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Posts by this author
March 29, 2010
If you eat raw shellfish you are asking for trouble. I know, I know. There are people who love rawbars and think nothing is better than letting a raw oyster slide down their gullet. The FDA is warning consumers and retailers nationwide, though, that they might love nothing less that what could…
March 28, 2010
I'm an epidemiologist, not an immunologist or a virologist but I like reading immunology and virology. It's interesting, in some ways for me it's more interesting than reading epidemiology. In an epidemiological paper I can see pretty quickly where things are going (or going wrong) and there isn't…
March 28, 2010
Orac at Respectful Insolence hates "woo" (for some reason I dislike that term; I prefer to call it quackery). He's a surgeon and has seen cases where that kind of stuff killed people through delay or refusal of treatment. Fair enough. But I am fascinated by this example where it didn't kill someone…
March 27, 2010
I've written a couple of times here about TV commercials that drive me crazy or just perplex me (that post on what the Cialis bathtubs are all about continues to get a couple of views a week even though it was over a year ago). In general, though, I don't get too exercised about TV ads, maybe…
March 26, 2010
We continue to learn a great deal about influenza infection as researchers harvest information from the recent swine flu pandemic. The pork producers don't like to call it "swine flu" but it may well be that its long sojourn in that animal since 1918 (did we give Spanish flu to pigs or did pigs…
March 25, 2010
The Robby in the title refers to Robby the Robot in the 1956 movie, Forbidden Planet, and what follows was a tag line in an ad for Grant's whiskey: "While you're up, get me a Grant's." That's in case you've forgotten or never knew.
I'm still working on the grant, doing things it feels like a robot…
March 24, 2010
I had to laugh when I saw FDA was warning consumers in Puerto Rico that some hand sanitizers had high levels of bacteria (Burkholderia cepacia) that can cause serious infections. It's not really funny of course, except that one of the hand sanitizers was called “MD Quality Hand Sanitizer” (the…
March 23, 2010
We are now almost through the period considered to be the traditional flu season (to the end of March in the temperate northern hemisphere) and so far the amount of documented influenza infection is at a relatively low normal level and pneumonia and influenza deaths are about usual for this time of…
March 22, 2010
I'm a coffee drinker. I'm not finicky about grind or bean or method of preparation, although I guess I have some preferences. There is one thing that coffee has to have for me, though, and that it's strong. Very, very strong. The spoon has to stand up in the cup by itself. My usual cup in the…
March 21, 2010
The US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on one of the many required, but in this case crucial, steps to beginning an overhaul of the chaotic situation of American health care. By all accounts the vote is close, which is really pathetic. What is being proposed in the US is a baby step…
March 21, 2010
I'm still grant writing (a couple of more weeks), so I Thank God for my Savior, Edward Current, who again saves me from having to write a long Sermonette:
March 20, 2010
We frequently use video clips on this site, many, but not all, from YouTube. To say YouTube has revolutionized web video content would be accurate, neither an understatement nor an exaggeration. The amount of material uploaded to YouTube is staggering. It is also the frequent target of specious…
March 19, 2010
As predicted, the pandemic of 2009 is beginning to yield more data, some of it directly applicable to pressing practical questions. The answers are still preliminary, and, as with all science, subject to revision. But it's what we have at the moment, and a letter that just appeared in the CDC…
March 18, 2010
My lede was going to be, "I rarely watch local TV news anymore," until I realized that was false. Because I never look at local TV news. Why should I? I won't learn anything. I can get the weather faster on the internet and I'm not that interested in sports. What about the "local news," the news of…
March 17, 2010
When Thomas Frieden took over as CDC Director less than a year ago, I didn't know what to think. A smart, frenetic and intense former CDC epidemiologist who was most recently head of the New York City Health Department, he hadn't made his reputation as a "people person." He was reputed to being a…
March 16, 2010
If there's one thing I have a zero tolerance policy for, it's zero tolerance policies. We see too many incredibly stupid implementations of rigid and mandatory policies (including mandatory sentencing), no matter how reasonable they sound when first advocated, to believe there should ever be…
March 15, 2010
I've had occasion to remark a number of times how much of what is reported as "science news" is just warmed over press releases from university media departments or company flacks. I read them anyway, often sucked in my a headline that turns out to oversell the case. Now I'm becoming aware…
March 14, 2010
Today is Einstein's birthday. If he were still alive he'd be 131. Those of you who have been reading here for a long time know that Einstein was (and is) one of my "culture heroes." When I was a kid I sent him birthday cards (yes, I'm that old) and when he died made a scrap book filled with news…
March 14, 2010
The US and Israel are near the top of the list in having citizens who believe in evolution -- at or near the top, that is, if you turn the list upside down. In international surveys the US ranks last and Israel 4th from last among 27 countries regarding belief in the proposition that "human beings…
March 13, 2010
If you check the blog for tomorrow's Sunday Sermonette, it will be an hour earlier, astronomically speaking. That's because in the US the clocks are shifted forward by an hour for "Day Light Savings Time," starting at 2 a.m. tomorrow morning (before the Sermonette goes up). The time shift will last…
March 12, 2010
When last we visited the US food safety system during the Bush administration it was busy serving up peanut butter with a side of Salmonella. That one caused over 4 thousand product recalls, 700 Salmonella cases and at least 9 deaths. Now it's Salmonella serovar Tennessee in hydrolyzed vegetable…
March 11, 2010
The latest study on flu vaccine effectiveness in children has been well discussed in the MSM and the flu blogs, so I'll point you to those excellent pieces (Branswell, crof, Mike Coston at Avian Flu Diary) and just add some things not covered elsewhere. The full text of the article is available for…
March 10, 2010
Why do I think that this will end badly? From the UK:
Japanese knotweed was first introduced as an ornamental plant in the 19th Century. But with no natural enemies in the UK it soon raged out of control, wiping out surrounding wildlife and even destroying buildings. The invasive species, that can…
March 9, 2010
I'm not sure I completely understand the legal adage, "bad facts make bad law," but the Supreme Court may be about to give us all an object lesson in its meaning. If I do understand it, is that sometimes there are situations -- "bad facts" -- that are so unusual or so horrifying or both -- that…
March 8, 2010
There is so much tragedy and sadness in the wake of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile that to bemoan the fate of research projects there seems kind of trivial. But if you are scientist your heart really goes out to your Chilean colleagues. Jocelyn Kaiser and Antonio Regalado have some details at…
March 7, 2010
Most of you don't want to hear about my grant writing any more, but some of you are clearly interested in one of our innovations (at least I think it's an innovation; I've never heard of anyone doing it on this scale before): the Mock Study Section. So I'll take a break from writing (actually, re-…
March 7, 2010
From the atheists' scourge, Edward Current:
March 6, 2010
Two days ago I went with my daughter to the pediatrician to check out her 20 month old who had a fever and rash. Viral origin, probably. Also an ear infection. Pretty much par for the course at this time of year. But lots of little ones and their older sibs weren't so lucky this flu season. As we'…
March 5, 2010
I was surfing the other night after a long day of working on the grant and ran across this announcement (hat tip infosthetics) of a new kind of city map, one you don't have to fold but can crumple up. It's made of Tyvek, a soft but durable waterproof material you can crease anywhere you want or…
March 4, 2010
I don't take vitamins or any other dietary supplements. I have another strategy. I eat a balanced diet. It was advice my father gave his patients about diet: everything in moderation. Moreover I don't trust Big Pharma or many of their subsidiaries or the independent Little Pharmas in the dietary…