“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” Stephen Hawking

“There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.” Stephen Hawking

“The role played by time at the beginning of the universe is, I believe, the final key to removing the need for a Grand Designer, and revealing how the universe created itself. … Time itself must come to a stop. You can’t get to a time before the big bang, because there was no time before the big bang. We have finally found something that does not have a cause because there was no time for a cause to exist in. For me this means there is no possibility of a creator because there is no time for a creator to have existed. Since time itself began at the moment of the Big Bang, it was an event that could not have been caused or created by anyone or anything. … So when people ask me if a god created the universe, I tell them the question itself makes no sense. Time didn’t exist before the Big Bang, so there is no time for God to make the universe in. It’s like asking for directions to the edge of the Earth. The Earth is a sphere. It does not have an edge, so looking for it is a futile exercise.” Stephen Hawking

“I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.” Stephen Hawking

“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.” Lawrence M. Krauss

“A universe without purpose should neither depress us nor suggest that our lives are purposeless. Through an awe-inspiring cosmic history we find ourselves on this remote planet in a remote corner of the universe, endowed with intelligence and self-awareness. We should not despair, but should humbly rejoice in making the most of these gifts, and celebrate our brief moment in the sun.” Lawrence M. Krauss

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid-19, so far, and so have I!! That is a very, very, very good thing for both of us. Seriously if you are reading this and have not gotten Covid or have gotten it and survived then count yourself lucky.

When I started writing this blog entry on February 3rd, the death count was approximately 462,000 deaths. Let me say that number again, 462 thousands deaths in a years time. One hundred thousand extra deaths in the month of January. Unreal. That is more Americans than in WWII. That war claimed approximately 418,000 lives. The Covid pandemic is now the third deadliest event in the history of the republic. The 1918 flu pandemic killed 675,000 in this country and it is estimated the Civil War in 1861 to 1865 killed between 618,000 to 750,000.

In the first week of February, the states with the most deaths were again, New York (44,000), California (42,000) and Texas (38,000). But… By the end of February, California had taken the lead in deaths over New York at 50,000 plus and Texas broke the 43,000 mark. Add to this, the fact we had topped 520,000 deaths in this country. That is 58,000 extra deaths in less than 25 days. That is better than the death count in January, but still… Wow and not in a good way.

If you are interested in the numbers yourself take a look at these links: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Well it’s been 7 weeks since I got the second shot of the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and…. so far there are no side effects for me. And that is a good thing. There has been some troubling news reported by the New York Times that 30 to 40 people who got either the Moderna or Pfizer Vaccine developed a condition called ITP or Immune Thrombocytopenia. In a nut shell it is when the bodies own immune system attacks platelets in the blood. And for those of you that are not medically related, platelets are essential to clotting, so having too little can be a big deal to say the least.

The question now becomes were those cases of ITP just coincidence or will they show a direct link to the vaccine. Many different things can cause ITP, such as viruses, medications, alcohol, toxic chemicals, cancer, etc.. but and it is a significant but, there is precedence for other “vaccines” causing it. Think MMR vaccine, Haemophilus influenza, DTap, Polio, Hepatitis B, etc… So this is a real concern.

Now with all that said, so far there are only 30 or so cases of ITP in the population of the 50 million that have already been vaccinated with at least one shot and add to this – ITP was not mentioned in any of the trial data from either company, before the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization). Meaning if this is a side effect – it is very, very rare. If your interested, there are a couple of short articles explaining this in more detail from the International Journal of Infectious Diseases and one from Health.com. They can be found at these links: https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30629-9/fulltext and https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/rare-blood-disorder-covid-vaccine-thrombocytopenia

Now you might ask, if I knew this ahead of time, would I still get the vaccine? And the answer would be YES, for the same reasons that I have mentioned in the previous blog post: https://www.strugglingprotoplasm.com/?m=202101

It will be interesting to see, from a medical stand point, what other possible “side effects” surface over time. I am sure there will be a few, but hopefully not too many or that serious. There is a web site called VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). It is co-managed by the CDC and FDA. It covers all vaccines, not just Covid. It is a system for collecting reports of adverse events (possible reactions) associated with getting a vaccine. You can check it out at this link: https://vaers.hhs.gov/

Well, enough about Covid, on to something better. It has been another good month for running and exercising in the outdoors here in Fort Collins. Cold but not overly cold. And for the most part, the air quality has remained acceptable. There have been a few “brown cloud days” but not too many for the month. Of course I am talking about January, last month, not February. That is already a different story and I will save it for the next blog post. Lol.

When selecting pictures I took over the month of January, I realized it was also a great month for sunsets. Just the right amount of clouds and particulates at the close of each day. Even though I understand the “physics” behind the sunset lighting, I always find it amazing that the really vivid colors only last for a few moments and then are gone. I do not find knowing the science detracts in anyway. If anything, I feel it enhances the experience.

Towards the end of the month, I was finally able to get back out on the dirt paths. The last time I did a trail run was back in late August 2020. Almost 5 months ago. Of course, most of this was due to fire conditions / air quality, crowed trail conditions and Covid. So it felt really good to get back out on the dirt so to speak…

Living here in Fort Collins has its advantages for running. For one thing, you have a variety of paths to choose from. Everything from concrete bike paths, to dirt trails and many different combinations of the two. One of the great trail runs close by that you can use to gauge what your fitness level is can be found in Horsetooth Mountain Park. The name of this trail is Towers Road. It is actually a dirt road maintained by the county to check on communication, radio, and TV towers located at the top of the park. To avoid confusion, I use the term road and trail interchangeable when referring to this particular “path.”

So after not being on a trail run for months, I decided I “needed” to see where my fitness level might be. And Towers Road seemed like the perfect one to do for just that reason. The only extra challenge I found this time, was when you have not done any real “change in elevation” running in a while, there is a sharp reacclimating curve that is painful. And that is what I relearned on the first day I got back out on the trails. Ouch! What started out as a lactic threshold run quickly became a HIT workout. Lol.

Tower’s is a relative short run with the length being about 6 to 7 miles round trip depending on the turn around point. What it lacks in length, it makes up with elevation change. It starts at the Soderberg Trailhead in Horsetooth Mountain Open Space and once you get on the road proper the climbing never really relents until you reach the summit at approximately 7,000 feet. The road gains about 1,700 feet in elevation with an average gradient of 9%. Some sections are much steeper at 20%. There are a few flat sections but not much. After doing it, “You will know what shape you are in.” Lol.

Well if you were wondering what shape I was in? Lets just say, better than I thought, but not as good as I would like to be. Finished it in 1hr and 38 minutes. With most of the time spent on the uphill sections. I am a back of the pack ultra runner so this was good for me. A tortoise, not a hare.

In hind sight, I probably should not have chosen Towers as my first trail run to start the new year but because I have done it multiple times in the past I did not think much about it. It was a good workout but it took me at least 5 days before I felt like I had fully recovered. You live and learn, only to repeat the same mistakes. Lol. At least for me.

I did get in a couple of other trail runs by the end of the month, even did Towers again, but this time I felt much better, during and afterwards. If you are interested in doing Towers for yourself to see “what shape you are in” check out these links: https://www.larimer.org/naturalresources/parks/horsetooth-mountain and https://fortcollinsrunningclub.org/favorite-training-routes/

A few book reviews and some artwork before wrapping things up. The first book I would like to talk about is called Comfortable with Uncertainty written by Pema Chodron. This is another excellent book by Pema. In the book she offers short, stand alone sections or if you read the print version, you get one to two page passages. They are just long enough to give you thought provoking inspiration when you have a small amount of free time during a hectic day. The book is designed to be digested, so to speak, in small bites. And if you keep that in mind then it will become an excellent introduction to Buddhist thought and the teachings on mindfulness, meditation and lovingkindness. You do not need prior knowledge of Buddhism, and this is not a book about Eastern Religion. It is a look at Buddhist practices and how they can be used in everyday life to work with the “challenges” we all face.

I got the book as an audio book but if you are someone that wants to read or listen for hours at a time you may find it a little difficult. The book worked best for me by listening to a section or two and then stopping and letting what I just heard digest until the next day or so. This is not a book you can just zip through if you want to get the most out of it. It needs to be savored. I defiantly plan to listen again and go even slower than I did before.

Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun residing at the Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. She is the author of many other books using Buddhist practices in dealing with the “challenges” present in everyday life. To learn more about her check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pema_Ch%C3%B6dr%C3%B6n

The next two books I would like to talk about are part of a Science Fiction series called The Murderbot Diaries written by Martha Wells. I have only read the fist two and they are great. (6 primary books so far) There are many books that have been written in SiFi on A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and the search for “meaning” by said A.I. The fist two books are done in a similar vein but the story is very well written and engaging. In an nutshell: “A robot searching for the meaning of life and in the process casting light on what makes us human.” I got this book as an audio book but it would work well in any format. Now be warned, the fist couple of these books are short novellas, not full novels. Looking at the prices on Amazon, downloading them on to your Kindle would be the cheapest way to go. The books can be found on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FK8SNWY?ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tpbk&binding=paperback

Martha Wells is an American writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you want to learn more about this accomplished author please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Wells

The next book I would like to talk about is called Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality by Frank Wilczek. A thought and mind-bending look on the realities of our existence based on modern science. The author does a great job of trying to explain the “complexities of the universe” in a way that we can all understand. This is not a book written for someone with an advanced degree in physics, but for the layperson. Will reading or listening to this book give you a firm grasp on the complexities of quantum field theory? No way and it is not meant too. It is an explanation for the average joe or joey without getting dragged into the extremely complex minutiae of these “keys to reality.” The book is well worth the read, especially for those of us that do not have advance degrees in math and physics.

I got this book as an audio book but it might be better in traditional format so that you can read a section and then go back and read it again.

Frank Wilczek is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician and Nobel laureate. To learn more about him please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Wilczek

Well last but not least a few pieces of Art work before I go. All are pen and ink, mounted on painted wood, coated and sealed with Mod Podge. These are 7 inches by 9 1/2 inches. When hanging they are about 17 inches tall. My inspiration for these comes from research done with high-precision measurements of quantum jumps. This occurs when a quantum particle changes its state as when an atom loses or gains an electron. The use of ultrashort laser pulses have allowed scientist to measure this change in attoseconds. One attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second. That my friends is a very, very short period of time. What would a quantum state of an atom of helium look like? Or just part of the atom and the electron? How about just the electron at the smallest of scales? What if you could visualize this with your own eyes directly?!

This research can open the door to better understand the basic laws of nature but also brings new possibilities of manipulating matter on a quantum scale.

QUANTUM STATE STUDY 1

QUANTUM STATE STUDY 2

QUANTUM STATE STUDY 3

QUANTUM STATE STUDY 4

QUANTUM STATE STUDY 5

These are all for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav The prices on these are cheaper than my other art work. I had some trouble with the mounting of the drawings to the painted wood backing. All postage for the continental United States is included in the price.

Well that is going to be about it for me on this Blog post. Even though I have said this before, I am going to say it again. I hope you have given more thought to minimalism and how it could make a positive change in your life and in the world. If you think you might want to be part of that change, to make the world a much better place. I firmly believe that minimalism is one path to that ultimate goal. There is nothing to buy, just a change in mindset. To learn more please visit the web site: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

So take care my friends and remember to wash your hands, wear your mask when in crowds or indoors and practice physical distancing. And when a vaccine become available, please consider getting it. Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey