’s what comes out of the mouth. If you stand far away, then the virus concentration is diluted. 

The droplets come in all sizes. Some are big and fall to the ground very fast, some are smaller. The distance a droplet can travel also depends on the force with which it is thrown out. A sneeze has a big push behind it and can travel as far as 25 feet (8 meters).

But back to the micro droplets suspended in the air. How many do we exhale with every breath?

Although we now have some ideas it’s still uncertain and very individual. But there are a few important considerations:

  • Activating the vocal cords produce more particles. 
  • The higher the volume, the more you shout, the more droplets you produce, but the size distribution is the same.
  • Some individuals expel more droplets of all sizes than their peers. And others have a higher viral load and emit more viruses in the droplets.  These are sometimes referred to as super-spreaders.  

The special case of choral singing.

choral singing in church

Taking all this into consideration, it’s obvious that choral singing is a very high-risk activity. In a rehearsal situation, many singers are sitting close together producing huge quantities of aerosols. If the ventilation is poor, the rehearsal goes on for maybe an hour or more, and the singers don’t use masks (as it can be difficult to sing with the mouth covered), it would be a very dangerous thing to do.

Singing also means a different type of breathing, and a longer time for the virus to interact with the tissue in the lungs, bronchus, and the throat.

Think of it like smoking. If a smoker sits in the corner of the room, you feel the smell. But if 70 people smoke uninterruptedly in a rehearsal room for an hour and a half, and maybe with closed windows, it will be very difficult to escape.  

In fact, there have been quite a few cases where one single person who was positive infected a large part of the chorus after only one rehearsal. It happened in Amsterdam, Berlin, Washington, and other places. Now, some countries have banned chorus rehearsals altogether.

So, what can we do?

wear a face mask

In autumn 2020 more and more national health authorities, as well as the WHO have confirmed the danger connected to aerosols. These findings are difficult for many, more difficult than mask-wearing and hand-washing. If the virus can remain for hours in a closed environment, then restaurants, bars, shops, buses, all will need additional security measures. If it’s not enough to stay far away from people, and you can catch Covid just from entering a room, then it will be much harder to defend yourself. We would need to monitor all the others, not just ourselves

But hey, I’m no expert on this… I do think, though, that we might have to stay aware of this particular risk and keep our guard up. I believe the metaphor about smoking is right on topic. If one smoke, than you can move away. But if a lot of people smoke and all the windows are closed, than it doesn’t really help to stand six feet away. 

Wearing a surgical mask, or even a home-made one, if it’s put on correctly, can reduce the number of droplets coming out from the mouth and nose radically. It’s mostly something you do to protect others, not yourself, even if it gives a little protection also to the bearer. It’s something we have to do together, as a sign of respect to our fellow human beings. 

If you want to protect yourself, you need to wear a filtrating mask, N95, KN95, FFP2, or similar.

And good ventilation is crucial. Outside is safer than indoors, open windows are much safer than closed ones.

And as said before, maybe we have to look at the famous two meters, 6 feet in a different light. 6 feet is still better than 3, but 9 feet is better than 6. There is no magical limit where you can feel safe and drop all your guards. It’s mostly about probability… If all of the people wear masks it’s better than half. But at the end of the day, if I’m the only one wearing the stupid mask, it’s still better than if no one does…

 


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Yes, very small micro droplets can carry the virus very far from the source, and stay suspended in the air for a long time… Under certain conditions indefinitely.  

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Is going by air, with a commercial airliner, the safest way to travel?

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Is going by air, with a commercial airliner, the safest way to travel?

yes or no?


safest way to travel

The statistics are very well documented and as well-founded as you could possibly desire. But I would still like to scrutinize it for a bit. I think it’s a good idea to look into what we mean by safe, and what we mean by travel… Because statistics are never better than what you understand it to be. 

Which is the safest way to travel?

If I go for an hour on my motorcycle, or if I go for an hour with my private airplane is not exactly the same thing. With the motorcycle, I will cover 50 miles of beautiful mountain roads. But with my private jet, I will cover 500 miles. So do we calculate the number of incidents per hour or per mile?

Here are some other difficulties when trying to figure out which is the safest way to travel:

  • A train crash could kill hundreds of people, while a motorcycle would kill one, or two. 
  • Going by bus means riding with a professional driver, while you would probably drive your own car. 
  • Cars and motorcycles are mostly used in the city, while trains are for going across the country. And the city is a more dangerous environment. 
  • Going by boat could mean going on your own, small fishing boat, or going with a 150.000 tonnage cruise ship.

These are just a few considerations, but there are many more. 

Which is the safest way to travelDeaths per traveled mile.

An often-used parameter, when comparing travel safety is deaths per traveled mile. The distance is the figure against which the death rate is compared. In that case, a four-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles equals a 42-hour drive… Or if you want, two months by bicycle.

This might seem an absurd comparison, but some travel means are mostly for leisure, like a motorcycle. So, going back to our example, in the beginning, it is not perfectly correct to compare the one-hour drive in your private airplane, to ten hours on a motorcycle, if both drivers are just cruising around.  

Then, there is the danger for the others. If a motorcycle drives off the road, or a train does it, there’s quite a difference in danger for the others, those who were not in the vehicle. 

But let’s try to find out which is the safest way to travel. And we will use deaths/distance as the formula. Not only deaths among the travelers on board, but also the danger for any bystander.  

Train – 0,6 deaths per billion kilometers.

The train is a very safe way to travel. While streets are full of other cars, bicycles, dogs, grandmas, grandpas, and children… The rail is free from any obstacles. It’s a straight line. Unfortunately, even on a straight line, things can go wrong. 

Which is the safest way to travel

The majority of deaths by trains are not by train crashes but by trespassing. And the majority of trespassers who die are pedestrians, often people who are hit by the train while walking or standing on the tracks. Or cars at level crossings. Incredible as it may seem, 25% of all fatalities in level-crossing accidents are actually the car running into the train and not the other way around.

A significant part of deaths at railroads is suicide.

For those who ride the train, sitting inside, it is one the safest way to travel. 0,6 deaths/bn kilometers becomes 0,1 if you count only the passengers. Some smaller countries don’t even have statistics for train deaths as no passengers die. 

Car >6 deaths per billion kilometers.

Since practically only European and North American countries keep statistics over deaths per distance in road traffic, this figure is probably much higher.

Car is a dangerous means of travel, surpassed only by motorcycle. About 1,35 million people die every year in road accidents worldwide, and the vast majority of them involve a car. And some 25 to 50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries. As with the train, an additional danger with cars is that they run into things and people.

Which is the safest way to travel

The safety inside the car is one thing, but since the car is the preferable transportation in most cities, they kill pedestrians, and other drivers as well.

  • Western countries with modern, well-maintained roads are much safer than third-world countries.
  • Safety is increasing as cars are getting a higher level of passive safety, like airbags, seat belts, automatic brake systems, etc.
  • The percentage of fatal incidents where pedestrians are killed by a car is generally increasing. The passive safety helps decrease fatality for passengers but not for people outside the car. 
  • Lower speed limits and more frequent controls help reduce incidents.
  • The safest roads are motorways (freeways), while urban and rural roads are less safe.
  • A vast majority of the collisions with pedestrians with a fatal outcome, happen in dark.
  • 20-30% of all fatal incidents are caused by excessive speed. 

Motorcycle  ~ 125 deaths per billion kilometers.

All that has been said about cars is valid for motorcycles too. The difference is that the motorcycle doesn’t have any passive safety, no airbags, or seat-belts.

motorcycle

Furthermore, a motorcycle is a typical vehicle for young people, and young people are more dangerous in traffic. Drivers between 18 and 24 have a double probability to die in a traffic incident compared to others. 

Buses – 0,4 deaths per billion kilometers

Buses are generally very safe. But even here it can be tricky comparing the figures. Buses in Germany are safer than buses in India, mainly because the traffic in Germany is generally safer. Buses in urban areas crash more, but with fewer fatalities. 

One interesting fact is that large buses represent a very small part of the incidents with deadly outcomes. It is much safer to go with a greyhound coach than with a chartered 9-seater. 

Airplane – 0,05 deaths per billion kilometers.

Although many are afraid of flying, it is the safest way to travel you can think of. Even though it might seem strange and dangerous to sway up there, over the clouds in a thin metal-tube, it’s actually not. 

As trains have their rails to go on, airplanes are practically flying where there is nothing to bump into. It’s like driving on a freeway without traffic and where the road has no sides. 

You might be afraid that it could stop working and just fall down… Well, that happens but it is very rare. And an airplane can continue even if a motor goes out, or two… Even if all of the engines die, the airplane can still glide down and land if there is something to land on within reach.

Small airplanes are more dangerous than big ones. Not because size matters, but because the big airliners are maintained and run by professionals from the big aviation companies, and they follow a long set of security regulations. 

cruise shipBoat – 2,6 deaths per billion kilometers.

But the boat is a very different means of transport compared to the others. You usually don’t take the boat to the office or take the boat to get out of town for the weekend, unless you live in Venice, Italy. So, where do the statistic come from?

Big passenger ships, cruise ships, local ferries, and long-distance ferries. These boats are very safe. Then there are the private small boats… The fishing boats, and the leisure boats. These are not very safe. And mostly because we are not safe. The vast majority of fatal incidents with small boats are due to human errors. 20% of the deaths involve alcohol. 

Walking and Cycling – about 50 deaths per billion kilometers.

Walking doesn’t kill you. But walking in the city or on the side of the country road makes you a target for cars, buses, and motorcycles. In fact, all pedestrian deaths come from being hit by others.

cycling summer

Unfortunately, we do not see the same decrease in mortality here as with the other transportation methods. Walking and cycling seem to become more dangerous as time passes. 

The very high death toll is not the whole truth though. Walking is slow, and it will take a great deal of time to reach one billion kilometers, walking. Deaths per hour would be a better measurement. 

Conclusion – Flying is the safest way to travel.

Yep, flying is the safest way to travel. Followed by trains and busses. 

Why is it so? 

The answer is divided into three parts:

  1. Airplanes, just like trains, don’t normally run into other objects. The sky is relatively free from obstacles, as are the rails. 
  2. Big things protect you more. A big bus is very much safer than a small car. The physical equation tells us that the kinetic energy of the big body is bigger than that of a small body. If a bus runs into a car, the car will immediately move in the direction of the bus, while the movement and direction of the bus will change very little. The passengers in the car will suffer more damage. 
  3. Professional drivers and pilots driving vehicles that are maintained by professional mechanics and controlled by all kinds of regulations by the authorities are safer. That’s just the way it is. A small private plane is much more dangerous than a big airliner. A big cross-country highway bus is much safer than a small charted van. Even taxis, although taxi drivers are thought of by many as reckless, have a lower rate of incidents than private cars. Only calculating traffic incidents, not the possible danger of being assaulted by the taxi driver. 


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Yes, traveling by air is very safe, and traveling from one point to another with a commercial airliner is the safest way to travel if you measure deaths and injuries per traveled distance. 

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Did the crew of the Santa Maria, the Niña, and the Pinta know that Earth is a sphere long before they crossed the Atlantic?

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Did the crew of the Santa Maria, the Niña, and the Pinta know that Earth is a sphere long before they crossed the Atlantic?

yes or no?


Cristoforo Colombo

Columbus’ financing of the trip to America.

Cristoforo Colombo was an Italian adventurer and discoverer. Born in Genua probably in 1451. We don’t know exactly what happened to him before he showed up in Portugal to cross the Atlantic. Probably he went to sea very young and became knowledgeable in seamanship and cartography from his many travels. From 1477 he lived in Lissabon.

Portugal was at the time the center for travel, trade, and exploration of the world. For centuries, Venice had been the epicenter for East Asia trading, but the rise of the Ottoman Empire and before them the Mongols had made the trade routes eastwards on land less profitable, and more dangerous.

The Portuguese had explored the African coast towards the south already from the beginning of the 15th century, The goal was obviously to find a way to China, by sea.   

EratosthenesColumbus and his strange and controversial ideas.

Columbus made thorough calculations and decided to propose an expedition towards the west to reach China from the other side. He figured that instead of going all the way around Africa to the south, then having to go up the east side, and further east to reach China… He would simply sail straight towards the west and reach China from the backdoor. 

So, this was no secret or very strange at the time… The fact that the earth was a sphere was common knowledge, and sailing in whatever direction, you would eventually return from where you set out. 

What was controversial was his calculations. Although he was rather good at writing maps, he probably didn’t have any formal degree or exam from any university… And maybe he wasn’t very good at geometry. This could have been the reason why he missed the width of Europe, he missed the distance from Japan to China, and he missed the circumference of the globe. 

All this made him totally miss the distance between Portugal and China. And these calculations prevented him from gain support for his expedition from the majority of the European leaders. 

He tried the Portuguese King, the Spanish regents, back to Portugal, then to France and England, before Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Spanish regents, finally agreed to finance his enterprise. 

The old Greeks already knew.

Eratosthenes

If Columbus had known what the old Greeks knew already 2000 years earlier, he would have agreed with his opponents. He would have understood that to reach China he would have to travel 10.000 nautical miles (12.000 miles, 20.000km) to get there. And that is a very long way. And if he had known that, he probably never would have discovered America. 

The stories about the sailors on Columbus’ ship who protested and rebelled because they were afraid they would fall off the edge are possibly not true. Any sailor would know that a ship that sails over the horizon disappears hull first and top last. They were surely much more scared of the vastity of the ocean, sea monsters, mermaids, and the perfectly correct assumption that it was too far to sail. 

The idea that Columbus set out to prove the world was round, was a fictional construction from the 19th century. 

Pythagoras and Eratosthenes.

Pythagoras, one of the early Greek philosophers and mathematicians, is thought to have discovered the roundness of the earth. We know very little about him or what he discovered or not. But the old Greeks generally thought that the world was a sphere.

Eratosthenes

Eratosthenes was a mathematician and astronomer. He was born in 276 BC. in the city of Cyrene in Libya, Cyrene was a Greek town and when Eratosthenes was old enough, he went to Athene to complete his studies. He was then offered to become the librarian of the Library of Alexandria, at that time the biggest collection of scriptures in the world and a center for academic knowledge.  

Eratosthenes’ experiment.

Once in Alexandria, Eratosthenes heard about the city of Syene (Aswan) in southern Egypt. What interested him about Syene was the fact that a vertical pillar on the day of the summer solstice, doesn’t leave a shadow. The sun is straight up. 

Eratosthenes

So, he simply calculated the shadow of a vertical rod, in Alexandria on that same day. Using simple geometry, he found that the angle of the sunlight was 7°. As the angle in Syene was 0° and the distance between the two cities was 5000 stadia (a Greek length unit. The circumference of a sports arena, a stadium), he could decide the size of the earth. 

And he did so with exceptional precision. He calculated the circumference of the earth to be 250.000 stadia, 50 times the distance from Alexandria to  Syene. That equals 39.375 km (24466 miles). The real circumference is 39.941 km (24.818 miles).

He then continued to divide the earth into climate zones, of which the two around the poles were frozen. He placed a grid of parallels and meridians over the surface. 

After that, he went out and calculated the diameter of the sun and the distance to it. Here he was a bit short and a little too small about the size. He also calculated the size and distance to the moon. He described the 365-day year with an extra day every fourth year… And he formulated the Sieve of Eratosthenes, a method for finding prime numbers. 

Columbus’ miscalculations.

It makes you wonder where all the Greek knowledge became lost, doesn’t it? If Columbus had read the classical Greek literature maybe he wouldn’t have sailed away. But then someone else would have set out to find America because there were many hints of a big continent somewhere to the west.

The Azores were already well known from the 14th century and it was colonized by the Portuguese from the beginning of 1400. 

earth is round

The legendary Atlantic island group of Antillias was first charted on the Pizzigano map of 1424. But these islands, far to the west of the Azores were known to many cultures already in the ancient world.

And finally, we all know that the Viking, Leif Eriksson, went to Newfoundland in eastern Canada 500 years before Columbus.

It is possible that Columbus knew what he would find. It is possible that the common knowledge about the size and shape of the world, already proven by the Greeks, had reached the mazes of the explorer’s mind. He did study the maps and the charts and planned for his trip for ten years before setting out, and it is possible that his insistence on finding China was a way to attract interest from investors, rather than scientists.  

But we don’t know for sure.

What we do know is that he never officially accepted that he had ended up nowhere near China… That his mission was a failure, but a failure that with time would be a much greater success than he could ever imagine.

Columbus misscalculations
The chart of the famous Florentine Cartographer Toscanelli on top of the real world map. This image could have been a major source of inspiration for Columbus.


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Conclusion

Yes, Eratosthenes proved the world was round by calculating its diameter in the 3rd century BC. This was around the year 1500 AD common knowledge among scientists, sailors, and anyone with a minimum of education. 

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Is the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg just a commercial puppy?

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Is the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg just a commercial puppy?

yes or no?


Greta Thunberg

Who is behind Greta Thunberg?

Greta Thunberg was born on January 3, 2003, in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents are Malena Ernman, who at least in Sweden is a very famous opera singer, and Svante Thunberg, a Swedish actor and artist of minor success. She has a 2 year younger sister, Beata Ernman.

In 2014 Greta suffered a period of depression and general sadness. After an investigation at child and adolescent psychiatry (BUP) in Stockholm, she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (autism spectrum disorder), 

During her school years before and after the diagnosis, she felt increasingly worried about the future and health of our planet. One distinct occasion was when her class saw a film about the waste problem of our planet in general and the great pacific garbage patch in the pacific ocean right outside of California in particular. At the end of that same lesson her teacher informed the class that the next week, the lessons would be held by a substitute, as she, the ordinary teacher, had to go to New York for a wedding. 

According to Greta, this experience was a wake-up call. She understood the inconsistency of the adult community as well as the politicians, who say one thing but do another. 

Asperger’s syndrome (autism spectrum disorder)

Who is behind Greta THunberg?

Greta has stated that being Asperger sometimes is a strength as you tend to look deeper and clearer into arguments. The world becomes black and white, true, and false. As she has said in multiple interviews.

  –  … but the climate question actually is black and white. In some way, it’s the most complicated question there is… But the solution is simple enough so that a five-year-old can understand it. We have to stop emissions. It’s black and white.

How could she become so famous?

In May 2018 Greta won second prize in a short story contest arranged by Svenska Dagbladet. The topic was the climate threat to our planet. Bo Thorèn, who was, and still is a climate profile in Sweden, contacted the winners and shared his idea of a school strike to sensitize the public view on the subject. He had been inspired by the Stoneman Douglas High School student protests after the shooting on February 14, 2018. The Stoneman Douglas protests eventually contributed to changing the weapon laws in Florida. Of the young writers, only Greta showed interest. And as nobody would follow, she went on strike alone. Bo Thorèn wasn’t involved in the one-person strike at that point. 

Actually, Greta had been trying to act in many ways before autumn 2018. She had been a member of various groups of climate activists, she had attended meetings and actions but never felt that her participation had any effect. 

Greta Thunberg
Courtesy of Frankie Fouganthin

The idea of a strike was obviously more engaging. So, on August 20, 2018, Greta initiated her school strike outside the Swedish parliament. And the result of that initiative was to become notably renowned.

The facts about the commercial interests behind Greta Thunberg and wedonthavetime.org.

Who is behind Greta Thunberg – Ingmar Rentzhog?

When Greta Thunberg sat down outside the Parliament, the intention was to sit there until the election on the 9th of September. That would mean three weeks. That same day Ingmar Rentzhog, a Swedish PR consultant active in a variety of fields, tweeted about her and asking people to get down there and show her their appreciation.

  – She needs your support now!

Ingemar Rentzhog had started We don’t have time, an online climate company on a hashtag-business-model in April that same year. Rentzhog engaged Thunberg as a counselor. Later that year Greta Thunberg cut all connections with the firm. Rentzhog has admitted that he continued to use Greta Thunberg’s name for publicity purpose until February 2019, without Greta knowing about it. 

The facts about Greta Thunberg and the biography book by her parents.

Who is behind Greta Thunberg – Is it her parents?

On August 23, 2018, three days after the first protest outside the parliament, her parent’s book, “Scenes from the Heart” was published. Many argued that the date was just a little too close to the beginning of their daughter’s school strike to be a coincidence. In the first edition, only Malena Ernman and Svante Thunberg, Greta’s parents, were accredited as authors. On later, updated editions, both their daughters’ names are on the cover. 

While the first edition had a portrait of Malena, later versions have a photo of Greta Thunberg on the cover. 

I’ve actually met Malena Ernman (although she probably wouldn’t remember me), and she is a very strong, courageous, and determined woman. My experience tells me that it is beyond any doubt that she knows how to market herself as well as others. And the timing of the release of the book wasn’t random. 

All revenue from the book goes to Greenpeace, WWF, and six other Swedish charity organizations.

 Flying

One of the first decisions Greta made for herself and her family (… after the experience with the New York-flying teacher), was to stop flying. She actually imposed a family travel ban if traveling included airplanes.

Greta explains that this meant that her mother to some extent had to change her career. Being an opera singer with engagements in many countries, she couldn’t continue as before. She is now progressing her singing toward musical and popular music so that she can stay close to her home. A choice she has made for her daughters and for the environment. 

Malena Ernman has always been productive in a more mainstream musical field as well as opera, though. She is one of those unusual singers who don’t respect boundaries. She moves with ease from one genre to another, from one type of music to another. She even has an extraordinary vocal range and has no problems singing in the soprano- as well as the lower contralto register, although she’s classified as a mezzo-soprano. 

In 2009 she won the Swedish national qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest. In the final, she finished number 21. 

Greta Thunberg, Maliza II, and the Monaco Yacht Club.

Who is behind Greta Thunberg – Is it Pierre Casiraghi, Princess Caroline’s son?

In September 2019 Greta Thunberg was invited to speak to the US Congress, as well as the UN Climate Action Summit. To get to the other side of the Atlantic, she would have to use a boat if flying was no option. She had many offers from various sustainers of her movement but finally decided to go with Malizia II. This is a 60 feet, monohull, extreme racing sailboat. It is one of the fastest single-hull sailboats in the world. It actually didn’t take more than two weeks for them to reach New York from Plymouth, England.

Maliza II
Courtesy of Jerome Samson

The owner of the boat is Gerhard Senft, an Austrian mechanical engineer. It is sponsored by the Monaco Yacht Club. Pierre Casiraghi, the youngest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, and vice president of the club sailed the boat together with skipper Boris Herrman. Then there were Greta’s father Svante and Nathan Grossman, a documentary filmmaker aboard. Sponsors of the boat’s racing activity are BMW, the German car manufacturer, and the Swiss bank group EFG (European finance group). 

Greta asked that all sponsors’ logos were taken down and in fact, the boat had only logos connected to climate change commitments when crossing the Atlantic. She was also assured that the sponsors were excluded from this particular event. Sponsoring is more general than that, though, and excluding two weeks of traveling from all the rest is difficult.

Going back

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) was supposed to be held in November in Brazil. When Jair Bolsonaro was elected President, he withdrew the offer to host the event. Chile agreed to step up and organize it in Santiago but social unrest forced it to be transferred again. This time to Spain. When Greta left Plymouth she was supposed to stay at least until the COP25 in November in Santiago, but when Chile was no longer hosting, she decided to go back to Europe.

This time she hitchhiked with Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu from Australia and their boat Vagabond. They had been sailing the world for 5 years and now with their one-year-old son, Lenny, they offered a lift to Greta and her father. The British professional yachtswoman Nikki Henderson joined the crossing.

She made it just in time for the COP25 in Madrid.  

The true nature of a sixteen-year-old girl.

Acting out is never an easy task for someone with autism spectrum disorder.  Greta, herself claims that the decision to do something has helped her in many ways. Firstly, she feels better, she is less depressive, and she has come to terms with her shyness and her selective mutism (another of her diagnoses). It has been a sort of therapy. 

The strain on her family was for a period overwhelming. Greta’s younger sister, Beata, also has Asperger’s Syndrome. But she also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At a certain point, the family had to face extreme situations when one child refused to eat and was dying from starvation and the other threw bookshelves around. It came to a point were none of the parents could continue working because they both had to take care of their daughters, one each. 

who is behind greta thunberg
Courtesy of Christopher Michel

Who is behind her? Cause she has to be connected to a person, an organization, or a political group in some way…?

She had a collaboration with Ingemar Rentzhog but she ended that after a short period. She has no contract or loose connections with Pierre Casiraghi or with Gerhard Senft, just as she doesn’t have any collaboration with Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu, or with BMW or EFG… Or with Arnold Schwarzenegger, or with Tesla… Or Leonardo di Caprio…

I, myself, am convinced that the book release was timed with the striking initiative outside the Swedish parliament. It was supposed to be released in spring, but because of a change of publishing company, it was postponed until autumn. Another reason could possibly be that it was a better moment to get publicity, timing it with the climate initiative of Greta. 

But even if there’s nobody pulling the strings, she still uses her connections and position to claim favors from organizations, companies, and famous persons.   

I don’t think there is any doubt that a lot of groups, commercial or non-commercial, would dream of having a small portion of her fame mirroring onto them. She has enormous goodwill in certain layers of the global population. She is also extremely provocative. The things she says make front-page news all over, and she attacks more or less everybody who has any sort of power in the whole world. This obviously creates enemies. And conspiracy theories grow from there. 

She is also very young, she is small in stature, and she has a documented developmental disorder. This makes her an even easier target for opponents, political or other, as well as the usual online haters.

Unfortunately, she is sometimes portrayed as an expert on climate issues. Scientists, politicians, and world leaders debate her statements as if they were her’s. She is also given many attributes, emotions, and intentions by others. 

Angry GretaThe viral photo with President Trump.

One example is the photo where Greta is looking at President Donald Trump with an angry face as if she blamed him for failing to resolve the climate crisis. The truth of the matter is that immediately before the photo was taken, the president’s security personnel had told her to move, and she consequently moved. She was hardly aware of the president at all at that moment. And the angry facial expression, that many newspapers and websites added as close-up, wasn’t there when the president showed up, but immediately before. The photo went viral.

Greta Thunberg writes her own material, but, according to her, there are people who check the manuscripts, and there are scientists who check all the facts to get them right. She has an organization, and she has her parents, and other close friends and family. She is not alone. She is surely influenced by others, by her family, by other climate activists, as well as by what she reads about climate change. 

So why does she do it? If it isn’t for the money, for fame… Or for some political group?

There has never been any documented connection between Greta Thunberg and any organization, single person, or company for political or economical benefit. Until now no one has ever been able to confirm a political or economical agenda behind Greta Thunberg’s climate commitment. 

So if it isn’t for fame and money, why does she do it? 

Great Pacific Garbage PatchA 15-year-old girl doesn’t need a motive for trying to save the planet. 

One of Greta’s more frequent quotes is “I shouldn’t even be up here… I should be back in school, studying… “

It is not necessary to believe that she is independent and uncorrupt. Greta Thunberg is not at all important. The important issue is the scientific truth about things, and that truth can, and maybe should be found elsewhere. And now I’m going to quote the IPCC because that is maybe the most authoritative organization dealing with climate change…

  • In the Paris agreement of 2015, all countries agreed to try to keep the average global temperature well below 2°C  above pre-industrialism temperature. And pursue efforts to limit the temperature to 1,5°C above pre-industrialism levels.
  • We are now heading towards a temperature of 3,7°C above pre-industrial temperatures at the end of the century. 
  • To reach a 1,5°C temperature increase, the pathway is 41 GtCO2e in 2025 and 27 GtCO2e in 2030. Carbon dioxide equivalency (GtCO2e) is a quantity that describes, for a given mixture and amount of greenhouse gas, the amount of CO2 that would have the same global warming potential.
  • The actual figures are 52–55 GtCO2e in 2025 and 53–56 GtCO2e in 2030. We are actually increasing the emission of greenhouse gases instead of decreasing it. These are calculations before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Olof Thunberg

In 2100 the sea level is now estimated at 62 – 110 centimeters over today’s levels. That would mean that by 2100, land now home to 200 million people, could be permanently below the high tide line. 

  • In such a scenario, the sea level will obviously continue to increase even after 2100. Some estimates display a ten feet increase by 2300.    

Conclusion 

There has never been any evidence of any organization, group, company, or private person with political or economical interests behind Greta Thunberg. She has her family and she has had assistance from individuals, companies, and groups on various occasions. None of which has acquired any quid pro quo from Greta. She has been criticized for some of her choices on this topic, especially for the sailing trip with Maliza II. I assume that she will be more careful in the future. 

She was born into an artistic family, her parents are famous, her grandfather was Olof Thunberg, an iconical Swedish actor. That obviously helped when reaching a larger audience. 

In autumn, she will start secondary school (Gymnasium), and will probably have less time to travel the world. 


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No, Greta Thunberg is not a puppy. She is a teenager concerned about the future of our planet. At one point she decided to try to do something about it.

Climate strike
Courtesy of Eugénie Berger

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Is E=mc2 wrong?

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Is the world’s most famous equation, Albert Einstein’s E=mc², completely wrong?

YES OR NO?

meaning of E=mc2

E=mc2 is wrong, or is it?

The E=mc² equation is the most famous ever, by the most famous of all physicists in the history of man. The combination is a bulls-eye of universal dimensions. It doesn’t get any better than that. If you know one, single equation or mathematical formula, it’s probably this one.

The E stands for energy (in Joules). the m and the c, are mass in (Kilograms) and the speed of light in a vacuum (in Meter/second). The idea of mass and energy as equal actually wasn’t Einstein’s, but what he did was to propose it as a general principle. And a principle that could be summed in a formula of extreme simplicity and promotional value.  That’s awesome, and Einstein truly was a genius… But is it true? Is the equation that explains the fundamental rules of the universe, really that simple?

One very obvious application can be shown by just looking at the formula. If we put only 1 kg (2,2 lbs) into the equation, we would get an energy equivalent of 89.875.517.873.681.800 Joules. That is more than 1000 times the energy of the Atomic bomb that the US dropped over Hiroshima at the end of WW2.

Albert Einstein

meaning of E=mc2

This simple formula, the meaning of E=mc2, was a game-changer in physics when it hit the science community in 1905. And it changed how science perceived the universe and ourselves in it forever. It also made Einstein a scientific superstar. He received the Nobel prize, but not until 1921, and not for his theories of relativity. More about that later.

The destructive applications of E=mc2

The example above demonstrates the destructive ability of his theories. The discovery of something that powerful that could be used as a weapon attracted the attention of many, especially politicians and militaries. Fortunately for us, the Nazis didn’t understand what they had within reach. In 1933 Einstein emigrated from Germany to the USA. Although he had many offers to come and lecture offers of scholarships, and employment from many European universities, he decided to stay in the US. He became an American citizen in 1940.

The German scientist didn’t participate in the making of the Bomb. But together with Leo Szilárd, a fellow scientist of Hungarian origin, he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt in 1939 warning him about the Germans trying to develop nuclear weapons. This letter is supposed to have had a decisive impact on the Americans beginning the development of an Atomic bomb., the so-called Manhattan Project.

First, he didn’t get the Nobel prize

meaning of E=mc2

Einstein was nominated 60 times for the Nobel Prize from 1910 to 1922. His discoveries were at the time the most discussed and the most cataclysmic in the science world. Einstein was very well known among his colleagues but it wasn’t until 1919 that he became famous worldwide also among normal people.

In May 1919 there was a total solar eclipse, and measures made in Africa and South America showed the accuracy of Einstein’s theories. Already in 1905, Einstein’s annus mirabilis (amazing year), he had produced four groundbreaking articles, on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and the equivalence of mass and energy. Still, he hadn’t been awarded the Nobel prize.

The reasons for this were many…

  • In 1905, Einstein was very young, 26 years, and the gentlemen in the Academy were mostly old. They were of the old school, conservative, and reactionary. Einstein’s ideas of a bending time-space could have been just a bit too revolutionary for their approval.
  • The Testament of Alfred Nobel says that the prize should go to those who confer the greatest benefit on mankind. And the discoveries should be tested and verified. Einstein’s discoveries were all theories, with very little practical use. As the years passed, that argument would fail demonstrably.
  • There was documented antisemitism from many of the members of the Science Academy. In 1905 the Hungarian scientist Philipp Lenard received the prize. Leonard joined the Academy that same year, and he sympathized with the racial ideologies of the time. He was a skeptic of the relativity theory and an enemy of Einstein. He later became a strong supporter of Hitler and the nazi-party.

…Then he got it. But not for E=mc2.

When Einstein finally got the prize he got it for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. Not for the special theory of relativity and not for E=mc2.

meaning of E=mc2

The NobelPrize Diploma of Einstein includes the following statement: 

…independent of the value which, after eventual confirmation, may be attributed to the theory of gravity and relativity…

We do not know who put it there because it wasn’t the official standpoint of the Academy that the theories of relativity couldn’t be fully trusted. But it shows to what degree his findings were controversial. Even 17 years after he published them.

So, if E=mc2 is wrong, how do you explain nuclear power?

E=mc2 is wrong as a conclusive formula. But, it works perfectly well under certain conditions, in certain contexts. The bomb and the powerplants all work, no doubt about that. But if you want a more overall equation that covers more eventualities and is applicable in general circumstances, that would be this: E²=pc²+(mc²)²

Here the E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light. The only new letter is p and that is momentum or the motion of the particle.

Now if the momentum is 0, the particle is NOT moving. Then we get this:

E²=0c²+(mc²)²

E²=0+(mc²)²

E²=(mc²)²

E=mc², and there is the same old formula, the most famous in the world.

Now let’s see what happens if the mass is 0… Wait, wait… Can something be without weight? (And this is probably one of the reasons why Einstein had to wait 17 years to get the Nobel prize. Stuff without mass was unimaginable for the old fossils of the Academy.) But yes, the photons, the particles that light is made up of, are regarded as mass-less. They have no weight.

E²=pc²+(0c²)²

E²=pc²+0

E²=pc²

E=pc

And this is the relationship between energy and the momentum of a photon, between energy and light.

Conclusion

The meaning of E=mc2 as the relationship between mass and energy is valid only if the particle has mass (… It’s not valid for light), and if the particle is not moving. In that case E=mc² is perfectly meaningful. In any other case it’s not.

But I am not a physicist. If you want to dive into the Mass Energy equivalent there are miles and miles of literature to cover. One start would be the excellent Wikipedia page. It’s complex but interesting. Or check out this Nasa-website about Einstein. Good luck!

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So, E=mc2, even though it’s not completely wrong, it’s limited.

It’s wrong as a general formula… It is a special case. This makes it applicable only if speed is 0 and mass is not 0. It’s like saying “I can run faster than a train”. This is true, but only if the train is a very slow train… Slower than me. It’s a special case.

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Youtube / minutephysics

The Guardian / Why Einstein never received a Nobel prize for relativity

Scientific American / Was Einstein the First to Invent E = mc2?

Einstein I Sverige

Nobel Prize / Albert Einstein

Wikipedia / Albert Einstein

Is Coffee an energy booster? And will it keep you awake if you drink it too late in the evening?

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Is Coffee an energy booster? And will it keep you awake if you drink it too late in the evening?

yes or no?

Coffee

What is Coffee?

The plant is called Coffea in Latin, of the family Rubiaceae. There are many plants in this family but only two are used to make coffee, Coffea arabica, also called Arabica and Coffea canephora, also called Robusta. Of these, the Arabica is more valuable and more cultivated, while Robusta is slightly higher in caffeine. The flavor changes in a variety of ways depending on where the plants are grown, when they are harvested, how they are transported, and how they are toasted once they arrive at the roastery, etc, etc. 

The most exclusive grinds are pure Arabica, while most of the normal supermarket brands are blends. But If made the right way, a blend can be as good as a pure Arabica. It all comes down to knowledge in trading and roasting and the general quality of the beans. Making a good Coffee is as difficult and magical as processing and producing a first-class wine.

CoffeeA short history of the magical beverage.

It probably originated from East Africa, Ethiopia, but the first documentation is in Arabic, from the other side of the Persian Gulf, from Yemen. Arabic scholars used it to prolong their nightly working hours. We know it existed in the 12th century, but the use of Coffee as a booster drug could be much older than so. 

It was the Arabs who invented the roasted bean. A technique to get more caffeine and much more taste out of the grind. The traditional way to make the drink was to boil the grind together with water. And that is still today the way coffee is brewed in many Arabic countries. 

The wonderful black beverage traveled from south to north, from west to east, and in the 16th century, it came to Europe. It was probably the Venetians who discovered it. They already had a very long tradition of trading with the orient and in mid-1500, the ambassador,  Gianfrancesco Morosini in Constantinople wrote home to Venice and told them about the marvelous, black, liquid…   Cahwah, or Kahve in Turkish.  

The catholic church wasn’t all that enthusiastic. An Arabic, euphoric beverage, that on top of everything else was black… It had to be a Devil’s tool. Fortunately, Pope Clemente VIII loved coffee to an extent that he felt he had to save it. 

“This Coffee made by the Devil is so good that we have to try to trick him… By baptizing it”. So it got baptized and people could continue to drink it without risking their eternal soul. 

Coffee
Cafè de la Rotonde, Paris 1916. Pablo Picasso on the right

Further development

At first, it was considered a medicine, something to take occasionally at a very high price. But soon Caffès popped up in all the big European Metropolis, Paris, Naples, London, Prague, and Coffee became the highest fashion. By mid-1700 Venice alone had more than 200 coffee-shops. 

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo invented the Espresso machine. Moriondo was a technically and mechanically capable man and he actually made all his own machinery himself. His Bar (interestingly called Bar Americano) in Turin, had lots of clients, and the typical Italian coffee drinking style, standing up and downing it swiftly, made him wonder if it could be made instantaneous in some way. The invention was a huge success. The Espresso has since become the essence of the Italian Coffee culture. Although it wasn’t thought of as a flavor- and taste reinforcer, but simply as a way to make the process of making coffee faster.

The filter coffee

In 1908 the paper filter was invented by a German housewife, Mrs. Melitta Benz. She formed a company and her name is forever linked to the technique of filtering the grind. 

But it doesn’t end here. Coffee is served in millions of different ways around the globe. Hot and cold, sweet and bitter, boiled, filtered and pressurized. There is just no limit to how the black drug can be enjoyed by enthusiasts… The Turks drink their coffee in small cups. It’s boiled for quite some time and then poured together with the grounds. The Bedouins have rites and rules around coffee almost as complicated as the Japanese tea ceremony (Remember to never accept the fourth cup…). The Sami in Scandinavia even drink it with cheese… The so-called Coffee-cheese. 

coffee
Courtesy of Dirk Werdelmann

The documented effects on the human body.

There are many things inside a cup of coffee. In fact, a grain of coffee involves a complex mixture of chlorogenic acids, fatty acids, tocopherols, and triglycerides. And then there’s the water. The quality of the water has a dominant effect on the final cup. Why doesn’t a branded Espresso tastes the same in London as in Naples? 

One reason is the water…  

Coffee contains: 

  • Theophylline, a mild stimulant, and muscle relaxant. Similar to caffeine. 
  • 2-Ethylphenol
  • 3,5 Dicaffeoylquinic Acid which has a beneficial effect on free radicals.
  • Trigonelline a plant alkaloid with therapeutic potential for diabetes and central nervous system disease.

…And other more than 1000 compounds. Many of these have an effect on the human body, beneficial or noxious. 

dopingBut let’s talk about the energy boost, and that’s mostly linked to Caffeine.

  • It stimulates the central nervous system and reduces fatigue. 
  • Caffeine has an effect on learning and memory. 
  • It improves reaction time and concentration. 
  • Caffeine delays or even prevents sleep. It also improves performance and concentration in a lack of sleep. 
  • Caffeine improves athletic performance. It also improves muscular strength and power. 
  • It also increases the basal metabolic rate (BMI). You lose weight without workout. 

It is an incredible boost to many of our capacities, intellectual as well as physical. The effects of physical performance put it on the doping list from 1984 until 2004. It was removed but is still under observation. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says it’s proven to be an enhancer, but the health issues and the Violation of the Spirit of Sport aren’t obvious. 

Some studies show that the impact of caffeine decreases with every cup you drink. Much like other drugs. And the effect is reversed when caffeine intake decreases. This means that to have the best intellectual and physical effect, you should take no coffee for a period. Then take a cup, wait an hour for the caffeine to have maximum effect, and after that run the marathon or have the exam.

Health issues.

And now to the bad news about Coffee. 

  • It increases blood pressure, and unfiltered coffee has shown mild increases in cholesterol levels.  
  • Of course, insomnia, restlessness, and other downsides with the energy boost you gain from drinking java.
  • Pregnant women, as well as those wanting to get pregnant, should limit the quantities of caffeine. Extreme intakes can lead to miscarriage, and lower levels could decrease the weight of the fetus. 200mg of caffeine a day, or one big mug is regarded as safe. 
  • It affects the gastrointestinal system and gastric acid secretion. You could experience an upset abdomen, especially if you drink coffee on an empty stomach. 
  • … And it can, although not commonly, make you sleepy…

Oldest Caffè in the worldWhat?

Caffeine blocks something called the adenosine receptors in your brain. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that causes sleepiness, and if it can’t get through to the receivers, you don’t feel sleepy.

But your body continues to produce adenosine and when the effect of caffeine wears off, your whole system is full, and the receptors get access to all of it at once… Yep, you fall asleep.

That happens when you’re detoxing, but even directly after a cup it’s possible to feel sleepy.

In that case, it could depend on dehydration. Caffeine is diuretic at high doses, and dehydration is a known fatigue factor. You will have to drink quite a lot to experience sleepiness from coffee though.   

Conclusion

Coffee has a big impact on our physical and mental well-being. Many good things come from drinking it, and some bad. 

The most noticeable effect, without a doubt, is the energy it provides. And with that comes insomnia. To maximize the beneficial outcome, you should stop drinking it for some time, and then start again. To minimize the negative effects, you should keep caffeine consumption under 400mg/day… 200mg/day if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding.

Cup of Joe, Java

Just remember, there is caffeine in lots of products outside the coffee sphere.

  • Energy drinks can have more caffeine than coffee.
  • A 20oz Diet Pepsi bottle equals a normal coffee in caffeine.
  • Some energy bars are also rich in caffeine
  • Cocoa has caffeine naturally. That means normal chocolate is caffeine-rich. The darker the chocolate the more caffeine.
  • Even some morning cereals have caffeine in them. 
  • Ever heard of Jolt Energy Gum? Two of those equals a cup of joe.


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Yes, Coffee can definitely boost your energy and it could keep you awake if you drink it too late in the evening… or it will put you to sleep.

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Did the China One-Child policy have any significant impact on population growth?

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Did the China One-Child policy have any significant impact on population growth?

yes or no?


china children

What was the China one child policy?

It was a governmental program for slowing down the rampant Chinese population growth by preventing couples from having more than one child. From the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, efforts had been made to reduce the increasing population. From the beginning of 1970, China had imposed a two-child limit. The population had skyrocketed from 550 million in 1949 to 830 million in 1970. But when Mao Zedong died in 1976, it became clear that the two-child limit hadn’t stopped the fertility rate. In only six years there were another 100 million Chinese children to take care of. 

So in 1979, another drastic step was taken… The China one child policy. Chinese couples were allowed to have one child only. Enforcements included financial and other benefits for those who complied and sanctions for those who did not. Information campaigns were rolled out and contraceptive methods were made widely available. Critics have stated that methods like forced sterilization and abortion were also practiced.

The program was applied very unevenly across the Chinese mainland. In rural areas, couples were more often allowed to have a second child. Exceptions could be made based on a variety of reasons. If the first child was disabled, if it was a girl, parents of certain ethnic minority groups… Or parents could simply pay for the second child. From the mid-1980s, about half of all Chinese couples had a second child. The program was abolished in 2015.  

Did it work? 

It wasn’t the central government that decided about the details of the exceptions and the rules, but the local authorities. That also led to big differences in birth rates across the country. 

Chinese officials claim that about 400 million births were avoided thanks to the program, but many scientists dispute these figures. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Chinese population growth diminished radically in late 1900. The dispute is whether the Chinese one child policy had any effect, or if the slow-down in birth rate depended on other factors. Let’s check the charts.

china one child policy
Courtesy of Our World in Data

We can see a significant drop from 1970 to 1980 in China. But the comparable countries have a similar decrease in fertility. We have a very similar development in most of the Asian communities… 

china one child policy
Courtesy of Our World in Data

From 1979, when the china one child policy Was introduced, we can actually see increased fertility compared to Taiwan.

Factors that really have an effect on population growth.

The world population has more than tripled since 1950. The biggest growth has occurred in Asia simply because there are more people there. From 1,4 billion to 4,6 billion. The biggest growth rate has happened in Africa from 227 million to 1.280.000 million. 

  • The average woman in 1965, worldwide, had 5 children.
  • The average woman in 2015, worldwide, had 2,5 children. 
  • UN expects that the average woman in 2100, worldwide, will have less than 2 children.
  • In 2019, 29 countries in the world had a fertility rate of over 4 children per woman. 27 of them were in Africa. 
  • The three countries in the world with the highest birth rate are Niger, the Central African Republic, and Somalia. Niger and the Central African Republic hold the two bottom positions in the chart of the Human Development Index (HDI).
  china one child policy


Human Development Index (HDI)
Courtesy of Our World in Data

The top image shows HDI – Human  Development Index,  a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators. The bottom image shows worldwide fertility.

It is evident that wealth, education, and general development decrease the birth rate. But there are more specific reasons why some countries make more children than others. 

Education, the best pill of them all.

Education in general and women’s education specifically slows down population growth.

The reasons for women’s education level as a restraining measure are many.

  • Women who attend school, have their first child later in life. Their fertile lifespan is shortened. 
  • Models based on the work by the economist Gary Becker give children a “price”. In this framework, a child has a cost. In money, but also in lost time and opportunities. When the education level of women increases, the cost of children increases correspondingly. 
  • Better education for women increases child health and decreases infantile deaths. These factors also make fewer children.
  • Better education for women increases knowledge about contraceptives.
  • All these things create a reinforcement loop as lower fertility allows for better education and so on.

Niger, which has the highest birth rate in the world, with more than 7 children per woman, has schooling for women of only 1,3 years on average.

what can we do to save the world
Length of Schooling / number of children
what is wrong with the world today?
The relationship between Fertility and HDI index

How is the world doing?

The world is overpopulated. The earth will not be enough for all of us if we continue to waste energy and resources at the present rhythm. The major problem isn’t just the quantity of people in the world, but more so the speed with which we use up what we have around us. And the filth we spread. 

The future of Africa

The biggest population growth today is in poor countries, and poor countries are putting less weight on the strained world ecology. From 1950 to 2019, while the world population tripled, Europe and North America went from 650 million to 1100 million, less than doubled. Still, Europe and North America have a much greater negative impact on environmental and economic outcomes, than the rest of the world.

According to the United Nations’ calculations, the world population could level out at around 11 billion in 2100. That would mean a transition from 600 million people to 11 billion in just 400 years, a growth of more than 1800%. 

We’ve seen that the slow-down in growth will depend strongly on a better socio-economical standard of living. So, the challenge is not just the total amount of people, but if all these people will use up the resources at the same rate as the rich part of the world does today. And if all those 11 billion men and women will pick up the western lifestyle as we know it. 

The biggest challenge of all consists in changing that lifestyle.   


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Conclusion

No, the China one-child policy didn’t have much impact on population growth. Things that would matter much more are social and economical development, and most of all, women’s education.

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Who is Satan? Is he a fallen angel, and does he rule over Hell where he tortures the sinners forever?

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Who is Satan? Is he a fallen angel, and does he rule over Hell where he tortures the sinners forever?

Satan, or the Devil, has been many things over the centuries. And his part in the big events has changed drastically. If you are Christian or not, and if you have your own doctrine that tells you who Satan is, it’s still not necessarily true that he always was just that… The Devil has grown and matured.


The Devil

Disclaimer

As always, discussing the Bible, or any other religious text is a delicate matter. My conclusions are based on facts that are as correct as I can find them. These facts, when it comes to the Bible, very often boil down to believing or not believing that the Bible actually is the unchangeable word of God. And if the Christian beliefs originate from a divine power.

I look at it from a historical, and anthropological point of view… Not from a  religious standpoint.

Satan in the old testament

In the old testament, the Devil is a very different character compared to the one we know from modern films, books, and comics. The old texts don’t really describe God as anything that could ever have an opponent. God is the creator of everything and his power reaches every corner of the world, as to every part of the universe.

God in the historical books, is someone who supervises and watches over the Israelites. His main problem is the disobedience of his people. The Israelites constantly walk away from his path. They worship other Gods, they disobey God’s commandments, and they sin in many other ways. God also has a very near relationship with his children. He talks to them, he guides them, and he’s very present in their everyday life. 

Devil with a face on his chestA local God for a Local tribe…

In 2 Kings, 24, the Assyrian King, after having put the Hebrews in captivity, brought men from Babylon, Cithah, Ava, and other places, to repopulate Samaria. There, they were cursed with Lions by the Lord because they didn’t know how to worship him, they couldn’t figure out how… When to burn the sacrifice and how to perform all the other rites. So the King sent an Israelite priest to teach them the traditions of sacrifice and religious life. 

It’s obvious that, although almighty and the creator of everything, God was very local. He served one group of people, he was the God of the Israelites. But he also served anyone else who happened to live in Israel and who performed the right rituals.

Gods from other communities, like Baal, and Moloch, were a much bigger threat to God than the Devil, who anyway was under God’s command.  

Where the Devil is mentioned in the Old Testament

Satan, the Hebrew word is shtn or shaitan, is mentioned a few times in the Old Testament. The meaning could be, someone who is distant – gone astray, away from the teachings of God.

  • 1 Chronicles 21, 1  
  • Zechariah 3, 1–2

Then we have a few places where other creatures with other names have been attributed to the Devil figure.

Isaiah 14, 12   Here, the word הֵ ילֵ ל (eill) is translated into Lucifer in the Latin Bible. It refers to the King of Babylon, the shining one, as he claimed to be divine. The morning star – Lucifer, light-bearer in Latin. light – lucius. The shining one originally refers to the Canaanite god Athtar.

Ezekiel 28:13-14   This is a lament over the King of Tyrus. Some Christian scholars suggest that it could be a metaphor for the devil.

But the most famous parts of the Devil in the Bible are a bit earlier in the sequence of the books in the Bible. 

The book of Job. 

the devil in diguise
Courtesy of Rusty Clark

This is the only place where Satan is one of the main characters. The word is הַ שָּׂ טָ ן (e·shtn), often translated to the accuser, the adversary. He is still one of God’s creations and does only what God wants him to do. The same word is used many times in the Old Testament with the meaning of adversary without referring to the Devil.

Genesis, where the snake often is interpreted as the Devil. The snake is trying to corrupt the humans, and he could have had his own motifs to do so.

All these are interpretations, and it’s very easy to read the whole Hebrew Bible without encountering the Devil once.

Persian influence.

After the Babylonian captivity, the Persian King Cyrus the Great allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The centuries that followed meant Persian domination as the Achaemenid Empire should turn out to become the greatest empire that ever existed on the face of the earth. The Jews mostly had a good relationship with the Persians and the Hebrew religion opened up to influences from their big brother. 

The Persians were Zoroastrians. And in Zoroastrianism dualistic cosmology is fundamental. Their world is a constant struggle between good and evil. 

This idea got a foothold in Hebraism and the idea of a dark force, an evil god, started to grow. God should have an enemy, a real adversity. 

Satan in the new testament

satan

So, in the New Testament, the Devil is much more present and much more of a unique Deity. Jesus casts out demons quite often, and Judah is possessed by Satan himself before his final betrayal. As the New Testament is written in Greek, we have terminology that is closer to English. διάβολος – Diabolos as well as Σατανᾶς – Satanas. 

The Devil takes an active role in disturbing the power of God and spreading evil. He tents Jesus in the desert for 40 days before he is finally sent away. 

Other examples of the Devil in the new testament:

John 8, 44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Jesus is arguing with the Pharisees and accuses them of doing evil.

Matthew 16, 23.  Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Here, Peter is trying to stop Jesus from going into Jerusalem and getting himself killed. So Jesus says, it’s not you but the Devil inside you, who says these words. 

Is he called Satan, the Devil, or what?

Satan or the satan (the accuser) is used between 30 and 40 times, more or less the same amount of times as the Greek word Diabolos. Probably the authors wanted to connect to the old books by using the Hebrew noun. Though it’s not always easy to follow all the nominations of the one, or the ones opposing God. They seem many. Beelzebub is another of his names. This one is linked to the Canaanite god, Baal.

In Revelation 20, 2 the author writes, And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years… He uses many attributes to be absolutely certain that nobody could mistake who we are talking about. 

Satan in the very last book of the Bible – Revelation. 

The last book in the Bible, Revelation, is one of the most difficult texts in the whole scripture. John has a vision and it comes directly from Jesus Christ, and he writes it down exactly as he sees it. If you ever think that the Bible is boring, try Revelation… It’s very entertaining. 

Anyway, the vision is that there will be a great war between good and evil, with the evil manifested in all kinds of monsters, dragons, and beasts. Satan fights the angels with his own army of demons. He wins, then he loses, and he’s freed again, but in the end, he’s thrown into the lake of fire. Here’s a Devil that we do not see anywhere else in the Bible. One with soldiers, allies, and friends and they are capable of actually threatening God.

pan
The God, Pan in a mosaic from 3rd century, Patras, Greece.
Courtesy of Dimitris Kamaras

Revelation is loosely based on the Book of Enoch, a Hebrew, non-canonical scripture. In the book of Enoch, there are descriptions of fallen angels, demons, and giants, as well as their origins. 

The Zoroastrians too had an idea of a great war at the end of times between good and evil.

Satan in the Christian world after the fall of the Roman Empire.

So much for the Bible, but what happened after Christianity had become state religion in Rome in 380 A.D? 

The Devil lived on but since God continued to be very powerful, the Devil still had to be his servant. He got a few attributes, like becoming the guardian of Hell. In Revelation, the Devil is cast into the lake of fire, Hell. But later on, he became the guardian, the ruler of Hell. We have Greek mythology to thank for that. Hades is a God who rules the underworld, and he has a pitchfork. The Devil got a trident, like Poseidon. More from Greek mythology is the close relationship with nature, animals, and sexuality. The flute-playing Greek god Pan is a sex-maniac, has horns, fur, and goat hooves. 

But it’s difficult to decide from where all these details really emerge. There were lots of pagan gods and lots of vivid imagination among artists and simple people to invent impressive Devils. And we still have to wait until the 14th century to have a Devil as we know him

satan
Christ divides sheep from goats

today. 

Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.

satan
Winchester Psalter

In the first centuries, we still don’t really recognize him at all. In the Basilica in Ravenna in northern Italy, there’s an interesting mosaic. It’s Jesus that divides the good from the bad, the sheep from the goats, as told in Mathew 25, 32. The mosaic is from the 6th century and to his help Christ has two angels. The good angel, who is red, and the fallen angel, the Devil, who is light blue. We would imagine it contrary. The striking fact though, is that the two angels are portrayed as equal, and both are angels of God. Satan is a bureaucrat who is doing God’s dirty work.

Dante’s Inferno

As more time distanced the European church from its origins in Palestine, it became clear that the Devil was an unexploited power. He slowly became more evil, more seductive, and more powerful. 

The Winchester Psalter from the mid-1100 has an image where demons torture the sinners behind a door that is closed by an angel. The Devil is Pan-like with body hair, horns, and claws. 

In the Baptistery at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florens, we find a Devil who is much more monstrous and sinister. He has horns, snakes coming out of his ears, and he tews and eats the condemned. The mosaic was created by Coppo di Marcovaldo in the mid-13th century.

The Florentine poet Dante Alighieri wrote La Divina Commedia in the first years of 1300 possibly inspired by Apocalyptic literature such as the Apocalypse of Peter. In it the author describes Hell, and it is obvious that apart from scriptures, he was also inspired by the mosaic in the Basilica. His description includes a Devil that eats his victims. He is also in a lake of ice, instead of the usual, hot and flaming place 

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 

The middle ages were a turbulent time. Many new threats had occurred, as Europe had become much more connected, and of course, more divided. The crusades had started. In the 14th century, the Plague arrived, and later on, there was the whole protestant movement to fight. The catholic church needed an ally, and the Devil fitted perfectly into that context. He became the Boogeyman for scaring peasants and burgers. 

satan
The devil in the Baptistery of Florence

He also explains all the evil in the world, a continuous problem for all monotheistic religions. In the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, bad things normally happen because we are disobedient to God’s law. With the Devil around, he takes the blame. It’s still important to not let him in though, to not be tented, or persuaded by him. If disasters rise, it’s still because people don’t do right towards God. When the Plague hit the cities in Europe, the only cure they had, was to pray, seek absolution, and build new churches.  

Satan is slowly transformed from an Angel or a Dragon, into a deceptive sexually deprived character. A Pan-type demon. And of course, those who were deceived were mostly women…

The Inquisition 

During the time of the various Inquisitions, tens of thousands of witches were executed in Europe. Most of them women. Jews, foreigners in general, political or religious opponents, anybody could be burnt without a fair trial. It was mostly people from lower social classes but nobody was safe.

In the 12th century, Henry IV, King of the Holy Roman Empire persuaded his bishops to excommunicate the Pope. The Pope, in turn, excommunicated the King.

King James I and VI of England, Ireland, and Scotland, took his commitment so far as to engage in a full-scale war against Witchcraft. 2.500, mostly women, were accused and burnt. 

When Martin Luther nailed his thesis on the door of the church in Wittenberg, he was declared by the Pope, to be working for the Devil. Luther and his followers answered by declaring that the Pope and the whole catholic church were working for the Devil.

satan

Satan had a lot of followers back then.

Satan in modern times

The picture of the Devil from the middle ages has more or less lived on till modern times. The reddish big guy with horns, goat feet, a tail, fur, and a trident, is familiar to all of us. As is his deceptiveness. Al Pacino in Devil’s Advocate is a nice, well-dressed, smooth-talking gentleman. Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick is a sexually tireless and handsome lover. The idea of evil behind every smiling face is the same as the reason why any beautiful, young girl willing to help a neighbor in need could get burnt as a witch back in 1300. 

It is our fear of being deceived. 

Conclusion 

The Devil is a universal threat to God’s divine plan. He is an evil, persuasive, deceitful, misleading bloke who does everything in his power to corrupt us all. He is the boss over all the demons, and he is the ruler of the underworld, hell.

But he wasn’t born that way. He got all these characteristics only in the last 6-700 years of existence. Before that, he was more of a bureaucrat in God’s great universe… The one dealing with sinners and their punishment. 


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Yes, The Devil is the evil force opposing God. But he wasn’t born that way. We, the humans, wanted him like that, and he just complied with it.

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Is water a good electricity conductor?

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Is water a good electricity conductor?

yes or no?


does water conduct electricity

It’s dangerous to use power equipment in wet environments. 

Does water conduct electricity? We’ve seen it on films, we’ve read it in books, we’ve even read the hazard-risk alert in the instructions of our radio, or our hairdryer… Do not use it close to water. And the reason is that water is an excellent electricity conductor. You could get an electric shock.

But honestly, does water conduct electricity?

No, it doesn’t. Not the water by itself. At least not very much. To be a good conductor we need something with low electrical resistance. Resistance is exactly what it says, resistance to conduct electric current. The opposite is electrical conductance, the ease with which an electric current travels through a body. 

Pure water or water that consists of nothing else than water H2O, no impurity, no salts or minerals, has a maximum electrical resistance of 182.000 Ω m²/m (Ohms per square meter/meter). The conductivity, which measures the ease with which electricity can run through the material, the opposite of resistance, is 0,0000055 S/m (Siemens/meter). 

For seawater, those figures are 0,2 Ω m²/m and  5 S/m

For tap water, it’s 2-200 Ω m²/m and 0,005-0,05 S/m

The theory

does water conduct electricity
Courtesy of Jon Rowlinson

As you can see, there’s a huge difference in conductivity between the various types of water, And it all depends on what is solved within the liquid apart from the pure water. The water doesn’t conduct, but the minerals solved in it do.

For a material to have high conductance we need two things.

  • There must be charged particles within the substance (either ions or electrons).
  • These particles must be free to move. It is true that in water (H2O) the discrete molecules are free to move, however, they carry no charge.

Minerals and other impurities, all have these characteristics, so if these are present in the water, it conducts electricity. Actually, more or less anything that is solved in the water conducts electricity. Salt is an excellent conductor, solved in water  The salt molecules split into two pieces, a sodium ion, and a chlorine ion. The sodium ion is missing an electron, and the chlorine ion has an extra electron. That way, the salt has both a positive and a negative charge.

The current through the water will have two terminals: a negative, and a positive.  Opposite charges attract, so the sodium ions are attracted to the negative terminal and the chlorine to the positive. A bridge is formed. The sodium ions absorb electrons from the negative terminal, pass them to the chlorine ions, and then to the positive terminal. 

It takes very little impurities in the water to completely change its qualities for it to become conductive. 

Let’s check Water Electricity Conductivity

This is resistance in demineralized water, tap water, and, saltwater. It’s not very scientifically correct. The multimeter cost 50 bucks and the demineralized water is not pure water. It was bought in a plastic bottle at the nearest supermarket.

  This is the resistance in demineralized water. Around 900 Ω. 

 This is tap water. No more than 90 Ω.

This is saltwater. Not seawater, but tap water with salt in it. The resistance is 40 Ω.

Here we start with demineralized water and pour salt into it. Interestingly, at the start, it is now less than 700 Ω. The short time and very little handling, the particles losing from the electrodes, have made the water more conductive. 

As stated above, I don’t get the values I should, cause I’m not using laboratory equipment. Sorry about that, But you get a general idea of what’s happening.

Then how come it’s so dangerous when close to electric things?

Now that we understand that even if pure water isn’t a good conductor, normal water does conduct electricity. The water we have around us is all contaminated, and it’s dangerous, close to electricity.

If you are wet, you act as a connector to everything around you. You are electrically connected to everything. And if you touch an electrically charged object or the plug, you could transmit that energy through your body to the ground. Like a lightning rod. 110-220 volts is bad enough if you just touch the cables. But if you have become the bridge yourself because you’re wet, it could be very hard to break the circuit. You can’t just drop the cords, you’re standing on the terminal and your whole body is a wet part of the shortcut. The damage would be lethal.

The hazard risk

This is what you should keep in mind:

  • Keep hands dry when handling electrical wires and plugs. 
  • Unplug electrical appliances when not in use in wet areas. Unplug the hairdryer inside your bathroom or an induction cooker beside the kitchen sink.
  • Keep electrical devices and extension cords away from water sources or running water.
  • Hire a professional electrical contractor to install electrical connections in swimming pools or bathrooms.
  • Prefer battery-operated devices instead of electricity-driven appliances in bathrooms and pool areas. 
does water conduct electricity
Courtesy of vincent desjardins


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Conclusion

No, actually pure water is a very poor electricity conductor. But pure, distilled water is rare. All other water, tap water, rainwater, seawater, is full of minerals and other impurities, and they make good conductivity. So, take great care when combining water and electricity.

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Is the naked mole-rat an animal that actually never dies? An immortal being, just like Wolverine?

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Is the naked mole-rat an animal that actually never dies? An immortal being, just like Wolverine?

yes or no?


hairless mole rat

The naked mole-rat

The naked mole rat lifespan is eternal. Not that it lives forever, but it seems to age very slowly, if it ages at all.  Almost blind, and tube-formed… The Heterocephalus glaber, is an animal so strange that it defies the very laws of nature. It’s objectively hideous, but it’s a creature with a multitude of extraordinary features, a wonder of God’s creation.

They live in the horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya, in dry, desert-like biotopes. There they dig tunnels underground. A single network can reach out as long as 3 miles (5 km). They eat tubers and they reap them from underground, so there’s no need to ever stick the head up in the sunlight. They are small, about 3 – 4“ (10 cm) long, and weigh about 35 grams. And the body is perfectly tubular. Suited to life in a tube. 

A naked mole-rat

Their family life is also out of the ordinary. Just like bees and ants, there is just one female that reproduces. To help her with fecundation she has a few male rats at her side. All the others are workers for the benefit of the cluster. The females are reproductively suppressed. Their ovaries are not fully mature. Should the Queen die, another of the females, normally the biggest and strongest, becomes Queen and develop sexual functions. This is called eusociality, and this hairless mole rat is the only mammal on earth, that has this behavior. 

The new Queen, after the coronation, slowly becomes bigger. But only in length. Growing in girth would make her stick in the tunnels. Gestation is about 70 days. After birth, the Queen feeds the youngsters for 30 days. Then they have to rely on other nutriments… They eat feces until they’re big enough to eat solid food… it’s a way to economize resources. 

Actually, also the adults eat feces, and it has a very special purpose. Tubers are hard to digest. Eating poop serves as a second digestion system, a bit like the cows and their four stomachs.  

All the weird things that this extraordinary little buddy does.

naked mole rat lifespan
Courtesy of Larry Koester

Here’s a list of all the strange qualities these extraordinary naked mole-rats have:

  • They are not really hairless. They actually have a few almost invisible hairs that help them to feel the surroundings inside the tunnel. 
  • Their skin lacks neurotransmitters. That means that they don’t feel pain from acids. The skin is also extremely elastic.
  • They are poikilothermic, meaning that their body temperature adapts to the surrounding environment. But if the surrounding temperature rises over 92° F (28°C), a homeothermic cooling system kicks in to avoid too high body temperature. This is very rare among mammals.
  • They can run as fast backward as forwards.
  • One-quarter of the total muscle mass consists of the jaw muscles. 
  • The teeth can move independently of each other. And the lips close behind the teeth. This is so that earth doesn’t enter the mouth when digging. 
  • They sleep in any position, even belly up, upside down. 
  • They are extremely resistant to foul air. They can live for hours in air with so low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels, that it would be lethal to other mammals. It survives a considerable time even with no oxygen, using fructose in an anaerobic glycolysis process. It’s not fully understood how this is done. 

And what about their immortality? Is that really true?

naked mole rat lifespan
Courtesy of John Brighenti

Apart from all the rest, the most astonishing fact is the incredible naked mole rat lifespan. They have an almost magical longevity. The naked mole-rat can live for more than 30 years. Compared to 3 years for a mouse, and 6 years as the expected life-length considering its size. Furthermore, it has no higher risk of death as the years go by. All other animals are more likely to die the older they get. And that is from any cause… Falling, starving, biting, etc. We just die easier with age. 

But the naked mole-rat seems to be as fit and vital at 30 as it is at 2. It still catches diseases, fights with others, gets eaten, and suffers from all other kinds of disasters. But the chance of one particular hairless rat dying is the same if he’s 3 or 30 years old. It doesn’t matter. 

Researchers have studied this phenomenon in search of some crucial detail, the reason why, something that could be applied to humans, and make us live forever. 

It’s still debated, but it is believed that it has to do with its ability to reduce its metabolism when needed. And doing so, the damage from stress is prevented. Instead of hysterically trying to survive they simply shut down and wait…

And the cancer immunity?

This marvelous hairless mole rat is resistant to cancer too, although it’s believed that it’s not completely immune. The reason for this could be three-fold. 

  • Living organisms have over-crowding genes. If a tumor starts its uncontrolled cell proliferation, this gene stops cellular reproduction if it gets too crowded. That way, the tumor cells can’t continue to grow. This is a very important resistance mechanism to cancer. The hairless rat has two of those genes, the p16, and the p27, and therefore a double barrier. 
  • It has ribosomes that are able to produce perfect or close to perfect proteins, and thus less prone to mutations.
  • It produces something called high molecular weight hyaluronan (HA). The theory is that these high levels of HA accumulate in the skin, to help it keep elastic. As a side effect, it also prevents cancer.

Conclusion

The naked mole-rat does get old. But age has no or very little impact on its physical well-being and therefore on its resistance to body failure. If it gets seriously sick, it will die. It will also die from cold, from heat, from bites, or from any other normal damage. In that way, it’s not like the Wolverine.

But the possibility that an individual dies doesn’t increase with age. It seems that a very old naked mole-rat is physically as strong and fit as a young one. They are therefore the most long-lived rodent on earth. These hairless rats live for at least 30 years. And the maximum life span isn’t known since they don’t die from old age only. 

So, although it’s not immortal, it seems to be immune to aging. 

 


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No, the naked mole-rat is not immortal like Wolverine. And it doesn’t have instant healing powers, but it doesn’t get old as we do. It seems it stays young, if not forever, at least for very long. 

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