Says the man who told us the French had approved chloroquinine.

My Physics BSc is indeed a couple of decades old and there have been many developments in that time but I try to keep up. I am contemplating a Masters in Quantum and the Higgs now I'm retired.

Obviously this is just a blog and the nuanced reality is impossible to capture in a sentence ( a photon is its own antiparticle for example ), but as a jokey analogy I think I got the science correct (enough).

https://www.britannica.com/science/antiparticle

What did I get wrong?

What? Spin is not a physical property? (it is), or it is not opposite in the antiparticle? (it is).

Always happy to learn from someone who knows more than me…. But….

antiparticle

noun Physics.

a particle all of whose properties, as mass, spin, or charge, have the same magnitude as but, where appropriate, the opposite sign of a specific elementary particle; neutral pions, photons, and gravitons are considered to be their own antiparticles: The positron is the antiparticle of the electron.

From <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/antiparticle>

Sigh back. Hint: you have to also consider chirality.

As I said, perhaps too nuanced for a one-line joke on a political blog…

Oh holy right-hand rule, Robin, what's chirality got to do with Trump? I know he is supposed to be sensitive about having small hands, but really!!!

LOL, then there's the small matter of antiparticles travelling in time (I wish we could)...

LOL, then there's the small matter of antiparticles travelling backwards in time (I wish we could)...

".. then there's the small matter of antiparticles travelling in time (I wish we could)..."

Mar 30, 2020 at 12:04 PM Phil Clarke

Would you have to go forwards or backwards in time to find any evidence to support Mann's Hockey Stick? It's resounding failure can be observed now.

You did refer to this as a political blog, but that is because you use it that way, as you are paid to do.
You failed on Trump before, using similar tactics.
The UK is BREXITING.
BoJo did win a massive majority.
You still have faith in Climate Science

Well, the spin of a particle is usually thought of as the eigenvalue, s(s+1), of the S2 operator. That is indeed the same for a particle and its antiparticle (my bad for oversimplyfing). But it doesn't really mean anything to talk about opposites in that context.

But consider for example, the neutrino. Both neutrinos and antineutrinos are generally regarded as having spin=1/2, but all neutrinos are left-handed while all antineutrinos are right-handed. So the usual formula for spin would give a value of -1/2.

So anti particles have the same spin as the particle - except when they don't. It only really matters when you are considering the rare processes  that violate time-reversal symmetry. I could have put all that in my 'joke' I guess….. ;-)

If you can point me to where I wrote or implied that I will be only too happy to try and clarify my meaning as you seem to be misrepresenting me again

There is indeed cause for cautious optimism about hydroxychloroquine + supplements. It is not a cure, but may reduce the number of people requiring hospitalisation and the length of stay.

Mar 25, 2020 at 9:00 AM | Phil Clarke

There are grounds for optimism, but until a proper double-blind, good sample size, randomised trial reports we don't know if the drug is effective, never mind optimum dosage, side-effects etc.

Mar 28, 2020 at 12:12 PM |  Phil Clarke

There's anecdotal evidence for efficacy, and for none. I don't know if it is or is not a 'mirage' and have never said otherwise. Recovery rates are good with our without chloroquine, especially in the under-60s, so it is possible those reporting positive outcomes got statistically lucky - Didier Raoult for example refuses to use a control group, usually a complete no-no if you want your trial to be accepted.

People are anxious and desperate, and will cleave to anything that appears to offer hope, touting a particular drug as a 'gamechanger' when it has not been properly established that it works, when it does work for other conditions risks generating false hope and depleting stocks for those who we know can benefit.

I seem to be repeating myself.

Mar 30, 2020 at 12:43 PM Phil Clarke

We are in a genuine Crisis, and on behalf of Professional Climate Scientists you are confirming that you have no purpose or use at all.

Is there anything about Climate Scientists that justifies them receiving Taxpayer Funding?

The EU is splitting due to Green Deals that benefit no one. The majority of US Republicans can see the lack of evidence, and US Democrats are starting to split against Sanders.

You are doing an amazing job of proving to Taxpayers why they should seek Net Zero expenditure on Climate Science.

Here is what WHO are doing:

Enrolling subjects in SOLIDARITY will be easy. When a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19 is deemed eligible, the physician can enter the patient’s data into a WHO website, including any underlying condition that could change the course of the disease, such as diabetes or HIV infection. The participant has to sign an informed consent form that is scanned and sent to WHO electronically. After the physician states which drugs are available at his or her hospital, the website will randomize the patient to one of the drugs available or to the local standard care for COVID-19.

“After that, no more measurements or documentation are required,” says Ana Maria Henao Restrepo, a medical officer at WHO’s Emergencies Programme. Physicians will record the day the patient left the hospital or died, the duration of the hospital stay, and whether the patient required oxygen or ventilation, she says. “That’s all.”

The design is not double-blind, the gold standard in medical research, so there could be placebo effects from patients knowing they received a candidate drug. But WHO says it had to balance scientific rigor against speed. 

Double blind would be better, but this will give reliable data as quickly as possible, how long it will take to collate a statistically significant cohort depends on how many hospitals participate, but is going to be weeks not days; it has to be done right.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/who-launches-global-megatrial-four-most-promising-coronavirus-treatments

Please continue Phil. I for one appreciate a range of opinions on these particular topics. A difference of opinions backed by different sources is surely to be encouraged? No one has a monopoly on the truth in these matters.
[But shouldn't they be conducted in the appropriate "Discussion", this should be restricted the "great and mighty" Trump¿]

"Please continue Phil"
Mar 30, 2020 at 3:34 PM AK

He might say something honest and constructive, but the continued confirmation of Hockey Teamster dishonesty will be appreciated by relieved Taxpayers.

People who do not have symptoms should not be tested for COVID-19. Due to national shortages of lab testing supplies, we do not have an unlimited capacity for testing.

We are currently prioritizing most testing for people who are hospitalized, health care workers, and people living or working in congregate living settings, such as nursing homes and others.

- Minnesota Department of Health

Our key message is: test, test, test'

World Health Organisation.