My Very Excellent Mother used to be the soul of generosity, and her beneficence a universally-acknowledged truth. Around the world, students rejoiced when they recalled that she Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas. But as time passes, so it seems, the universe contracts; mom’s liberality is capped and scientists decree that students will make do with Nothing. Supperless I’m banished to my room. I must redo my fourth grade science project.
The Science Creative Quarterly
From April, 2007
BE VERY AFRAID
Since it was very much inspired by Mr. Vonnegut, we’d like to (again) present this piece to you. He will be missed. The SCQ would also like to ask, “what are you afraid of?” Comments can be left here. – – – A few months before he died, a Nobel Prize winner wandered into my office, sat down, and proceeded to talk about science and ethics. He did this for about an hour. In fact, most of it boiled down to something like this. “Science is in a very interesting predicament these days. It has accelerated so much, in so…
TRANS FAT BEGONE!
Perceptions of the health effects of trans fatty acids (TFA), particularly in the form of margarine, have undergone several changes during the past 10 years. What was once heralded as the healthy alternative to butter now assumes the role of coconspirator. In the 1990s, there was public health concern about epidemiological studies suggesting that high intakes of TFA may increase the risk of coronary heart disease. (1) However, a lot of studies still need to be done in order to confirm these results. Trans fatty acids (TFA), unsaturated fatty acids with at least one double bond in the trans molecular…
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: SORTING THROUGH TANGLES AND CLEARING UP THE PLAQUE…
In 1907, Dr. Alois Alzheimer published the first case study on a patient with what is now known as Alzheimer’s disease. Shakespeare almost beat him to it in the “All the World’s a Stage…” monologue from As You Like It, describing the last “scene” of a 7 part life ending in “second childishness and mere oblivion/Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” The Canada Study on Health and aging estimated that 8% of the Canadian population over 65 years of age had a form of dementia and that 5.1% had Alzheimer’s disease (1). Alzheimer’s dementia has a devastating impact…
DAY 87
Jared and the dog stared each other down. Between them, the glass door was smeared with paw prints. Jared held his surgical mask in his hand. The dog couldn’t hear him over the howling and barking from back inside the building. Go away, mouthed Jared at the dog. The dog barked at him. No, mouthed Jared, shaking his head. The dog ran up to the door and pawed it again. Jared looked over his back, into the building. The front desk was behind him, the wood paneling stripped completely. A computer sat dead on the desk. Every scrap of paper,…
PRODUCT MANUAL OF THE FUTURE: THE DEATH RAY
Congratulations on your purchase of a genuine ZapCo D-99 Death Ray. Please read these instructions thoroughly and carefully before handling, operating, or servicing your death ray. Careless or incorrect use of a death ray could result in serious injury. Message from the President Hello, fellow death ray enthusiast. You’ve made the right choice with the D-99, the modern standard in small arms particle beam weaponry. The D-99 is ideal for hunting, home defense, sport shooting, and even frontline combat. Indeed, the D-99 has seen service in every major military action of the past 25 years, from Gulf War IV to…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: WATCHING POKEMON IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
REFERENCE: Pokemon contagion: photosensitive epilepsy or mass psychogenic illness? (2001) Southern Medical Journal 94(2):197-204. ABSTRACT: We studied a reported illness outbreak occurring on December 16, 1997, involving more than 12,000 Japanese children who had various signs and symptoms of illness after watching an episode of a popular animated cartoon, Pokemon. While photosensitive epilepsy was diagnosed in a minuscule fraction of those affected, this explanation cannot account for the breadth and pattern of the events. The characteristic features of the episode are consistent with the diagnosis of epidemic hysteria, triggered by sudden anxiety after dramatic mass media reports describing a relatively…
SOYBEAN AND BALDNESS PREVENTATION: APPARENTLY, THERE IS A LINK
Nutritionists and vegetarians have claimed for years that soy provides a wide range of health benefits, such as lowering rates of heart attack, reducing blood cholesterol levels, relieving menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women, and in the general enhancement of the immune system. In fact, in 1999, the Food and Drug Administration even permitted food manufacturers to put label on products with high soy protein contents, with the indication that the corresponding food product may be able to reduce heart disease risks (Henkel 2000). Consequently, ever since these claims were announced, attention and examination of the impact of soy on human…
IPCC FAQ PART DEUX (BURCH MIX): OR HOW TO CAPTURE THE CLIMATE CRAZE.
(Click here for the IPCC FAQ Part I) Even those living under the oft-referenced proverbial rock would find it difficult these days to avoid the tempest of public opinion, news media attention, and political rhetoric swirling around the climate change issue. On the heels of Al Gore’s turn as an Oscar winner, and the vast swell of public awareness about the perils of climate change that preceded it, the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group I was unleashed upon political pundits and the pseudo-scientists of the popular media. In part II of our Intergovernmental Panel on…