retrospectacle
Posts by this author
July 19, 2006
Imagine this:
You are a doctor at a hospital in New Orleans, and you've just heard that the worst hurricane to hit New Orleans in centuries is headed your way. Your hospital is completely unprepared for this event, and nurses, doctors, and staff are leaving in droves. The wind and rain whip the…
July 19, 2006
Recently the topic of Parkinson's has come up both here (in regards to more young people getting the disease) and at Neurotopia (who gave a great summary of a paper which suggested that chemicals in pesticides can contribute to Parkinson's symptoms). I want to keep the ball rolling on the topic by…
July 18, 2006
The Senate voted in favor (63-37) of increasing federal funding to embryonic stem cell research, and the vote is now to Bush.
"The simple answer is he thinks murder's wrong," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something living…
July 18, 2006
Phenomenal timing, seeing as the FDA recently decreed that smoked marijuana held no medical benefits, and was hazardous. This is just one more neon sign making me wonder why cigarettes, proven to cause cancer, are legal while marijuana, which has no cancer link, is stubbornly prosecuted.
CNN…
July 17, 2006
Yah know, maybe if he wasn't threatening to veto science iniatitives I might have given him a pass. But, things being what they are, I just had to let out a collective HA! for the entire blogosphere, at dear old Dubya's expense.
I would be referring to his recent little "slip-up" whilst conversing…
July 17, 2006
So, I was very intrigued by the little puzzle going on at the World's Fair. I was quite dubious that I would be able to crack it, but I'd like to propose a theory that may be atleast partially correct. If not, there's a lot of good coincidences.
Unifying theme? Things that occured in 1962.
The…
July 17, 2006
Physicians are beginning to use a novel therapy for treating aneurysms: the use of a platinum coil, which is threaded to the site of concern and seals off the potential rupture. (More, with pictures and info about aneurysms, under the fold.)
What is an Aneurysm?
Aneurysms among Americans are both…
July 17, 2006
A short communication in the International Journal of Obesity caught my eye this morning. A research group from Cornell explored some seemingly-obvious questions: Do people eat food just because its there, and will they eat more if the food is close in proximity and unlimited in supply? And one not…
July 16, 2006
I received my PADI certification when i was 14, although I haven't had much oppertunity to use it. I've dived a little off the coast of South Carolina and in the Florida Keys, and it was fantastic! Although, I've always wondered whether the repeated use of pressurized artificial air was a risk…
July 16, 2006
University of Michigan geophysicist Shaopeng Huang has found that even layers deep in the Earth have felt the increased heat from global warming, terming the change "rocky fever."
"Not to feel global warming, one would need to hide beneath 600 feet of rocks," Huang said. "Although its causes are…
July 15, 2006
So, according to this CNN story, some European scientists found 400,000 year old DNA in a bear tooth which was found in a cave in Northern Spain.
Apparantly, is not too uncommon to be able to extract DNA from fossils, but older than 100,000 years hasn't yet been done, until now.
He said the find…
July 14, 2006
I'm instituting a new Friday *special* here at Retrospectacle: Friday Grey Matters. While readers might think this have to do with neuroscience (and it does in a way) I'm actually going to be talking about African Grey Parrots, of which I am the proud owner on one! Sometimes it may just be…
July 13, 2006
The ScienceBlog-osphere has been abuzz lately with the current machinations the Bush administration's stem cell policy. As Nick Anthis, Matt Nisbet, and Ed Brayton have all mentioned, the controversy stems from Bush's threat to use, for the first time, a presidential veto to block a bill, passed by…
July 13, 2006
A growing number of people under 50 are getting Parkinson's disease, according to this news story. The "early-onset" Parkinson's is fundamentally different than its "late-onset" counterpart, similar to the two time-dependent forms of Alzheimer's. (More under the fold.)
Some 1.5 million Americans…
July 12, 2006
Yah, we get a bad rap (and bad dental genes too, apparently). I have taken it as my personal mission in life to kick the dumb blonde rap (although I'll certainly use it to my benefit when needed, heh!).
Maybe this woman actually started the whole 'dumb blonde' thing back in the 70s.
July 12, 2006
Currently, AIDS patients must take a complicated regimen of many different kinds of pills to ward off the virus. But today the FDA approved the first "one and only" AIDS pill, which combines the other drugs into one pill. Called Atripla, it is a combo of Sustiva and Truvada (which itself two kinds…
July 12, 2006
I'm going to Europe this September for the first time!
Under the premises of going to a science meeting (Inner Ear Biology Meeting 2006), I'm spending 2 weeks in the south of France and Amsterdam! I'm so excited! Here's the thing, I thought I would put out the word on my blog to see if any readers…
July 11, 2006
The adorable panda cub Tai Shan turned 1 year old this weekend. Happy Birthday!!!
July 11, 2006
Its sad, but true: all the best that Michigan has to offer is found lying by the side of the road. And look what turned up this time.
July 11, 2006
While reading the June issue of Nature, I saw an editorial piece called Last Rites which touched on a subject which interests me: humane euthanization of lab animals. Our lab does research on guinea pigs (we must be the last lab to *actually* use guinea pigs), and its of the utmost concern to all…
July 10, 2006
I had to go to the dentist today, for the first time in 5 years. I always dread doing that since, for some reason, any of the regular anesthetics they use to numb the gums and teeth don't work on me. Anything thats part of the "caine" groups of numbing chemicals (lidocaine, novocaine, etc), well I…
July 10, 2006
Researchers at the University of Antwerp have identified three genes, involved in potassium ion channels in the inner ear, which are essential for normal hearing protection. Defects in these genes have been shown to significantly decrease the cochlea's ability to protect itself from noise-related…
July 7, 2006
They forgot "Lack of ears: disappeared thorough lack of use" and "Smaller than average brain: since the world is only 2000 years old, much less information needs to be stored." Heh.
July 6, 2006
Vitamin C is great for you (as pirates who got scurvy due to the lack of it could tell you), but it loses much of its potency sitting on your grocer's shelf. Fresh Vitamin C is not only much more healthy for you, but its 1/5-1/10 of the price if you make it rather than buy it. Here's some simple…
July 6, 2006
This is a major landmark for stem cell therapy. Motor neurons derived from embryonic stem cells were implanted into paralyzed rats, which partially restored their ability to move like normal. A team of researchers at John Hopkins used a unique method to encourage the new spinal nerves to connect to…
July 6, 2006
Although I haven't seen the journal article about the case yet (it was published in the Journal of Clinical Research, I believe) , its already been reported on CNN and other news venues. A crash victim who has been barely conscious for over 20 years suddenly regained speech and movement after his…
July 5, 2006
On the 4th of July, its been a tradition since 1918 to hold the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Championship in Coney Island, NY. During this event, the scrawny and the portly from all over the world compete for the Mustard Belt. This belt is, of course, bestowed upon the person who can eat the most…
July 3, 2006
The first edition of Encephalon (a new Neuroscience carnival) is up at Neurophilosopher's Blog. Check it out!
July 3, 2006
Wanna try your hand at making some homemade sparklers? Its easy!
(How to do it below the fold!)
What You Need:
- iron wires or wooden sticks
- 300 parts potassium chlorate
- 60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules
- 2 parts charcoal
- 10% dextrin in water solution
- 500 parts strontium…