There are always questions at the end of the visit.

It’s only natural. Nobody remembers everything. I’m used to clarifying and reiterating.

But your question catches me off guard.

“Did you know that hummingbirds remember every single flower they’ve ever visited?” 1/

I smile, and shake my head. “No, I didn’t know that.”

You nod at me, “Well, it’s true. I’m gonna send you a bill now.”

I laugh, and the layered masks muffle the sound.

I was consulted because your kidney function is dropping.

Clear yellow urine now turning dark amber. 2/
Your room is on a COVID unit.

The plastic sheets you have to zipper yourself through. The cool hiss of the air flow. Donning and doffing.

There was a time when this was a pulse-quickening ritual, when adrenaline would flow.

Now it is a necessary nuisance.

Numbing. 3/
Every time I see you, the visit finishes with an exchange of trivia.

You tell me something I didn’t know.

I try and tell you something equally interesting.

It’s a sort of game. A challenge.

I realize that it’s something I’m looking forward to, every day.

A little joy. 4/
Late in the evening, when I get home, I sit down with some books and skim through for interesting tidbits I could use.

“Schott’s Original Miscellany” is a godsend, as is The Guinness Book.

I enjoy the peace.

No screens. No one monetizing my attention.

Just pages turning. 5/
“Did you know Bluetooth is named for a Viking king, and the symbol is his initials in runic form?”

“Did you know a group of ferrets is called a ‘business’?”

“Did you know in Japan they have cube-shaped watermelons?”

“Did you know M&M’s stands for ‘Mars’ & ‘Murrie’?” 6/
Every time I see you, I’m well-prepared with a piece of trivia, and you always have some obscure fact ready.

I never ask you where this pastime of yours started. I just go with it.

It makes you smile.

And it makes me smile too.

At least for as long as life lets us. 7/
The last time I see you is a Friday. You’re more tired than I remember you being.

I don’t remember the piece of trivia I share with you. Perhaps something about Scotland.

For the first time, you don’t have any trivia for me.

You just thank me for taking care of you. 8/
I never see you again.

When I come back to work after my weekend off, your name isn’t on the list.

This happens with numbing regularity in the age of COVID.

Still, I hope.

I hope you got better, that you were discharged home.

That you’re enjoying trivia with your family. 9/
But when I look you up, I see the dreaded pop-up window that sounds unreasonably cheerful in my head.

“This patient is deceased!”

And I just sit, and feel the color drain from my vision slowly.

Did you know, 428,000 people have died from COVID-19 in America?

Do you know? 10/
As death lingers in the hallways, and steps into the rooms, I think of you.

I remember you, and your trivia questions like flowers.

Like a hummingbird, I remember every single one.

More from Society

Two things can be true at once:
1. There is an issue with hostility some academics have faced on some issues
2. Another academic who himself uses threats of legal action to bully colleagues into silence is not a good faith champion of the free speech cause


I have kept quiet about Matthew's recent outpourings on here but as my estwhile co-author has now seen fit to portray me as an enabler of oppression I think I have a right to reply. So I will.

I consider Matthew to be a colleague and a friend, and we had a longstanding agreement not to engage in disputes on twitter. I disagree with much in the article @UOzkirimli wrote on his research in @openDemocracy but I strongly support his right to express such critical views

I therefore find it outrageous that Matthew saw fit to bully @openDemocracy with legal threats, seeking it seems to stifle criticism of his own work. Such behaviour is simply wrong, and completely inconsistent with an academic commitment to free speech.

I am not embroiling myself in the various other cases Matt lists because, unlike him, I think attention to the detail matters and I don't have time to research each of these cases in detail.

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Viruses and other pathogens are often studied as stand-alone entities, despite that, in nature, they mostly live in multispecies associations called biofilms—both externally and within the host.

https://t.co/FBfXhUrH5d


Microorganisms in biofilms are enclosed by an extracellular matrix that confers protection and improves survival. Previous studies have shown that viruses can secondarily colonize preexisting biofilms, and viral biofilms have also been described.


...we raise the perspective that CoVs can persistently infect bats due to their association with biofilm structures. This phenomenon potentially provides an optimal environment for nonpathogenic & well-adapted viruses to interact with the host, as well as for viral recombination.


Biofilms can also enhance virion viability in extracellular environments, such as on fomites and in aquatic sediments, allowing viral persistence and dissemination.
First update to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL since the challenge ended – Medium links!! Go add your Medium profile now 👀📝 (thanks @diannamallen for the suggestion 😁)


Just added Telegram links to
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Less than 1 hour since I started adding stuff to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL again, and profile pages are now responsive!!! 🥳 Check it out -> https://t.co/fVkEL4fu0L


Accounts page is now also responsive!! 📱✨


💪 I managed to make the whole site responsive in about an hour. On my roadmap I had it down as 4-5 hours!!! 🤘🤠🤘