Iowa/area news
tsmith | July 14, 2006I was new to Iowa last summer, and not being much of a bicycle person, had never heard of RAGBRAI, the [Des Moines] Register's Annual Great Bicycle Race Ride Across Iowa. (Don't ask me why they didn't pick a catchier acronym). It's apparently a rather well-known ride, crossing Iowa from west to east on different routes each year. This year, it's heading through my neck of the woods, and bringing with it a big name and a public health message:
Not only will Lance Armstrong be among thousands of other bikers pedaling across Iowa, the seven-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor…
tsmith | July 10, 2006Ames, Iowa may not exactly be thought of as a major tourist destination, or sporting venue. Last week, however, it was both, as the host of the first ever Special Olympics USA National Games, with Ames serving as an "olympic village." Most of it went off rather smoothly, but it also became newsworthy for another reason:
Illness identified at Special Olympics
Several people affiliated with Special Olympics teams who fell ill this week have tested positive for norovirus, a common cause of what is known as the stomach flu, state health officials announced Saturday.
Overall, 52 people…
tsmith | June 28, 2006I mentioned we were out camping over the weekend in central Iowa. After our first close encounter, I figured we might as well make a weekend out of it, so Sunday we headed to the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University (and specifically, the Christine Reiman butterfly wing):
The new 2,500-square-foot indoor Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing is the "jewel" of the Gardens. Designed to look like a butterfly in flight, it is a year-round tropical garden filled with exotic and native butterflies from six continents.
I have tons of pictures, so I'll break them up into a few posts, starting below.…
tsmith | June 7, 2006For the Iowa folks, the Iowa Secularists will be featuring a discussion of intelligent design (""The Wedge Strategy: How Intelligent Design threatens secularism") at their Annual Conference. The conference will be held July 15 in Johnston, Iowa; more information at the link.
(For those unfamiliar with the "Wedge Strategy" of the Discovery Institute, the document can be found here).
tsmith | May 6, 2006Just 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 in Iowa. Phil at the Bad Astronomy Blog gives links to 2 webcams, where you can watch the nests of eagles or peregrine falcons (another favorite bird of mine). They've shut down the eagle one because the eggs didn't hatch and the parents left the nest, but there's a fluffy white falcon chick (…
tsmith | May 4, 2006Sorry 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.
Additionally, for those of you in the Iowa City area, I'll be speaking at this month's Cafe Scientifique (the final one of the year) on the topic "Avian Influenza: What's The Big Deal?" The details:
Time: Thursday, 11 May 2006 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Cottage Bakery and Cafe, 14 S. Linn St.
Stop by…
tsmith | April 29, 2006More topics I'd have covered this week, given endless time and energy:
An update on the Chikungunya outbreak I discussed here (and see this comment on the outbreak from a medical entomologist in the region dealing with it first-hand).
Orac on viruses as cancer treatment, inspired by a recent episode of House (more episode reviews by Scott at Polite Dissent can be found here).
An update on mumps activity from the Iowa Department of Health. I haven't written about this in a few days because there's not much more to tell. Cases are still increasing, and they're recommended that students…
tsmith | April 20, 2006So, it was a gorgeous afternoon yesterday. I picked up the kids, grabbed my laptop, and was planning on doing some writing outside while they played until dinnertime.
Curses, foiled again.
That would be anhydrous ammonia, across the road from our house. Not exactly fun to be outside when they're putting that on the field; the smell is so strong it was literally making me tear up while I put away the kids' bikes.
tsmith | April 14, 2006(Warning--picture heavy)
I've lived in the midwest almost all of my life. So tornadoes aren't anything new, though luckily, I've never been in a dwelling that got hit by one before. In fact, I've never seen one touch down up close and in person, though I've seen a few funnel clouds in the air. And despite living here so long, I can probably count on one hand the number of times that there was a confirmed tornado close enough that I had to actually take shelter.
Last night was one of those times. Lots of fun staying in a basement for about 2 hours with a 4 and 6 year old (and a nervous dog…
tsmith | April 14, 2006I've already gotten several emails (even some worried phone calls!) this morning, making sure I'm OK after tornadoes hit Iowa City last night. I'm fine, the family's fine; parts of Iowa City are not, but it sounds like there weren't any serious injuries. [Edit--I should have read the CNN headline more closely--apparently there was at least one fatality.] I grabbed my camera before running out the door this morning, so I'll have some pics and more information up in a bit...
tsmith | April 13, 2006Orac highlighted here a post over at Vox Populi which doubted the effectiveness of the mumps vaccine, in light of the recent epidemic in Iowa. I was prepared to write a whole post on the math of it, but Mark at Good Math, Bad Math saved me some work. Nevertheless, I have a few things to add after the jump.
As has been mentioned, the given efficacy rate for the mumps vaccine is 95%. This is actually likely a bit high; previous outbreaks have suggested it's more like 85-90% effective, so that as many as 15% of the vaccinated population won't actually be immune. The key to telling whether…
tsmith | April 4, 2006 I mentioned last week that Iowa's suffering from a large outbreak of mumps. An update, from the March 30th Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:
In the United States, since 2001, an average of 265 mumps cases (range: 231--293 cases) have been reported each year,* and in Iowa, an average of five cases have been reported annually since 1996. However, in 2006, by March 28, a total of 219 mumps cases had been reported in Iowa, and an additional 14 persons with clinically compatible symptoms were being investigated in three neighboring states (11 in Illinois, two in Nebraska, and one in…
tsmith | March 29, 2006...and where better to go than Wal-Mart?
And I thought my spring break trips as an undergrad were dull...
tsmith | March 27, 2006Sometimes amid all the news about H5N1, the "old and boring" diseases get overlooked, such as chickenpox and mumps.
State health officials said they are concerned about a rare strain of virus behind an outbreak of 60 mumps cases in Iowa.
Mary Gilchrist, director of the state's University Hygienic Laboratory, said the genotype G strain is infrequently seen in the United States. With the number jumping from 17 cases just two weeks ago, she predicted there could be more outbreaks this spring.
"If the past predicts the future, it will get worse in April," she said.
(Continued below)
Recall that…
tsmith | March 27, 2006Phew! Good to know we have a strong terrorist deterrent here. Seen just outside of Iowa City:
You just can't make this stuff up...
tsmith | March 9, 20062 events of note:
Iowa City's Cafe Scientifique is hosting an event Thursday, March 9th:
Prof. Erika Lawrence
Department of Psychology
"Why some marriages succeed and others fail."
Time: Thursday, 9 March 2006 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Cottage Bakery and Cafe, 14 S. Linn St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
Next meeting is April 13th, on the topic "Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: When Size Really Does Matter"
Event #2: Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair, March 18th at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids. Go and support budding scientists, and pass along kudos to the organizers for using a female scientist…
tsmith | February 14, 2006This article appeared in Science last week, regarding evolution (and it's "challengers") on college campuses:
For decades, polls have indicated that close to half of the U.S. adult population is skeptical of the basic tenets of Darwinian evolution. Although more educated people are more likely to endorse evolution, a college degree is no guarantee that the graduate agrees with Darwin.
Provine himself has been surveying his Cornell students since 1986, when he started teaching an evolution course for nonbiology majors. He says that for many years, about 70% of students held views somewhere…
tsmith | January 31, 2006I've mentioned previously that not only do I live in Iowa, I live waaaay out in rural Iowa--gravel road, mile-away neighbors, the whole shebang. I realize that's the worst nightmare of many people--living in the boonies in a "red state," but it definitely has its perks at times. This morning, my husband called me on his drive to work and said I might want to pack up the kids and drive around the block. Turns out about 16 bald eagles were in a field down the road, apparently feasting on something dead. The good news: I have a Canon camera with a crazy telephoto lens for moments just like…
tsmith | January 27, 2006Just a reminder about this upcoming event at Iowa State University:
Why Intelligent Design Is Not Science
Robert M. Hazen is the Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George Mason University, and a scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory. He received his M.S. in geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Harvard University. Dr. Hazen is the author of over 240 articles and 16 books, including the most recent Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origin; Why Aren't Black Holes Black? and the…
tsmith | January 21, 2006Well, the cost of living, anyway. Apparently, enough so to draw away even those coast-y people...
With East and West Coast residents struggling to cope with high real estate prices and other costs, some are now moving to far less "exciting areas" like that of the Midwest.
"Less exciting?" Bah. I hear excitement's over-rated anyway.
It does sometimes irk my friends back in DC, and Boston, and New Haven, and San Francisco, etc. when I remind them that I pay $650/month for my 2200-SF house with more yard than anyone could possibly use, while they're paying 2-3 times that for their little…