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U.S. asking states to speed vaccine, not hold back 2nd dose (AP): The Trump administration is asking states to speed delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to people 65 and older and to others at high risk by no longer holding back the second dose of the two-dose shots, officials said Tuesday. Trump administration reverses course and adopts part of Biden vaccine distribution plan (CNN): The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to announce sweeping changes Tuesday in vaccine rollout guidelines in an effort to boost the lagging number of vaccinations in the first month -- effectively adopting the approach proposed by President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration. Biden's Plan To Release More Vaccine Is A Gamble. Is It Worth The Risk? (NPR): The Biden administration plans to send most of the currently reserved doses out right away, allowing more people to get first doses. For people who've gotten initial shots, the Biden team is making a bet that new doses could be manufactured in time to keep booster shots on schedule. How can countries stretch COVID vaccine supplies? Scientists are divided over dosing strategies (Nature): Researchers worry that efforts to free up limited vaccine doses are driven by desperation rather than data. Related: A Single Vaccine Dose Appears To Protect Against COVID-19. So Why Are We Giving Two? (WBUR)
posted by not_the_water at 3:18 PM PST - 116 comments

Come, children, and mothers of children;
weavers of wonder, wards of warriors.
Hear me now as I recite
A story, of a lifetime faraway.
Listen. [more inside]
posted by infini at 12:59 PM PST - 7 comments

On a 10-mile run up Slate Canyon in Provo UT, guy sees 4 cougar cubs on the trail. He took out his phone and started filming. When the mother came along he knew he was in trouble. For the next six minutes, he recorded their encounter. The mother cougar followed him — hissing, growling and threatening — as Burgess backed away, keeping his eyes locked on her. Mostly, he alternated between yelling a stream of profanities at the mother mountain lion and calling the animal "dude."
posted by dancestoblue at 11:38 AM PST - 106 comments

1. Bad robotics maven Simone Giertz makes Teeth Wall, a midi-powered 12-note xylophone of chattering teeth.
2. Swedish artist Love Hultén runs with the concept with a 25-note sampler synthesizer also made of chattering teeth: the VOC-25.
posted by cortex at 9:19 AM PST - 20 comments

Before the Oath Keepers, Q Anon and Sovereign Citizens there was Bill Pelley and his far-right, nazi-friendly, occult-adjacent Silvershirts
posted by FiftyShadesOfBae at 9:18 AM PST - 5 comments

"... over the past two decades, Books by the Foot’s books-as-decor designs have become a fixture in the world of American politics, filling local appetite for books as status symbols..." Whether it's a movie set, hotel decor, an instant personal library, a "Zoom Room" or pretty much any other reason you might need to fill a whole lot of bookshelves, the Books By the Foot service of Maryland's Wonder Books has you covered. Order by color, order by subject, order by the overall impact you'd like to create (glossy professional anyone?) and the persona you want to imply. Interestingly, the overall volume of orders for this service has remained fairly stable during COVID, but the specific uses seems to have morphed. [more inside]
posted by The Librarian at 8:04 AM PST - 91 comments

Jungle Lab The machete-wielding scientists ventured into the Amazon, hacking through dense jungle as the mid-morning temperature soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C). Soaked in sweat, the small group of men and women sawed and tore trees limb from limb. They drilled into the soil and sprayed paint across tree trunks.
A Brazil-wide map of secondary forests over the past 33 years can help regrow Amazon rainforest, stop fires, and curb carbon emissions.
posted by adamvasco at 3:27 AM PST - 3 comments