Today's Guests
Patricia Kelmar is Director of Health Care Campaigns for US PIRG. (PIRG stands for Public Interest Research Group.) We're going to talk about a law which takes effect next month entitled the "No Surprises Act" which aims to eliminate (or at least reduce) medical "surprise billing", which typically means getting an out-of-network bill for medical care that you thought was in your network and covered by your insurance. More info here: No Surprises Act | CMS and here: The No Surprises Act Begins January 2022: This is What You Can Expect | KFF
David Correll is a research scientist at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. He recently told Congress that we don't as much have a shortage of truckers as we have a persistent waste of truckers' time. It's a very interesting outside-the-box thought with significant policy implications. FreightLab Co-Director Gives Expert Testimony on Improving Trucking Capacity at Congressional Hearing | Center for Transportation and Logistics (mit.edu)
Our most prolific show guest, and a man who always humors my science nerdiness with enthusiasm and good cheer, CU physics professor Paul Beale will be my last guest of 2021. Some stuff we'll talk about: James Webb Space Telescope: Looking back in time to catch the earliest starlight in creation (see more about this in one of the videos below) and Harvard scientists discover new state of matter that could be used to develop quantum computers. More about Webb here: Webb telescope testing on tap Thursday before setting target launch date – Spaceflight Now
If you bought ham for your Xmas dinner, check this article for important information
Cooked Ham, Pepperoni Recalled In Colorado Over Listeria Risk | Denver, CO Patch
This is your brain on COVID: Red America vs Blue America
These dueling articles at The Atlantic lay out very well the remarkable difference in attitude toward life during COVID (which could go on forever, like life with the flu, or it could be more temporary, like life with SARS or maybe measles.)
Democrat despair:
I’m Starting to Give Up on Post-pandemic Life - The Atlantic
versus
Conservative equanimity:
Where I Live, No One Cares About COVID - The Atlantic
It's also interesting how these mindsets play out. For example, it seems that liberals are more likely to get vaccinated than conservatives are (which itself strikes me as ridiculous) and yet they remain more worried than conservatives even after getting vaccinated. Weird.
Parental Worry About COVID-19 Infection Eases Slightly (gallup.com)
Of course it doesn't help when a president does this:
Biden warns of winter with 'severe illness and death' for unvaccinated | TheHill
Why I don't worry about catching COVID on a plane
This is the first thing I've found with a good diagram of air flow inside an airplane.
IATA - Low on Board Transmission Risk
There was never a known true millipede...until now
(see the video below for more)
The first true millipede: new species with more than 1,000 legs discovered in Western Australia | Animals | The Guardian
And here's the scientific article announcing the discovery: The first true millipede—1306 legs long | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
Offered without comment:
F.D.A. Will Permanently Allow Abortion Pills by Mail - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Lay's potato chips gets into the vodka business...and sells out immediately
Lay's Vodka sells out in under three hours | PIX11
Do you think this cartoonist has a fraction of a fraction of Elon Musk's skills, brains or cojones?
What'd I Miss?: Describing one of the world's richest people (coloradosun.com)