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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Why has high dose Vit C and Vit D treatment been ignored for covid19?

« on: 09/11/2020 21:10:08 »

I can't say I've heard of or found any proof either that Vitamin C or Vitamin D or any other supplement has a direct effect on Covid-19 or any similar viruses. I think the best it can do is generally help your immune system and support your health in that there is enough of those vitamins in your body to keep it going (which you can read a bit about here, for example: https://www.fitforbeach.de/vitamin-c-test/, which is a site written in German but is easily translatable via google translate or similar). But to claim it actually helps prevent infection or cures anything seems almost dangerous.

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Physiology & Medicine / Re: What causes sudden burst of sexual desire?

« on: 29/10/2020 10:47:30 »

From what I have read when it comes to feeling sexual desire people can be categorized into two groups. The ones who predominantly experience "spontaneous sexual desire" and the ones who predominantly experience "responsive sexual desire". The first group is is higly dominated by men although a minority of women are represented in that category as well. They feel almost random outburst for sexual gratification. The second group mostly relies on some sort of trigger. Especially in the early stages of a relationship your responsive sexual desire is often rising.
Sexual desire is also depending on your current situation and your stress level. During a stressful week at work your thoughts might be too preoccupied to think about sex. However in times of vacation and spare time your stress level decreases and you become more outgoing. Your body and mind can then focus on other tasks such as reproduction

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COVID-19 / Re: Could you make an anti-Covid "hat"?

« on: 29/10/2020 10:27:56 »

Well genrally speaking I like new and slightly weird ideas a lot. The only issue I see is, that people want to met up in order to eat, drink or smoke, which would be a challenge with a full helmet on. Plus: These lockdowns in which you really cannot go to a bar are (or should be) more of an exception. A mass production of helmets that are (hopefully) not used a lot would probably not pay of for any company.

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COVID-19 / Re: If my spouse had a positive Covid test, how come I didn't?

« on: 29/10/2020 10:16:35 »

From the timeline, you could have caught it, your wife caughy it from you and you were clear by the tie you took the test.

That is an interesting thought But is it the case, that your test is negative even when you are postcovid?

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COVID-19 / Re: Why are face coverings not working against coronavirus?

« on: 29/10/2020 09:45:02 »

First of all: Masks do work against the spread of coronavirus. The mask mostly protects the people around you but is also useful to prevent getting infected yourself. So far as I can see it is strongly assumed, that the seriousness of the infection depends on how much of the virus you are exposed to. People with less exposure also have less sympoms or are even asymptomatic. We see this by comparing citys or states with similar demographics but different mask regulations.
Secondly: Another reason why infection rate is increasing, is an increase in testing. Though testing is a good measure, relying exclusively on these numbers convey a bit of a false image. The overall mortality isnt correlating with the infection rate as much as it did back in April and May.
Thirdly: A mask is only effective when it is being worn. Even if the majority wears them often, one uncareful event
 (wedding or birhday) can boost the infection rate again. Generally people all over the world do not take the issue that serious anymore. See this article for further information: (cant show link so just type: "Still Confused About Masks? Here’s the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus")

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General Science / Re: Do towels on radiators affect the heat output?

« on: 28/10/2020 12:06:14 »

If you cannot tell the difference it might be of less importance in which way you leave the towels on the radiator. If you are really concerned about it you could try doing what a friend of mine did. He works with metall in his job and he constructed a device out of thick metal wire, so he can place his towels 10cm above the heating and get both dry towels and a perfectly heated room. Its a bit extra and i personally dont have that much passion for this topic. However if you do it might be an option

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: How does your dog recognize you?

« on: 28/10/2020 11:40:20 »

I found a study with a contrary position. (No Links allowed so just google: Selective attention to humans in companion dogs, Canis familiaris) I read about it in an article. Apparently they let the dogs watch their owner and a random person walk through separate doors. The dogs mostly followed their owners and picked their door. However as soon as the started repeating the experiment with conceiling the faces of the people, the dogs were not that confident anymore. Also the age of the dog impacts their ablity to recognize faces.
I dont have a dog personally but my parents do. She is however extremely remarkable in recognizing family members without actually seeing them. She gets excited and barks at the door 30 seconds before someone comes in. The only thing she probably perceives is the noise of the elevator. However if other people in the building use the elevator she does not show any signs of excitement. I dont understand how she can know who is in the elevator, while she is locked in the flat. It is honestly quite impressive.

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COVID-19 / Re: Does using fabric softener to wash a facemask change its effectiveness?

« on: 28/10/2020 10:58:21 »

A softener or conditioner is not recommended to use for a facemask as the texture can be impacted by that. The best method for me is to just wash it with really hot, freshly boiled water. If you use a washing maschine you might want to wash other cloths aswell and not just the mask.  Furthermore you also probably want to user a lower temperature for your cloths or you want to add some softener as you mentioned. Low temperature might not clean the mask properly and softeners can cause harm to the texture of the mask. Therefore I would recommend just pouring some hot water over it, let it sit for a while and then just air-dry it.

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COVID-19 / Re: Has Covid-19 wiped out the flu?

« on: 28/10/2020 09:52:10 »

Firstly: As far as I can see figure 1 only represents the male death rate of the leading causes of death. Figure 2 provides the data for the female population. There you can see that the role of influenza and pneumonia is bigger than in figure 1, only accounting for males.
Secondly: These are the Top 6 of the leading causes of death in the U.K. Even the fact that pneumonia and cardiovascular disease are on the list shows that they are indeed significant.
Thirdly: The authors do explain that alzheimer / dementia numbers have increased due to an update in 2011. Scientist aren't perfect and measurement is gradually improving.
However I do concur with the statement, that certain numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. For instance in Germany we se a rise in the infections, much higher than in the death rate. In total being sceptic is good, however the pandemic is serious and safety measurements actually help.

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COVID-19 / Re: How does T cell immunity affect the threshold for herd immunity?

« on: 27/10/2020 18:20:37 »

The role of t-cells in this pandemic is still to be discovered. However some very interesting studies have been published recently. First of all the main focus in determining how likely a herd immunity is lies on the antibodies. They can disappear after a couple of months. However the T Cells which activate the B cells which then activate the antibodies persist significantly longer. Probably several years. Looking at the antibodies in order to predict a possible herd immunity, the picture looks a but dire as there are not enough antibodies to be found. A recent study called “Targets of T Cell Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus in Humans with COVID-19 Disease and Unexposed Individuals” found that even in the blood of donors from the time before the pandemic carry immune potential. This suggest, that other coronaviruses have made our bodies better prepared for covid 19.

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COVID-19 / Re: Has Covid-19 wiped out the flu?

« on: 27/10/2020 16:59:21 »

Well it might be the case, that more testing results into more cases and clearly that is a valid point we should take into consideration whenever we talk about the topic of covid 19. However the testing does not explain the higher general mortality which has significantly risen above the average in March and April. If the whole world increases safety measurments for diseases drastically, it does obviously have an impact on the development of other deseases as well.