Renae Crossing

Life update! I work as a science and medical writer, and am shortly moving to the Netherlands 💫 Come at me, tulips

Update: It turns out that the laws of physics are a thing and opening a single window in my office barely moves any air in or out, which is why the CO2 barely budged. But now I've discovered (with help from @Liv_Boeree) that when I also simultaneously open the front and back door of the house, a draft blows through the house and literally 2 minutes later, the office CO2 level has dropped from 1000+ to like 550. Even after I close the doors and window, CO2 stays low for a few days before slowly creeping back up. Then I open the doors again and it drops back down. I think of it like flushing the air toilet. I realize now how obvious this is and can't believe I spent the last 20 years never flushing the air toilet in my living spaces. (The fact that it takes only a couple minutes is huge because I can do this even when it's super hot or cold outside and leaving windows open isn't feasible.) Wanted to share in case any of you also forgot about the laws of physics and have been breathing stale air every day.

Since the start of COVID, the number of people reporting a disability soared. Yet the majority of the world acts like COVID is over, and Long COVID doesn't exist.

In honor of international women's day, let's take a moment to remember the most famous statistician in history. You've definitely heard of her, but you probably have no idea she was a statistician. It's Florence Nightingale.

if you’ve ever wondered why everything is stupid in medicine, i am currently polling doctor friends to find out if MDs are aware that 3 years ago the beta-amyloid theory of alzheimer’s was discovered to be based on fraudulent data, and the results are Disheartening

a 2005 study found an autistic reindeer herder in siberia that didnt like being around people but memorized the entire genealogical and medical history of all his 2600 reindeer, which made him a respected elder in his community

So leaving out the 'preceding' and 'co-infection' sections of the chart, you're left with this. The secondary infections acquired after hospital visits for Covid and Flu. Covid left, red. Flu right, blue: 👀

Have you ever wondered how much more likely you are to get a bacterial infection that can cause Sepsis after Covid than after Flu? Wonder no more: It's certainly not just a cold. And it's not just a flu either. Covid can strip your defences bare:

In the immediate post-war years, French existentialists, New Left academics, and bohemians started wearing the style to show solidarity with blue-collar workers. Over time, the style became a signature of writers, philosophers, and yes, Steve Jobs.

“Patients have to recover for days from, for example, emptying the dishwasher. You can imagine what a disabling disease it is, what an enormous impact it has on your life." “We caused PEM by a bicycle test. These people were then disabled for a month. Which is almost unethical,

Pets 🧵 1. Love this

At the Q&A I went to, they talked about how they had to pull out every film school trick in the book to make a totally blank, silent character so sinister. These movies are more cinematic than most blockbusters these days

When octopuses are stressed, they generally don't want to be seen much.

this sounds woo but I don't really mean it in a woo way. By "intuition" I mostly mean that your brain and body can sort of naturally prioritize your tasks/desires properly if you're not bombarding them with stimuli all the time. You just realize the next best thing to do

no thoughts, just thirst

I take comfort in the knowledge that one day I won't be suffering anymore. I want to live as much as possible before that day comes... but of course, this is the disease where you have to forcibly stop yourself from living in order not to become fully immobile. (5)

I've been bedridden for 12 years. Last night I dreamt of running for the first time. And not just running, but running in a race and barely missing first place. My legs moving, muscles firing. The ground under my feet. The wind and sweat on my face. It was glorious. #MECFS

@mertonesque You'll also be pleased to learn that there are many equivalents to "Tom, Dick, and Harry". (Tizio, Caio, e Sempronio in Italian) Also "Jan Kee" referring to the average NY Dutchman becoming "Yankee"

@mertonesque German has “Frau/Herr Mustermann” which means Mrs./Mr. Example and I think that’s beautiful.

@mertonesque French nobility used to refer to every peasant as "Jacques" regardless of whether that was their name or not. One of the largest peasant uprisings in French history is known as the jacquerie because of that

@mertonesque French has Martin Dupont, we also have that thing where you can say Pierre Paul Jacques to refer to generic people you don’t know the names of