If we're going to panic over viruses trapped in ice, I'd be much more worried about ones found in ice cores from Antarctica, since some of those may pre-date Homo Sapiens.
(Runs around in a panic for 5 minutes.)
There now, that's settled. Time to worry about the temperature potentially dropping to below -30C over the weekend. Weird how "global greenhouse climate warming change effect" has cause lakes and streams that never freeze over before Lucia to have been frozen since December 1st.
Fair point about the 'zombie viruses' from Antarctica, but then again, I recall a chat with a mediaeval archaeologist from Germany a decade ago: a few years earlier, they found a basement underneath Heidelberg, Germany, which hadn't been used for some 300 years or the like. Excitedly, the archaeologists went inside to check it out, albeit without PPE; a bunch of them caught a very nasty strain of 300 year-old tuberculosis and spent a few weeks in a local ICU. No need to fear pre-homo sapiens viruses, then, I suppose (although I'm aware that TBC is caused by bacteria, but I think it's a fair comparison). Also, most of these bugs and other critters are eminently treat-able, provided we don't sink healthcare/medicine with centralised guidelines and wokefied curriculums in the next few years…
As to the winter, well, what shall I say, fellow northerner: it's cold in winter, warm in summer, or vice versa. Sometimes exceptionally so, but that's just how it is, eh?
We're at -19 C right now, but I think it's colder tonight (no clouds); beautiful time to watch the night sky (no street lamps in my neck of the woods), but it's cold.
Next week, I am going to take a break from the best Germany of all Time, only to catch some Zombie viruses in the Austrian alps...
If we're going to panic over viruses trapped in ice, I'd be much more worried about ones found in ice cores from Antarctica, since some of those may pre-date Homo Sapiens.
(Runs around in a panic for 5 minutes.)
There now, that's settled. Time to worry about the temperature potentially dropping to below -30C over the weekend. Weird how "global greenhouse climate warming change effect" has cause lakes and streams that never freeze over before Lucia to have been frozen since December 1st.
Fair point about the 'zombie viruses' from Antarctica, but then again, I recall a chat with a mediaeval archaeologist from Germany a decade ago: a few years earlier, they found a basement underneath Heidelberg, Germany, which hadn't been used for some 300 years or the like. Excitedly, the archaeologists went inside to check it out, albeit without PPE; a bunch of them caught a very nasty strain of 300 year-old tuberculosis and spent a few weeks in a local ICU. No need to fear pre-homo sapiens viruses, then, I suppose (although I'm aware that TBC is caused by bacteria, but I think it's a fair comparison). Also, most of these bugs and other critters are eminently treat-able, provided we don't sink healthcare/medicine with centralised guidelines and wokefied curriculums in the next few years…
As to the winter, well, what shall I say, fellow northerner: it's cold in winter, warm in summer, or vice versa. Sometimes exceptionally so, but that's just how it is, eh?
We're at -19 C right now, but I think it's colder tonight (no clouds); beautiful time to watch the night sky (no street lamps in my neck of the woods), but it's cold.