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July 26, 2007
href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/24/content_6424764.htm">These are sooo precious... The one on the left is the cub.  They are href="http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Chrotogale_owstoni.html" rel="tag">Owston's Palm Civets, Chrotogale…
July 25, 2007
Infections with href="http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/fact_sheets/fs_20050802.htm" rel="tag">Streptococcus suis have been reported in a cluster in Viet Nam, plus one apparently-isolated case in China.  This is not the first outbreak of the pig-borne illness.  A href="http://www.who.int…
July 25, 2007
Today the US House of Representatives voted to pass href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2929">H.R. 2929: To limit the use of funds to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in…
July 23, 2007
I was reading about the href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/24941.php">epidemic of vitamin D deficiency, got curious about albinism, and ended up finding this picture of a white lion.  It is distributed under a creative commons license, attribution required.  The photographer is…
July 23, 2007
The latest American Research Group poll shows the lowest approval rating ever for President Bush, a 2-point decline in the past month.   I can't help but think the statement about having the Justice Department ignore href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/…
July 23, 2007
href="http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/3/e3"> face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">This image shows what can happen to your retina from a sudden increase in venous pressure.  What could cause such a sudden increase?  Jumping straight down, followed by sudden upward acceleration…
July 22, 2007
As reported in the journal, The Lancet, a man has been found who had a small brain, but a normal life.  The article is subscription only so I am not even going to link to it.  But it is still noteworthy.     There is a fair summary in the online version of href="http://www.spiegel.de/…
July 22, 2007
This is from the transcript of a discussion with href="http://snowe.senate.gov/public/" rel="tag">Olympia Snowe on href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/22/ftn/main3086832.shtml" rel="tag">Face the Nation, earlier today: SCHIEFFER: Already we’re beginning to hear American senior…
July 22, 2007
This morning's Washington Post has a headline: href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101359.html?hpid=topnews"> face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Envoy Urges Visas For Iraqis Aiding U.S. face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"> Targets of…
July 21, 2007
The href="http://www.sanofi-aventis.us/live/us/en/index.jsp">Sanofi-Aventis obesity pill, rel="tag">rimonabant, will be labeled with stronger warnings as a result of href="http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=11864">a review by The European Medicines Agency (EMEA).  …
July 21, 2007
Someone (Jim) at rel="tag">Motley Fool linked to the last LED lighting post.  Apparently he tracks the Cree Inc. stock.  Anyway, he linked to a site that has more information on the href="http://www.lumecon.com/imsa_led_street_lighting_article.html">Ann Arbor LED street light project.…
July 20, 2007
This is marketed as a brush to be used for shampooing dogs.  However, it is also very good for dry brushing of cats.  It is particularly effective at getting those extremely fine hairs from the undercoat.   It is also effective for removing cat hair from furniture. One nice thing about this…
July 20, 2007
The New York Times contained two statements, in different contexts, that say opposite things.  The first appears in their "most blogged" box.  It is from July 15: href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/business/15gilded.html?ex=1342152000&en=b93e1c0193b4182c&ei=5090&partner=…
July 20, 2007
Satirical images can be fun.
July 20, 2007
Science fiction has often centered on the theme of "what if?"  Many of the finest works have explored alternative futures, based upon just one or a few changes in contemporary society.  Indeed, science does have a powerful influence on culture, so some of these alternative futures are quite…
July 19, 2007
There was an outbreak of botulism in the past several days in the United States.  The problem was traced to contaminated canned chili sauce intended for use on hotdogs.  Product from Castleberry Food Company based in Augusta, Georgia is suspected. But what is botulism, exactly, and how/why is it…
July 19, 2007
It is not taking off very quickly, but it could have a big impact.   rel="tag" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh%2C_North_Carolina">Raleigh, NC agreed to the " href="http://www.raleigh-nc.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_276_208_0_43/http%3B/pt03/dig_web_content/news/public/…
July 19, 2007
Back in February, I href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2007/02/now_what_i_thought_things_were.php">wrote about the irony of the Bush Administration touting their efforts to improve food and drug safety, while at the same time planning to close 7 of the 13 FDA laboratories.   In the…
July 18, 2007
The Pentagon needs to crack down on KBR and other contractors, said Dorgan, head of the Democratic Policy Committee. "It requires a change in mind-set at the Pentagon, for them to slam their fist down on the table and say, 'We're not going to put up with this anymore.' " What got US Sen. rel…
July 18, 2007
There is new information indicating that an rel="tag">oxytocin nasal spray could be used to treat shyness.  Oxytocin is a peptide hormone best known for its role in childbirth and breastfeeding.  These are known as peripheral actions, meaning they take place outside of the central nervous…
July 17, 2007
href="http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/Clostridium-Difficile-Colitis-Overview" rel="tag">Clostridium difficile cases are on the rise, according to a study in Archives of Surgery.  It seems odd to me that this study would come out now, just a few days after I href="http://…
July 17, 2007
This qualifies for "quote of the decade" status.  Unfortunately it is in Times Select, but href="http://choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/07/waiting-for-health-care.html">clever persons can href="http://www.technorati.com/posts/tag/Paul+Krugman">figure out how to find the whole text (…
July 16, 2007
Apparently it is now the role of the Chief Executive to tell businesspersons how to run their business. In the context of the pro and con lobbying over the proposed expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, pharmaceutical companies decided to join the pro side.  After all, if…
July 16, 2007
While looking for information for my last post, I encountered another interesting article at PNAS.  This one is about a new molecule that improved survival in mice infected with href="http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_ahscrapie.html" rel="tag">scrapie.   Scrapie is one…
July 15, 2007
There is a letter published online at Nature, ahead of the print version, that describes a technique of analyzing an entire genome to find genes that may be associated with disease. The newly-identified gene, in this case, is linked to Type 1 href="http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec13/ch165/ch165a.…
July 15, 2007
We already knew that rel="tag">varenicline could be used to help people stop smoking.  Now there is a report that it can help reduce alcohol consumption, at least for rats. This was reported in title="Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences">PNAS (Varenicline, an α4β2 nicotinic…
July 15, 2007
There is a compilation of polls taken of Iraqis, and of service members, at href="http://www.iraqanalysis.org/info/55">Iraqanalysis.org.  They say it is a comprehensive list. They invite anyone who knows of a poll that they have not included to let them know.
July 14, 2007
Remember the href="http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/07/cdc-halts-texas.html">recent reports about lab workers at a biodefense laboratory (Texas A&M) who became infected with "select agents" ( href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brucellosis">Brucella and Coxiella burnetii)?   An…
July 14, 2007
Knowing full well that it violated the Constitution of the United States, the State legislatures in href="http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/190122">Arizona, Florida, href="http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2006/10/31/bush-lied-they-died-t-shirt-censored/">Louisiana, Texas, and href…
July 14, 2007
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> href="http://www.kcl.ac.uk/phpnews/wmview.php?ArtID=1918">This press release (HT: href="http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/07/got_moles_they_might_be_good_for_you.html">medGadget) from King's College tips us off to an article in the journal,…