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How a Black Mathematician Named Benjamin Banneker Helped Design Washington D.C.

There’s a fairly common saying: history is written by the victors.

Well, as a historian in another life, I can tell you that not only is it written by the victors, but it’s also almost always written by the rich and the European (in the case of Western history) – the traditionally educated, basically. The people who were allowed to read and wrte.

This means that, the farther back you go, the harder you have to dig to find the stories about people of color, women, indigenous people, enslaved people, et al who, in another world, would have dominated the history books.

Even so, there are surely hundreds, thousands of stunning stories that have probably been lost forever.

One story that I’m so glad has survived belongs to one Benjamin Banneker, a highly accomplished mathematician, astronomer, and scholar who was also Black at a time in America when it was quite dangerous to be born that way.

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Today I'm going to go way back in time and talk about Benjamin Banneker. He was a free black man who owned a farm near Baltimore and was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics. He was later called upon to assist in the surveying of territory for the construction of the nation's capital, Washington D.C. He also became an active writer of almanacs and exchanged letters with Thomas Jefferson, politely challenging him to do what he could to ensure racial equality. His early accomplishments included constructing an irrigation system for the family farm and a wooden clock that was reputed to keep accurate time and ran for more than 50 years until his death. In addition, Banneker taught himself astronomy and accurately forecasted lunar and solar eclipses. Banneker's true acclaim, however, came from his almanacs, which he published for six consecutive years during the later years of his life, between 1792 and 1797. These handbooks included his own astronomical calculations as well as opinion pieces, literature and medical and tidal information, with the latter particularly useful to fishermen. Outside of his almanacs, Banneker also published information on bees and calculated the cycle of the 17-year locust. Banneker's accomplishments also extended into civil rights as well. He once wrote to Thomas Jefferson, respectfully citing Jefferson and other patriots for their hypocrisy, enslaving people like him while fighting the British for their own independence. #celebrateblacklives #BenjaminBanneker

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Washington D.C. was styled after famous European locales first by architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant, then completely by Andrew Elliot after L’Enfant was fired in 1792. Sometime after, a Black man stepped up and forced even the likes of Thomas Jefferson to recognize that he had something to say.

According to oral histories that are much-debated, both sides of the Banneker family suffered under enslavement in the pre-United States. Most believe that Benjamin’s maternal grandmother, a woman named Molly Welsh, was (possibly falsely) convicted of theft in England and banished to the servitude in the fledgling colonies. She landed in Maryland, earned her freedom, rented land in Baltimore County, and purchased two slaves to farm it.

Several years later, after she’d established herself in the farming business, she freed both men – one of whom was said to have been abducted from a royal African family earlier in his life. His name was either Bannake or Bankka, and he and Welsh married despite the laws that forbade it. Their daughter Mary and her husband (also a freed slave baptized as Robert) adopted the surname Banneker and purchased a 100-acre farm.

Benjamin was their son, and grew up as one of only 200 free African-American people in Baltimore County. He attended a one-room, mixed-race Quaker schoolhouse and, with his doting grandmother Molly’s help, learned to read. At an early age he began to excel in mathematics and mechanics, spending time crafting experiments on his own.

In his mid-twenties he was forced by his father’s death to focus on the family farm, but even there, he put his brain to work. Their farm employed crop rotation and irrigation techniques that didn’t widely catch on in the States for many decades, and managed to grow a profitable tobacco crop that he swapped out for wheat when American soldiers needed food during the revolution.

He still found time to read and continue his education, becoming well-versed in topics that ranged the science and humanities, a man regarded as one always soaking in knowledge from watching those around him.

This 1979 journal entry is a sample of those thoughts:

“Standing at my door I heard the discharge of a gun, and in four or five seconds of time, after the discharge, the small shot came rattling about me, one or two of which struck the house; which plainly demonstrates that the velocity of sound is greater than that of a cannon bullet.”

He was a capable astronomer, but math was where he really shined – and, according to a 1912 article, what he was known for in the region. Benjamin traded problems with other mathematicians, near and far, and maintained a constant correspondence.

In 1772, a Quaker family, the Ellicotts, bought the land next door and built gristmill facilities. Fascination with the mechanisms led Banneker to visit often, and the Quaker tradition of believing in racial equality led to Benjamin and George Ellicott becoming friends.

Ellicott was also a student of astronomy, and he and Banneker shared resources, tools, and deep conversations on the topic for years. Banneker predicted a near-solar eclipse in 1789 and began writing technical treatises and building atlases of his own.

In 1789 he was thrust onto the national stage when George Elicotts cousin, Major Andrew Ellicott, needed help with a new job – surveying land along the Potomac River that would become the nation’s new capital.

L’Enfant, as previously mentioned, planned and laid out the city, but he took those plans with him after he was fired over a lack of progress in 1792.

At least, that’s what some believe. Others believe that he continued to work with both Banneker and the Ellicotts as they took over the project – which was unnecessary if you also believe Banneker had the city’s layout completely committed to memory.

The “Georgetown Weekly Ledger” noted Banneker’s achievements and contributions, pointing out that as “an Ethiopian whose abilities as a surveyor, and an astronomer, clearly prove that Mr. Jefferson’s concluding that race of men were void of mental endowments, was without foundation.”

In a 1791 letter, Banneker challenged Jefferson’s beliefs directly, after he had completed a table of the position of the celestial bodies for publication.

“Sir, I have long been convinced, that if your love for yourselves and for those inestimable laws, which preserved to you the rights of human nature, was founded on sincerity, you could not but be solicitous that every individual … might with you equally enjoy the blessings thereof, neither could you rest satisfied [short of] their promotion from any state of degradation, to which the unjustifiable cruelty and barbarism of men may have reduced them.

Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge that I am of the African race … and it is under a sense of the most profound gratitude to the supreme ruler of the Universe, that I now confess to you, that I am not under the state of tyrannical thraldom, and inhuman captivity to which many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed from that free and unequalled liberty, with which you are favored, and which, I hope you will willingly allow, you have received from the immediate hand of that being … [and] that the present freedom and tranquility which you enjoy, you have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of heaven.”

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" Kuz you don't know that you ain't just a janitor , no one told you about BENJAMIN BANNEKER! A brilliant Black man who invented the almanac! Can't you see where KRS is comin' at ?… A line from a song off their experimental all time Hip-Hop classic collection GHETTO MUSIC: THE BLUEPRINT OF HIP-HOP " YOU MUST LEARN " by legendary rap group BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS! #blackhistorymonth #blackpower #blackhistory #benjaminbanneker #thomasjefferson #boogiedownproductions #krsone #blackinventors #blackexcellence✊? #blackhealthmatters #blackeconomics #blackvegan #publicenemy #chuckd #nas #massappeal #drinkchamps #realrap #newyorkrap #eastcoasthiphop #westcoasthiphop #gangstarap #politicalrap #concioushiphop #elijahmuhammad #malcomx #louisfarrakhan #rakim #prince

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Jefferson responded, though probably not exactly as Banneker would have hoped:

“SIR, I THANK you, sincerely, for your letter of the 19th instant, and for the Almanac it contained. No body wishes more than I do, to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to those of the other colors of men ; and that the appearance of the want of them, is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and America. I can add with truth, that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced, for raising the condition, both of their body and mind, to what it ought to be, as far as the imbecility of their present existence, and other circumstances, which cannot be neglected, will admit.

I have taken the liberty of sending your Almanac to Monsieur de Condozett, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and Member of the Philanthropic Society, because I considered it as a document, to which your whole color had a right for their justification, against the doubts which have been entertained of them.

I am with great esteem, Sir, Your most obedient Humble Servant,

THOMAS JEFFERSON.”

Banneker never shied away from defending the others in his race from the assumptions and cruelty that resulted from those assumptions in America.

He appears to have been the pioneer in the movement in this part of the world, toward the improvement of his race; at a period of our history when the negro occupied almost the lowest possible grade in the scale of human beings, Banneker had struck out for himself a course, hitherto untravelled by men of his class, and had already earned a respectable position amongst men of science.

Banneker himself surely suffered discriminated in his life, having his great achievements dismissed and belittled by people who couldn’t probably have understood them but still considered themselves superior because of the color of their skin.

All records indicate, however, that Banneker never let them get him down.

“His equilibrium was seldom disturbed by the petty jealousies and inequalities of temper of the ignorant people,”A Sketch of the Life of Benjamin Banneker notes, “with whom his situation obliged him frequently to come in contact.”

Benjamin Ellicott, who knew him personally, remembered him similarly in a letter:

Although his mode of life was regular and extremely retired, living alone, having never married,–cooking his own victuals and washing his own clothes, and scarcely ever being absent from home, yet there was nothing misanthropic in his character … [He was known as] kind, generous, hospitable, humane, dignified and pleasant, abounding in information on all the various subjects and incidents of the day; very modest and unassuming, and delighting in society at his own home.

A variety of parks, schools, awards, streets, businesses, and other facilities in Maryland and Washington D.C. bear his name, and people who want to learn more about the early scholar can do so at the Benjamin Banneker Park and Memorial (in D.C.) or the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum (in Maryland).

If he could visit one place named for him today, though, he might choose Maryland’s Banneker Planetarium, where he could once again muse about those celestial bodies hanging in the heavens.

The next time you and your family visit D.C., check out one or more of these places that celebrate a man without whom the city under your feet might not have existed in its intended form at all.

I think he deserves at least that.

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Nurses Dish on the Things They Can’t Believe They’ve Had to Explain to Patients

Nursing is a thankless profession that is mostly filled by people who truly feel called to the job – why else, honestly, would you deal with the public day in and day out – and not only that, but deal with things that come out of the public day in and day out?

As with everyone who has the pleasure of interacting with “regular folk” as part of their job, there are some conversations you’ll just never forget.

Here are 16 times nurses stopped and thought “omg I can’t believe I have to explain this to an adult person.”

16. She could not have been serious.

Got a phonecall in the ER from a diabetic who said her sugar was reading “high” (that typically means over 400 or 500) and I told her she should come to the ER asap, and she asked “Should I drink some sweet tea until then?”

NO

15. That’s one of those moments you have no idea what to say.

Oh man, I had a lady set up an online appointment for vaccines and she signed up for literal every vaccine available online. Yellow fever, polio, Hep A/B, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, EVERYTHING.

I saw those standard travel vaccines (yellow fever, rabies) and when the lady came in, I asked where she was traveling. I wanted to make sure she would get all her vaccines in time and that her doctor was sending in prescriptions for malaria/polio prophylaxis if needed.

She responded with “I’m not traveling anywhere, I just wanted to get updated on everything before I lose my Medicaid”.

And then refused to get her flu shot because “that makes you sick”.

14. Those poor ladies.

Painkilling suppositories come in individual foil packets.

After my c-section, the nurse handed me one and said “Don’t forget to take the foil off.” I looked at her and went “… nooooooooo! Somebody did that?”.

She gave me this really tired look and nodded.

Ouch.

13. Laughing at her wondering specifically about her neck.

Was giving a grown patient IV Benadryl for a rash and itching on the upper body.

The IV was in the right arm so I started to give the medication into the right arm. The patient panicked when I said I was done. “What do you mean you’re done? You only put it in my right arm my left is itching too!”

I calmly explained that putting medication in the IV sends it to the whole body.

She exclaimed “you mean it even goes to my neck?” I said yes and she said wow.

12. These are the people who should definitely be wearing condoms.

I’m not a nurse but i was in the Navy and i had to explain to a guy that having sex in hot tubs does not prevent std’s. also i once had to explain to a group of sailors that sharing a pocket pussy is why they all had the same std.

11. You just can’t make some things compute.

Spent WAY too long having to explain to a celiac patient that white bread was still made out of wheat and that’s why she was still sick. Nutritionist had already been over it several times and then called me in to try to convince her.

10. It’s either starve or die, you choose.

I used to work on a cardiology unit and we often would get patients that had surgery either later in the day or be next day.

I was a nurse assistant and would constantly be arguing with patients because they think we are evil for not letting them eat. “I HAVEN’T EATEN IN 15 HOURS”

I’m like I’m sorry dude but either you don’t eat or this process will begin again because these doctors don’t want to possibly kill you.

9. Now he/she has seen too much.

Not a nurse but my wife is about to get her tubes tied.

She had to sign a document stating that she would be rendered infertile after the procedure.

We laughed and the doc straight said “I used to think it was funny too.”

8. I don’t even know how to handle this information.

Did labor and delivery for awhile. We typically inserted catheters after the epidural. A lot of women would ask how they could push the baby out if something was in that hole…had to explain to many ADULT women the urethra and vagina are, in fact, not the same hole.

Also had a couple where the husband fucked the wife’s stoma and it got a gnarly infection. Explaining that you should not ever put your dick directly into someone’s stoma was a hoowee of a conversation

7. Maybe he has a thing for the shock.

Had to explain to a patient, and his family, multiple times that although he does have a defibrillator now he still needs to take his heart medicine …. a real headache of a conversation

6. I blame his stupid family, really.

I’m a neuro nurse. I once had a patient who was going into surgery the next morning, meaning they couldn’t have anything to eat or drink after midnight.

Well at 4am I go in there to check on him and he’s drinking a cup of milk and eating cookies that his family had brought him. I asked him why he was eating because he had surgery in a few short hours and his reply was that he has a bowel movement every morning so he figured we would be okay to eat because it would be out of his system before surgery.

That’s not how this works grandpa!!! ugh surgery canceled.

5. Oh my goodness and these people were procreating.

Working at ob/gyn clinic.

Had to explain to a concerned husband that his pregnant wife will not strangle the fetus if she eats spaghetti.

That’s a completely different system of organs.

4. There’s something that’s hard to believe.

Not a nurse, but I work in healthcare.

I had to listen to a dialysis patient explain to me very seriously that he had gained 6 kilos of water weight in 2 days because he had “sat in the tub for too long” and had magically absorbed over 13 lbs of fluid.

That was not a fun conversation.

3. I mean. He/she tried.

Oh man, not a nurse but I work in pharmacy.

Had a guy come who wanted malaria tablets but wasn’t sure what area of the country he would be traveling in.

Rural he would need them but the cities he wouldn’t.

He said “what’s the worst that could happen?”

“You could get malaria.”

“Yeah, but how bad can that be?”

“Dead. The worst it can be is death.”

He left the shop anyway.

2. Come on, that had to be a prank.

I, a male nurse, had to explain to a 25 year old female what her period was. She came to the ED and was concerned she had cramping and vaginal bleeding monthly.

Thought for sure I was being pranked by co-workers.

Nope.

1. Did she think someone was going to come and do it for her?

Got a call from a discharged patient.

“So I’m wearing these depends…”

“…okay.”

“Do I need to change them everyday?”

“Uhh yeah… or when they’re soiled.”

“Okay and should I clean myself up after that?”

“Yes. Yes, please.”

We thought we were being punked.

I’m dying, y’all, but not a bit surprised.

If you’re a nurse (or work in a similar profession) please share your own stories!

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People Offer Theories About How They Believe Humans Will Become Extinct

It’s very unpleasant to think about death, extinction, or the world coming to an end, but I will say that it definitely makes for some good conversation.

Will it be a nuclear war? A plague? An asteroid that hits Earth and wipes us all out?

It could be any number of things…

Here’s what people on AskReddit had to say…

1. A scary thought.

“I have a feeling we’re eventually headed towards nuclear fallout or chemical destruction.

I believe it is inevitably China Vs the United States (and allies like Australia).

I also believe Putin is sitting back with the popcorn at the moment.”

2. Sickness spreads…

“I think it will be a pandemic, much like we are having now, only more lethal.

I’ve heard several people say that COVID isn’t the big one, but it’s going to expose how unprepared the world is for the big one.”

3. Poetic justice.

“Because the majority of the population choose to believe oil CEOs with everything to lose instead of scientists with no reason to lie.

Pretty fitting way to go honestly, I hope the climate change deniers keep on denying it up til the very end, that’d be poetic justice for humanity.”

4. Inching closer to it.

“Depletion of resources, destruction of the environment, and the wars that will result from those things.

I don’t think humanity will ever get to a sci-fi future where we’re exploring the stars and colonizing other planets. The resources on this planet are very finite and they will not last thousands of years at the rate we’re using them. Even 10,000 years is less than a blink of an eye on a cosmic scale.

I think the next 100, maybe 200 years are going to be the peak for our civilization. As the critical resources necessary for technological advancements dry up and environmental destruction creates refugees/migration/starvation on a global scale, we’ll basically destroy ourselves in the resulting wars.

We might not actually go extinct until many millennia after that, but civilization as we know it will be over.”

5. All kinds of calamities.

“Absolutely we will go extinct.

Rising temperatures will eventually push many places around the earth to be uninhabitable. Combine that with the decreased ability to grow grains at scale needed to sustain the over-bloated human population, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Eventually large wars will break out over the very scarce resources that the earth is able to provide.

It’s called loss of habitat due to resource exhaustion. Many species experience it and it leads to their extinction, and humans are just another species.”

6. Poisoning ourselves.

“Pollution.

Especially the hormone disruptive ones. They won’t kill us instantly, but each generation will be more affected by them than the last, making it harder and harder to reproduce.

Might not happen this century or even the next few centuries, as there’s still plenty of people to reproduce, even at a lower rate. But it’s already affecting people , and the problem will worsen generation by generation.”

7. A simple act.

“Through some act of stupidity in all honesty.

With all the dangerous diseases and viruses various governments all over the world are experimenting with at any given moment, all it takes is one screw up to have some catastrophic results

And the current pandemic has shown that the general population is either unable or unwilling to respond to a disease or virus of significance.”

8. The crazies.

“Most likely nuclear war or some other form of military action.

Mutual assured destruction only applies to people who are afraid to die.

Once the crazies figure out how to build something extremely destructive, they will set of a chain of events that can’t be undone.”

9. Stupidity.

“Our own stupidity (in America anyway).

Too many think covid-19 is a hoax by (all?) The government(s) to remove our freedoms….the whole world is going through this, idiots, not just one country.

America’s President didn’t get with all the leaders of the world and convince them to shut down absolutely everything worldwide just to take American freedoms.

But yes, some of our rights are being trodden on, I’m not saying its not happening, but it’s a side effect, not the cause.”

10. Hell hole.

“Overpopulation, honestly.

The insane amount of people will outnumber the amount of food the earth can produce and it will become a hell hole.”

11. Keep an eye on it.

“Let’s watch out for South Korea.

They made a study and it says Korean people will be extinct in 300 years because newer generations ditch marriage and having a family.”

12. Scary scenarios.

“We will either kill ourselves in war or burn out the Earth’s resources and cause such heavy global warming and pollution that life at our level cannot physically survive anymore.

Slowly, people will be unable to successfully raise children until we all filter out.”

13. Could happen…

“Unpopular opinion: I don’t think it‘s gonna be our fault.

More something like a comet hitting us, the sun exploding or something like that.”

14. Uh oh…

“Genetic manipulation will become popular in the future and we accidentally or purposefully create a new species that is better than humans.

I expect it will be a human that makes the modification to themselves to create the new species.”

15. The end of days.

“It will probably not be war because we are to smart for that so maybe something from space like a huge meteor or the sun turning into a red giant if we are still on this planet in the next billions of years.”

Well, that was certainly uplifting!

How about you?

In the comments, tell us how you think human beings will become extinct.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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People Talk About How Humans Will Become Extinct

It’s kind of scary, but you’ve probably considered it at one point or another.

How will human beings become extinct?

What will be the final catalyst that wipes us off the planet for good?

Are you ready to do a little thinking about our existence?

Here’s what folks on AskReddit had to say about it.

1. Oh, boy…

“A highly contagious virus designed to make its host infertile without presenting any other symptoms escapes from a lab and infects everyone.”

2. A hot take.

“As a long term optimist, my favorite is evolution.

As we expand out into space through the eons eventually we diverge and evolve into new species, and what we consider human is extinct.

You can also view AI as a version of evolution and count that as well, but I personally think we can coexist with an AI we create.”

3. WAR.

“It’s got to be war.

We literally have a weapon that can wipe out an entire country, now multiply the amount of that weapon by thousands.

One day countries and leaders will face a breaking point through clashing ideologies and before we even knew it, we already fucked ourselves over.”

4. Irreparable damage.

“By irreparably damaging our biosphere.

Takes a biosphere to evolve and sustain a complex living organism like us, destroy that and we probably won’t last long.”

5. That’s not pleasant.

“Slow and painful.

Slowly losing clean water until we’re a desert planet and we die.”

6. That’s not good.

“I’d say we’ll either kill each other for resources due to overpopulation or (which by now I think is more likely) a pandemic worse than the coronavirus will collapse health and economic systems throughout the world which will lead to supply shortages then maybe to war.”

7. Something to think about…

“Humans will biologically die out. I think at we could maybe reach a point where sentimental value of being a human is slowly gone in favour of something else, like being a machine, uploading consciousness.

We may be our real selves but digital, or just a program with personality effectively killing the host and stealing their memory, while retaining their information, soulless.

Either way, it won’t be human.”

8. Human error.

“I think we will make a mistake. Something like, we send the majority of the population to another planet, but they crash. Or, we couldn’t get to another planet in time.

Humans make mistakes. It’s about time we make a big one.”

9. Or maybe a machine?

“It could even be machine error. In 1983, at the height of the Cold War (during Reagan’s era), the USSR detected multiple incoming ICBM missiles allegedly launched by the US.

Turns out the system mistook a particular alignment of sunlight for nukes. Had it not been for Stanislav Petrov, a USSR officer who decided against retaliation despite all evidence pointing towards an attack, we would have had full blown nuclear war and humanity may very well be extinct today.”

10. This is scary.

“Honestly, a massive asteroid. (I’m talking miles in diameter).

I mean nuclear war is devastating but just think about the colossal amount of energy released during such an impact event (billions of nukes).

The worst part? There’s pretty much nothing we can do about it with our current technology.”

11. Our fault.

“We’ll probably damage the environment to a point where we can no longer live in it.

In the last 100 years we’ve been burning through Earth’s resources like we have another planet to move to.”

12. Two theories.

“Two likely options:

Climate collapse.

Might not be the direct cause of human extinction, but it would certainly prompt a lot of candidates for human extinction.

Nations going to war with each other as their land goes underwater or becomes otherwise uninhabitable, wars over the last remaining resources, increased temperatures across the globe result in more heatstroke deaths and tropical diseases spreading across the globe.

In that scenario, either nuclear war or uncontrolled disease kills us all.

Massive collapse of technology.

A coronal mass ejection cripples all technology on Earth- life support systems, planes, power plants, anything more complex than a radio is rendered unusable. Within hours, millions are dead. As supply chains collapse across the globe, famine becomes a part of life for many.

With today’s level of dependence on technology, it would knock us back to being an agrarian species. And the more technologically advanced we get, the worse a coronal mass ejection becomes.

Imagine a time when most humans have complex cybernetics- a coronal mass ejection would literally kill billions as their body’s electronic components failed. It would deal us a blow we could never recover from.”

13. As simple as that.

“Stupidity.

Or I should say the rapidly increasing gulf between common and academic knowledge.

Science is moving faster than the average person’s intellect because we have coddled being fucking morons for decades now.

Look at how Covid has been handled in the scientific vs. common communities and imagine that level of dissonance in an even greater threat.”

14. I’m sorry I’ll miss this.

“An asteroid composed of dinosaurs will crash into the Earth and they’ll eat us all.”

People sure are creative, aren’t they?

Okay, now we want to hear from you!

If you had to guess, how do you think human beings will become extinct?

Let us know in the comments!

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People Who’ve Dealt With the Coronavirus Talk About What It’s Really Like

For the people out there who are denying that Covid-19 is even real and is some kind of conspiracy theory: take a look at these testimonials from people who have had to deal with it in one way or another.

It’s here, it’s bad, and it’s killing people all over the world.

And it’s something that all of us need to take very seriously.

Here are some stories from AskReddit users who’ve been personally affected by Covid-19.

1. Breathing issues.

“I know a person in their 50s who had it. Sore throat, difficulty breathing/tightness in the chest, and fever up to 102.5 F.

It can seem pretty mild and then go downhill fast because of the breathing problems.”

2. It’s been rough…

“Dad got infected after going in and out of the hospital for his 4th brain surgery because the doctors keep messing up. After testing positive, the hospital sent him home so he infected mom also. After passing, for some reason, they sent his body home.

But nobody can touch it because of the possibility of getting infected. After dad’s passing, mom went to the hospital to get tested (she already knew, she just wanted treatment) but was sent home.

She collapsed while walking to her car, they admitted her but only gave her IV, told her she was positive, then sent her home again. Its been rough.”

3. Wasn’t taken seriously at first.

“My sister was an extremely healthy non-smoker who works at a prominent hospital. She was exposed to one of the hospitals first corona patients weeks and weeks ago when naivety was very much a thing and precaution wasn’t taken very seriously.

The patient tested negative but then positive after her exposure. She didn’t take the same precautions because he tested negative when he was in fact positive.

She certainly contracted the virus despite testing negative twice. She was ungodly sick and even weeks and weeks later she’s still using an inhaler and has a lasting cough and perhaps lung inflammation and damage. She’s 31.”

4. From a doctor.

“I’m a MD in NYC at a designated COVID19 center.

15% of pregnant patients here have COVID19. Of those positive patients, 87% are completely asymptomatic. We just admitted another one half an hour ago. She looks fine. It’s good that so many don’t get real sick but it’s scary because they are likely walking around spreading it.

My best friend had it and was non stop coughing with fevers to 103.6 and every flu like symptom you could imagine for about 3 weeks with a slow slow recovery. Said it was horrible. Terrible cough when I was FaceTiming him.

One of my co residents had it and felt like hell for about 2 weeks. Cough, fever, body aches.

Two family friends in their 60s has it and were layed out at home for about 1.5 weeks. One was kinda stuck in bed and the other weakly supported the two until they improved on their own.

The common thing I hear is that it’s like a horrible fever that just stays and stays and stays. You keep thinking you turned the curve, but the next day you’re still sick until it runs its course.

The really sick patients in the hospital just, it was really horrible for a long time. Things have slowed down thanks to social distancing and all the precautionary measures, im worried about going backwards though because the people in my area are walking around without masks or their nose out.

Everybody has a “reason” for going out or not wearing a mask. The virus does not care what your reason is. It does not care.”

5. Has it right now.

“I have it right now.

Symptoms started on Sunday last week. That morning I thought I had allergies – I basically had the sniffles with a bit of a sore throat, maybe a cough here and there. That evening I had a headache and the chills, but no fever, and some muscle soreness. Monday I called out of work, symptoms were more of same.

My PCP denied a test but my essential job demanded I get tested, and I couldn’t get an appointment until Tuesday morning. Monday I couldn’t sit at my desk to work from home because my legs hurt so bad. Sitting, standing, pacing, laying down, nothing wans comfortable. Still no fever, the highest my temp got was 99.6. Tuesday I got a rapid test at an urgent care facility, and within 2.5 hours it came back positive.

Tuesday night my sense of smell was on the way out, by Wednesday it was fully gone, and along with it, my sense of taste. Wednesday I ended up in the ER because the leg pain was so bad. They took blood for some tests, nothing hit, so I was given a shot of morphine and sent on my way. I’m on day 8 now, finally getting some energy back and minimal pain.

I still can’t taste anything (bread tastes like a flavorless sponge). Aside from a stray cough on Sunday or Monday of last week which were more from a throat tickle, I didn’t have the major symptoms. Never went above that 99.6, so I technically never had a fever, no cough all week, and no shortness of breath. But I still have a stuffy nose and sore throat. I’m over being sick.”

6. “Sickest I’ve ever been.”

“I’m 32 and it was the sickest I have ever been.

Two weeks of fever over 101, bad cough that lasted almost a month, shortness of breath where if I walked more than a few steps I would end up doubled over gasping for air.

It was pretty bad but at least I’m all better now.”

7. Horrible.

“I tested positive today for Covid.

I’m a 23 (f) in good health and It’s been horrible for me. Cough, chest pains to to point that simply breathing is almost unbearable, fever, chills , I could go on. Not to mention the swab itself is a nasty test.

Goes up your nose and down the sinus cavity where they rub the swab up and down for 10 seconds.

I now know why this kills people.”

8. It was scary.

“A friend had it, he’s okay now but it was scary for bit.

He said it was pretty much like a bad case of the flu until one night he spiked a high fever and started having problems breathing. It was like one hour he was fine and the next he had to be hospitalized. He ended up on a ventilator for almost a week.

Thankfully he’s doing okay now and he’s recovering at home. His family also ended up sick but they didn’t need to be hospitalized.

This virus is hitting everyone differently. For some it’s like an average bout of the flu, some people have severe symptoms while others have minor (and varying) symptoms. Some people are asymptomatic. Some people need to be put on ventilators, and unfortunately we’re losing a lot of people as well.

I wouldn’t wish this uncertainty on anyone. One minute your loved one is fine, just feeling a little under the weather. The next minute they might need to be hospitalized. You never know if they’re going to bounce back or not. The virus doesn’t care how old or how generally healthy you are, it will kick your butt if it wants to.”

9. Asymptomatic.

“I had it.

29 years old. Fever, chills, and body aches for 3 days. Used Tylenol and fluids. Fiancée tested positive as well. Completely asymptomatic.

I do have family friends who weren’t so fortunate though, and required time in the hospital.”

10. A rough road.

“My mother in law got in March.

She was hospitalized for two weeks. No one could visit her and she couldn’t even talk on the phone due to her shortness of breath. She’s not very skilled at texting either so we could only get occasional updates from the nurse.

Two months later and she’s still on oxygen at home and just this week was discharged from home nursing and home PT. It’s possible she will be on oxygen for some time to come as her lungs are so damaged.”

11. In his 60s.

“I know someone who died, he was in his 60s and caught it very bad.

He was on a ventilator and in an induced coma. They honestly thought he was improving but one night his condition worsened dramatically and he died the next morning.

He was sick for about a month.”

12. Thankful it wasn’t worse.

“My girlfriend and I both had it.

We live in Brooklyn, and I Airbnb (well, used to) a guest room in the lower level of my apartment. Very lovely couple from the UK came to stay in early March just as things were getting pretty wild. The last morning of their stay, he woke up with a fever and cough.

24 hours later, I was clearly sick, coughing, flu, shortness of breath, fever of 101. It was really bad that night, and then the symptoms kinda chilled out but persisted with the cough, mild fever and general aches for about another two weeks. (72 hours after initial symptoms I tested positive.)

Girlfriend was sick in a totally different way; she had weird headaches for nearly two weeks straight but almost nothing else other than mild cough.

Weirdest part was that both of us almost completely lost sense of smell + taste. I ate half a raw onion to confirm it. Was as tangy as an apple.

Taste/smell only fully returned after about six weeks.

Thankful that it wasn’t worse.”

13. No one is invincible.

“Friend of mine (23) had it and passed it to his roommate (also 23) and the roommate ended up dying from it.

This thing isn’t a joke, no matter what age you are, you aren’t invincible.

Please be considerate to others.”

14. Fit people get it, too.

“My trainer at the gym had it. She is an ordinarily healthy woman in her 40s and very fit.

She had high fever, it was hard to breathe, exhaustion & brutal muscle aches. She found it hard to walk across her bedroom. She lost her sense of smell also. Suspected neurological symptoms too – memory problems and trouble finding words.

Three weeks after her quarantine ended, she still feels like sh*t — she is out of breath very easily (I saw her loading groceries into her car and it was hard for her…) She is still having memory problems. She recovered at home; no hospital.”

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that a vaccine for this scourge is developed sooner than later.

Have you had any personal experience with Covid-19?

If so, please share your story with us in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.

The post People Who’ve Dealt With the Coronavirus Talk About What It’s Really Like appeared first on UberFacts.

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Former Anti-Vaxxers Talk About Why They Changed Their Minds

The fierce debate over whether to vaccinate or not vaccinate has been going on for years at this point.

And, as you know, there are very strong opinions about this on both sides.

But it does seem like a lot of anti-vaxxer people do eventually make their way over to the other side for one reason or another.

Let’s take a look at these stories from AskReddit users who did just that.

1. Young minds.

“I was a teenager and used to believe that if I got sick, my immune system would handle it and make me stronger. Like most youth, I believed I was invulnerable. I figured, thousands of years of ancestors had survived without vaccines, and so could I.

It was years before I realised that before vaccines, people didn’t just “heal the viruses away” – most of them died or were crippled by illness their whole lives.”

2. Reading is good for you!

“Hard to say, but, reading. Honestly.

I was on the elderberry/colloidal silver/whatever natural bullshit flavor of the week in my late teens – early twenties.

Could dig up some obscure study from the 1960s to support it, “well flu shots aren’t 100% effective, what’s the point? Have you see all the people who get sick from it?” etc. etc.

Simply put, I had bad advice from some of my father’s vitamin shop, Libertarian, naturopath, whatever friends.

In grad school I took more statistics classes, keep reading about data analysis, started to learn what significant sample sizes meant, common logical and statistical fallacies and…surprise…most antiscience nonsense doesn’t hold up empirically at all. There’s just no data to support it, and requires torturing of statistics and misrepresentation to defend their case.

Luckily I don’t have some epic story of a family member dying from a preventable disease, but it’s still embarrassing to think back how arrogantly I was convinced I was more clever than the actual doctors and scientists.”

3. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

“I don’t really know why I didn’t like the idea of vaccines but I didn’t until my girlfriend had gotten pregnant and then I stepped on a rusty nail.

Like the only way to stop tetanus is the vaccine.”

4. Listen to grandma.

“Kind of boring, but I have a whack job grandmother who believes in all the pseudoscience health BS. Crystal healing, electromagnetic communications cause cancer, vaccines are bad, eat apricot pits to cure cancer, the whole 9 miles.

When I was a kid she tried to teach me all of this stuff like it was gospel, and I believed her because I was a kid and why would my grandmom be wrong about something?

Unfortunately for her the minute I turned like, 7, I got a huge hyperfixation on biology and quickly learned that all the stuff she spouted was utter bs.

I’m autistic, and I was like the stereotypical autistic kid where they just know a fuckton about one particular subject and devour any kind of learning material related to it they can get their hands on (I’m actually still like that… except now I can get a degree for it).

It was not hard for me to realize that none of the things she believed made any sense, even as a kid.”

5. Crazy ex.

“My ex husband was a very controlling person and did not want our kids to get vaccines. I was always so scared knowing my kids had no protection. One day one of our kids scraped themselves on a fence and the school called me.

I snapped and took them straight to an urgent care for a tetanus shot and just started secretly getting all my kids vaccines. We eventually divorced and now all my kids are fully caught up.”

6. Living the natural life.

“I was a stereotypical, naturalistic vegan type. Didn’t believe in essential oils or crystal healing or anything. Just believed (mistakenly) that you couldn’t beat nature and that vaccines were messing around with my baby’s natural immunity growth.

I believed they were an unnecessary risk. I knew my decision was controversial so I kept it quiet, I wouldn’t have been out campaigning or splashing it all over social media, it was a private decision.

I held off until he was 2. We don’t routinely vaccinate for chickenpox here in the UK so he got it which is expected. However he got a bacterial infection on top and had to spend a night in hospital.

Nothing too traumatic but I realised I didn’t have the balls to play nature vs. medicine anymore.”

7. Radicalism.

“I read an article about a mom who changed her view on vaccinations because of how radical the anti-vax groups were. A lot of them were anti-gay, anti-abortion. And so crazy about all of it. Pro the dumbest shit, like oils. Pushed the agendas of things that were obviously false.

It made her step back and change her entire outlook on the anti-vax movement. I wish I could find this article, it was pretty interesting. Probably on Facebook. But she made great points against them.”

8. Feeling kind of dumb about it.

“I wasn’t really an antivaxxer by today’s standard and definition, but back then I did question the validity of it. I used to wear my tinfoil hat back in the Facebook days and delved into some wacko shit like the usual Illuminati, lizard people, hollow moon and other shit.

I guess after I grew apart from my friends who were also into all that I gradually came back to reality and realized how dumb it all is.”

9. The result of anxiety.

“I realized my reasons to anti-vax were actually rooted in anxiety (result of childhood trauma) and not because I was against vaccinating. The process started a little over a year ago, I just had my 3rd, and I was homeschooling my eldest (kindergarten).

The initial push to dealing with it was the regret of not being able to enroll my eldest in public school, and my newborn being at risk by having unvaccinated siblings. I took a hard look at my choices and why I hadn’t vaccinated my first 2, and every last one was because of fear and guilt. I found a rock star pediatrician who didn’t once judge me, and got all my kids caught up.

I have 3 fantastic kids that are now fully vaccinated, and I am successfully on the road to recovery so I can be the best person I can be for my kids. They deserve it!”

10. Hit the wall.

“Well, after years of deluding myself into the belief that vaccines were evil, I finally hit the wall. I learned more about vaccines and why they were really necessary.

I think it was my fear of the unknown that prevented me from seeing that science saves lives. I had a really good teacher in that regard and it ended up being a pretty great time in my life.

I mean, on top of realizing that shots weren’t bad things, I started getting an allowance and my 10th birthday party was fucking lit.”

11. A bunch of propaganda.

“I was caught into the antivax propaganda after my younger sister was said to have autism.

Reddit helped me change my mind, with People providing evidence of antivax’s stupidity.”

12. Stop listening to your parents.

“I grew past the age of 12 and realised how stupid my parents have been.”

13. Maybe they’re not out to get you…

“I had a phase in my early 20’s where I hopped on the alternative-everyone wants to secretly poison you train.

Mostly because of some people that influenced me that time and it’s fascinating how easy you can slip into that mindset mostly because it is indeed partly true, like big pharma or other mostly money-motivated people/companies do actually do a lot of shit that is not helping people but quite the opposite but it’s not like single doctors or scientist want that, they mostly want facts and the truth and for people to gain knowledge.

An education with simple medical basics quickly made it clear to me that a lot of anti-vax and all the other shit people believe is either total nonsense or only a small part of the truth that ignored anything else from a medical standpoint.

There is a reason why there are rules in place to determine if a study can be taken as meaningful because if you only know part of the truth it’s easy to mistake plain coincidence or correlation for causation.

But I think with these hardcore conspiracy-theorist it has nothing to do with facts or truth it’s about their mindset that anybody is out to get them, they are basically a constant victim to their own mentality.”

14. Mom was wrong.

“I grew up and realized my mom was wrong thanks to my now husband convincing me. I got many vaccines in college and I’m doing just fine.

My mom gave us some vaccines like the tetanus vac, but that’s about it.”

15. Learned your lessons.

“My now wife was an anti-vaxer. I generally go with what she says most of the time because I cannot be bothered to argue. However, when we were discussing getting married and having kids I was surprised at how strongly I felt about.

I was prepared to walk away from the love of my life rather than not vaccinate . I gave all of the reasons (I’m from a third world country and she is European. I have seen too much shit from a lack of vaccination program to sit on the fence on this).

She came around. When our first was born he was quite ill. I don’t think we were in danger of losing him but just that tiny bit of danger reiterated the point of protecting them and others from illnesses. My wife is now more on top of the vaccination dates for our kids than I am.

A friend of hers had a baby recently and expressed some anti vaccination sentiments. My wife calmly told her that not only would she be putting her own kids in danger but that she would be weaponising her child against others.

Quite a turnaround.”

Wow. These people were pretty honest about why they changed their minds about this issue.

How about you?

Did you used to be an anti-vaxxer and now you believe it’s the right thing?

Talk to us in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!

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Gecko-Like Pads for Climbings Walls Like Spider-Man Are Coming Your Way Very Soon

Spiderman has been popular for decades, so I guess it only makes sense that scientists think there’s probably a market out there for sticky pads that would let people climb a wall.

Like a gecko (or a spider).

Now, it appears they’ve done it – and that the product might be mass produced very soon.

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Straight-A super hero. #SpiderManHomecoming

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Engineers have been able to replicate the way that geckos seem to deft gravity, but until recently, the process has been too difficult and expensive to mass produce. Tiny hairs are the key – geckos have ridges on their toes that are covered with flat extensions called fibrils or setae. These “hairs” have a surface attraction to the atoms in solid objects, and when enough of them are packed in a tight space (like on a toe), they can hold up the lizard’s body weight.

To disengage, they simply change the angle their foot meets the wall (or ceiling).

Humans, of course, have a much larger body mass to hold up, and since our hands and feet are a relatively small portion of that, covering those in fibrils wouldn’t work. Instead, scientists have made oversized pads that fit over your hands and feet – about 10x the size of your hand.

In the past, researchers tried filling the templates with liquids that formed a polymer when set, but the process proved too arduous and costly to mass produce. The military has also been researching the possibility of climbing people, but their methods and costs are classified.

Recently, though, Dr. Michael Varenberg of the Georgia Institute of Technology found that pouring the polymers onto a smooth surface, then imprinting it with a shaped press after partially set, actually works better.

“Molding techniques are expensive and time-consuming processes. And there are issues with getting the gecko-like material to release from the template, which can disturb the quality of the attachment surface,” he said in a statement.

They believe that, aside from a market with people who want to try climbing vertical surfaces, the pads could have many practical applications with innovations like robot cleaners and production lines.

“With the exception of Teflon, it will adhere to anything. This is a clear advantage in manufacturing because we don’t have to prepare the gripper for specific surfaces we want to lift,” Varenberg explained. “Gecko-inspired adhesives can lift flat objects like boxes then turn around and lift curved objects like eggs and vegetables.”

So, okay fine. They’ve come up with some real applications for the product (which I’m sure helped with funding!), but let’s face it.

We all just want to try our hand at being Spiderman.

I mean. I don’t want to fight anyone or anything, but climbing walls would be pretty cool.

The post Gecko-Like Pads for Climbings Walls Like Spider-Man Are Coming Your Way Very Soon appeared first on UberFacts.

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The Robot Dog That’s Helping People Keep Their Social Distance

Ever since robotics company Boston Dynamics revealed its extremely lifelike efforts around 10 years ago, people have been fascinated.

Some people tend toward terrified while others are too busy clapping to wonder whether or not they should be, but across the board, we just can’t get enough of the videos showcasing what these robots are capable of.

In the years since their reveal, Boston Dynamics has begun leasing out its Spot (the dog) robots, and they’re now being used to patrol oil rigs, assist law enforcement, and help on construction sites.

Now, they’re also working in Boston hospitals, helping doctors and nurses communicate with highly contagious patients. They’re hopeful that soon the robots might be able to assist with taking vitals, as well.

That sounds awesome, but people in Singapore are less sure about the Spot robotic dog being used in their parks to encourage people to keep the appropriate social distance.

The robot dog has been assigned to patrol the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park in Singapore.

“Let’s keep Singapore healthy,” the robot says (yes, says) as it trots by people sitting innocently on a bench. “For your own safety, and those around you, please stand at least one meter apart. Thank you.”

Which is yes, a bit freaky.

People are worried the robot might be collecting personal information on the people it admonishes, but the government denies there’s any truth to that concern.

There’s a plus side, too – the robot doesn’t hassle people of color disproportionately, either.

What are your thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Squick you out?

We want to hear about it in the comments!

The post The Robot Dog That’s Helping People Keep Their Social Distance appeared first on UberFacts.

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This Is When You Should Replace Your Nasty Kitchen Sponge

You know that gray lump of a sponge you use with detergent to clean your dishes in your sink? It might be time to toss it and replace it with a new one.

Pulling out a brand spanking new sponge every week will keep you from spreading bacteria and viruses all over your kitchen, including illness-causing germs such as E. coli, Salmonella, and maybe even the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

Photo Credit: Flickr

But how dirty is your sponge? A study published in the July 2017 issue of Scientific Reports suggests that kitchen sponges can get more germ-y than toilets.

Report author Markus Egert, PhD, professor for microbiology and hygiene at Furtwangen University in Schwenningen, Germany, and a team of researchers, noted there were 362 different kinds of bacteria living inside kitchen sponges. They found approximately 5.5 trillion microscopic bugs per sponge.

Photo Credit: Flickr CC Your Best Digs

If you would rather try to clean your sponge instead of replacing it every week or two, Egert suggests using a washing machine at 60° C (140° F), and using a bleach-containing, heavy-duty detergent.

Another acceptable way to clean a kitchen sponge is to lather it up with soap and flush it with water. Then put it in the microwave oven for two minutes. You’ll want it be wet so that it doesn’t start a fire in the microwave.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Store your sponge in a holder to dry out between uses and don’t use the same sponge for cleaning dishes and surfaces, especially outside of the kitchen, like in your bathroom.

Finally, if you really don’t like the idea of bacteria growing in your kitchen, use silicone brushes and scrubbers. Those don’t have the same kinds of germ friendly surfaces of your sponge. Or use microfiber washcloths and wash them in your washing machine on high heat after using.

Using a sponge around the kitchen can be convenient. But, for a safe and clean kitchen, be aware of how long you keep the same one by your sink. You may be spreading some pretty gross stuff around.

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People Share the Scientific Experiments They’d Conduct If Money and Ethics Weren’t an Issue

This sure is a weird question.

But, sometimes, that’s what Reddit is all about, right?

How would you answer this thought-provoking question:

“What scientific experiment would you run if money and ethics weren’t an issue?”

Let’s take a look at what AskReddit users had to say about this.

1. That would be fascinating.

“I’d raise a group of children from birth to adulthood (kind of a Truman show thing) without any contact with music and see how it affects their lives and personalities.

I’d make sure everything else would be normal but music would be edited out of their lives.”

2. Some moon stuff.

“I’d study the long term effects of low-g on humans, by sending a habitat to the Moon, and then sending supplies and volunteers.

And I’d send a lunar bulldozer to cover the habitat with regolith because I’m not particularly interested in contaminating my results with radiation exposure.”

3. Are you out there, Tarzan?

“Have a baby human raised by apes, basically to see if Tarzan scenario would occur and the human is able to communicate fully with the apes.”

4. Get to the bottom of it.

“Force compliance on specific diets with a diverse sample of people and a well regulated control group. Follow for 10+ years.

Is veganism really healthy? How about paleo? Should we never be eating gluten or dairy?”

5. See what grows from it.

“The Gilligan’s Island experiment. Shipwreck 100 people with vastly different backgrounds, wealth disparity, and personalities on a remote island.

See what kind of civilization grows from it.

Then do it 50 more times to check results against each other.”

6. All kinds of ideas.

“Oh man I love this question.

There are a ton of geoengineering experiments that I’d love to run if they weren’t both (1) illegal, (2) insanely expensive, (3) non-zero possibility of death and destruction.

Iron fertilization. Basically dumping tons of iron dust into the ocean to cause an algae bloom, which should sequester a bunch of carbon and help mitigate global warming.

Cloud seeding, space mirrors, dropping a nuke into a volcano. You know. Normal stuff.”

7. No external influence.

“I’d want to see what a society of children would do on their own if they were alone from birth. Of course, adjustments would have to be made for when they were infants, but beyond that.

How would they develop language? Ethics? Mythology? Culture? And as they got older, how would they handle coming of age without adult role models?

Though unethical, I think an experiment like that would answer a lot of questions about sociology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. It would be like watching the beginning of human society from scratch, with no external influence.”

8. Train the monkeys.

“See if a monkey tribe could become dominant over the rest by training them to make and use weapons and other primitive technology. A

lso interested in seeing if they would take their newfound knowledge and begin to expand an empire.”

9. Pretty creepy.

“Near death experiences, and what people see.

So basically I’d want to kill a bunch of people then bring them back to life. I’m sure a lot of them wouldn’t make it back.”

10. I want answers!

“How long a decapitated head stays conscious. All we have are anecdotes that might have been exaggerated.

I’ve always wanted a definitive answer, but you know, ethics.”

11. Might make a good movie.

“I will make 5 subjects of sane and healthy mind placed in a facility with 5 psychopaths, insane murderers. They will have group activities in a pair of two from each group and the activities will be of two types, moral and immoral.

Then I will conduct results about how much these activities affect the subjects in both groups.”

12. Do what you want.

“Raise a child without ever punishing or rewarding them, just let them do whatever they want.

And then see what happens to their behavior when they age.”

13. Nature or nurture?

“I’d like to clone several sets of baby Hitlers and see how they grow up in different environments. Some can include:

A loving family, the kind that you barf at because they’re so perfect.

A Jewish family

An artistic family that encourages his talent

An abusive family similar to the one he grew up with

A family of scientists

And finally, the most unethical environment, a family of politicians!”

14. That would be nice for a lot of people.

“Redesigning the human sinus.

I wish to find a way to modify the body to fix that mess of an airway.”

Well, now we know what’s on the minds of a lot of people out there…

What do you think?

How would you answer this question?

Let us know in the comments!

The post People Share the Scientific Experiments They’d Conduct If Money and Ethics Weren’t an Issue appeared first on UberFacts.