Day One Hundred and Forty-five

Feest Isolation Days – 6 August

The poor people of Beirut have been slammed by an explosion that even seasoned war reporters are finding difficult to take in. Over 4000 people have been injured with a reported hundred deaths and another hundred people missing.  Initial reports suggest that the cause was an accident. Massive amounts of explosives were stored at the Port and the building they were in went up in a mushroom like cloud.  It sends shivers down the spine.  There is too much tragedy about isn’t there?

Not tragic at all but at least of interest to some, the Football Association has decreed any footballer deliberately coughing on someone else on the pitch will be immediately red carded.  Is this a thing?  Coughing on other players?   Why did they feel they needed to bring this rule in?  The players are all tested twice a week so they are all thought to be not infectious when they play.  Coughing at people should definitely be red carded outside of football.  Maybe the FA are helping youngsters to see right from wrong?

Speaking of seeing, the UK, US and Australian Scientists have used satellite technology to trace and count Emperor Penguins.  They have discovered that there are nearly twice as many in Antarctica as they had previously thought there were. A good news story! Still its filled with some poo…The scientific data relies on finding Emperor Penguin colonies by locating big brown patches on the pristine ice.  These brown patches are guano, poo by another name.  The brown spots enable the scientists to work out how many penguins there are! 

Another use for poo may be coming a little closer to home.  Testing our sewers seems to be a useful way of discovering where patches of covid are lurking.  Health authorities can test the sewers and spot hidden clusters of coronavirus even before people have become aware they are infected.   When a high incidence of the virus is found in waste water the health authorities can begin testing in a specific area.  The Australians are using this approach to supplement other means of tracing the virus.

Some days life is filled with a great deal of poo.  Fortunately for us, even poo isn’t always all bad news.  Just as well as there does seem to be a lot of it around at the moment.

With love

Kathy x