By Sarah Weld
When feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon addressed the Worldwide #MeToo Movement conference crowd … the almost entirely female crowd was riveted.
Catherine MacKinnon, a law professor at the University of Michigan at the Worldwide #MeToo Movement Conference, University of California, Berkeley
One of three keynote speakers during the daylong event at Berkeley Law, MacKinnon — who pioneered the legal claim for sexual harassment and whose life’s work has focused on women’s rights — assessed the current status of the #MeToo movement, which exploded in the fall of 2017.
“This here is real change, so don’t ask me what is next. This is it. … We haven’t won yet but we are winning,” said MacKinnon, a law professor at the University of Michigan. “Imagine a revolution without violence, against domination and aggression. Envision a moment of truth, a moment of transformation for the sexually violated toward a more equal, therefore more peaceful and just world. It’s happening all over the world. All around us. Right now.”
The second annual conference, which focused on global resistance to sexual harassment and violence, is an outgrowth of the international 400-member Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group led by Berkeley Law Professor David Oppenheimer.
It also included smaller study sessions, on separate days, that brought together women’s rights leaders and lawyers from around the world to compare post-#MeToo legal strategies to combat sexual harassment and support what MacKinnon called “a whole tsunami of enraged women.”
Oppenheimer said participants reached several conclusions from those sessions, including the need to: find better ways to prevent harassment and to support women who report it; combat how defamation law is being used to silence women, particularly outside the United States; seek more effective legal remedies; and connect harassment to pay equity and economic equality.
“This is exactly the kind of conference I want to see us doing at Berkeley Law because it brings together activists, lawyers, people from the community, all of those who are trying to come up with solutions,” Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said in his introduction. “By bringing people together we are much more likely to come up with something that’s effective.”
Oklahoma’s ‘Precedent-Setting’ Suit Puts Opioid Drugmakers On Trial, With a Judge and No Jury
May 28, 2019
All eyes will be on Oklahoma this week when the first case in a flood of litigation against opioid drug manufacturers began today. Tuesday.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter’s suit alleges Johnson & Johnson, the nation’s largest drugmaker, helped ignite a public health crisis that has killed thousands of state residents.
Attorney General Mike Hunter, right
With just two days to go before the trial, one of the remaining defendants, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Jerusalem, announced an $85 million settlement with the state on Sunday. The money will be used for litigation costs and an undisclosed amount will be allocated “to abate the opioid crisis in Oklahoma,” according to a press release from Hunter’s office.
In its own statement, Teva said the settlement does not establish any wrongdoing on the part of the company, adding Teva “has not contributed to the abuse of opioids in Oklahoma in any way.”
That leaves Johnson & Johnson as the sole defendant.
Court filings accuse the company of overstating the benefits of opioids and understating their risks in marketing campaigns that duped doctors into prescribing the drugs for ailments not approved by regulators.
The bench trial — with a judge and no jury — is poised to be the first of its kind to play out in court.
Nora Freeman Engstrom, a professor at Stanford Law school, said lawyers in the other cases and the general public are eager to see what proof Hunter’s office offers the court.
“We’ll all be seeing what evidence is available, what evidence isn’t available and just how convincing that evidence is,” she said.
Most states and more than 1,600 local and tribal governments are suing drugmakers and distributors. They are trying to recoup billions of dollars spent on addressing the fallout tied to opioid addiction.
Initially, Hunter’s lawsuit included Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. In March, Purdue Pharma settled with the state for $270 million. Soon after, Hunter dropped all but one of the civil claims, including fraud, against the remaining defendants. Teva settled for $85 million in May, leaving Johnson & Johnson as the only opioid manufacturer willing to go to trial with the state.
But he still thinks the case is strong.
“We have looked at literally millions of documents, taken hundreds of depositions, and we are even more convinced that these companies are the proximate cause for the epidemic in our state and in our country,” Hunter said.
The companies involved have a broad concern about what their liability might be, said University of Kentucky law professor Richard Ausness.
“This case will set a precedent,” he said. “If Oklahoma loses, of course they’ll appeal if they lose, but the defendants may have to reconsider their strategy.”
With hundreds of similar cases pending — especially a mammoth case pending in Ohio — Oklahoma’s strategy will be closely watched.
“And of course lurking in the background is the multi-state litigation in Cleveland, where there will ultimately be a settlement in all likelihood, but the size of the settlement and the terms of the settlement may be influenced by Oklahoma,” Ausness said.
‘There’s Nothing Wrong with Producing Opioids”
The legal case is complicated. Unlike tobacco, where states won a landmark settlement, Ausness pointed out that opioids serve a medical purpose.
“There’s nothing wrong with producing opioids. It’s regulated and approved by the Federal Drug Administration, the sale is overseen by the Drug Enforcement Administration, so there’s a great deal of regulation in the production and distribution and sale of opioid products,” Ausness said. “They are useful products, so this is not a situation where the product is defective in some way.”
It’s an argument that has found some traction in court. Recently, a North Dakota judge dismissed all of that state’s claims against Purdue, a big court win for the company. In a written ruling that the state says it will appeal, Judge James Hill questioned the idea of blaming a company that makes a legal product for opioid-related deaths. “Purdue cannot control how doctors prescribe its products and it certainly cannot control how individual patients use and respond to its products,” the judge wrote, “regardless of any warning or instruction Purdue may give.”
Now the Oklahoma case rests entirely on a claim of public nuisance, which refers to actions that harm members of the public, including injury to public health.
“It’s sexy you know, ‘public nuisance’ makes it sound like the defendants are really bad,” Ausness said.
If the state’s claim prevails, Big Pharma could be forced to spend billions of dollars in Oklahoma helping ease the epidemic. “It doesn’t diminish the amount of damages we believe we’ll be able to justify to the judge,” Hunter said, estimating a final payout could run into the “billions of dollars.”
Hunter’s decision to go it alone and not join with a larger consolidated case could mean a quicker resolution for the state, Ausness said.
“Particularly when we’re talking about [attorneys general], who are politicians, who want to be able to tell the people, ‘Gee this is what I’ve done for you.’ They are not interested in waiting two or three years [for a settlement], they want it now,” he said. “Of course, the risk of that is you may lose.”
Looking For Treatment
Oklahoma has the second-highest uninsured rate in the nation and little money for public health. The state is trying to win money from the drug companies to pay for treatment for people like Greg, who is afraid he’ll lose his job if we use his last name.
Greg and his wife, Judy, said they haven’t been able to find the integrated treatment that Greg needs for both his opioid addiction and his bipolar disorder. It’s either one or the other.
“They don’t give you … a treatment plan for both,” Judy said. “They just say ‘Here, you can talk to this person.’ They don’t recognize that it’s like self-medicating.”
The couple live in Guthrie, Okla., about an hour north of the courthouse where the opioid trial will take place. Greg said he has been addicted to opioids for 11 years. People with prescriptions sell him their pills — sometimes Greg binges and takes 400 milligrams of morphine at once, a huge dose.
Of the $270 million Purdue settlement, $200 million is earmarked for an addiction research and treatment center in Tulsa, though no details have been released. An undisclosed amount of the $85 million Teva settlement will also go to abating the crisis. Judy said she hopes the treatment center will eventually help Greg.
“I wish he would stop using [opioids], but I love him. I’ll always be here,” she said.
This story is part of a partnership that includes StateImpact Oklahoma, NPR and Kaiser Health News.
Prepare for Fashion and Faith At The Legion of Honor; “A painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era”
The Artists’ Wives by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, Date: 1885; Oil on canvas. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., and The Grandy Fund, Landmark Communications Fund, and “An Affair to Remember” 1982; Chrysler Museum of Art
James Tissot: Fashion & Faith, Legion of Honor, San Francisco October 12, 2019 — February 9, 2020: “A painting by Mr. [James] Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.” Élie Roy, “Salon de 1869,” L’Artiste 40 (July 1869)
James Tissot (1836–1902) was one of the most celebrated French artists during the 19th century, yet he is less known than many of his contemporaries today. Presenting new scholarship on the artist’s oeuvre, technique, and remarkable life, James Tissot: Fashion & Faith provides a critical reassessment of Tissot through a 21st-century lens. The exhibition, co-organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris, will include approximately 60 paintings in addition to drawings, prints, photographs, and cloisonné enamels, demonstrating the breadth of the artist’s skills. The presentation at the Legion of Honor will be the first major international exhibition on Tissot in two decades and the first ever on the West Coast of the United States.
“The work of James Tissot provides a fascinating lens onto society at the dawn of the modern era. Long recognized as a keen observer of contemporary life and fashion, this exhibition brings new light to his narrative strengths and his skill in portraying the emotional and spiritual undercurrents that exist below surface appearances,” states Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “Continuing the Fine Arts Museums’ tradition of contributing original scholarship around key works in our collection, we are thrilled to introduce the perspective of this enigmatic, prolific artist in the first exhibition of his work to take place on the West Coast.”
Tissot’s works have been highly sought after for US collections, and, as such, James Tissot: Fashion & Faith will draw from the rich holdings of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and numerous private collections, in addition to private and public collections throughout Europe and Canada, including those of Tate, London; the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie; the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris; the Musée d’Arts de Nantes; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. In addition, new findings on Tissot’s materials and painting technique — resulting from an extensive, unprecedented study of Tissot paintings and led by the paintings conservation department at the Fine Arts Museums — will be revealed in the exhibition. The study was undertaken in collaboration with the Northwestern University/ Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts and the Centre for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France.
The Science of Knitting: Understanding How Stitch Types Govern Shape
a) Knitting is a periodic structure of slip knots. b) Textiles with intricate patterns are knit by combining slipknots in specific combinations. Credit: Elisabetta MatsumotoDating back more than 3,000 years, knitting is an ancient form of manufacturing, but Elisabetta Matsumoto of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta believes that understanding how stitch types govern shape and stretchiness will be invaluable for designing new “tunable” materials. For instance, tissuelike flexible material could be manufactured to replace biological tissues, such as torn ligaments, with stretchiness and sizing personalized to fit each individual.
At the American Physical Society March Meeting in Boston, Matsumoto presented her work on the mathematical rules that underlie knitting. “By picking a stitch you are not only choosing the geometry but the elastic properties, and that means you can build in the right mechanical properties for anything from aerospace engineering to tissue scaffolding materials,” said Matsumoto.
Matsumoto enjoyed knitting as a child and when she later became interested in mathematics and physics, she developed a new appreciation for her hobby.
“I realized that there is just a huge amount of math and materials science that goes into textiles, but that is taken for granted an awful lot,” said Matsumoto.
“Every type of stitch has a different elasticity, and if we figure out everything possible then we could create things that are rigid in a certain place using a certain type of stitch, and use a different type of stitch in another place to get different functionality.”
Topological defects in the square can shape the (a) out-of-plane and (b) in-plane deformations of knitted textiles. Credit: Elisabetta MatsumotoMembers of the Matsumoto group are beginning to delve through the complex math which encodes mechanical properties within the interlocking series of slip knots of a material. But applying the pure mathematics of knot theory to the huge catalog of knit patterns is a tricky process for Matsumoto’s graduate student, Shashank Markande.
“Stitches have some very strange constraints; for instance, I need to be able to make it with two needles and one piece of yarn —how do you translate that into math?” said Matsumoto.
Kamala Harris’ Plan to Equalize the Pay Gap: Companies Will Be Required to Obtain an “Equal Pay Certification” and Prove They’re Not Paying Women Less Than Men for Work of Equal Value
Senator Kamala Harris on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; Foreign Interference on Social Media Testimony, 8/01/2018
Mining the Gold in the Golden Years: I’ll Never Have to Buy Another Ugly Bridesmaid Dress! And When I Fall and Can’t Get Up, that’s an Excuse to Take a Nap!
I know I’m supposed to grow old gracefully — wrap myself in an afghan, shuffle to my rocking chair, smile beatifically — and, above all, shut up and stop complaining about my creaky knees, my locked rotator cuff, my aching back… My peers are very familiar with the negatives of the advancing years and don’t need to be reminded; and the kids (everyone under 80) don’t want to think about them. So I decided to promote the positives of aging. Yes, there really are some.
President Bush prepares to exit the plane for his tandem jump above Walker’s Point, Kennebunkport, ME. 12 June 2009; Credit: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Courtesy of US Army Golden Knights Parachute Team
The first plus that comes to mind, of course, is the ubiquitous senior discount. Ten percent off just about anything you need or want might be worth getting old for. Almost. Actually, I’d be tempted to give up the discount in exchange for reclaiming the last forty years. But only if I could relive them without replaying all the mistakes I made the first time around.
Another major benefit of getting old is no more resume updates and job hunting. Those who still have years to go before retirement can’t wait. It will be great, they think. No more being rudely awakened at dawn by that damn alarm. No more fighting commuter traffic. No more having to deal with company politics. Plus having endless time to write that novel that’s been percolating in your head, learn another language, travel the world (or as much of it as your pension will allow), visit the kids and grandkids as often as you’d like, work out regularly, cook healthy meals instead of relying on fast food pick-up, and volunteer to help those less fortunate.
Those of us who have been retired for eons know, of course, that that’s all bunk. Years later we still have done little, if any, of what we had planned. In fact, we seem to have even fewer spare hours than we did when we worked. How did we ever find time for a job, we wonder. Maybe spare moments were more precious to us because they were limited, so we became expert at not squandering them?
“Tomorrow” has become my new mantra. That’s when I’ll fire up my computer and start writing in earnest. That’s when I’ll sign up for that course in Conversational Italian. And that’s when I’ll go down to the local soup kitchen and see if they can use an extra pair of hands. But right now I think I’ll binge watch reruns of “The Big Bang Theory” and “VEEP” — after I run out to pick up a pizza for dinner.
Okay, so maybe retirement isn’t such a benefit of getting old; but there are tons of other advantages, the obvious ones being Medicare and Social Security (meager though that may be). And if, unlike me, you are lucky enough to have worked for companies that offered generous pensions and 401K plans, you’ll have it made.
As for me, one of my favorite blessings of aging is that I’ll never have to buy another ugly bridesmaid dress. Furthermore, when I go to a wedding, no one expects me to remember the chicken dance; and if I do the Hokey Pokey, everyone thinks it’s cute if I put my right foot out instead of my left..
Another perk: No one expects me to host elaborate lasagna dinners for a dozen friends any more.
Also, I no longer have to be embarrassed about not knowing how to ride a bike, swim, or ski. No one expects someone my age to do any of those things. They don’t have to know I never could. (I’m counting on you not to tell them.) And no one is going to challenge me to go skydiving or bungee jumping.
Another huge plus of the mature years is that it has become very easy to impress people. They are amazed to see I own a cell phone — a smart one, not a granny flip phone. And they find it hard to believe that Alexa lives in my den and Google Home in my bedroom.
Also, I can now enjoy friendships with men because their wives/girl friends don’t consider me a threat. Wait a minute. Actually, that’s pretty insulting.
But at least I no longer have to agonize over whether anyone will ask me to the prom.
Also, no more periods! Goodbye, tampons. (Hello, incontinence pads.)
I have also found many car-related benefits of being mature (okay, old). For one thing, when it snows, kind neighbors always dig me out. In supermarket parking lots, people magically materialize to help me unload my shopping cart. On the highway, other drivers give me the right of way rather than take their chances that my old eyes can’t see them clearly. And when I take public transportation, I never have to stand no matter how crowded the bus or train — though it’s upsetting when someone who I think looks twice my age surrenders his/her seat to me.
I have much less peer pressure these days, too — because I have fewer peers. I have managed to outlive most of them. And I can safely entrust my secrets to the few that are left because I know they won’t remember them.
I do spend many more sleepless nights tossing and turning than I used to, but I figure that’s good exercise. And when I fall and can’t get up, that’s a great excuse to take a nap.
These days I hear those three little words often. No, not “I love you,” but “for your age” — as in “You look wonderful for your age” and “You’re so sharp for your age.” Unfortunately, I can’t say that about my memory which is becoming unreliable. But that, too has a benefit — I can reread a favorite book and it will be brand new to me and just as enjoyable the second time. Ditto favorite movies.
Also, there’s really not much need to kick bad habits any more. At a certain point, none of us is going to live long enough for excess smoking, drinking, eating, or inactivity to catch up with us.
But absolutely the best thing about getting old is this:
We no longer have to worry about dying young.
©2019 Rose Madeline Mula for SeniorWomen.com
Meanwhile, she can reached by e-mail.
Alice Rivlin Spoke About Inclusive Prosperity and the Need for Political Compromise; Vox Declared “Alice Rivlin shaped every major policy debate of the past 40 years”
Alice M. Rivlin died on May 14, 2019; the following was originally posted February 11th, 2016 at 3:57 pm
In a February 2016 lecture in Thomas Great Hall, Economist Alice M. Rivlin, Bryn Mawr College, Class of ’52 asked “Is Inclusive Prosperity Possible in the US?”
In terms of what sort of policies are needed for inclusive prosperity, Rivlin was optimistic that the US economy remains strong and that enacting or strengthening a few “sensible centric economic policies” would help the country see continued growth while expanding the pool of those benefiting from the growth.
The issue, said Rivlin, who was the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office, was whether these policies could ever be translated into law and action.
Alice Rivlin and her three children; photo credit and writer, judyflander.org. The Washington Star, February 25, 1975: Carry Outs Will Be Busy: Mother’s Got a Big New Job
“Our process of setting public policy is so broken that the answer has to be no,” she said.
For the reminder of her talk, Rivlin touched briefly on the policies she sees as important for inclusive prosperity — modernizing infrastructure, investing in science and technology, improving the skills of the future labor force, investing in early childhood education, making the tax system more progressive and more conducive to growth, simplifying regulation, and making government programs work more effectively.
But time and again she returned to the topic of compromise and the need for dialogue rather than debate.
“Dialogue is different than debate. In debate you are trying to win. In a dialogue, you are trying to find common ground and to solve a problem, these are different skills,” she said near the end of her talk.
At one point during her talk, Rivlin talked about the anger of those who have been left behind in recent years as much of the growth has benefited the most wealthy and the fact that both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have tapped into that anger on the campaign trail.
“Anger is not a strategy,” said Rivlin. “If we’re to get back onto a track of inclusive prosperity, we need a president and a congress that recognize the need to work together across party and ideological lines. That’s the hard part, relearning the art of compromise.”
The day following her lecture, Rivlin had breakfast with a group of students at the Wyndham Alumnae House and visited an economics class. (See below for picture taken at Bryn Mawr College)
Rivlin was one of the nation’s experts in fiscal and monetary policy. She was, among other prestigious posts, Director of the Health Policy Center at the Brookings Institution and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy. She was a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and a visiting professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University when this post was created.
Update: Hearings, Markups & Bills Introduced and a Vintage Joe Biden Moment: Deceptive Advertising of Abortion Services, Improve Data on Sexual Violence Act, Women-Owned Small Business Program
“[The] announcement by China is a dangerous consequence of this Administration’s inability to reach a trade deal and bring stability to our small businesses. If China’s tariffs are enacted, small businesses in farming, manufacturing and countless other industries will be the ones to foot the bill. Make no mistake, this is unnecessary pain to our communities.”
“That’s why under my leadership, the Committee will continue to shed light on the dangerous consequences of this ongoing trade war to America’s small business sector. Our Main Streets deserve policies that promote economic growth and security, not higher prices and fewer customers.”
Moms in Science From a Bay Area Newsletter: Organic Farming and Other Musings on Traditional Breedings, GMOs and the Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
We subscribe to a newsletter called Science Smooze. Here is part of their current message as well as the video:
“When I see weird behavior [from male colleagues], my first inclination is not to think, ‘What’s wrong with me. It’s, ‘What the heck is wrong with these guys?’” –Lene Vestergaard Hau (physicist, known for her work with cold atoms and light), right in her Harvard lab.
“And as I had my father’s kind of mind — which was also his mother’s — I learned that the mind is not sex-typed.” — Margaret Mead
12 More Quotes From Incredible Female Scientists That Will Inspire You To Reach Higher
Science-related Events … a few … in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Upcoming Events – Note that the few we included don’t highlight any women leading the events but this is just a small sample of what is offered:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 05/13/2019
Large-scale structure cosmology from low to high redshift – 05/13/2019 11:00 AM
Varian Physics Building, Stanford
Close to a decade in the making, the imminent DESI experiment promises to revolutionise our understanding of Dark Energy and extend large-scale structure studies to z~2. But what comes next? The unprecedented depth of LSST will enable ‘dropout’ selection of Lyman-break galaxies at z~3 and 4 that prove ideal for studies of the primordial Universe and horizon-scale gravity. Based on recent work, I’ll discuss the potential of this science case for future surveys, in particular with respect to the synergy with CMB lensing and DESI itself.
Speaker: Mike Wilson, UC Berkeley
Fundamental Physics with Antihydrogen Atoms – Rescheduled – 05/13/2019 03:30 PM
SLAC Colloquium Series, Menlo Park
The ALPHA Collaboration at CERN has combined antiprotons and positrons to create and probe antihydrogen atoms. ALPHA can now store over 1000 antihydrogen atoms at a time for thousands of seconds. We have developed techniques to conduct precision physics using minimal numbers of antiatoms. The comparison of antihydrogen and hydrogen spectra are sensitive probes of Charge-Parity-Time (CPT) Symmetry. We have conducted the first precision physics experiments on antihydrogen, measuring the 1S-2S and the hyperfine transition bandwidths to the 10kHz level. The charge of antihydrogen has been limited to less than 0.7ppb of the magnitude of the electron charge, and the Lyman-alpha transition, critical for laser cooling, has been excited. A gravity experiment designed to measure antihydrogen acceleration in the Earth’s field to 1% accuracy is being constructed. In this talk I will describe ALPHAs techniques, physics results, and our plans for the future.
Speaker: Johathan Wurtele, UC Berkeley
This event was originally scheduled for April 15.
People and Robots Seminar – 05/13/2019 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall, Berkeley
Speaker: Jeff C Jensen, Creator
On the application of machine learning algorithms in hydrodynamic simulations – 05/13/2019 04:00 PM
Green Earth Sciences Building, Stanford
In this talk, I will first discuss the state of the art high order methods for hydrodynamic simulations. The numerical approximation of the Euler equations of gas dynamics in a moving frame is a common approach for solving many multiphysics problems involving e.g. large deformations, strong shocks and interactions of multiple materials. In Lagrangian methods, the mesh is moving with the fluid velocity, therefore they are well-suited for accurate resolution of material interfaces. On the other hand, multidimensional Lagrangian meshes tend to tangle so that the mesh elements become invalid, and in general cannot represent large deformation. This problem can be partially resolved by high order method s, such as high order finite volume (WENO, ADER), discontinuous Galerkin, high order finite elements, residual distribution methods, because they allow the mesh to deform longer before the remeshing phase.Next, I will focus on the applications of machine learning algorithms for improving the speed and accuracy of hydrodynamic simulations. Artificial neural networks can be trained to determine the socalled troubled cells in regions of the flow near shocks where some scheme modification is needed in order to ensure stability. This approach is sometimes superior to commonly used shock indicators as it provides better localization of the troubled cells.Finally, I will present our results on using artificial neural networks for the solution of the Riemann problem for the Euler equations of fluid dynamics. The solution of the Riemann problem is the building block for many numerical algorithms in CFD, such as finite volume or discontinuous Galerkin methods. Therefore, fast approximation of the solution of the Riemann problem and construction of the associated numerical fluxes is of crucial importance. We discuss the implementation of our machine learning algorithm using neural networks and potential benefits of this approach over direct numerical approximation.
Speaker: Svetlana Tokareva, Los Alamos National Labs
Gigaton Challenges in Climate-Tech Innovation – 05/13/2019 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar, Stanford
David Danielson, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, will put forward grand challenges to the Stanford community in energy & food/agriculture technology that represent opportunities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by more than 0.5 Gtons/year CO2-equivalent, from 1,000 hours grid batteries to zero-emissions cows and everything in between. He will also discuss a new set of approaches that today’s climate-tech entrepreneurs are taking (a new “playbook to significantly increase their probability of success versus what happened in the cleantech venture capital boom and bust of the late 2000’s.
What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics – 05/13/2019 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club, San Francisco
Monday Night Philosophy and almost all physicists agree that quantum mechanics is among humanity’s finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a not-so-scientific brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr’s Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. That is why, even though it is a mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, the Copenhagen interpretation has endured, with Bohr’s students vigorously protecting his legacy, and the physics community favoring practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo has almost always meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists such as John Bell, David Bohm and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. Join us – first for the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for seeking truth, and then for reexamining the littered trail of half-understood research results in the never-discarded quest for answering the fundamental questions that can be summed up as: “What is real?”
Speaker: Adam Becker, Author
Conversations About Landscape: Deal or No (Green New) Deal? – 05/13/2019 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium, San Francisco
The Green New Deal calls for eliminating fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy sources within a decade a large-scale investment in jobs, infrastructure, and technology. Is this plan ambitious and achievable…or not economically or technically feasible? Are there precedents in American history that can shed light on this debate? What will it take to decarbonize our energy economy and address climate change? Join us in a discussion about how the United States has confronted grand challenges both past and present.
Speakers: Dr. Gray Brechin, UC Berkeley; Mark Jacobson, Stanford
Here’s Why This Year’s Measles Outbreaks Are So Bad: “Ninety out of one hundred non-vaccinated people exposed to an infected person will develop the disease”
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health experts say a variety of factors are behind the recent upsurge, which has spread quickly despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. Understanding these factors, they say, could point to a way to stop future outbreaks from taking hold.
“We’re facing a perfect storm of a highly contagious infection introduced into pockets of unvaccinated children,” says Melissa Stockwell, an associate professor of population and family health at Columbia Mailman and of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “It’s important that everyone is familiar with the risks.” Measles is many times as infectious as the flu and lingers in the air or on surfaces hours after an infected individual has left a room. “Ninety out of one hundred non-vaccinated people exposed to an infected person will develop the disease,” says Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia Mailman.
While most cases of the measles are mild, one in twenty infected children in the US is hospitalized with pneumonia, and some infections can cause deafness. In 2017, the illness killed 110,000 people worldwide, nearly all young children in low-income countries.
The biggest of the ongoing measles outbreaks in the US is linked to a traveler from Israel who infected members of an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn last year. From there, measles spread to other Ultra-Orthodox communities north of the city in Rockland County. In all, there have been 13 separate outbreaks across 22 states this year.
The Health Commissioner of Rockland County, Patricia Ruppert, MPH ‘15, is leading the effort to stop the outbreak there. On April 16, Ruppert ordered parents to keep any children with measles or children who were exposed to measles away from public places within the county, with exceptions made for medical care. Separately, she required that schools turn away unvaccinated students without a medical or religious exemption. These and other actions have led to a recent uptick in vaccinations in the county.
In New York City, Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot ordered that everyone eligible for the MMR vaccine in four Brooklyn zip codes get vaccinated. She also closed several schools that failed to exclude students without vaccination documentation. Nina Rothschild, DrPH ‘00, a research scientist in the City Health Department, set up a measles call center after the department was swamped with questions about measles. Among other responsibilities, call center staff arrange for couriers to transport specimens from the provider’s site to the department’s public health laboratory. Rabbis and other Jewish leaders have also been active in the measles response, speaking out to encourage the small group of non-vaccinating parents in their communities to vaccinate their children. While New York and other states allow religious exemptions for the MMR vaccine, Judaism like all the other major religions supports vaccination. “The same holds true of Ultra-Orthodox communities” emphasizes Stephen Morse, professor of epidemiology. “It’s important that we do what we can to avoid stigmatizing people who have historically been subject to a great deal of stigmatization.”
According to Melissa Stockwell, two strands of misinformation contribute to the recent outbreaks. First, families mistakenly believe that measles is not dangerous; at the same time, they fear the vaccine could harm their child. Of course, the truth is the opposite. “We know that measles is a severe disease, and the vaccine is safe,” she says.
In some ways, the MMR vaccine has been a victim of its own success. The experience of measles is outside the living memory of most people alive today. The vaccine was introduced in the 1960s, and by 2000, measles was eliminated in the US., meaning it was no longer endemic. Since then, outbreaks of measles in the US only happen when they are triggered by visitors from other countries where measles is circulating.
Meanwhile, public confidence in the vaccine has weakened ever since the 1998 publication of a now-discredited paper by Andrew Wakefield which spuriously linked the vaccine to autism. A 2008 paper by Ian Lipkin and colleagues demonstrated conclusively that the MMR vaccine had no link to autism. But in recent years, the spread of falsehoods has accelerated in viral fashion via Twitter and Facebook. “The ease and rate of spread of disinformation related to vaccine safety have increased dramatically with the rise of social media platforms,” says Lipkin.
Thankfully, technology can also be effective in a positive direction. While it may not be possible to change the minds of the most ardent anti-vaxxers, alumna Rachel Alter, MPH ‘18, found success in engaging with the larger group of parents who are undecided. Research by Stockwell showed that simple text message reminders can motivate more parents to vaccinate their children.
Globally, vaccination efforts have led to enormous progress against measles; according to WHO estimates, improved vaccine coverage prevented more than 20 million measles deaths since 2000. Some public health experts believe measles could eventually be eradicated like smallpox. In the US, even a small improvement in vaccination rates could make a huge difference. If just 2 percent more children were vaccinated, herd immunity would stop any imported measles case in its tracks.
Unfortunately, this year’s outbreaks suggest the trend is moving in the wrong direction — a development that presents the unwelcome possibility that measles could regain a foothold in the US. C says Stockwell. “It’s crazy to think about. The MMR vaccine was a huge public health achievement. Today we’re facing the prospect of going backward.”
“If enough people decide to refuse [the vaccine], there’s no reason measles couldn’t reestablish itself,” adds Stephen Morse, who had measles as a child at a time when children were routinely infected. “I lived through that time. I would not want to live through it again.”
Editor’s Note: Measles Outbreak Shines Light On Persistent Problem: The Dearth Of School Nurses: Data show that nearly half of California’s school districts don’t have an adequate number of school nurses on campus. While the issue was thrust into the spotlight recently with the Los Angeles teachers’ strike, the problem persists statewide. And advocates say that especially in moments of crisis — like the national measles outbreak — their presence is missed sorely. Experts say nurses play a key role in containing communicable diseases by spotting and isolating infected students and keeping track of children who haven’t been vaccinated. Nurses also can more easily detect whether parents are using a bogus medical exemption to prevent their children from getting vaccinated. “Throughout the state, we have districts that have one nurse for roughly 1,000 students to one nurse for 14,000 students. It’s all over the map in California,” said Pamela Kahn, president-elect of the California School Nurses Organization. Read more from the Sacramento Bee.