Uplinger has already indicated that, once the target 9 batches have all been processed, this project will be put into the "intermittant" status - and thus, if/when the scienticts wish to run further targets through it, then they can. This isn't to say that they will - just gives them that option, depending on what they've discovered from the first set of targets...

Think if the last official update was [Sep 14, 2009 4:26:47 PM] giving 18-21 days, there wont be much to refresh ;>). Validations are dropping suggestion a reduction in pull on new work in the feeders. The last 5 days:

Sun 13th 30083
Mon 14th 32422
Tue 15th 29946
Wed 16th 26691
Thu 17th 25341 (estim)

Follow the crunching chart or the project statistics page for the daily doze on how fast things are moving.

Yes, the flu is seasonal.

"Flu season is a regularly re-occurring time period characterized by the prevalence of outbreaks of influenza (flu). The season occurs during the cold half of the year in each hemisphere. Influenza activity can sometimes be predicted and even tracked geographically. While the beginning of major flu activity in each season varies by location, in any specific location these minor epidemics usually take about 3 weeks to peak and another 3 weeks to significantly diminish.[1] Individual cases of the flu however, usually only last a few days."

"Mechanism for seasonal nature of influenza
The exact mechanism behind the seasonal nature of influenza outbreaks is unclear. Some proposed explanations are:

People are indoors more often during the winter, they are in close contact more often, and this promotes transmission from person to person.
Cold temperatures lead to drier air, which may dehydrate mucus, preventing the body from effectively expelling virus particles.
The virus may linger longer on exposed surfaces (doorknobs, countertops, etc.) in colder temperatures.
Vitamin D production from Ultraviolet-B in the skin changes with the seasons and affects the immune system.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Research in guinea pigs has shown that the aerosol transmission of the virus is enhanced when the air is cold and dry.[9] The dependence on aridity appears to be due to degradation of the virus particles in moist air, while the dependence on cold appears to be due to infected hosts shedding the virus for a longer period of time. The researchers did not find that the cold impaired the immune response of the guinea pigs to the virus.

A recent research done by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) on influenza virus identified the virus as having "butter-like coating". The coating melts when it enters the respiratory tract. In the winter, the coating becomes a hardened shell; therefore, it can survive in the cold weather similar to a spore. In the summer, the coating melts before the virus reaches the respiratory tract."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flu_season

With 5 days of series 9 data behind us it looks like we're holding steady at around 55 batches per day.

If this rate continues, all new series 9 work units will be sent by around Oct 1.
Uplinger did note on CEP things slowed down toward the end as badge hunters dropped out, so it could go longer than that. But I'm "guestimating" we have at least 11 more days worth of work.

I slightly buffered up, so to get the Blue Flu one of the next days. I'm not accepting new Flu workunits anymore and I just might be able to throw a couple back into the pool.

Next goal: as quickly turn the rest to Sapphire as well. Well, the projects that aren't finished yet...