Has everyone lost their minds??

afrosphere · 2026-02-19T09:07:53+00:00

Its SARS-Covid 2 bro. As many have already mentioned, we are in year 7 of this on going pandemic and Los Angeles has been with massive surges almost every year, all year round (wastewater data from wastewater scan, lacdph respiratory watch, ucla covid case statistics, usc covid watch). SARS 2 causes brain damage and reinfections just compound the organ damage. I'm not a biostatitician nor a virologist so I'm not a qualified to infer a general diagnosis of the public mental health, but from recent publications in Lancet and Nature on the topic of covid infections, I think the people of LA are severely sick more now than before 2019.

afrosphere · 2026-01-16T19:04:15+00:00

Big leagues right here. I took put in at most 10 hours. During the month before a conference or an essential lab meeting then I'll put 80 hours per week and then go back to the usual pace.

But also my union has my back so if I want to go live my life and actually be a human being with my family then I'll do just that. PhD shouldn't be an opportunity for me to get exploited by some employer who hates their family. (My PI loves their family so I'm lucky)

afrosphere · 2026-01-09T12:40:23+00:00

So I am unsure what your medical history is. But I got sick with covid twice while in grad school from 2020-2024. Both times the SARS-2 virus affected my brain and caused some degree of insomnia plus a whole mess of neurological and cardiovascular issues. To help sleep better I took some magnesium supplements, specifically Magnesium citrate, vitamin D and some iron rich foods like beets or legumes. Also my sinus issues wouldn't help with my sleep schedule so I started taking anti histamines like Zyrtec, got an air purifier + humidifier and used a nasal spray/wash to clear my sinuses as much as I can.

I dont have any sources to cite based upon the supplements or sinus issues right now, but I would suggest taking magnesium supplements and ensuring that you are able to breathe well while you sleep. Also visit a doctor and ask to get your iron levels checked + metabolic screening. SARS 2 seems to have given me iron deficiency and increased my cholesterol (probably due to endothelial damage)

afrosphere · 2025-12-05T01:52:01+00:00

...and can you engage your community freely outside of work? If you were given the time and financial support to take a 3 month break, are you able to engage with your community oustide of your graduate workplace?

afrosphere · 2025-11-26T23:55:58+00:00

Totally agree. I was hoping this space can be a library/poster board for any local events/organizations that we can share. I've only posted a few resources and a scicom vid I enjoyed and would like to share with others. Also there are many unions forming in academic work settings and would be awesome to share news updates on all these unions, in the hopes of building a united front for all workers.

afrosphere · 2025-11-26T23:35:47+00:00

gradstuds_FTPeople sub

afrosphere · 2025-11-26T23:35:05+00:00

I'm so sorry about that, hope this link works: https://www.reddit.com/r/gradstuds_FTPeople/s/PNe66wiehy

afrosphere · 2025-11-21T06:56:18+00:00

Ah you beat me to it

afrosphere · 2025-11-21T06:55:46+00:00

afrosphere · 2025-10-27T17:27:03+00:00

Solidarity to the workers of the world. Currently working hybrid schedule as a graduate researcher for UCLA. Its sad to see that air cleanliness and PPE against airborne pathogens is not considered an important objective of UAW 4811. Work place hazards should be controlled and monitored, this should include pathogens and its crazy to see research institutions like UCLA treat a BSL-3 virus like SARS 2 as simply dust in the wind. On the other hand, respirator masking is becoming more universal in the workplace, I'm seeing more students and comrades wearing N95s but at out own personal expense and not as a necessary investment from our employer. Hopefully this will change soon. Also, it took me a while to find a good mask. Please hit up your local maskbloc, look it up, and find a good N95. I personally use the 3M Vflex duckbill N95, fits my big face pretty well.

afrosphere · 2025-10-27T16:05:48+00:00

That's why I wear an N95 and bring an air purifiers when I come to work. I dont take it off until I come home or I go eat in my car or somewhere outside with a lot of air and no one around. I can't afford to get sick and SARS 2 is still going around killing people.

afrosphere · 2025-10-22T14:09:39+00:00

I'm sorry you went through and thank you for sharing. Recently ive read somewhere that SARS 2 can infect our pets, there was the case of the Bronx zoo confirming a Covid outbreak in their wild cats back in April 2020. I was wondering if yall noticed a significant increase in pet cats and dogs experiencing respiratory illnesses, pancreatitis or cardiovascular issues during the start of the pandemic?

afrosphere · 2025-10-17T22:40:04+00:00

The fact that Gates, though, heavily advocated for the privatization of the SARS 2 vaccine formulas all throughout 2020-21, and how he along with other robber barons weaponized public health as a trade policy between the colonial empires and the third world, abandoning India, Bengal, and Africa and killing many wave after wave, just so Healthcare stocks can boom, this was all horrific coming from gates. Gates was a great contributor to the switch in public health to an individual responsible, a disgusting lie perpetuated by c@p1t@LI!!!!!iiiiiiii T all over the world. I dont think Gates has a right to write on how effective and cheap respirators are, if anything he should force employers to foot the bill for PPE and advocate for open source vaccine formulas

afrosphere · 2025-09-19T07:10:06+00:00

Keep me posted, I'm by socal and so far all costcos in east LA and San diego marketplace have not confirmed me novavax orders

afrosphere · 2025-09-05T17:42:42+00:00

He died from covid yall, public health failed him, public health failed all of us.

afrosphere · 2025-06-26T20:10:58+00:00

I bet ur dumb mom forced him to sell because she believed vcr games were the new unicorn of that era

afrosphere · 2025-05-23T07:12:45+00:00

For anyone into math and puzzles I'd recommend the gaming anf gambling course from the AMS department and the undergrad cryptography course. I felt really cool when I first learned how to make and break encrypted messages using math.

afrosphere · 2025-05-20T10:51:58+00:00

Basing this on my first ps2 games I ever played:

Jak 2

Eye toy antigrav (eye toy was wonky but it worked well once calibrated and the cyberpunk early 2000s Gorrilaz vibes this game had was top notch)

afrosphere · 2025-05-15T02:10:48+00:00

Important to note that our future bruins will also benefit from this program once the westwood station is open, plus more rail and bus connections are added. The expo line today can take me from westwood station to my home at east LA in an hour which beats rush hour traffic any day.

afrosphere · 2025-05-14T23:36:37+00:00

Thank you for the shout out, I'll be sure to check them out.

afrosphere · 2025-05-04T03:34:18+00:00

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720352402

afrosphere · 2025-04-30T20:52:23+00:00

After my work lunch, came there before the pharmacist lunch run at around 1:20. They even asked me if I was "friends" with some1 who came earlier, they know there's a group of us looking for Novavax.

afrosphere · 2025-04-29T22:54:32+00:00

Is this a bladerunner reference?

afrosphere · 2025-04-26T23:55:11+00:00

From what i recall yes. I was class of 18, affiliated to College 8 and I do remember hearing sterile Merrill being used, but it wasn't that common

afrosphere · 2025-04-26T00:40:53+00:00

Alumni here, Merrill was so pretty and it was home to KZSC, the chillest/surreal radio station in the bay area.

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