MEMORIES

  From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

          DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14        4142    15512         1151        189       712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar     2        1989     9490        1726       110      194

April   6         906     11787         4211       631       37

May    4         853    13667        3025      3786      59 

June   1         287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July   7          251      8440        1595         817     411

Aug    4          656    10120        1118         532     423 

Sept  22       2228      9326          839        279     124

Oct    6         2102      8255          543        315       59

Nov   3         1436      7830         186         458       23

Dec    1        1633      8475          266        477       28

Jan    7         2025      6729         148        285      140

       28          2732   10,516         779        862      133

Feb  2           2990   12,012         946        991      175

      24           1823     9,809        996        304       40

Mar     2        1778     7,756         335        173        28

           3        1258      7654         594         201       41

           9        1265      6819         652         104       31

         10        1247      6847         559         255       25

Summary:

• On first glance, this looks like a plateauing, not a decline.
• However, save for countries like South Korea with 327,532 new cases yesterday and Germany with 300,270 new cases, the world mostly seems to be getting better.
• The USA, for example, only had 38,038 new cases yesterday.  
• We did, however, have the most new deaths with 1247, double that of Russia with 665.
• When I show this table of new deaths next week, for sure, the U.S. number will be lower, much lower.  And probably 98% or higher will be those who are unvaccinated.
• As I've been showing for years, the actual number of COVID cases are much higher, for asymptomatic cases are mostly not reported.  Well, apparently the number of deaths has been unreported by a factor of THREE!

COVID-19 Deaths Likely Three Times Higher Than Official Records

Exactly two years after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, a report in The Lancet showed that 18.2 million people have probably died because of it. Researchers at Washington University studied excess death data in 191 countries to arrive at what they term the “true global death figure.” Excess deaths varied drastically by country, with the study putting the global average at 120 deaths per 100,000. Figures were worse in developing countries, with Bolivia, Bulgaria and Eswatini topping the list. At the other end of the spectrum, Iceland, Australia and Singapore escaped the pandemic most lightly. (Source: BBC)

About the Russia vs Ukraine war, it is appearing that Western sanctions are taking a toll:

• The ruble has declined by 40%.  This means imports cost 40% more.  I guess China will gain, for their exports to Russia will garner 40% more.
• Russian public opinion is become such a problem that Putin is fighting two wars:  one in Ukraine and one at home.
• Elite discontent is unusual in Putin's Russia, and could become a serious problem for him.
• Putin's greatest concern is a palace coup.
• While many companies have pulled out of Russia, risking their assets to be nationalized by Putin, some prominent ones continue to operate there, like Marriott, Hyatt, Citi and Halliburton.
• Maybe most important for the USA, the $14 billion aid to Ukraine bill was attached to a $1.5 trillion spending package funding the federal government through September as a bipartisanship victory.
• Republicans got all the defense budget it wanted, a 6% increase from last year.
• Democrats got most of what it wanted, and although the $15.6 billion COVID aid package was stripped, there was some indication that this would later pass as a spend alone item.

There will be a 162-game Major League Baseball season, as agreement was reached.

• Season will start on April 7.
• The post-season will be expanded to 12 teams.
• There will be a universal designated hitter.
• More advertising patches can be worn on jerseys and decals on helmets.  Players will more and more look like NASCAR and the PGA.
• There are 200 free agents who now will need to swiftly find teams and sign contracts over the next few weeks.
• A year ago many were predicting that this season would be scuttled, so this is a big victory for players, owners, fans, the media and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

My topic of the day has to do with super memory on one end of the spectrum, and my memory, which is pretty much on the other end.  The scientific term for someone with a photographic memory is hyperthymesia, or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM).  Very rare, for only about 60 people in the world have been diagnosed with this condition.  But the question is what exactly is photographic memory.

There is a relation to autism.  Remember the 1988 movie Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman?  Scored 89/90 on Rotten Tomatoes.  Hoffman was an autistic savant.

Remember Marilu Henner of Taxi?  She can recall her whole life.  Watch this video.

Brought back memories, so I went one step further and found my favorite episode, Elegant Iggy, where Father Jim (he's the guy in the bottom right corner) plays a piano and entertains a cultured audience.  Anyway, read about Marilu's condition.

Another term used is eidetic memory, which is different from photographic memory:

There is a definite difference between eidetic and photographic memory. Everyone has an eidetic memory. However, this memory lasts less than one second for most people, no more than a few seconds for others. Photographic memory is the ability to recall an image for a much longer period.

Science has NEVER found a single verifiable case of true photographic memory.  Well, maybe one, as you can read here.   There have been notions of people in the past with this talent, essentially a mix of hyperthymesia and eidetic memory.

• 
  Born in 1452, Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath.  You already know a lot about him.
• German astronomer Johannes Kepler around 1600 explained the laws of planetary motion.   Science is now up to confirming just about exactly 5000 exoplanets, most found by the Kepler Space Observatory.
• Leonhard Euler in the 1700's was able to repeat the Aeneid of Virgil from beginning to end without hesitation.  He was a Swiss mathematician who was said to be among the greatest in all of history.
• 
  Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor who lived for 89 years, and became famous because he was the musical director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937-1954.  He played the cello.  His daughter Wanda married pianist Vladimir Horowitz.
• C.S. Lewis, said to be the best read man of his generation, remembered everything he read.  He was born in 1895, and you might have read his Chronicles of Narnia (sold 100 million copies in 41 languages), which became a movie.  Said to be the most influential Christian apologist.  Seven years ago I posted on Sigmund Freud vs C.S. Lewis:  Is there a God?

• 
  Serbian Nikola Tesla, never had any formal education, but spoke eight languages,  He emigrated to the U.S. 1885 and has been credited with a whole range of technological advances in electricity and robotics.  Had more than 300 patents, including one for a death ray.  He worked for Edison and is singularly responsible for General Electric.  Never slept more than 2 hours/night, spent 48 hours in a stretch at a gaming table, was a proponent of eugenics and usually walked 8-10 miles/day.  Musk name his car after this prodigious genius.
• 
  Indonesian president from 1945 to 1967 was Sukarno, who was a civil engineer.  He knew a whole lot of languages and had perhaps marriages, one to bar hostess Naoko Memoto, who became Dewi Sukarno.  He was the father of Indonesian independence.
• You might remember German actor Klaus Kinski, who in the 1900's acted in over 130 films, from Spaghetti Westerns to Nosferatu to Jesus.  While brilliant, he also had some mental health problems.
• Akira Haraguchi of Japan was born in 1946 and holds the unofficial world record for reciting 100,000 digits of pi in 16 hours.

• 
  In many ways, American author Jill Rosenberg Price, born in 1965, is the first person to be diagnosed with hyperthymesia.  She can recite the details of every day in her life from when she was 14.  While she appears to be somewhat normal, her brain apparently resembles people with obsessive compulsive disorder

Here is an article that indicates how you can gain an eidetic-type memory:

10 Ways to Develop a Photographic Memory

1. Train for an eidetic memory test.
2. Store up on omega-3s.
3. Slow down—and repeat, repeat, repeat.
4. Pound the pavement.
5. Don't skip your morning coffee.
6. Keep your calendar packed.
7. Get your choline fix.
8. Get tipsy. (Yes, really.)

I got a couple of them covered, but I already forgot what I had for lunch.

There is something called military method to help you remember better.  You can read that article if you wish to improve your memory.  A lot of hard work is involved.

Also, apparently there are foods that can boost memory.   These include omega-3 fatty acids (from certain types of fish like salmon, tuna and sardines), coffee, green tea, deeply colored berries, eggs, turmeric, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, nuts, oranges, and celery.  

• Did you know that 60% of your brain is made of fat, and half of that fat is comprised of omega-3 fatty acids?
• Coffee contains caffeine and antioxidants, and both are helpful.
• Green tea contains L-theanine, an amino acids that helps brain function.  Also rich in polyphenols and antioxidants.
• Blueberries deliver anthocyanins providing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
• Turmeric is a deep-yellow spice found in curry powder.  The active ingredient is curcumin, which is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound.
• Broccoli is packed with antioxidents, plus vitamin K.  A daily intake of one cup is recommended.
• Pumpkin seeds contain antioxidants, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper, all useful for brain health.
• Dark chocolate (70% or greater) and cocoa powder are packed with flavonoids, caffeine and antioxidants.
• Nuts contain healthy fats, antioxidants and vitamin E, the latter which protects cells against free-radical damage to slow mental decline.  Walnuts in particular are good, for it has more omega-3 fatty acids.
• One medium orange provides all the vitamin C you need/day.  Vitamin C is an antioxidant to protect the brain.
• I just wrote about eggs, which are a good source of nutrients like B6, B12, folate and choline tied to brain health.  These are mostly in the yolk.  Eggs help retard mental decline.
• Celery contains luteolin (also found in peppers) to help maintain memory.

So much for food, have you heard about Humm, a company that has developed a bioelectric memory patch to improve working memory?  

• Resembles a large Band-Aid you stick to your forehead, and comes with a toggle switch to activate it.  
• The U.S. Air Force supposedly ordered a 1000 patches.
• Forbes reports that this device costs $60 to boost memory 20%.

I haven't quite worked in IQ, genius (where does Einstein fit into this grouping?), success and street smarts into memory.  Maybe some day I'll wrap this whole subject into a cohesive framework.  Then again, maybe that's impossible.

What about Elaine Paige's Memory, from Cats?  Maroon 5 has Memories.  Way back in 1915 was another Memories, here sung by Mario Lanza.  Finally, Barbra Streisand had an album called Memories in 1981.  Included were Memory, You Don't Bring Me Flowers (there were separate versions by Streisand and Neil Diamond, which were just spliced together, and reached #1 on Billboard), Evergreen (from the 1976 A Star if Born, written by Paul Williams and Streisand, which went on to win a Oscar for Best Original Song, making her the first woman to be so honored as a composer) and the Way We Were.  Sold 10 million copies.

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