Solved!!!

Here’s an easy riddle for you.

I was seen by the Ancient Greeks but I have no Greek myths associated with me.  Perhaps they didn’t recognize me for what I am.  I bear them no grudge because the Greeks have slipped from my view so never mind them.  Besides I am regarded as a representation of a god by some cultures.  In fact I am important to many nations today in symbol and song, and you are familiar with me.

Then there is the story about me of the brothers, their friends and the campfires.  Oh I will say no more about it, no need to give the answer away.

In not so ancient times I was finally recognized, some say by a Frenchman, others by a Dane.  Tom is going with the Dane, but then Tom has NEVER seen the jewels I possess for himself.

Oh I am quite visible, depending on where you live.  Do you know who I am?  I know you do.

A couple of notes:

The winner gets to ask a question (see last week’s riddle for the ground rules).  There is an unanswered question out there too, Marian has been terribly busy.  She’ll get to it.

The site will down for a brief time (hopefully) in the morning for some tinkering.

By now a lot of you fellow geeks will have seen this:

[Click to see the whole thing at artist Ibrahim Evsan's site.]

I recognize waaaay too much of it. But c’mon. Where’s Wil?

The Republican War on Science is back, and it’s badder than ever. Or, that’s what I reported over at Mother Jones’ “Blue Marble”:

…the Washington Post and ABC released the latest in a set of public opinion findings that have not only shown growing skepticism about mainstream climate science in the US, but now, negative views of environmental scientists in general.

More specifically, here’s what the new survey found. Forty percent of Americans don’t trust what scientists have to say about the environment; among Republicans, it’s nearly 60 percent. Both numbers are an increase from polling results in the past; and for the public in general, a significant part of the change seems to be coming among political independents.

….By seizing upon “ClimateGate” and directing concerted fire against the scientists involved, Republican politicians, activists and global warming “skeptics” and denialists have now arguably caused more damage to the scientific community than the Bush administration did.

You can read the full item here.

Sometimes, even when we know we’re playing hardball, we forget how hard the ball actually is.

On Monday, I noted in Mother Jones that a failure in Copenhagen would strengthen the would-be geoengineers, some of whom–like the Russians–are already starting to fire sulfates into the air in field trial experiments.

Well, there has been a failure–or at least, a very weak agreement–in Copenhagen. Expect to hear more and more talk about geoengineering as this ongoing climate policy mess–now two decades old–continues and continues and continues.

I am not in favor of geoengineering, but I am in favor of geoengineering research–and pragmatic solutions. And if the policy process can’t deliver a global cutback in emissions sufficient to avert “dangerous anthropogenic” climate change, then I think geoengineering has to be in our toolkit as a last option.

Unfortunately.

Brooklyn, New York is suffering a large outbreak of mumps right now. There have been 600 cases either confirmed or suspected in the past few months. Compare that to the fewer than 300 cases total on average in the entire United States over the course of a whole year and you’ll see that this is clearly a major outbreak.

Interestingly, the population affected is overwhelmingly comprised of orthodox Jews. That surprised me; I didn’t know of any prohibitions against vaccinations in Jewish culture, and after some research have determined that there is none — in fact, vaccinations appear to be taken very seriously in Jewish teachings, and there have been times that rabbis have allowed people to get vaccinated even on the Sabbath! However, the report linked above indicates vaccination rates in that area of NYC are lower than the national average, about 80%. It’s not clear why.

A similar outbreak occurred in a Jewish community in Antwerp, Belgium in 2007-2008. In that case, a large number of the parents of unvaccinated children all went to the same physician, who "was opposed to vaccination". Nice work, doc! A vaccination campaign was quickly set up to prevent the outbreak from spreading; together with a high overall rate of vaccination in Antwerp (94%!) this appears to have worked in stemming the tide of the outbreak there.

Most vaccination rates need to be at 90% or higher to provide herd immunity — where enough people are vaccinated that the potentially infectious disease in question basically doesn’t have a place to live. Lower rates mean more people can host the bug, and an outbreak can occur. Worse, the mumps vaccine (usually given together with a measles and rubella vaccination, the so-called MMR shot) has a somewhat lower immunization rate of 80% effectiveness after one dose (that is, 80% of people receiving the shot develop immunity after that one dose — which is why two doses are recommended). That means herd rates must be higher to prevent outbreaks.

The outbreak in NYC has been traced to an infected child who was visiting the area from the UK. Vaccination rates in the UK are lower, in large part due to the antivax scare started by Andrew Wakefield and his now-discredited study linking vaccines to other illnesses. There have been over 6000 cases of mumps in the UK this year so far (not even including the last quarter of 2009) — 6000, more than twenty times the cases we get in the US, and we have five times the population here.

All those thousands of kids suffering through mumps — and potential deafness, encephalitis, meningitis, orchitis in boys, and ovarian swelling in girls — because of the antivaxxers and their misinformation campaign.

The good news here is that enough people are vaccinated in the Brooklyn area to prevent this from becoming an epidemic. It’s clear there would be many more cases if that weren’t the case.

As always, don’t listen to the lies of the antivax movement. Go to your board-certified physician an ask them about vaccinations, and do the research yourself. Get the truth.

Tip o’ the syringe to BABloggee Cristiana Senni.

A bridge in Connecticut, January 2004: Having left New York at 4:30 am, I settled into my Honda hoping to reach Maine before nightfall. The first couple hours were uneventful until… suddenly the wheel locked, the brakes failed and my car spun haphazardly across three lanes to face oncoming traffic. Yet somehow, we didn’t suffer a scratch between us.

I was lucky, and I want to encourage readers in the northeast to keep black ice in mind as you brave the roads this morning. And since this is Discover blogs, what causes the slippery stuff anyway?

Black ice is ice that forms without many air bubbles inside, commonly occurring on roads as moisture from car exhaust condenses. Because it’s transparent, it takes on the color of whatever surface it forms on–and if you can detect black ice at all, it generally looks like wet asphalt. It can also form when temperatures are above freezing meaning it’s hard to be prepared. Unfortunately, four-wheel drive vehicles do not protect you from losing control and salt is also not as effective at freezing temperatures. And finally–as I observed firsthand–bridges and overpasses are often most dangerous because cold air circulates above and below elevated surfaces, making them freeze fastest.

I hope those driving on wintry roads today remember to be extra cautious.

* * * * * * * * * *

Given the winter storm blanketing the northeast, this is a re-post from March. Please drive carefully today.