Notes & Queries response: If every person in the world isolated for a month, would all transmissible diseases disappear?
image generated by Craiyon This is my response to a question that appeared on the Notes & Queries page of The Guardian website on 11 th September 2022 The Guardian is apparently no longer happy to host my comments on their site. I am replying here instead because it is too good a writing exercise to give up: How quickly can you go from a prompt, a blank mind, and a blank page to a finished piece? And how good can you make it? This blog is obviously not affiliated with The Guardian. Its reference to a question that appeared in Notes & Queries is presented here under the terms of fair use. ~ If every person in the world isolated for a month, would all transmissible diseases disappear? On the 13th January, 1915, British forces attacked defensive Ottoman positions along the Wadi River (located in what is now modern-day Iraq). From the outset the offensive seemed doomed to failure. The Ottoman force was large in number and well dug-in. The attackers were dependent on inaccurate map...