https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/wear-your-mask-and-stop-talking/615796/

"compared with yelling, quiet talking reduces aerosols by a factor of five; being completely silent reduces them by a factor of about 50. That means talking quietly, rather than yelling, reduces the risk of viral transmission by a degree comparable to properly ( Read more... )

So, Japanese people wear masks a lot. Probably the main thing that got them through most of the pandemic, along with avoiding "the three Cs" and good contact tracing; Japan never had lockdowns. (And was worst in class for rich Asian countries for most of the pandemic, too.) But they already had the custom of wearing masks when sick, to protect ( Read more... )

In shape, Westeros is basically Britain + upside down Ireland. https://i.imgur.com/1PBDC69.jpgRead more... )

Something I've been struggling with recently: my various models of a city built around cars yield numbers similar to actual densities. My models of human oriented cities yield much higher densities than the real cities that inspire them. But I think I've realized at least part of why ( Read more... )

I'm in Tokyo now, pushing the boundaries of my visa, and getting to see my mother's first husband B, who moved to Japan decades ago. Then I fly to Brisbane ( Read more... )

I headed out toward Kobe! But Google Maps said there were technical problems. JR Loop line was very crowded for mid day. At Osaka station, JR Kobe was apparently *stopped* due to heavy rains (from last night?) There's another Kobe line, but I decided to go explore the area instead, Osaka and Umeda stations ( Read more... )

Dew points of 24+ C have inhibited outdoor exploration. W had thought we could take day trips during the week off but ducked out given the weather. Which included a tropical storm, though the impact here was just a lot of rain Thursday night. Mostly I've read reading, cooking, watching anime with W.

Reading included Judea Pearl's The Book of ( Read more... )

Wow, I haven't updated in a couple of weeks. I'm still here, having decided to extend by another four weeks. I'll lose some flight and Airbnb money, but avoid the breakdown in Hong Kong ( Read more... )

After hiding at home for several days with minimal excursions, I finally set forth again, to a shrine I'd passed on the way to Nara. Not so much for the shrine but for being on the boundary of a mountain range separating Osaka and Nara. It's a bit perverse: I hide from the humidity, then plunge into the woods, but oh well ( Read more... )

Follow-up to Osaka house size and Urban densitySo, buildings here tend to fill their lots and not have yards. They're certainly *allowed* to have setbacks and yards, unlike the draconian land-use and FAR (floor area ratio) regulations of the US, but through much of Osaka they don't. (There are yards in Japan, I've seen them in Nara and Kyoto away ( Read more... )