Tara C. Smith
Associate Professor, lab rat (microbiologist/infectious disease epidemiologist) and occasional blogger, full-time nerd.
tsmith
Posts by this author
May 11, 2006
As usual, EffectMeasure is one step ahead of me. A news report came out yesterday suggesting that influenza may infect people through the gut. At least 4 routes of evidence suggest this possibility. 1) In birds, influenza is an intestinal infection. 2) Several cases of H5N1 have presented with…
May 10, 2006
It's funny sometimes being a Yale graduate with my upbringing--a blue-collar, middle-class kid from rural America. One thing in particular I just never quite got was the whole secret society thing. As such, it's been a bit amusing to see all the attention they've gotten in the years since my…
May 10, 2006
Check out the latest edition of Tangled Bank is up over at Science Notes--check out the latest in science blogging from the past 2 weeks.
Additionally, I'll be hosting Animalcules here next week. Send me your entries by next Wednesday, May 17th.
May 10, 2006
Over at bootstrap analysis, an appeal to just say no to decorative birdhouses--or at least to take care of them correctly. Some timely advice for the season.
May 9, 2006
Grand Rounds has eaten up most of my blog time for today, but I do want to direct you to this article on neonatal mortality in the United States and globally. Not good news for the U.S. and the UK--we're tied for the bottom of industrialized countries. The numbers, overally, are terrible:
Each…
May 9, 2006
Welcome to Grand Rounds at Aetiology! Grab a cup of joe, take a seat, and enjoy the best of this week's medical blogging. Just make sure to wash your hands when you're done...you never know what's lying around here, between the kids, the dog, and the lab...
First, a programming note. Just a few…
May 8, 2006
He's been trying so hard to defend his profession, but it just keeps getting worse. Just unveiled is a brand new "dissenters from Darwinism" list: Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity.
As medical doctors we are skeptical of the claims for the ability of random mutation and natural…
May 7, 2006
The second edition of Pediatric Grand Rounds is up--and it's already jumped in size. An excellent set of posts not only for those interested in pediatrics, but also parents in general.
May 7, 2006
Just another reminder-- I'm hosting Grand Rounds next week. I'll accept entries until Monday at 8PM EST. Remember that this carnival isn't just open to doctors and nurses--if you've written a post about disease, or some new advance in basic biomedical research, send it along!
May 6, 2006
Just a few things that have either been sitting in my drafts box and I know I won't have a chance to get to, or stuff I saw elsewhere that deserves a mention.
Check out this excellent (and hilarious) post by Skip Evans on creationists and boobies.
I've posted previously here about our eagles here…
May 5, 2006
National Safe Kids week officially begins tomorrow, May 6th. This year they're highlighting pool and water safety--a good topic to brush up on if you have children that will be around pools or other swimming areas this summer. And it's not just swimming lessons and water wings that parents need…
May 5, 2006
I didn't have enough energy or stamina to do it yesterday, but John and PZ both have ripped it to shreds. Thank you, gentlemen, for your sacrifice.
May 5, 2006
I missed this story last week: If Einstein were a blogger...
At first glance, the wild, wooly world of blogs and the sober, serious world of science shouldn't mix. After all, blogs -- or personal Web logs -- are all about opinions and attitude, with logic playing second fiddle to outrage.
Turns…
May 5, 2006
I mentioned here my kids' penchant for catching, um, pets. Well, 'tis the season. I'll put the pics below the fold for those of you on dial-up or who lean toward arachnophobicity.
From the top of the jar:
Side view:
Eating a fly:
The last one was pretty cool because the kids watched her catch…
May 4, 2006
Intelligent design supporters tout merits of concept
Author Dr. Geoffrey Simmons, attorney Tom Alderman and chemistry professor Jim Long presented the case for intelligent design as part of the Mars Hill forum, sponsored by the University Christian Fellowship.
***
Alderman said scientists believe…
May 4, 2006
Classic--scroll down to the May 3rd edition.
Hat tip to Wallace--thanks!
May 4, 2006
Cheyenne shelter dogs to be euthanized
All 70 to 80 dogs at the Cheyenne Animal Shelter will be euthanized because of an outbreak of canine influenza that has closed the shelter for more than two weeks, shelter officials announced.
Shelter officials said there was no way to test for the virus…
May 4, 2006
Sorry in advance about the shameless self-promotion. As mentioned, I'm hosting Grand Rounds next week (so be sure to get your entries in). Each week, the originator of the carnival, Dr. Nicolas Genes, posts a bit about the host on Medscape ("Pre-Rounds"); here's my interview for anyone interested…
May 4, 2006
The latest edition of Animalcules, the microbial blog carnival, is up over at Discovering Biology in a Digital World. A nice little collection today; and for those of you who are interested in stuff for the kiddos, be sure to check out her links to the American Society for Microbiology's Microbe…
May 3, 2006
Andrea over at Pandas Thumb highlights a new JCI article with a call to action for scientists.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation is a top-notch journal, and their editors seem to "get it." They wrote an editorial last year which I discussed here (moved over from the old blog) discussing…
May 3, 2006
It's been awhile since I've discussed prions on here. (Indeed, so long that the last time was on my old blog, but I imported a few of them that can be found here, here, and some background on prions here). Allow me to copy a bit of that to re-introduce the topic:
Prions are, of course, the…
May 3, 2006
For anyone interested in a short review of nanoparticles as ligands (which I mentioned here but obviously isn't my area of expertise), there's a review in the April issue of TRENDS in Biotechnology (volume 24(4):143-145 in case the link doesn't work). As always, you can drop me a line if you don't…
May 2, 2006
Hey, it's up! Check it out and, as mentioned, Clark at Unintelligent Design is taking submissions through Saturday for the next Pediatric Grand Rounds.
May 2, 2006
I see that Hank's still touting his "Padian found ZERO seroconversions among 176 discordant heterosexual couples over 6 years" line, even after that study was extensively analyzed here (and his ideas about it were shown to be mistaken). At least he's dropped it from 10 years down to 6 years--…
May 2, 2006
...asks a letter to Nature.
One might think that academic machismo or realism would cause scientists to downplay their surprise, but, on the other hand, overstating the level of astonishment may occur when striving for media attention.
I don't think that it's an outcry for media attention, but I…
May 2, 2006
(As of the time I'm typing this, the site that's supposed to host Grand Rounds says the domain is expired, and since I'm at an all-day meeting, I want to get a few reminders out there. Hopefully GR will beam up while I'm out...)
Two reminders: first, Animalcules goes live over at Discovering…
May 2, 2006
In line with the Jesus door, Ocellated brings you a giant fire-breathing rabbit.
May 1, 2006
[From the archives; originally published Nov. 3, 2005]
Ebola is one of my favorite pathogens. With the reputation it has, many people assume it's killed many more worldwide than it actually has. People hear of Ebola and all kinds of grotesque images come to mind: organs "liquefying" (doesn't…
May 1, 2006
Interesting blast from the past: The Care and Feeding of Children, from 1894. Note the causes of colic (pg 21), advice not to play with a baby, lest it make them "irritable" or "nervous" (pg , worries about measles, diptheria, and scarlet fever (pg 62); and of course, emphasis on the dangers of…
May 1, 2006
Just a note that I'm swamped with real work today and in an all-day meeting tomorrow. I have a few things on tap to schedule so things won't be completely dead here, but will be slower than usual for the next 48 hours or so.