Tag Archives: virus

Physics of Reality

Spring semester at my school started yesterday. I have a few senior physics students, each of whom will need to produce a research paper. I want their research to reflect some aspect of the world that we live in. It … Continue reading

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COVID and Climate: Learning From One to Use On the Other

I have mentioned the concept of “constructive destruction” in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic before (June 16, 2020). By necessity, our status quo is being disrupted, but that also means we are beginning to grow in unexpected ways. At … Continue reading

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How to Use COVID-19 to Make your Workplace Greener

The “lonely” Brooklyn College in June This is the beautiful campus where I teach. There are almost no students; it looks lonely. Granted, I took the photograph on Sunday, June 21st, a day when the campus likely wouldn’t look much … Continue reading

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Coronavirus Impacts on the Energy Transition

 What impacts will the COVID-19 pandemic have on the longer-term climate change disaster? I’ll begin to address this topic here, starting with some observations, and expand upon it with some suggestions in future blogs. Throughout my more than 8 years … Continue reading

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Global Disasters at Different Speeds: How Do We Teach and Learn Now?

Israeli beach, May 16th My university just wrapped up its 2020 spring semester. As in most schools, our classrooms all moved online shortly after the semester began. This shift has applied to most other activities as well. In the US … Continue reading

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Phased Reopening and Lessons to Learn

Figure 1 – Dana Summers’ cartoon on phased opening Roughly two months ago, my campus completely shifted to remote learning and teaching and I started lockdown. I have made a corresponding shift here, covering the COVID-19 viral pandemic that now … Continue reading

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How Do We End a Pandemic?

When I read my morning paper on May 4th, three articles jumped out at me: As Trump Pushes to Reopen, Government Sees virus toll nearly doubling WASHINGTON — As President Trump presses states to reopen their economies, his administration is … Continue reading

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Scaling Properties of COVID-19

Saturday was a beautiful spring day. The Brooklyn green market downstairs was open. The street and the market were relatively (in the pandemic era) crowded; well managed social distancing was enforced but many people went without masks. The talk of … Continue reading

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Propagation of Pandemics: Please Stay Inside!

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the day the 30th Infantry Division of the American army liberated me after two years of imprisonment in Bergen-Belsen. I was supposed to memorialize this event with my wife, other survivors and liberators, and … Continue reading

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