I've been sick this week, which has been a bummer. I made my vlogbrothers video and attended a few TB-related meetings and went to one evening event (I'm not contagious), but other than that, I've been in bed. I'm lucky that for me, bed is a comfortable place (I often work from bed even when I'm feeling hale and hearty), but still, it's exhausting to be exhausted. Illness, which has been a central theme of my work and also of my life, is often looked past in part because we can't recall it with much clarity.

When I am feeling well, I don't really remember what it was like to feel poorly. But when I'm sick, there's very little else to feel—my head hurts and I'm tired and those are the predominant experiences of my present tense. So I take my medicine and worry I won't get better and hope that I will—which I guess are the other predominant experiences of illness for me: Worry and hope, the twin poles around which my life spins. Here's to worry being needless and hope being rewarded.

John

Scientists can make an enormous difference in the world.

Take the researcher Sarah Gilbert, who has dedicated her career to developing vaccines. Over the last two decades, she has contributed to vaccines against the flu, MERS, Nipah virus, and Rift Valley fever. When she heard about the outbreak in China in January 2020, she began working on a vaccine, just in case. By the end of that year, the vaccine against COVID-19 was approved, saving an estimated 6.3 million lives in the following year alone. Without this effort, we would have faced a much darker reality, marked by lockdowns, overwhelmed health systems, and widespread suffering.

This chart lists many such scientists whose work saved many people’s lives. The estimates are taken from the web publication Science Heroes, where you can find profiles of these scientists.

It’s difficult to estimate the exact difference particular innovations have made, and I take all such estimates with a grain of salt. None of these scientists did their work in isolation; their innovations were achieved thanks to collaborative efforts and the earlier work of other researchers.

Our team spends much of its time counting deaths, but it’s equally important to know the number of lives saved — even though it is harder to estimate and involves much larger uncertainty. It’s inspiring to be reminded that creative, enterprising, and tenacious people can enormously contribute to our lives.

Something big happened in 1934—but whether it was good or bad depends on who you ask. In this episode of Crash Course Native American History, we’ll unpack the ins and outs of the Indian Reorganization Act, the first piece of legislation that tried to right the wrongs of the U.S. government against Native Americans, and its ninety-year-long legacy.

Hank, Sarah, and Kallie Moore (from PBS Eons) are taking turns “blind ranking” a set of animals! Let's find out which beast you would let teach kindergarten.

I hate math (by Donut Dog Games)

SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress)

Download Gubbins on iOS or Android!

If you post your results on social media, we’d love it if you post a link for folks to subscribe to “We’re Here” (https://werehere.beehiiv.com/subscribe)

Last week, we asked to meet your beans from Hank’s new app, Focus Friend! We hope your pal is helping you take time to focus on what’s important to you.

You can download Focus Friend on iOS or Android!

Like a leaf fluttering earthbound, autumn softly slips into our ether and beckons us to pause, inhale, and take care of ourselves. Steep a spiced tea and feel its warmth bloom from the inside out. Light a rich, sweet candle and watch its glow chase shadows from the corners of the room. Lather a cinnamon-citrus soap and breathe in a fragrance that is equal parts comfort and brightness.

The Autumn Harvest Collection from Good Store gathers these simple rituals into one seasonal embrace—three ways to savor the fleeting beauty of fall, and to make even the smallest moments feel like something worth savoring. Get the bundle here!

Good Store's Autumn Bold tea has us feeling fall in full swing. We’d love for you to get inspired and write a poem about what this time of year (and the changing of seasons) means to you. If you’re reading from the southern hemisphere, feel free to make it a springtime ode instead!

Send your seasonal poem to [email protected].