Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Update #1: Responding to my post about the quantum wave function, the consensus among commenters and the twitterati is that Ψ is usually pronounced sigh, though occasionally with a very soft, almost inaudible P sound at the beginning. Please note—as so many of you didn’t!—that we are talking solely about Ψ as it refers to the wave function in quantum mechanics. It is immaterial how it’s pronounced in Greek or in various mathematical contexts. This is for the wave function only, and the sighs have it.

Update #2: Responding to my post about the upcoming COVID-19 boom, several people have reasonably pointed out that it all depends on how people actually respond to reopening orders. It’s possible, for example, that despite our president’s best efforts to kill everyone, people will mostly remain voluntarily locked down and very careful about their interactions with others. If that’s the case, then deaths will probably flatten out, or even decline modestly, rather than spiking upward.

There’s evidence to suggest that this isn’t happening, though. The reopenings are driven both by Trump and by public pressure to end the lockdowns. What’s more, GPS surveys show that people are traveling more. There’s also anecdotal evidence of bigger crowds—though as long as they stay outside this might not be a big problem.

Overall, I still think we’re in for a COVID-19 boom. But it’s possible that the public is smarter than our politicians and will remain cautious. Only time will tell.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate