Reading Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Reading Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

I wonder if Neil DeGrasse Tyson realized

 he has also written for an Alzheimers patient.

Most people are familiar with what the Greeks taught us:

EARTH, WATER, AIR, FIRE.

In his first chapter Dr. DeGrasse tells us the rest of the story.

Chapter One: The Greatest Story Even Told

In the first chapter its all about:

SPACE, MATTER, ENERGY

At the beginning the three components of the Universe were present,

"in a volume less than one-trillionth the size of the period that ends this sentence."

"The Universe was so HOT the basic forces of the Universe 

that collectively describe the universe were unified."

This small volume could only expand causing the Big Bang.

What would the Ancient Greek philosophers thought of this science?

Leucippus and Democritus would have been receptive. 

What does the modern American think of this science?

I have always loved physics.  

As an Alzheimers patient my math skills are gone but DeGrasse 

brings this information to me in way I can understand 
and enjoy with wondrous amazement. 

DeGrasse continues with:

Einstein tells us about "gravity which in the presence of 

energy and matter 

curves the fabric of space and time."

"Quantum mechanics tells about the small universe:

atoms, molecules and sub-atomic particles." 

DeGrasse says we are still trying to figure out a unified concept of the two.

However in the present,
 Astrophysicists apply both concepts with no problem.

The interplay of :

 matter (sub-atomic particles)

and 

energy (Photons)
(massless vessels of light energy 
that are as much waves as they are particle)

was incessant.


"The universe was hot enough for these photons to spontaneously convert their energy into matter-antimatter particle pairs which immediately thereafter annihilate, returning their energy back to photons.Yes antimatter is real."

"The universe was a seething soup of
quarks 
leptons and their antimatter siblings along with
bosons."

"The ordinary photon is a member of the boson family'

Leptons are the electrons and maybe the neutrino.

"there are no familiar quarks...quarks have fractional charges that come in thirds"

As the cosmos continued to cool and expand...the temperature dropped rapidly below a trillion degrees Kelvin"

No longer "hot enough or dense enough to cook quarks"

A "new family of heavy particles was created called hadrons"

"This transition soon resulted in the emergence of protons and neutrons."

"By now one second of time has passed"

 since the Big Bang.

I think I will leave it there for now as I am getting tired and I don't want to make mistakes. 

How to get rid of the sudden flare anger you experience with Alzheimers

In my Episcopal Men's Group this morning we were talking about how importance forgiveness is for the world.

I shared my personal experience with having increased flare of anger with my Alzheimers.

Through life I always internalized feelings from bad (and good)  experiences to process my feelings in a rational method.  My therapist said I intellectualized them?

Now with my wife I am ashamed to say, I let her push my button simply by looking after me.
All that fussing accelerates my angry to a bad level and often she is tired and just addressing issues  that she believes are important.

Anger is a problem with Alzheimers.
I am still learning about it.
After my concussion I was more depressed and that was a problem for my anger control.
Frustration and Stress will bring anger out as well.
I try not to talk  to business people on the phone because they don't answer my question and go on a tangent.
I then speak louder and repeat my question.

I am doing much better now.
I try to be mindful to just accept her suggestions.
She is trying is disengage when she sees I am getting upset and louder.

In the group a man over 80 had a similar experience with a manager he knows well.
He wanted a refund for the month of gym membership, when the gym was closed during the COVID lockdown.
The manager asked why he was getting so loud after the manager said there was no refund.
The octogenarian didn't realize he appeared anger or was raising his voice.
He was chagrined as that is now how he acts in private or public.
He asked me if he had Alzheimers.
I said no.
I said you are just a grumpy old man.

Truth is who knows?
Should he bother with serial cognitive testing at his age?
His choice.

I suspect he has the memory loss associated with aging. 

Something new that I have not done.




I will try to find out if anyone in Kansas does the test.

Philosopher Charles Berkeley predicted the Matrix movie

Berkeley was born in 1685 near Kilkenny, Ireland and 
he is the first to imagine a Matrix movie reality.


Above Ben Johnson about to kick a cat to refute Charles Berkeley theory of the Matrix universe. 












My Episcopal Men's group is reading:

A Pilgrimage To Eternity
From Canterbury to Rome in search of a faith.

by Timothy Egan

We reviewed chapters 30 and 31 this morning on Zoom. 

p292
"At the cathedral of Santa Margherita...there is a crypt of
Saint Lucia Filipini"

She died in 1732.
Her body has not decayed. 
She was pronounced:
"incorruptible"

The author Tim Eagan said there are 300 reliquaries in Europe.

On his Via Francigena Pilgrimage he had seen many of these glass coffins in church with bodies of Saints.
  He was never impressed.  
However now near the end of his journey he is astonished by the preservation of this 300 plus year old body.
He starts taking photos of the eye as it blinks at him.
Later when he visits again with his wife the body is not blinking.  
He said he has photos. 
She says I will believe you if you want me to.

What is happening here? 
We discuss in the Men's group.
We are Episcopalians and we considered ourselves rational and science based. 

We have discussed the reality of miracles many times.
Some in the group don't believe in the Trinity.
If Jesus is God why does he have to pray to himself. 
I argue you lack imagination. 

I continue my usual rant that I am a science fiction fan. 
I also have studied quantum theory.
I was surprised to find out that outer space is not just a vacuum.
Outer space in filled with energy particles. 

Science can quantify energy but they they really don't know what it is. 

Foundation of science is not ironclad just because the math formulas are so impressive. 

I told the group I always tried to explain what "truth" is to my prior wives as I was trying to get out of something I had done.  
They know I am a Brooklyn wise guy and laugh.

I talked about Charles Berkeley mentioned above.  My friends are mostly engineers and never heard of him. 
I learned about him in Philosophy 101 at Brooklyn College.  A free city college. 

Berkeley claimed the physical reality that you believe to be true based on your five senses is not the ultimate reality. 




"I refute him thus" link






Clearly we now know that
Berkeley's God is the giant computer complex shown in the movie series The Matrix. 

Religious people take the BLUE PILL.



I am trying to take the Blue pill as I try to build my faith in God. 

However I am a de facto  Red pill taker due to my scientific background.  

To take Berkeley's side I suggest a Purple pill.

The ultimate truth is your feelings. 

No one can prove your feelings are not real.

They are your personal experience.
 No one can argue about the fact you are experiencing them.

The group then talks about personal religious experiences. 

I am talking about the feeling of love. 

God is Love. 

Conference with financial advisor on phone today

My financial advisor invested $4,000 into index funds when
 I thought the markets were as low as they were going to be.

Made $1,000 in one month as markets went back up.

I write this again to show how Alzheimers is not so bad in the first 2.5 years for me. 

Despite having AZ I called the stock market  link

I made a 25% profit in one month.

I have predicted 500,000 COVID deaths by Nov 3

Check out these predictions and make your own:

April 30, 2020 link

May 19, 2020 link

May 22, 2020  link

May 25, 2020 link

Making Financial decisions in recession w AZ

This is letter to our financial advisors. 

1. How much did I invest when the market was low?

2. How much gain did I make on those investments?

3.I regret not buying oil when it was below zero. 

 Would that had been possible?

4. Did we only buy index funds or were there individual stocks included in the buys?

5. With reopening this weekend I think there will be a surge of deaths and 

eventual dip in the market ahead of us.   

Do you have a plan ready for when the market hits bottom again?  

6. Do I have any bonds maturing within the next six months?

7. Are there any stocks that might go bankrupt.  Should we sell them off now?

8. What are our 5 strongest stocks right now?

9. Are there any stocks that are higher than before the crash?

My wife thanked me for the help in making the questions. 

This is why I am no longer waiting till I forget I have Alzheimers.

It doesn't matter since I can still mentally function at a high level in certain areas.  

Certainly not math however. 

This is why I write this blog.

To give people diagnosed with Alzheimers hope. 

I was diagnosed in Dec. 2017

First Family Reunion in 4 months since COVID

After four months in Florida we arrived home on May 21. 

Today May25, we had a reunion with Ginger two adult children in our garage as it was raining. 




We were in the garage 6 feet apart, no masks, with two fans blowing air in and one fan blowing air out.  We had take out but nothing shared and with plastic utensils.

We maintained good discipline. 


My son-in-law is a lawyer so I posed my COVID question. 

How many Covid deaths do you predict by Nov 3 and what will be the effect on the election?

He came up with a good prediction of 250,000 deaths and that Trump will still be elected.  

We had a good discussion as that is close to the number I predicted 167 days before the election. 

Deaths now:




















I told him I am now prepared to make a higher prediction after seeing how re-opening is going belo






My new prediction is 500,000 USA deaths  by Nov 3, 2020 Election Day
unless there is a National Lock down or a vaccine.

Need National Plan
3 T's 
Testing 
Tracing 
Treatment

4 excellent movies for COVID shut down

The best movies I have watched during my COVID  shut down.

#1 THE QUIET PLACE

Most innovative and
had me by the seat of my pants the whole movie. 












#2. Knives Out

Great murder mystery 



If you pay close attention the clues are there




#3 The Good Liar





If you are at a poker table and you don't know who the sucker is, 
it is you.




#4 Richard Jewel




A good man, a hero attacked by media and FBI

A cautionary tale for all of us. 

Campaign to fight COVID19 death numbness

Good site to follow daily USA deaths link



I believe the date to focus on is Election Day.

My estimate for how many deaths from Covid 19 there will be: 

263, 000 deaths by Election Day link

My Doctor son looked at the graphs to make his prediction:





His prediction was higher than mine as 
I made mine a low ball estimate. 

I went over the subject with my Lawyer son this morning.
He likes politics and has been following the COVID 19 story.

After a minute of thought he guessed 250,000. 
He had not seen our numbers. 
I said that is very good. 

The Media should put up a screen with the date:

Election Day November 3, 2020

Estimated Deaths: (number changes with time)

Todays Deaths:

A daily posting my decrease numbness about COVID 19 deaths and its effect on the election.

Presently there is no National Plan for the 3Ts
Testing 
Tracing 
Treatment

How many deaths will it take to get a National Plan?

Small step for Mankind Big Step for Alzheimer's patient

These numbers are why we left Florida for Kansas 

Numbers from May 25, 2020








Account of our 2 day journey started on May 20 below: Mission Control we have landed in Topeka on schedule. 

Part II : Escape from Covid19  infested Florida to Kansas. 

I believe Mission Accomplished for an Alzheimer's patient. 

Trying times for everyone during this epidemic. 

Especially for my wife and I since I was diagnosed with AZ in 12/2017.

We made a detailed plan to return to Kansas.  
We SUCCEEDED!
We wanted to leave Florida before Hurricane season begins in June. We already had Hurricane Arthur pass by us. 

On Weds we woke up at 5:00 AM after a good night of sleep. 
We started our drive at 6:30 AM.


We drove 800 miles over 13 hours on Day One to get to Nashville
We made only one gas stop.
All our meals, snacks and beverages were in the car.   We stayed at Double Tree, Hilton in downtown Nashville. 
Very nice. No one had stayed in our room the day before. 
No pens or paper or magazines in the room. 
I brought a bottle of wine to our room.  
The desk said they could not find a wine bottle opener. 
I was worried as our nerves were frayed by each other in the last hour of travel.  We were tired and argumentative.
Ginger said there was no bar.  
I went down to get some more soda and look again.
There was a bar she missed.  No one was at the bar but a bartender. 
I asked him if I could bring my bottle down for him to open. 
He said he would look in the back for a wine bottle opener. 
Two minutes later he brought me a cheap 2 part opener. 
I gave him a dollar tip and he was very appreciative. 
Note to self: always pack a wine bottle opener. 
We had stopped doing that because of  security check ins not allowing them.
I enjoyed watching TV news and catching up on internet. 
Good night, great bed to sleep on. 


On Day Two we left Nashville at 7:30 AM.
We arrived in Topeka at 5:30 PM 613 miles later. 
No traffic driving out of Downtown but crowded slow traffic coming in.  
That morning we filled our tank with 18.8 gallons at our
second gas stop as we drove out of Nashville.

I have never planned and logged my trips so thoroughly before. 

We had help in the planning but we carried it out. 
In Atlanta our old GPS from our old 2004 Lexus was wrong about some exit ramps connecting highways as they had new construction.  That was nerve racking for us in heavy Al

I tell this story as a message as hope. 

Just because you have Alzheimers does not mean you can't make goals and achieve them.

Part one: Escape from Florida

Part one:  Escape from Florida

I had not driven for four months in Florida as we had my wife's car. 
I had no difficulty helping her with strenuous drive home.

 After 13 hours of driving we arrived at our first stop in Nashville, TN from Jensen Beach, Florida.

800 miles in 13 hours.

We stopped for gas once.  15 minute stop.

My wife urinated at the gas station in Valdosta, GA.

No one wore masks except my wife.

We spent 5 minutes to change drivers once.

We made a schedule and a goal and we achieved it.

I am 67 with Alzheimers and my wife is 70 year old.

We are very proud of ourselves.

Tomorrow we drink another 12 hours to get home to Topeka and our dog Haven.

How many COVID 19 DEATHS BY NOV. 3?

TOTAL USA DEATHS TODAY MAY 19, 2020 

At 6:15 PM

93,347

I made a prior prediction on April 30  link and came close.

How many deaths will it take to defeat President Trump in the election?

The election is in 169 days.

My low ball prediction is 263,000 deaths with re-opening for Nov 3, 2020 

Covid 19 will not have a decrease in deaths till 
a vaccine or until the states order stay at home orders again. 


As an Infectious Disease doctor, I believe the 48 state Governors that are re-opening now are delusional. 
Wishful magical thinking. 
Irresponsible to say let's see what happens.


However most polls  show 60% of people 
still do not feel safe to go out. 

We must have testing, tracing and treatment.
We need a national plan now to prevent 200,000 USA DEATHS

The 3 T's National Plan link

Wharton Model link

"With a partial reopening, the model forecasts, the death toll will rise to 173,000 people. A full reopening would result in 231,000 deaths. If all the states reopened without adhering to social distancing guidance, that number leaps to 293,000.

While these numbers are large, they represent a revision downward from Wharton’s previous forecast of 350,000. They are also much larger than other models."

May 15,  decision to drive home instead not fly. link

We are all packed up except for cold items to go in cooler. 

At 67 with Alzheimers and 70 year old wife we made ambitious plans. 

Jensen beach to Nashville in 12 hours.

Next morning Nashville to Topeka. 12 hours. 

Best laid plans of mice and men. 

I wanted to leave on a plane on March 16 link

However family had us cancel our plane tickets link

Wish us luck.

What I miss in Kansas Covid 19

In late March our family told us not to fly home. We cancelled our flight.

We have done well in Florida on the beach.
Did a lot of walking.
Stay busy with my hobbies including movies, TV politics, Twitter and blogging and working on my Year 3 book:  Pursuit of Happiness with Alzheimers.
Despite a Concussion with Post Concussion Syndrome I actually believe stay at home with little stress has improved my mental status.

I missed:

1- 85 inch Samsung TV

2- Newfoundland dog

3- fully stocked bar.

4- DVD collection and library

5-The natural social distancing with my wife.  She is on the first floor , I am in the basement.

6- My Subaru car to go grocery shopping 2 times a week.


Ginger says she misses being closer to family although she says right now it doesn't matter.

I don't believe that.

Just today she asked if her niece could color her hair before we leave.

I said absolutely not.  She want me to sit next to you in the car for 2 days after you do that.

I know she will make similar requests to sit outside with her family.

I will tell her they can sit outside, while you look at them from the inside through a window.

Hong Kong Flu 1969 at Woodstock?

Brian Edwards	10:19 AM (0 minutes ago)
to Luke, azmd@aol.com, Kevin, William, Andrew, Bruce, Luke, Mark, Ginger, Noreen

Woodstock was in summer. 

Misleading claim about Woodstock link

"A vaccine was soon developed — in August 1969, not long after Woodstock — but the news of a cure didn’t get much media attention either."

CDC data link

Covid deaths as of today.  link