The authoritative guide to ensuring science and technology make life on Earth better, not worse.
A pandemic has broken out. It’s just some variety of the flu, but flu is what killed tens of millions of people in 1918 and 1919. You are increasingly alarmed by what you see on the news—the virus has arrived in your country, relatively few individuals are immune, and a high percentage of people who catch the bug take a one-way trip to the graveyard. “This is very serious,” you say. “What can I do to protect myself?”
Sorry—it’s too late for that now. Prep time’s over. At this point the operative issue is to assess what you should have done but did not do:
But again, it’s too late for all that. You’re hungry, thirsty, cold. You never purchased N95 face masks and your cough is getting worse. About the best you can do now is to keep a close eye out for societal collapse. It’s a real concern at this stage of the game, as George Dvorsky of Gizmodo informs us.
Then again, through initiatives such as One Health, it’s possible that the next global pandemic will be prevented. Your lack of foresight might go unpunished after all!
Here’s hoping.
Publication Name: Gizmodo
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Topics: Biosecurity, What We’re Reading