R.I.P. McCoy Tyner (1938-2020)

Posted in Jazz with tags , , , , on March 7, 2020 by telescoper

I had just got home last night when I heard the sad news of the death at the age of 81 of the brilliant pianist McCoy Tyner. When I was looking through my collection of jazz recordings after hearing about this I was struck by how many of them featured McCoy Tyner, most of them in association with John Coltrane that lasted about five years. Tyner’s style was enormously influential as well as immediately recognizable, especially for the way he used his left hand to punch out chords in much the same way as a right-handed boxer uses his left jab.

Tyner had a very long career as a solo musician and it would be wrong the give the impression that his work with Trane from about 1960 to 1965 was all he did, but when choosing something to share in his memory I kept coming back to that period.

In the end I decided to post a classic piece from the John Coltrane era. This is the title track from the 1961 album My Favorite Things which, as it happens, is one of my favourite things. Coltrane plays soprano sax on this track; apparently he hadn’t played a soprano sax at all until 1960, when Miles Davis bought him one. I like its use on this particularly recording as it gives the performance a very “Eastern” sound.

You might think that a song from The Sound of Music would be unlikely material for John Coltrane to tackle, but in fact he does something extremely interesting with it: the melody is heard numerous times throughout the track, but instead of playing solos over the written chord changes, the soloists improvise over just two chords, E minor and E major, in a manner that seems influenced by Indian music. The whole thing is played in waltz time, but drummer Elvin Jones not only keeps an intense but fluidly swinging pulse going in 3/4 but also does so much around and across that central beat.

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The Spread of the Coronavirus

Posted in Covid-19, Uncategorized with tags , on March 7, 2020 by telescoper

I thought I would share the above graphic because provides a simple yet very effective illustration of why
it is so important to delay the spread of the Coronavirus, and why strict precautions are being taken to achive that.

The primary cause of death for patients suffering from COVID-19, the disease carried by this virus is that inflamation of the lining of the alveoli in the lungs makes it harder for oxygen to diffuse across into the capillaries and for carbon dioxide to diffuse out. As outlined in the report I shared a few days ago, severe cases therefore require treatment that involves being supplied with oxygen via a respirator for a long period, perhaps weeks. The number of available respirators and intensive care units generally is likely to prove the factor that limits the capacity of hospitals to cope.

The situation might be worse in England because the NHS only has about 2.3 hospital beds per thousand of the population so the capacity limit may be hit much earlier. For reference, Ireland is not much better on 2.96, Scotland has 4.2 and Germany has 8; see here for OECD figures from other countries.

Delaying the spread of the virus may prevent health services from being overwhelmed by spreading out the peak in the manner indicated in the diagram even if the total number of cases were not to reduce. Pushing back the bulk of the distribution by weeks or months may also help if the virus is seasonal – it may transmit infection less efficiently during the spring or summer than it does during the winter.

In the light of this it can’t do any harm to share the HSE advice for Ireland again.

Now wash your hands please.

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Building Up Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , on March 6, 2020 by telescoper

I thought I’d share the above picture as part of an occasional series of updates about the new building going up on the North Campus at Maynooth University.

This artist’s impression of what the new building will look like has appeared on the fence surrounding the construction site; you can see cranes and part of the skeleton of the new structure behind the board.

It looks like the Science Building in which I am currently based will be almost completely hidden from the road: it is the building immediately behind the grey rectangular block to the right of the larger brick-coloured edifice which is the main part of the new structure. The road across the middle of the image that divides the North Campus from the South is called Kilcock Road.

Apparently the new building will be opened early in 2021. I look forward to seeing the new development completed!

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From the Inventor of the H-index

Posted in Biographical, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , on March 5, 2020 by telescoper

My third-year students are busily engaged with a Computational Physics class test so I thought I’d occupy myself for a few minutes by sharing an interesting little paper that appeared on the arXiv a few weeks ago. The paper is by Jorge Hirsch, the inventor of the (in)famous H-index.

Here is the abstract:

A magnetic field H is expelled from the interior of a metal becoming superconducting. Everybody thinks the phenomenon is perfectly well understood, particularly scientists with the highest H-index think that. I don’t. I will explain why I believe that without Holes, conceptualized by Heisenberg in 1931 fifty years after Hall had first detected them in some metals, neither magnetic field expulsion nor anything else about superconductivity can be understood. I have been a Heretic in the field of superconductivity for over 30 years, and believe that Hans’ little story about the emperor perfectly captures the essence of the situation. Here is (a highly condensed version of) the wHole story.

You will see that, despite the liberal sprinkling of letters H, the paper isn’t ostensibly about the H-index, but it does contain some interesting comments thereon, including:

I proposed the H-index hoping it would be an objective measure of scientific achievement. By and large, I think this is believed to be the case. But I have now come to believe that it can also fail spectacularly and have severe unintended negative consequences. I can understand how the sorcerer’s apprentice must have felt.

I think the opinion of a scientist about the value of the H-index roughly speaking divides according to whether a said scientist has a big one or a small one. Those lucky enough to have a high H-index probably think it is fine, while those who have a low value can probably find a reason why it is flawed. My own H-index (42 according to Google Scholar) is mediocre, which I reckon is a fair reflection of my status.

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Farewell to Flybe

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on March 5, 2020 by telescoper

It had been on the cards for some time, but last night the airline Flybe collapsed and has now gone into administration. Let me just leave this Twitter announcement made in January by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps here:

It seems that Flybe has gone the inevitable way of every Tory promise.

I had bought a ticket to fly from Dublin to Cardiff at the end of next week as the following week is a study break that includes the St Patrick’s Day holiday. As a result I got this email this morning.

Obviously it’s an inconvenience for me as I’ll have to find another way to get to Cardiff, but I’ll probably get my money refunded by the Chargeback scheme so it’s not such a big deal. The same can’t be said of the 2000 people who worked for Flybe who have now lost their jobs, nor the many others whose livelihoods depended indirectly on this airline who may also lose theirs. The impact on some of the smaller regional airports in the UK will be considerable, although some airlines may well step in and take up some of the demand.

As of last year, almost 80% of flights from Belfast City airport and 95% from Southampton were via Flybe

I think another airline might well take up some of the Belfast routes, but I doubt if the same would be true of Southampton. In a way, it’s a pity that these small mainland regional airports are so important, which is partly because regional train services are so poor and so expensive, but I can’t see that changing.

I have actually used Flybe quite a lot over the last couple of years. For a while I was taking weekly flights between Cardiff and Dublin and the service was generally quite reliable. I feel very sorry for the staff who have lost their jobs and send them my best wishes and hope that they can find alternative employment before too long.

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The WHO-China Report on Corvid-19

Posted in Covid-19, Uncategorized with tags , , on March 4, 2020 by telescoper

As it is a matter of topical and general interest I thought it would be worthwhile sharing the joint World Health Organization – China report on Coronavirus, which you can find here. There is also a discussion thread on Reddit here.

A key figure from this report shows that the number of new cases of Covid-19 has indeed been declining:

The report indicates why and how this has happened. For example, when a cluster of several infected people occurred in China, it was most often (78-85%) caused by an infection within the family transmitted by droplets and other carriers of infection in close contact with an infected person. Transmission by fine aerosols in the air over long distances is not one of the main causes of transmission.

Do read the report. While not being complacent about the scale of the public health challenge, it is a valuable antidote to some of the scaremongering going on.

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Influenza in England – Updated

Posted in Biographical with tags , on March 3, 2020 by telescoper

With all the concern about coronavirus going around this days I was reading an interesting document from Public Health England about seasonal influenza in the UK. This is not the same thing as Covid-19, and it is important not to confuse the two, but there are interesting parallels. I certainly recommend reading the document, which you can find here (PDF, 57 pages).

Here is a particularly interesting (and scary) table about mortality associated with influenza over the last few years:

(The final year 2018/18 is incomplete, hence the lower figures.)

Three things struck me looking at this:

  1. The death rate from seasonal lnfluenza is much higher than I had imagined;
  2. The death rate is highly variable from year to year;
  3. The death rate is dominated by persons over the age of 65.

About a month ago I wrote a post in which I stated that I’d never had a ‘flu jab. After having people describe to me what `normal’ seasonal influenza is like I am bound to say that I don’t think I’ve ever actually had it. I’ve had the odd cold, and things I thought were ‘flu, but nothing with symptoms approaching the severity that people have told me about.

Anyway, back to Covid-19. Mortality so far seems largely to be confined to the elderly, but other than that its parameters are understood far less well and, above all, there is no vaccine (and won’t be for some time). Although people under the age of 65 have a relatively low risk of dying from coronavirus they can still act as vectors that can come into contact with and expose higher risk groups. Covid-19 may not threaten your own life if you’re a healthy 35 year old, but if you get it you could easily become a threat to older folk, or people with pre-existing medical conditions, around you.

In principle, therefore, reducing the rate of transmission through social contact is eminently sensible, although I remain unconvinced about some of the decisions that have been taken recently.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Update: You might find it interesting to read the joint World Health Organization – China report on Coronavirus you can find here.

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Competition set to bristle in Beard of Ireland 2020 poll

Posted in Beards, Biographical on March 3, 2020 by telescoper

The poll for Beard of Ireland 2020 has opened and the winner will be announced on St Patrick’s Day (March 17th).

Owing to an administrative error I am among those nominated and was even in the lead in early voting (I mean after about 5 votes). Now I have fallen back so I fear I may have peaked too soon!

Anyway, please feel free to vote!

 

P.S. That’s not me in the picture.

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front

Press release 2nd March

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

BEARD OF IRELAND 2020 POLL SEES COMPETITION BRISTLING

2019 winner Lee Reynolds

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that competition for the Irish Beard of the Year 2020 is officially open

The 2017 winner was politician Colum Eastwood who bearded broadcaster William Crawley for the annual Award.

In 2018 the DUP’s Lee Reynolds shaved writer Dominic O’Reilly for the honour with Colum Eastwood in a steady third place.

In 2019 Lee Reynolds retained the title

The 2020 winner will be announced to mark St Patrick Day on 17th March

The BLF says that while traditionally a land of predominantly clean-shaven cultures, Ireland has in recent times become something of a centre for stylish and trendy beards.

Contenders for the title in 2020 include a diverse range of the hirsute- footballers, political activists…

View original post 102 more words

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In My Solitude

Posted in Jazz with tags , , , on March 2, 2020 by telescoper

Whether or not you’re in a state of self-isolation because of coronavirus, please give up three and a bit minutes of your time to listen to this little gem by the quartet that was led for a short time by Ruby Braff (cornet) and George Barnes (guitar). That band not only knew how to play but also exactly when to stop, as demonstrated on this exquisite live version of the great Duke Ellington song, In My Solitude. Michael Moore is on bass (arco on parts of this number) and Wayne Wright on rhythm guitar, but it’s Ruby Braff who takes the lead on this one, using his beautiful tone to stunning effect…

 

 

 

 

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Coronavirus Reactions

Posted in Covid-19, Maynooth with tags , , on March 2, 2020 by telescoper

I was having lunch last week when a colleague from another department here stated that he thought that within two weeks that he thought that within a fortnight Maynooth University would be closed down owing to the threat from Covid-19 (the Coronavirus). I’m not sure whether he meant it seriously. At the time I thought that was extremely improbable but this morning we heard that a school in the Dublin area has been closed for two weeks because one of its students has the virus, and now I’m not so sure…

Incidentally, setting aside possible the rights or wrongs decision to close the Dublin school the attempt by the Health Service Executive to keep its name from the public strikes me as utterly daft. Do they seriously think that none of the hundreds of pupils or parents thereof is going to talk about it? I checked on social media this morning and easily found its name. It won’t give people much confidence in the HSE to see them losing sight of reality.

Another reaction to this worldwide health scare became apparent yesterday as the American Physical Society cancelled at very short notice its meeting in Denver due to take place this week. Thousands of delegates were due to attend, and many of them had already arrived when the cancellation announcement was made.

I’m bound to say that I find all this to be quite an overreaction to the threat from Covid-19, but I am not an epidemiologist and I suppose the medical people must know what they are doing. It seems the primary objective at present is to limit the spread of the disease, which makes sense particularly as there is as yet to vaccine. Whether measures like those mentioned above will actually achieve that I don’t know. One has to balance that consideration against the risk of causing panic by giving the impression that things are out of control.

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, as part of my public service responsibility here is the official advert from the Irish Government:

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