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Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

Dec 18, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X

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Many leaders say people are fed up w/ restrictions, so we can’t try to do anything about Omicron:
- Premise questionable, as several polls show majority want mask mandates
- There is a TON government could do (but isn’t) that does NOT involve individual restrictions 1/

Things govt could do that are NOT individual restrictions:
Mail everyone free KF94s & rapid tests
Fund ventilation upgrades & air filters
Set indoor air quality standards
Paid support to isolate when sick
Public education: #LongCovid is hell
Public education: #COVIDisAirborne 2/

More things govt could do that are NOT individual restrictions:
Public education: KF94/N95 >>> cloth/surgical mask
CO2 monitors for all indoor spaces, results displayed clearly for all occupants to see
Replace all the "fight covid w/ hand-washing signs" 3/

Trust has been eroded through confusing messaging & contradictory/nonsensical restrictions (closing outdoor beach & parks, hygiene theater, obsession with hand-washing, etc) 4/

It would increase legitimacy & trust for leaders to acknowledge that poor-fitting cloth or surgical masks are not enough against Delta or Omicron. Cloth masks were supposed to be a stop gap measure at start of pandemic. (article from Jan 2021) 5/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…

Even if leaders persist w/ false fatalism, at least be honest: "Everyone is going to get Omicron BECAUSE we are failing to act. Covid is airborne. You breathe unsafe air at work, your kids breathe unsafe air at school. Many of you will be permanently & painfully disabled by it" 6

https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1473513729257967618?s=20

More on the importance of cleaning up indoor air (& role of government in doing so) in this 🧵↕️:

https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1473513729257967618?s=20

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More from @math_rachel

Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

Jan 27

Vibe coding is the creation of large quantities of complex AI-generated code. Executives push lay-offs claiming AI can handle the work. Managers pressure employees to meet quotas of how much of their code must be AI-generated... yet results are far from what was promised 1/

“When [I first got] hooked on Claude, I did not sleep. I spent two months excessively prompting the thing & wasting tokens. I ended up building & building & creating a ton of tools I did not end up using much...” @mitsuhiko described his experience of "agent psychosis" 2/

When coding, many of us experience a state of flow: full absorption & energized focus. One's skills are adequate to cope with challenges, in a rule-bound system that provides clear clues on performance

On the surface, vibe coding seems to induce a similar flow. However... 3/

Read 11 tweets

Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

Oct 7, 2025

For a long time, catching frequent viruses was considered both inevitable and harmless. But it turns out that common, seemingly-mild viruses have disturbing long-term health impacts. 1/

Viruses can...
- increase risk of heart attacks & strokes
- linked to Dementia & Alzheimer’s
- re-awaken cancer cells that were in remission
- accelerate aging
- trigger life-long autoimmune diseases 2/

If we were to truly internalize the long-term health impacts of viruses, there would be massive shifts in the practice of medicine, scientific research, & public policy. 3/

Read 7 tweets

Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

Nov 12, 2024

The human immune system is impressive, but so are the mechanisms pathogens use to evade it. In my new post, I cover 5 surprising and ingenious ways that viruses & bacteria can subvert our defenses. 1/

Our cells contain microscopic motor proteins that transport cargo along microtubules. The virus (HSV-1) that is increasingly being linked to Alzheimer's Disease uses our motor proteins to transport its viral DNA to the nucleus, so that it can start replicating faster. 2/

T cells are a crucial part of the immune system. A single-celled organism (T. cruzi, cause of Chagas disease) blocks the signal which coordinates T cell response. With no T cell response to it, T. cruzi can survive 10-30 years in a person, before wreaking havoc or death. 3/

Read 9 tweets

Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

Oct 28, 2024

My daughter is constantly creating– her passions include making art, writing fiction, coding interactive games, and composing music. Some might say my husband & I are terrible parents… because she does all these things on screens 1/

I am concerned by how these false interlocking points are being repeated by politicians & pundits: that screentime is very harmful for children, that it is essential for kids to attend in-person school every day (even when sick), and that workers must return to the office. 2/

Overemphasizing in-person school attendance overlooks the many kids whose needs aren’t met by in-person school. It also overlooks the many online & screen-based options opportunities to build skills, express creativity, and form friendships. 3/

fast.ai/posts/2024-10-…

Read 8 tweets

Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

Aug 12, 2024

There is much confusion about the "hygiene hypothesis" (what kind of microbes are beneficial vs. harmful?)-- a clearer refinement of it is the framing of "old friends" vs. "crowd infections"

Our immune systems evolved in a different world, without 100,000 flights per day 1/

Some people compare the immune system to a muscle that gets stronger with use. Yet some infections leave lasting harm. Viruses are increasingly linked with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, type 1 diabetes, cancer, & more...

My new post: 2/rachel.fast.ai/posts/2024-08-…

Allergies are a misfiring of immune system– when it attacks harmless environmental substances, e.g. pollen or dust. Autoimmunity is a different type of immune misfiring– when it attacks our own cells. Both are on the rise.

All the diseases in below chart are autoimmune. 3/

Read 7 tweets

Rachel Thomas

@math_rachel

May 16, 2023

Friends with no previous interest in AI ethics have been asking me about it recently, so I want to share several underlying concepts about AI & power that are important to understand. 🧵 1/

AI and Power: The Ethical Challenges of Automation, Centralization, & Scale

Based on 20-min talk:

Blog post version: rachel.fast.ai/posts/2023-05-…
2/

In Australia, automation was used to scale putting poor people into debt (often illegally). The govt went from creating 20,000 new debts PER YEAR to creating 20,000 new debts PER WEEK, many of them bogus, but hard for people to appeal. 3/

Read 10 tweets

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