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by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
There is no reason why a flu blogger-epidemiologist-physician's family should be immune to flu in the community. And it appears my family is not. My daughter has had a cough for the last few days and Friday night was suddenly seized by nausea, vomiting and fever. Her HMO's urgent care directed her to the Emergency Room of the local hospital where a rapid flu test was positive. While waiting to be seen at the ER, her 10 month old, who had a croupy cough, also started vomiting and was warm to the touch. His (slightly) older brother (2 years) was also…
Well, sort of.
A fellow blogger (Sheril, of The Intersection) is doing a survey experiment about kissing for a book she's writing called The Science of Kissing. It sounds like it's going to be a great book, but to finish it, she needs people to help her with an experiment. It's really simple - all you have to do is number a series of photos based on the type of kiss you think it is. She explains everything in her post. So go answer the quick survey and help her write a book!
Sorry, this has to stay below the fold. Comments are closed.
The Garfunkel and Oates, "F**k You" Video:
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted specifically to the public that has been published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. To send your submissions to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (sometimes that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "…
These aren't quite pointless polls, since comments are actually being solicited instead of mindless clicks, but you can still swamp the forces of silliness in thise two blog entries.
One asks, Charles Darwin: brilliant scientist or agent of Satan?. You can give any kind of answer you want, like "Charles Darwin was a brilliant scientific agent of Satan!". Have fun.
The second one sounds even more fun: recommend new names for Falwell's Liberty University. I'm going to have to echo Hitchens' infamous comment about Falwell post mortem, and suggest that since the place has voided itself of it's…
Drori encourages us to save biodiversity -- one seed at a time. Reminding us that plants support human life, he shares the vision of the Millennium Seed Bank, which has stored over 3 billion seeds to date from dwindling yet essential plant species.
Jonathan Drori has dedicated his career to media and learning. As the Head of Commissioning for BBC Online, he led the effort to create bbc.co.uk, the online face of the BBC (an effort he recalls fondly). He came to the web from the TV side of the BBC, where as an editor and producer he headed up dozens of television series on science, education…
Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.
- Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, undelivered statement in the event of the failure of Operation Overlord
On this day sixty-five years ago the armed forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, free France, Poland, and Norway invaded Nazi-held territory at the beaches of Normandy. Despite the unfathomable preparation…
Jay Walker explains why two billion people around the world are trying to learn English. He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese students rehearsing English -- "the world's second language" -- by the thousands.
It's befitting that an entrepreneur and inventor so prolific and acclaimed would curate a library devoted, as he says, to the astonishing capabilities of the human imagination. TIME twice named him one of the "50 most influential business leaders in the digital age," and he holds more than 200 patents. Jay Walker's companies -- under Walker Digital -- have alone served…
There's been a few blog carnivals published recently that you might wish to take a look at this weekend;
Carnival of Evolution, #12, was published a few days ago at Deep Sea News, co-written by my friend, Kevin.
Just Write blog carnival, which focuses on creative writing and book reviews.
Everything Worth Reading blog carnival, the "Sweet Little Sixteen" edition. This is a collection of stories about a wide variety of topics.
Hey, FBI, why aren't you enforcing the FACE act?
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
(via Survival of the Feminist)
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In this WEEK in TECH episode 197 there was a pretty good discussion about education and the university system. In case you are not familiar with TWiT, it is a tech-based podcast with Leo Laporte (from the old Screen Savers show). If you want to listen to their discussion, it starts about half-way through the podcast. Here is what I find interesting - these are mostly tech-oriented people (there was one person in education) but they can clearly see some of the problems with the educational system. I think the following quote sums up their ideas pretty well (can't recall which twit said it…
It's only missing a fourth item: a cube of real butter to represent reality, the subject science studies, with all the dangerous deliciousness it stands for.
I don't know if you've been reading Photo Synthesis, but if you haven't you're missing a real treat. Currently there's some incredible photography and video of amateur rocketry at fairly large scales. Amazing stuff. A hundred years ago the idea that an amateur of comparatively middle-class means (well, after a lot of saving anyway) could send rockets to the edge of space would have been laughable.
But we've got a long way to go as well. Not long ago Gene Expression commented on a Seed Magazine piece on planetary astronomy (do you subscribe?) and noted that the problem of interstellar…
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
In New York City, an illness termed "mild" for many has killed 7 and put 300 in the hospital. A preliminary analysis of about half of those hospitalized, most (82%) were said to have some underlying medical condition. That's common with flu, but it's also a reminder that one of five were otherwise healthy, and unusually for flu, most of them relatively young (mostly under 65). Similarly, the deaths also had underlying medical conditions but were relatively young (median age 43). The two most recent deaths were in the mid 40s.
So not being old is…
I'm answering a few questions from readers over at PRI's The World. They've just started a new science forum, which aims to provide a sorely needed international perspective on science issues. Check it out.
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted specifically to the public that has been published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. To send your submissions to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (sometimes that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "…