TICtank 06.11#12.11
The world’s population has reached 8bn. Don’t panic: Fears of overpopulation and underpopulation are both overblown
The ugly story of how corporate America convinced us to spend so much on water: “We’ve gotten here, step by step, down a dangerous road of converting a public resource into a private commodity”
What We Knew In the Early Days: The claim is now everywhere: we had to lock down because we just didn’t know about this virus. It was all very confusing and we had to play it safe. We had no other option because we just had no clarity about what we were dealing with. The precautionary principle dictated the unprecedented actions. Actually, the precautionary principle goes both directions. It also dictates that we not enact policies that we know for sure would wreck lives and liberties.
The Public Shouldn’t Pay for Drugs Twice: By one estimate, the National Institutes of Health spent $17 billion on vaccine technologies fundamental to the Covid-19 vaccine. More recently, the US’ Operation Warp Speed poured billions into development. And according to a 2021 study, 95.5 percent of the funding behind AstraZeneca’s vaccine came from the British government. Despite this massive influx of public cash, the resulting Covid-19 vaccines raked in huge profits for the corporations that brought them to market. Moderna’s vaccine, for example, created at least five billionaires — an illustration of the current drug development system in which research is publicly funded, but corporations profit.
Why it's possible to feel nostalgic for destinations you’ve never been to (Exploring the concept of nostalgic travel)
Video shows child grow to old age in one incredible five-minute shot
