Category: Science

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Learn About the Most (In)Famous Failed Scientific Experiment in History

Scientists usually assume that if they ever get famous it will be for doing something right – but in the case of the Michelson-Morley experiment, those involved are forever going to be remembered for conducting the worst (best?) failed experiment in history.

Then again, if you end up changing literally everything in your field, was your experiment really a failure at all?

Here’s what happened.

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#WePost @4biddenknowledge ⚛? ・・・ The #DoubleSlitExperiment is an experiment in #QuantumPhysics in which the effects were shown by #ThomasYoung way back in 1803, but since has been proven even more strange by many others. It's power truly reveals a mind-altering view of the world and how we affect it. To explain this experiment, we first must truly grasp the difference between a  #particle and a #wave. A particle is what we perceive as #matter of some sort – something with mass. A wave is a disturbance in some type of substance – like ripples through water. Ok, that's easy enough. Now, what if I told you that a subatomic particle isn't a particle until a consciousness observes it. What is it then? Its a wave. Huh? For some unknown reason that haunts scientists, everything we perceive as having mass is just a wave of information (or possibilities) until we observe it in some way. I'm not talking in the philosophical way like if a tree falls in the woods and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound. The Double Slit Experiment seems to answer that question as you'll see. Until we observe the soon to be particle, its a wave that's actually doing every possibility it could do at the same time. Huh?!?! It doesn't make any sense, yet this is one experiment that appears to somewhat prove this. The Double Slit Experiment shows us that we create reality just by observing it. WHOA, create reality?! Yes we do. Your consciousness collapses wave functions into digitized bits of matter that we then perceive as reality. You are not creating reality, but you are creating your own #RealityTunnel and most people aren't aware of it. #4biddenknowledge reporting live from #TheMatrix. Clip above of from the famous documentary named: #WhatTheBleepDoWeKnow #YouCreateYourOwnReality ??⚛?

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At the beginning of the 19th century, scientists weren’t sure whether light was a wave or a particle. In 1801, Thomas Young (thought he) settled the debate with his double-slit experiment, in which he shined a light through two slits cut into a notecard aimed at a wall. Since he produced a pattern of dark and light bars as opposed to just two slit-shaped patterns, he concluded that light could not be a simple particle.

That said, no one could figure out what medium the wave was traveling through – the substance that made up the universe. Some physicists called it “ether” – matter that could be found everywhere but that wouldn’t interact with its physical counterpart at all.

In 1887, physicists Albert Michelson and Edward Morley set out to prove that “ether” only existed to carry light waves.

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In the late nineteenth century when Jules Verne was a success with his novel From the earth to the moon they appeared two geniuses that would change the way we see the universe with one of the most brilliant physics experiments the Michelson-Morley experiment revealing one of the most paradoxical mysteries of light, at the end Albert Einstein raise his famous theory based on the results of this experiment taking almost all the credit and collapsed 200 years of domination by Newton, establishing the boundary between classical physics and modern physics . That's why I consider one of the turning points in the history of science of humanity.#michelsonandmorley #physics #universe #astronomy #geniuses #xix #light #math #brilliantminds

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Let’s start here – with ether “wind.”

Just like when you’re driving a car and stick your hand out the window, the “ether” should be flowing over the planet’s surface at rate similar to the speed of Earth traveling through space.

Michelson and Morley built a device called an interferometer, which uses what amounts to a one-way mirror to split a beam of light, reflecting half of it at a 90-degree angle down one tunnel and allowing the other half to pass through down another tunnel.

Then, both light beams are reflected against mirrors again, placed at the end of each tunnel, and at the end, the beams are measured by a detector.

Fun fact: advanced versions of their devices were used to detect gravitational waves for the first time back in 2015.

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Researchers are preparing to scrutinize nature at tiny scales by stretching supercooled atoms into room-length waves as they drop them down a 100-meter vacuum tube. By exploiting the atoms' wavelike properties, the experiment will look for ripples in the bizarre quantum realm: potential fingerprints of missing dark matter and, in future iterations, new frequencies of gravitational waves. Collaborators from eight institutions have come together to turn an Illinois mine shaft into the world's largest atom interferometer—the Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor, or MAGIS-100. Read more: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-instrument-will-stretch-atoms-into-giant-waves/ #VacuumVolume #MAGIS #MAGIS100 #vacuumchamber #vacuumtube #vacuumtech #vacuumscience #vacuumtechnology #interferometer #atomic #atomicresearch #supercooledatoms #atoms #quantumrealm #quantumphysics #quantummechanics #submicroscopic #strontium #darkmatter #gravitationalwaves

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If Michelson and Morley were correct about ether, then they would have traveled at slightly different rates, striking the detector at slightly different times. In reality, though, they arrived together.

With the benefit of hindsight, we know that the experiment failed because there is no ether – and that light is both a wave and a particle that always travels at the same speed no matter the direction.

In their failure, Michelson and Morley laid the groundwork for basically all of the 20th century’s most influential scientific thinkers. Their failure to detect ether presented a new and exciting problem for physicists and other scientists to tackle – and solve – in the years to come.

So the next time something doesn’t work out the way you thought, take heart – this is solid proof that we can always learn at least as much from our failures as our successes.

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Tardigrades Are the Most Resilient Animals on Earth, but Even They Will Struggle with Climate Change

Tardigrades are tough little sons of guns; they can survive freezing temperatures, being boiled, and even the vacuum of space. They don’t need to drink water or breathe air to stay alive. But scientists seem to have hit on one thing that might be a killer for them–global warming.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Ricardo Neves, from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, led a team of researchers to study how well a species of tardigrade, Ramazzottius varieornatus, could handle different environments.

Neves told Newsweek,

One of the [things] that makes tardigrades so interesting is their extraordinary ability to survive in environments characterized by severe conditions, such as environments without oxygen or water and temperatures close to the absolute zero. Moreover, we were aware of previous studies reporting on their ability to endure high temperatures (up to 151 C) for short exposure times (up to one hour). However, it remained to be seen whether tardigrades could endure exposure to high temperatures for periods exceeding one hour, which we tested in our study.

This particular species of tardigrades can be found in roof gutters where they can easily reproduce and feed in freshwater. When there’s no water and conditions are dry, the R. varieornatus survive by entering a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis.

Tardigrade

When the team examined the creatures under different temperature ranges and time lengths, they discovered that, despite what pop-science websites have touted, tardigrades do have a weakness.

Fifty percent of the tardigrades in an active state died when the temperature was 37.1 C (98.78 F). Given a period to acclimatize, they could survive at 37.6 C (99.68 F). In a state of cryptobiosis, they survived temperatures up to 82.7 C (180.86 F) for one hour. When exposed for 24 hours, they could survive a maximum temperature of 63.1 C (145.58 F).

The record high in Denmark is 36.4 C (97.52 F), which is close to the maximum temperature half of the tardigrades in an active state could survive. This points to a potential struggle for survival as temperatures around the globe rise.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What was once considered an animal that could literally survive anything is now showing its own vulnerability to climate change. Neves said tardigrades have shown they can acclimatize, but he also wonders how other living beings will cope.

He, and the rest of the world, are going to find out. Like it or not, the Earth is warming and humanity is not doing enough to stop it from happening.

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Koala Bears Aren’t Bears at All

We’ve been hearing a lot of sad news about koala bears lately because of the bushfires ripping through Australia. The flames and smoke have decimated a huge portion of the koalas’ natural habitat and killed enough individuals that experts estimate they may now be an endangered species.

But how much do we in the States know about this cute, furry little guys, really? I know that I learned a ton of new things when I visited a sanctuary outside of Brisbane, but I definitely don’t remember them telling us that the animal we know as a koala bear isn’t a bear at all.

Image Credit: Pixabay

In fact, they’re not even closely related to bears – they’re much more like another Australian animal, the kangaroo, which also raise their underdeveloped young in a pouch.

Both animals are mammals, like bears, but they re classified as Marsupialia, order Diprotodontia, family Phascolarctidae, genus Phascolarctos.

And that’s a very different branch of the tree of life from where you’d find a grizzly.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Koalas are known scientifically as Phascolarctos cinerus, and they are the only living species in the genus. Though there are three subspecies of koala, their differences are very minor.

Therefore, the koala is more closely related to the kangaroo and the wombat, both members of the order Diprotodontia, than to bears, which are in the order Carnivora.

You might be wondering, then, how they got so mis-named in the first place. Well, as with most things, we can blame English-speaking settlers.

In the 18th century, they spotted the animal for the first time, and, due to it’s bear-like appearance and behavior, they made an assumption.

Image Credit: Pixabay

You know, like how they met Natives all over the world and assumed they were “savages” based on strange (to them) appearances?

The koala’s scientific name comes from what Englishmen thought they observed – Phascolarctos is derived from the Greek phaskolos (pouch) and arktos (bear).

And now you know, though I doubt the sleepy little animals will much care what we call them as long as we save them from burning alive.

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A Billion Dollar Solar Power Plant Flamed out, Costing Taxpayers Millions of Dollars

This billion-dollar solar plant has flamed out worse than a Kardashian relationship.

According to a Bloomberg report, the Crescent Dunes plant located outside of Las Vegas has generated far more controversy than power since it opened in 2015. Built with technology that was outdated even during its construction, the solar power plant has become a giant sore spot in the solar power industry.

Instead of providing a more efficient and environmentally safe fuel source, the plant has become a financial albatross. And SolarReserves Inc. and ACS Cobra, the two companies involved in the highly expensive Crescent Dunes project, received more than $700 million in government loan guarantees.

Unfortunately, the results simply didn’t measure up in comparison to modern solar power plants. The Bloomberg report pointed out that the plant cost about $135 per megawatt-hour compared to less than $30 per MWh at a new Nevada photovoltaic solar farm.

The $1 billion, 1,500-acre Crescent Dunes farm was supposed to provide 110 megawatts of power. However, that pales in comparison to other renewable power projects, including a plant recently approved by the Trump administration that will span 7,000 acres and provide 690 megawatts of solar energy.

There is certainly no shortage of interest or funding involved in solar technology. The Department of Energy’s portfolio includes $38 billion in projects similar to the Crescent Dunes project. Other entities such as the Department of Defense, NASA and the U.S. Air Force continue to fund university research in similar areas.

Of course, there is always risk involved in backing any new technology or large-scale infrastructure projects. Though Solyndra got a lot of heat for crashing and burning, a number of other non-renewable energy plants have had similar stories, or worse, like a $9 billion failed nuclear power plant in South Carolina. Plus, the United States spends hundreds of billions of dollars of unrecoverable money on baked-in subsidies for oil and gas companies, so this question of where the public invests is really is a matter of social priority.

Yet, taxpayers do shoulder the burden when failed projects are partially backed by public funding. For example, Crescent Dunes relied on $737 million in taxpayer money – funds that will likely not be repaid.

The plant, which as we’ve mentioned was technologically out-of-date before it even opened, only ever operated at 20 percent efficiency – a far cry from its target of 50 percent. Moreover, the plant killed local wildlife due to its heat-focused mirrors before it was shut down in April 2019.

Ultimately, Crescent Dunes proved to be a billion-dollar mistake that, unfortunately, leaves a black cloud hanging over the solar power industry right at a critical time in the world’s fight against climate change.

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Frequent Napping Has Health Benefits, Including Reducing Stress

This is great news for me! As a self-described expert napper, I’m always looking for a good reason to take a quick snooze. And I can do it anywhere. Couch, chair, floor, under tables, in cars. Whatever you got, I can make it work.

And I know I’m not alone; there are tons of people out there who love the napping life just as much as I do. Well, research shows that not only are naps enjoyable, but they are good for you, too.

Nap

A napping habit can help you have sharper brain function and hone your problem-solving skills. A short slumber can also help you deal with stress better, regulate your blood pressure, and even assist you with maintaining a healthy weight.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, there are three types of naps that they suggest taking:

1. Naps that you plan before you get tired. These help out with tiredness and fatigue.

2. Emergency napping is when you are too wiped out to do your everyday work and activities. These are good for people who deal with fatigue and drowsiness.

3. Habitual naps describe ones that are taken at the same time, each and every day. A lot of babies and elderly people are on this schedule.

Nap

Napping is frowned upon in the United States because of our hectic work schedules, but in other countries, it’s very common to take a nap during the day. A study from Greece – where napping is culturally much more accepted – found that napping three times a week can lower your risk of developing a serious heart condition by up to 37%.

Nap time

The amount of time you nap has benefits for different aspects of your health. If you nap for 20 minutes, you can look forward to enhanced memory and mental alertness. A 20-30-minute nap can help boost creativity and memory. Snoozing for 30-60 minutes helps you optimize memory and decision-making skills. And if you want to nap for 60-90 minutes, you’ll experience REM sleep, which will help you to reset your brain and can improve your problem-solving skills.

Take that, anti-nappers!

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Experts Weigh in on the Health Benefits of Kombucha

You’d pretty much have to have been living in the wilderness under a rock to not have at least heard of the health craze surrounding kombucha. Even if you don’t know exactly what it is, you probably know that people think it’s good for you, right?

Enthusiasts claim it aids digestion, boosts the immune system, improves hair and skin health, detoxifies the liver, and can even help treat serious diseases like AIDS, cancer, and diabetes.

But is it really that good for you? Or even healthful at all?

So we got some info from two registered dietitians who ready to explain what it really does.

But first…

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha starts with a gelatinous blob known as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). It’s a collection of bacteria (often acetic acid bacteria) and yeast blobbing along together in harmony.

Then, the blob is placed into a jar of black or green tea and sugar, and given 7-14 days to ferment. During that time, the yeast and bacteria feed off the sugar, making the tea carbonated and slightly alcoholic (very slightly).

To complete the process, a bottler removes the SCOBY, filters the tea, and stores the it in the fridge. Et voila!

How could kombucha affect your health?

Registered dietitian Despina Gandhi told Buzzfeed Health that acetic acid bacteria do have probiotic qualities, so drinking kombucha could conceivably aid in your GI health.

“Since so much of our immune system is influenced by our GI tract, by honing in on it, we can technically boost immunity as well.”

But registered dietitian nutritionist Angie Murad says it’s not quite a panacea.

“It’s not to say, though, that if you drink kombucha every day you’re not going to get a cold. It can just help you – it’s not something that’s necessarily harmful to your intestines.”

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K O M B U C H A ? This summer I visited Southern California and was swept away by their fabulous choice of healthy options: vegan, raw, fermented, grass-fed, organic, biodynamic – you name it, they have it. And! they have Kombucha on tap in every bar / cafe. So one morning I walk into a cute cafe, looking forward to enjoying a refreshing fizzy glass of probiotics and -horror- they were out of kombucha ? Customers were appalled. How could this ever happen? • Back in London I ended up spending so much money on Kombucha I eventually decided to brew my own. So I purchased a kit and welcomed home Scoby, my hungry friend who grew to KingKong proportions in the last few months. • Since I’m not a big fan of supplements (because the body has a limited capacity to absorb a nutrient without its carrier), I currently drink a glass day in day out to restore microbiome and support gut healing. • Are you a kombuchaddict too? • #dynamize #dynamizeco #health #happiness #holistichealth #holistichealing #holistichealer #holistictherapy #quantumhealth #quantumhealing #quantumhealer #quantumtherapy #homeopathy #homeopathyheals #homeopathyworks #yoga #nutrition #starttoday #london #kombucha #kombuchaddict #probiotics #guthealth #microbiome #healthygut #scoby

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Also, she says to make sure you’re drinking non-pasteurized kombucha for health benefits because the pasteurization process would effectively kill the good bacteria in your drink.

Aside from potentially boosting your GI health and immune system, there are no proven benefits to drinking kombucha – though some of the claims seem medically and scientifically possible.

In a 2014 review, kombucha was shown to reduce the ability of certain cancer cells to spread. It also seems that the antioxidant properties of the tea could help detoxify the liver and boost immunity.

A different study noted a drop in the blood sugar levels of diabetic rats who lapped the drink (but results based on lab rats don’t always translate).

It’s also possible that those same antioxidants could reduce the damaging effects of UV rays on the skin, but there’s no scientific studies on the effects of kombucha on skin or hair, specifically.

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For #sugarawarenessweek we want to talk to you about low-sugar diets and their benefits as well as how to handle sugar cravings for those of us who have a sweet tooth. Ever had Kombucha? It’s a great alternative for processed fizzy drinks that are often packed with lots of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners. The @gutsy_captain Kombucha is a naturally fermented living green tea with 100% natural ingredients and organic raw cane sugar. If you can’t get rid of those sugar cravings why not have more of nature’s candy ? ? ????? ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ #sugarawarenessweek #sugar #awareness #week #wellness #wednesday #wellnesswednesday #kombucha #kombuchalove #coworking #coworkingspace #areaworks #areaworkscolindale #areaworksfarringdon #coworkinglife #gutsycaptain #healthylifestyle #healthy #living #organic #lifestyle

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The one article that notes effects on AIDS patients suggests that the bacteria in kombucha could overstimulate the immune systems of HIV-positive people, which could actually be detrimental to their health.

Gandhi warns against taking any unproven claims to heart.

“The important thing to remember is there are no clinical trials that prove kombucha can do these things, so they’re really just claims and anecdotal evidence.”

And you always, always want to make sure you’re drinking kombucha from a reliable source – it could be a health risk if you’re not. Murad stressed,

“If you’re doing it at home, you can introduce bad bacteria into the system, and people have become very ill. So you have to be careful to have clean food practices when you’re fermenting the kombucha.”

If you ferment it too long, it could also lead to metabolic acidosis, another medical complication.

Bottom line? Both experts agree that there’s no harm in drinking store-bought kombucha, but it’s best to keep an eye on the sugar content and serving sizes.

Gandhi says that for her, the bottom line is that “it’s not necessary to be part of a balanced diet. It doesn’t contain a lot of vitamins, minerals, or anything like that.”

So, if you like it and feel better when you drink some…go for it (responsibly)!

If not, have some probiotic yogurt and you’ll be fine.

And now you know.

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These Facts Are Totally True, but Very Hard to Believe

What we’ve got here are 14 facts that are going to send you straight to Google so you can verify if they are BS or not.

And when you find out we were playing it straight, well, your mind just might be a little bit blown.

14. Time is a strange thing.

As mentioned [here] (http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1rsyio/whats_your_favorite_fun_fact/cdqjw5t), Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Walters were born in the same year.

13. We’d never know what hit us.

Gravity propagates at the speed of light. So if the sun were to suddenly disappear, we would continue orbiting for 8 minutes.

12. Everything’s bigger in Texas.

There are more tigers in Texas than there are in the wild.

11. Just keep that in mind, folks.

Shrimp is called an abomination four times more than homosexuality in the Bible

10. I don’t….know?

And every time you shuffle a deck of cards, it’s likely that the particular ordering of cards has never been arranged before.

9. Harsh.

The current United States flag was designed by then 17 years old Robert G. Heft, as part of a school project. He received a grade of B-

8. Unsurprising, really.

Fortune cookies were invented in America and are seen in China as an american symbol.

7. I feel like this has happened to me more than once.

If there’re 23 people in a room, there’s a 50% chance two of them share a birthday. edit: google “birthday paradox” for more information.

6. It just SEEMS wrong, but it’s not.

Humanity is less violent now than it has ever been, which is a steady trend through history.

5. Those long-suffering Cubbies (no more!)

The last time the Cubs won a World Series: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and New Mexico were not yet states The Ottoman Empire still existed The Titanic had not been built yet Prohibition had not occurred yet The NBA, NHL, and NFL did not exist yet Radio and Television did not exist…

4. He has more subscribers than there are people in his home country.

A swedish guy who screams at video games is the most popular Youtuber in the world.

Edit: For the people who are apparently too lazy to read the child comments, I’m talking about Pewdiepie.

3. Spoiler alert: it’s kind of impossible.

There are three hundred billion stars in the Milky Way.

There are AT LEAST one hundred billion galaxies in the KNOWN universe. Using 300bn as an average for the number of stars per galaxies, that makes 3e22 stars in the observed universe.

That’s 30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. Try to wrap your head around how unimaginably big that is.

2. The mental images…

Blue whales don’t have enough blood in their body to get an erection, they would pass out from lack of blood in the brain, to compensate female blue whale vaginas are the size of an average living room

1. Everyone who ever ruled Europe was cousins.

King Edward V, Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilheim II (the monarchs of England, Russia and Germany during the first world war) were cousins. Edward was first cousins with the other two, who were second cousins with each other.

I Googled so hard, y’all, and now I kind of don’t know what to do with myself!

Do you keep any of these on your hip for parties? Share them with us in the comments!

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This is Officially the Hottest Place on Earth

The past ten years were the hottest in recorded history, and it has seen record-breaking average yearly temperatures and single-day temperatures in places across the globe. This is largely due to global climate change, and it’s a dangerous trend.

However…

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the hottest temperature ever recorded was a sweltering 134 degrees Fahrenheit at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, way back in July 10, 1913.

Up until 2012, the record on file – 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit – occurred in El Azizia, Libya, and was recorded in 1922. But it was disqualified 90 years later because, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, the temperature could have been off by up to seven degrees due to the type of surface on which the measurement was taken.

Dallol, Ethiopia, is considered the hottest regularly inhabited place.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Back to Death Valley. Air temperatures there typically reach 120 degrees due to its geographic location and boiling desert environment. The area receives less than three inches of average annual rainfall, and the sun beats down on the ground – 190 feet below sea level and enclosed by mountains.

So, in Death Valley, hot air rises and gets trapped by the surrounding mountain ranges. Then it cools and falls back into the valley. As it falls, where it’s heated again by then sun and the high air pressure down on the valley floor. That’s how the area holds the record for highest recorded air temperature.

Death Valley, though, is not the only hot spot around.

Photo Credit: Billy Hathorn

In Yellowstone National Park, the geothermal pools often reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit and above. According to National Geographic, vents on the ocean floor release liquids at 750 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. The Earth’s core is estimated to have a temperature of a super scorching 11,000-degrees. In our solar system, scientists say the hottest place is the sun’s core which is about 15 million Kelvin, or roughly 26 million degrees Fahrenheit.

If you’re looking for the hottest location in the universe, that seems to be, surprisingly, just outside of Geneva, Switzerland. At the Large Hadron Collider, scientists and engineers smash atoms in their experiments.

Photo Credit: Flickr

According to Inside Science News Service, the temperature inside the equipment reaches an incredible 7.2 trillion degrees Fahrenheit (if just for short bursts).

That’s a valid excuse for sweating.

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The Chainsaw Was Originally Invented to Assist with Difficult Childbirths

If you thought that c-sections were awful and take weeks to recover from, well…you’re right.

But you should also count yourself lucky. In the (not as far back as you’d think) past, your doctor or midwife might have whipped out a chainsaw if an emergency arose during labor.

Basically, the chainsaw is so good at cutting through wood and stuff because it was originally designed to be able to easily slice through flesh and bone.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Chainsaws were invented by two Scottish surgeons, John Aitken and James Jeffray, who were looking for a “more humane” way to widen the birth canal when a baby was breach or became otherwise lodged in the birth canal.

Yeah. Instead of cutting open your abdomen to remove a dangerously stuck infant (like a modern C-section), they used to just stick a knife into your pelvis and start “widening” it so the baby could slip free.

Image Credit: Pixabay

And, as if giving birth wasn’t terrifying and painful enough already, the chainsaw was invented in the 18th century – prior to the development of a little thing called anesthesia.

The chainsaw was supposed to be a faster, less painful (somehow) option for a procedure called a symphysiotomy.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Neither the procedure nor the chainsaw is today used in hospitals – in maternity wards or elsewhere – but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen on an upcoming season of American Horror Story.

Because just thinking about it makes me want to scream.

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It’s Not Too Late to Get Your Flu Shot, so Go Do It!

Flu season is here – and as the proud owner of two tiny little disease vectors (otherwise known as my beautiful children), I can tell you that getting sick is way easier than you might think.

Sure, you can wash your hands, try not to touch your face, and carry hand sanitizer everywhere you go, but following every single protocol didn’t save Kate Winslet in Contagion. Chances are, they’ll eventually let you down, too.

If you didn’t get the flu shot back in the early fall when it was recommended – because you decided to tough it out, or didn’t have time, or whatever – you might be thinking it’s too late to get one now.

Image Credit: Pixabay

You would be wrong, according to Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“It’s late – but not too late.”

The vaccine does take a few weeks to build up its protection in your body, and flu season peters out around the end of February, so although you’re not too late yet, you might not want to wait any longer.

The flu can be passed around any time of year, but in the States, it is most likely to be diagnosed between October and February. That said, flu cases have been known to regularly appear as late as May.

Image Credit: U.S. Navy

You can actually get a flu shot year round, though Dr. Robert Glatter, an E.R. physician with Lennox Hill Hospital, admits there are optimal dates to try to get it done.

“You can vaccinate any time of year, but ideally, it happens in the fall.”

If you’re high risk for some reason, Dr. Joseph McBride says that it might still be a good idea to get the flu shot, even when the season begins to wane in February or March.

Another thing – you should get the flu shot even if you’ve already had the flu, doctors say. There are two reasons: first, Americans often think they have the flu but never go to a doctor and turn out to have been battling a different virus. Second, there is more than one strain of flu circulating this year, says McBride.

Image Credit: U.S. Navy

“We’ve picked up information in our surveillance system that an occasional poor soul has had one kind, recovered and then gotten another one. That’s not common, but when you have two sequential dominant strains it’s going to be more common than it has been in the past.”

Although you can technically get a flu shot any time of year, the vaccines are updated for what physicians and disease experts are expecting to see each season, so if you got one over the summer, it might not be for the strain that’s expected to dominate the following winter.

The optimal time to get a shot is late September into October. A shot received in that window should give anyone with a good immune system and no secondary complications protection until late winter/early spring.

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If you’re older, younger, pregnant, or have other complicating factors, Dr. Schaffner says definitely wait a bit into the fall, because there’s some debate on how long the shot’s protections last for those kinds of people.

“I would not recommend getting a flu vaccine in August. It’s a once a year type thing, which makes it a good reason to wait until September or early October to get vaccinated.”

So there you have it, folks! Getting a flu shot reduces your chance of being completely miserable (if you’re healthy) or losing your life (if you’re in one of those other groups) by around 60%, so make sure you clear some time in your busy schedule to get one on board – if not this month or next, then definitely next fall.

Your body (and everyone who has to be around you) will thank you.

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