D&D and the rising pandemic

[Zardnaar]

That lack can be fixed.

It would not be a bad thing if some wealthy nation not normally thought of as "cutting edge of technology" were to start research into "what medicines kill viruses?" It looks like we are going to face animal-to-human transmission of something new every decade or so. Having a solid foundation of options - which need not be optimised - available at need would be a plus.

True it's an example of the last 40 years though. Race to the bottom outsource where it's cheaper.

But then something goes wrong (war, disaster, plague etc) and yeah local manufacturing makes a lot of sense.

Catch 22 though healthcare here is "free" but underfunded comparatively so they're always looking for cheap solutions (read as imported).

 

[Thomas Shey]

True it's an example of the last 40 years though. Race to the bottom outsource where it's cheaper.

But then something goes wrong (war, disaster, plague etc) and yeah local manufacturing makes a lot of sense.

In some cases its simply impractical, though. Some things require sufficiently specialized and dedicated facilities that, while there's enough demand for their services to justify their existence, there isn't enough to justify it in every single country. And of course with some things it doesn't solve the problem of raw material supply (both of these are issues with current generation IC chips).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In some cases its simply impractical, though. Some things require sufficiently specialized and dedicated facilities that, while there's enough demand for their services to justify their existence, there isn't enough to justify it in every single country. And of course with some things it doesn't solve the problem of raw material supply (both of these are issues with current generation IC chips).

Not every country, no. But on all continents? Certainly. Probably even in “regions“ of a certain size.

If nothing else, a distributed production network would make things cheaper in the developing world, and would also serve as a redundant safeguard if something nasty got out. For example, if the vaccine for Pathogen X was only manufactured in the USA, and suddenly, the USA was struggling with a virulent, deadly mutation of Pathogen X, the rest of the world would be scrambling to make their own production facilities.

 

[Umbran]

That lack can be fixed.

Not on short timescale it cannot. The mRNA vaccines use new processes that aren't run of the mill chemistry for everyone. Building the facilities and training up the skills can take years. While building for the future is excellent, we also have to deal with the world we have at the moment.

 

[Zardnaar]

Not every country, no. But on all continents? Certainly. Probably even in “regions“ of a certain size.

If nothing else, a distributed production network would make things cheaper in the developing world, and would also serve as a redundant safeguard if something nasty got out. For example, if the vaccine for Pathogen X was only manufactured in the USA, and suddenly, the USA was struggling with a virulent, deadly mutation of Pathogen X, the rest of the world would be scrambling to make their own production facilities.

There's that old saying armchair generals look at tactics/strategy actual generals look at logistics.

The average person doesn't really know anything about that behind the scenes they just want to go and buy whatever but don't really know how things get from A to B.

I think Australia is looking at manufacturing vaccines but by the time the can set everything up Covids already going to be either over or they've vaccinated everyone who wants one anyway.

The only real advantage is for annual vaccinations with the health systems in Australasia securing supply vs more disruptions

There's a shortage of shipping containers world wide and shipping. I think we have a few empty containers but other disruptions mean they're piling up in ports.

One semi serious joke is it might be better to export empty containers than fill them up.

The obvious shortage is PS5, new Xboxes and computer chips but iirc you had trouble buying new appliances for example.

Wife works for logistics company and I've worked at poets so gave a rough idea how things work behind the scenes.

Let's build a factory simple here's a billion dollars.

Finding a location
Buying the location
Hiring architects
Resource consents
Aquiring the equipment
Shortage of tradespeople
Shortage of materials
Multiple companies involved (probably around 11-12 minimum)
Etc

Hete they looked at building qurantine facilities eta was 3+ years. So they used motels. Now they're looking at buying motels outright it's not like they're needed for tourism.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Tangentially, I’ve been talking about using empty hotels and office buildings to help with the homeless & immigrant/refugee crises.

Lots of underutilized buildings out there, all over the world. I mean, has anyone done anything with the abandoned Cuidad Real airport in Spain?

 

[Zardnaar]

Tangentially, I’ve been talking about using empty hotels and office buildings to help with the homeless & immigrant/refugee crises.

Lots of underutilized buildings out there, all over the world. I mean, has anyone done anything with the abandoned Cuidad Real airport in Spain?

No idea. I think Top Gear filmed a episode there. They used it for a race track.

We're kinda full up building wise. Half a million USD to buy something vaguely nice in most places. Almost double that if you like the "best" cities.

Or you go and live in Christchurch only 400-450k usd there. Government officials got predictions severely wrong.

 

[Umbran]

We're kinda full up building wise. Half a million USD to buy something vaguely nice in most places. Almost double that if you like the "best" cities.

I think he's more talking about real estate that isn't traditional housing. Like, unused airports, unused office space, and so on.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think he's more talking about real estate that isn't traditional housing. Like, unused airports, unused office space, and so on.

Shortage of all of that as well.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Not on short timescale it cannot. The mRNA vaccines use new processes that aren't run of the mill chemistry for everyone. Building the facilities and training up the skills can take years. While building for the future is excellent, we also have to deal with the world we have at the moment.

This is true with other cases of advanced tech production, too. I was looking at the run-up time for modern chip scribing facilities and its pretty appalling.