Tara C. Smith
Associate Professor, lab rat (microbiologist/infectious disease epidemiologist) and occasional blogger, full-time nerd.
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I'm swamped today, so alas, nothing new from me. However, since many of you are newer readers, I thought I'd totally cheat and dig up one from the archives on antimicrobial resistance. This one I cross-posted to Panda's Thumb where it received some decent discussion; it was also mentioned in a…
Necrotizing fasciitis (the so-called "flesh-eating disease") is a rare manifestation of infection with the group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes, though occasionally other bacteria cause it as well). Apparently, it's been a banner year for the infection in Boulder, Colorado. The Daily…
This time for prostate cancer.
In a surprising discovery, researchers say they have found a virus in some prostate cancer patients, a finding that opens new research avenues in the most common major cancer among men in the United States.
The virus, closely related to one previously found only in…
A lot on my plate this morning, but if you've not seen these already from yesterday, check out Respectful Insolence, where Orac has a post on using chemical castration as a treatment for autism. Just when you think things couldn't get any crazier...
PZ also has a post drawing your attention to a…
You don't need to worry about security.
I don't know whether having a UAE company manage our ports would increase our vulnerability to terrorism or not, but I find it highly, highly ironic that an administration who's spent so much time telling us how *not* safe we are (wasn't electing Kerry going…
As promised, a discussion on the paper, Heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in northern California: results from a ten-year study.
First, let's backtrack a bit and see what's already been said, lest I repeat myself. The little summary below can also catch anyone up…
Good morning! Welcome to your semimonthly dose of wholesome microbial goodness.
Lots on your plate this morning.
To whet your appetite, check out a study described over at Biology News examining the genomics of bacteria that cause ehrlichiosis. While you're there, you might want to do some…
New York man falls ill with anthrax
Musician reportedly had contact with natural anthrax sources
A New York musician has tested positive for anthrax that authorities say came from unprocessed animal skins used to make traditional African instruments.
"The man poses no public health threat of…
One last picture and then that will probably be it for me today (too much to catch up on!) I mentioned here the ugliest childhood picture ever. Joseph over at Immunoblogging decided to call me out and double/triple/quadruple dare me to post the pic. Be warned: not every kid in glasses is cute. I…
Submit entries for Animalcules (due tonight at midnight CST) and Tangled Bank (in by next Monday night). Also, drop me a line if you'd like to host future versions of Animalcules--I've had a few offers, and I'll be setting up a schedule next week.
Oh, and I see Chris was out eagle watching over…
Do you people not understand internet etiquette? Once a conversation is closed, it's closed--don't go spamming other threads with unrelated comments. I already told y'all I'd re-open the AIDS discussion in another thread--are you so impatient that you can't give me a few days' break to go enjoy…
As I mentioned here, I'm heading to Ohio in the morning. I have two brand-new nephews to meet. My sister gave birth to her first child back on January 24th, and a sister-in-law just had her first on Valentine's Day. (And the baby boom ain't over yet--another almost-sister-in-law--my brother-in-…
Just wanted to point you to these posts over at Mike's blog, regarding Jimmy Stewart, a former physicist and candidate for State Representative in Ohio's 22nd District: Dublin and Clintonville. I don't know him from Adam and so this doesn't constitute an endorsement in any way, but apparently he's…
I know, I'm way late, but I still wanted to plug today's edition of The Skeptics' Circle over at Used and probably unusable.
It's been about a week since my last "bird flu" post--and I know that many people, including myself, tend to get burned out on the same ol' thing, but there's some interesting news out that I wanted to share. First, two posts from Effect Measure. Here, Revere discusses the newest reports of H5N1…
The Pain has the inevitable result.
(Link to Jack Chick's "Big Daddy," for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure, here.)
Oh yeah, baby--Richard has the dish over on Panda's Thumb:
Ohio is no longer on the Disco Institute's list of favorite states for pilgrimages. Late this afternoon, by an 11-4 vote, the Ohio State Board of Education stripped out the intelligent-design creationist "critical analysis of evolution"…
D'oh, I forgot about Tangled Bank again (has it been two weeks already?) Time flies, as the theme to TB this week emphasizes. Check out some of the best science writing in the blogosphere, and note that I'm hosting it here in two weesk. Submissions can be sent to aetiology AT gmail DOT com--…
PZ and Ed have both mentioned this NY Times article suggesting that Ohio's about ready to cut out its cancer that are the Jon Wells-inspired "critical analysis of evolution" from their lesson plan. Richard Hoppe of Ohio Citizens for Science has been following the story over on Panda's Thumb--for…
This article appeared in Science last week, regarding evolution (and it's "challengers") on college campuses:
For decades, polls have indicated that close to half of the U.S. adult population is skeptical of the basic tenets of Darwinian evolution. Although more educated people are more likely to…
So, yesterday morning I had to spend an hour in employee health, having my lungs checked out and my blood banked just in case I end up needing to work in a BSL-3 lab sometime in the future (due to a grant we're pursuing). Stupid me didn't realize I'd have to wait so long and went there empty-…
I've written before that teaching good science is really my utmost concern. This gets to the heart of the anti-evolution movement, the AIDS denialists, the vaccine/autism "controversy", the abortion-breast cancer "connection", and probably a dozen other topics in science that are largely…
Like, gee, 17th Century manuscripts from the Royal Society, written by Robert Hooke?
A long-lost 17th century manuscript charting the birth of modern science has been found gathering dust in a cupboard in a Hampshire home. Filled with crabby italics and acerbic asides, the 520 or so yellowing and…
As PZ mentioned, today would be Charles Darwin's 197th birthday. To celebrate, Mike over at The Questionable Authority is putting together a mini-carnival of posts on evolution. Specifically, he asked how those of us who are scientists use evolutionary theory in our work.
Personally, I'm a bit…
Told you this week's interview would be a good one. Generally journalists are the ones telling the story, but this week, Carl Zimmer's in the spotlight, discussing science writing (and blogging), education, transitional fossils, and, of course, parasites. Check it out.
I was the guest on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe last week, a podcast of the New England Skeptical Society. The main topic of the discussion was HIV denial (specifically focusing on Christine Maggiore's story), but we also talked about antibiotic resistance (inculding peptide antibiotics) and…
You've probably seen this announcment trumpeted somewhere: "Cancer deaths fall for first time." I just wanted to post a very brief note on this. First, let's look at their numbers:
The number of cancer deaths dropped to 556,902 in 2003, down from 557,271 the year before, according to a…
Chris has been excoriating Tom Bethell (author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science") over on The Intersection and elsewhere (see, for example, here, here, and several posts here). However, since he's not yet done a takedown on Bethell's chaper on AIDS (titled "African AIDS: a…
This question was discussed yesterday in the comments to this post. An article in yesterday's New Scientist offers some ideas:
But New Scientist can reveal that the location of Africa's first reported outbreak should not come as a surprise. The region affected is right beside a major wintering…