Braindead Math for Halloween

Tarantino, being a connoisseur of Fake Blood, used several types of Fake Blood in the film Kill Bill II ranging from good splatter to free-flowing blood. According to one fanzine, in this film, Uma Thurman killed 88 opponents with a sword.  So the numbers(above)are in the right ‘blood-soaked’ ballpark. More survival math (The Hunger Games) here.

How the UK Aced Covid, sort of …

London yesterday. Spectators give a spontaneous standing ovation to Oxford Professor Sarah Gilbert (below), who was one of the scientists involved in developing the Astra-Zeneca vaccine and one of 100 key worker special guests on opening day. (The Age, 29 JUN, 2021)

Here are the Covid-19 Vaccination stats for the UK as of yesterday:

BBC, 29 JUN 2021

The UK recorded 22, 868 cases yesterday, but only 3 deaths.

The last time the UK recorded close to 23,000 cases was on 16 December 2020. That day, 613 deaths were announced. (The Age, 29 JUN 2021)

In 2019, in the UK, the total death toll was 616,014 or 1688 per day. Tragically but realistically elderly patients with multiple health issues are more likely to contract Covid and die from complications exacerbated by Covid-19 but not necessarily caused by the virus.

The death toll numbers are now encouragingly low in the UK despite the high infection rates from the highly contagious Covid Delta variant.

UPDATE:

On 9 July 2021, the UK recorded 35,707 cases and 29 Deaths. According to  Worldometer stats  (below), the case numbers and deaths are still rising. Too soon to celebrate even though the UK Freedom Day is only 10 days away.

Death by Chocolate: Yes! Chocolate can kill. But how much would kill you?

 Choco Yum Yum! Mathspig lervs chocolate. But did you know chocolate can kill you?

Chocolate contains a chemical called Theobromine. This alkaloid ( other alkaloids include cocaine, nicotine, caffeine, and strychnine) can kill humans. More info Wired Magazine.

How much chocolate is too much?

Firstly, the darker the chocolate the more Theobromine it contains.

According to About Chemistry based on the highest possible toxicity:

* Vetmedicine: Cooking chocolate contains 8-10 times the Theobromine in Milk Chocolate.

According to Wired large doses of theobromine may cause “nausea and anorexia ….. sweating, trembling and severe headache.”

The Royal Society of Chemistry notes that chocolate does not contain caffeine, but theobromine induces similar symptoms.

LD50 for the lethal dose for 50% of the population for Theobromine is:

1000 mg/kg 0r 1gm/kg of body weight in humans

Death by Chocolate Calculations:

1. FORMULA

2. GRAPH

3. Percentage

Death by Chocolate for DOGS

Chocolate can be fatal to dogs. As dogs are small they can easily eat enough chocolate to kill them. According to The Royal Society of Chemistry

The National Geographic has an amazing interactive chart for dog poisoning by chocolate.

Death by Chocolate for CATS

Chocolate contains a poison called Theobromine.

LD50 for  Theobromine for cats is 200mg.

LD = Lethal Dose. LD50= Lethal Dose for 50% of the population. Cats in this case. This is how poison toxicity is measured. 

According to The Royal Society of Chemistry, cats are hypersensitive to Theobromine but, as cats cannot taste sweetness, they are rarely poisoned.

1 Year COVID-19 … some curious stats

Mathspig has tracked the Covid 19 Stats through the Worldometer tracker and calculated the AVERAGE NO. DEATHS per day at the 50, 60, 70, 80, 100 , 200 DAY mark …

and now at the 1 YEAR mark.

 

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New York Times article here.

BBC article here.

DAY 200 Covid-19 .. some curious stats

Mathspig has been tracking the Covid 19 Stats through the Worldometer tracker and calculating the AVERAGE NO. DEATHS per day at the 50, 60, 70, 80,, 100 and now, the 200 DAY mark. The average is still rising which, as the average started low, is not good news. What can I say? Mask Up, folks. 

MATHSPIG is reporting in from lockdown in MELBOURNE, Australia, where mask-wearing outdoors is now compulsory, there is an 8pm-5am curfew and travelling more than 5km from your residence is banned.

Day 100 Covid-19 .. Some Curious Stats

Day 100 of World Wide Covid-19 data.

 

Finally, the New York Times published graphs that show the severity of the Coronavirus death rate compared with average weekly death rates. Here is the graph for New York City, which shows during the peak of the Covid-19 Crisis there were 6,000 more deaths per week than expected from the average weekly death rate, which was approx. 1,000.

The death rate was 6 times the average death rate. That is a terrifying statistic and explains why we are all in lockdown or are slowly coming out of lockdown. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world death tolls are still increasing.

Excellent Covid-19 stats update here.

 

Day 80 Covid-19 .. Some Curious Stats

Many statisticians are using 3-day and 7-day averages to track the Covid-19 death and infection rates worldwide. 

 

Mathspig is using the total average of deaths per day since stats were first published from 22 JAN 2020. When this average drops … that will be a sign for cautious optimism. But not yet!!!!

Excellent Covid-19 stats update here.

 

DAY 70 Covid-19 .. some CURIOUS Stats

Excellent Covid-19 stats update here.

If no preventative measures were taken by governments around the world then we could have been looking at a Plague Worse Case Scenario here.