j7uy5 | August 2, 2006
There is no excuse for this. Thanks to the
href="http://www.openvotingfoundation.org/index.html">Open
Voting Foundation, we now know that the Diebold TS (paperless
touch screen voting machine) can be booted from flash memory, bypassing
the BIOS that was tested and approved. This can be done without a
trace. There is no way to know after an election has been held, which
mode the machine was operating in.
The BIOS is the Basic Input-Output System, which is the first software
to load when the machine is booted. It potentially could
control anything that happens after the bootup. Most…
j7uy5 | August 2, 2006I just finished reading a news release pertaining to a finding in
psychiatric genetics. I was prepared to be irritated, but was
pleased instead.
href="http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2006/ocd.htm">New
genetic findings add to understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Kara Gavin
July 26, 2006
ANN ARBOR, MI – Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to
run in families, causing members of several generations to experience
severe anxiety and disturbing thoughts that they ease by repeating
certain behaviors. In fact, close relatives of people with
rel="tag"
href="http://www.…
j7uy5 | August 1, 2006
This is a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnemidophorus_neomexicanus">New
Mexico Whiptail (Cnemidophorus neomexicanus).
It was found near the roadrunner:
The roadrunner
(Geococcyx californianus) normally would eat the
lizard.
href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/NM-Quirky.html">This
specimen, however, is composed entirely of found objects.
That is, it is made of trash collected from the city dump, by
artist Olin S. Calk. It is located at exit 135 off I-10.
Its beak does not open, so it does not eat lizards.
j7uy5 | August 1, 2006I am at a coffee shop in a far away town, and I have things to do.
So I am not going to write about this extensively at the
moment. Still, while looking for something else, I
encountered this abstract. The title was odd enough to get my
attention.
href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16504418&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum">Psychiatric
agriculture: systemic nutritional modification and mental health in the
developing world.
Med Hypotheses. 2006;66(6):1234-9. Epub 2006 Feb 28.
London DS, Stoll AL…
j7uy5 | July 31, 2006When I finished residency, I took a position at a University
clinic north of town. In order to get there, I had to cross a
bridge over a river. I drove over that bridge about 100 times
before the first snowfall.
On the first snowy day, while driving over the bridge, I noticed a
sign. The sign warned that the bridge could be icy.
Prior to that first snowy day, I had not noticed the sign.
Fast-forward to the present day. A
title="Quirky Outtakes" href="http://quirkynomads.com/wpt/">thoughtful
reader
sent a suggestion that I write about the subject of
title="Wikipedia link"…
j7uy5 | July 30, 2006
From the
href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/emnrd/parks/cityrocks.htm">City
of Rocks.
j7uy5 | July 29, 2006
Here is the video that provides a little comic relief, after reading
about our latest efforts to study biological weapons, as mentioned in
my last post. Here is your army. Here is your army
on drugs.
j7uy5 | July 29, 2006This is another upsetting bit of news about our government.
The
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/29/AR2006072900592_pf.html">Washington
Post is reporting laboratory being built in Ft.
Detrick, Maryland. Known as the National Biodefense Analysis
and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), the new facility will conduct
title="Wikipedia link"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_warfare" rel="tag">biological
warfare research "within what many arms-control experts say
is a legal gray zone,
skirting the edges of an international treaty outlawing the…
j7uy5 | July 29, 2006I'm sure everyone has read about this by now, but every once in a while
I just speak up to add to the resonance in the echo chamber.
If this is confirmed, it would be a flagrant illegal act by a
government agency:
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/world/middleeast/30reconstruct.html?ex=1311912000&en=7e5f4de85760ef19&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">Audit
Finds U.S. Hid Cost of Iraq Projects
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: July 30, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 29 — The State Department agency in
charge of $1.4 billion in reconstruction money in Iraq used an…
j7uy5 | July 29, 2006This is an archived post from September, 2005, posted here and now because I am away on vacation.
As
I go about my days, I get the impression that there is a lot of
confusion out there about the treatment of opiate abuse and dependence.
Wes Clark (not that Wes Clark, the other
one) has written an article to help us understand this nettlesome
issue.
First, I summarize some point from his article, and a
few others, then add a few bits of my own.
Dr. Clark provides us with some historical background in his article,
rev="review" href="http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/349/10/928">…
j7uy5 | July 28, 2006This is an archived post from October 2005. It is one of my more whimsical entries, but it does have aserious intent.
The recent National Geographic film,
title="Official movie website"
href="http://wip.warnerbros.com/marchofthepenguins/">March
of the Penguins, has generated a tremendous amount
of controversy: an avalanche of deconstructionism that surely was not
intended by its creator. It seems that the controversy
started when Micheal Medved claimed, in an NYT
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/science/13peng.html?ei=5090&en=36efde9c1de3fa22&ex=1284264000&adxnnl…
j7uy5 | July 28, 2006
At La
Cueva. I'd appreciate it if someone could
identify this lizard. It is about 5 inches (12cm) long.
UPDATE: thanks to a tip from Kevin, I think I have ID'ed the little guy...
It appears to be a greater earless lizard: Cophosaurus texanus.
j7uy5 | July 27, 2006
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62864816@N00/199733007/"
title="Photo Sharing">
src="http://static.flickr.com/64/199733007_049cdd3911.jpg"
alt="IMG_1332" height="375" width="500">
This is the approach to Aguirre Springs, on the east slope of the Organ
mountains.
j7uy5 | July 27, 2006This is an archived article from 2004, scheduled to be posted today to
fill a vacation-induced gap.
A recent article in the LA Times reports on hazards associated with
herbal sex aids. This brings to mind a couple of reasons to
be
concerned about herbal products and dietary supplements.
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">
Potential
dangers may be hiding in herbal sex aids
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">
Timothy Gower
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">
June 14, 2004
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">
[...] Canadian
researchers
underscored these concerns in May with an alarming…
j7uy5 | July 26, 2006This post on Black
Triangle reminds me that it is a good idea to spread this
warning, at this time of year. He notes several medications that
increase the risk of heatstroke, or otherwise pose risks in heat and
bright sun.
Many of these are psychiatric medications.
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipsychotic" rel="tag">Antipsychotic
medications, in particular, can increase risk of heatstroke. Some make
the skin more susceptible to sunburn.
href="http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Medications&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=51&ContentID=…
j7uy5 | July 25, 2006Being on vacation over the following two weeks, I've scheduled publication of some old posts. The formatting might be a little funny, but I can't really check that ahead of time. The preview function in MT is not perfect. This one is from June, 2004....
From the newsletter, Psychiatric Times, here is a summary of recent
findings from analysis of data pertaining to the association between
antidepressant use and the incidence of suicide. I wrote a
flurry
of articles on this subject back in April. (previous
title="Corpus Callosum">CC posts:
href="http://corpus-callosum.blogspot.com/…
j7uy5 | July 24, 2006Mike, at The Questionable Authority, has a
href="http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2006/07/nation_building_versus_nation.php">valuable
perspective on what
I wrote earlier, in
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2006/07/first_do_no_harm_part_ii.php">First,
Do No Harm, Part II. He corrects some of my sloppy
thinking on the matter, plus, he knows more about the subject than I
do. I replied that, even though he has more direct
information than I do, I still think I am right.
The question is whether we should stay, or get out, of Iraq and
Afghanistan. I am not claiming to…
j7uy5 | July 24, 2006This week's Ask-a-ScienceBlogger question is:
If you could have practiced science in any time and
any place throughout history, which would it be, and why?...
Hmmm. I am not going to answer that question, exactly.
Instead, I will rephrase it, and answer the question that I
would like to be asked.
If you could practice science in any time and place in history, for
while, then come back to the present day, where are when
would you pick?
I would like to have been around during the turn of the last two
centuries, in central Europe, as an associate of
title="Wikipedia link" href="Sigmund…
j7uy5 | July 23, 2006American Scientist has
href="http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/50767?fulltext=true&print=yes">an
article about the potential for controlling
mosquito-borne diseases, by genetically modifying the insects to make
then
inhospitable to malaria and dengue. (Most of their articles
are
subscription-only, but this one is openly accessible.)
I mention this article, because it is interesting for three reasons.
For one, mosquito-borne illnesses are a major world health problem, and
anything that holds promise for defeating them is a matter of interest.
Second,…
j7uy5 | July 22, 2006Long-time readers have noticed that I tend to hype free software and
resources from time to time.
After SB redesigned the skin for our blogs, I decided that I should
redo the banner. The old one was done in brown, specifically
to match the old page style. It looked dorky after the
redesign.
So, I used GIMP,
the GNU Image Manipulation Program, to design a new one. It's
a free program that runs on Linux/Unix, Windows, or Mac.
align="right" height="81" width="210">The
images were taken from an
href="http://www.cnsforum.com/resources/imagebank/">image
bank at CNS Forums,…