The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to spread and dominate daily life in 2020. Yet, despite the alarming numbers reported (“X millions of cases!”) it can feel abstract. As humans, we tend to care a lot more about our tribe than about anonymous people. With that in mind, what is the probability someone we care about dies from COVID-19? Read more
I’m one of the very few not sleeping in the airplane, hopefully including the pilots. I have a window seat, and the opportunity to write under a sky full of stars over the Atlantic Ocean seemed too precious not to take. Here I am, higher than the Everest and 4x faster than an ICE train. If the airplane went a little faster there would be a bang and I would be faster than the speed of sound. If it went up a little I would confirm that, indeed, the Earth is round. A little more and the number of stars in the moonlit sky would explode. Going further, I’d be able to look down and conclude that our planet really is a pale blue dot. Maybe I will in the future, if space tourism happens in my lifetime. Read more