Researchers developing extra-contagious strains of H5N1 avian influenza have agreed to pause their work for 60 days.
from Wired Top Stories
From CNNMoney.com: Doctors living on loans
I hope this is less true than it seems because if this is true, then we are in for recession #2! 🙁
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Government-backed loans to doctors have surged more than 10-fold in the past decade, a trend industry insiders say is a red flag that doctors in America are in financial distress.
From Google Reader: Headphones Cause Pedestrian Injuries to Triple Over a 6-Year Period
Please pay more attention if you walk/run/jog on the streets.
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These accidents were due to both being distracted by their devices and blocking the sounds of the warning systems with their headphones
From Google Reader: Microrockets Can Zip Around the Human Stomach, Powered by Hydrogen Bubbles
Microrockets via PhysOrg
Tiny machines that can enter our bloodstreams and do work inside of our bodies are a staple of both science fiction and real-world biomedical science, as MEMS and other micromotor devices become increasingly small and effective. A team from the University of California, San Diego, is taking the idea even further by creating what it is calling “microrockets”: tiny self-propelled motors that can zip around an acidic environment, like the human stomach, without the need for any external fuel.
The microrockets are the first known example of a chemically-powered micro-machine that powers itself without carrying some kind of fuel, like hydrogen peroxide, onboard. Rather, the UCSD team’s microrockets are powered by hydrogen bubbles produced by a reaction between an acidic solution–like that present in the stomach–and the zinc that the microrocket itself is made of.
When the microrocket is immersed in that acidic environment, hydrogen bubbles quickly start to build up inside the rocket and–depending on how acidic the environment–propel it up to speeds of 100 body lengths per second. That’s about 1,050 micrometers per second for a 5-micrometer diameter microrocket (they are generally about 10 micrometers wrong, and between two and five micrometers in diameter). Depending on the rate of zinc dissolution, the lifetime of the microrockets once introduced to the acid solution can be anywhere from two to 10 minutes.
They are also controllable using a magnetic field. By placing a magnetic coating on the exterior of the microrockets, the UCSD team has demonstrated that the rockets can be guided through a solution and even be used to pick up and deposit cargo as they go, all by manipulating a magnetic field.
The biomedical applications here are pretty obvious. Aside from being able to do rudimentary pH sensing in the stomach, such microrockets could be used to non-invasively target drugs within the body–at least in the acidic parts–or to assist in imaging of certain parts of the body. They could also be used in industrial processes like semiconductor processing.
[PhysOrg]
from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now
Exposure on Radiation – Pun Intended
*Source: xkcd.com
With the Japanese nuclear power plant leaking radiation, many are concerned how that would affect us. We ourselves and many families will be traveling to Japan and are concerned how that would be. Rest assured that it’s not nearly as bad as most of us tend to think.
As Popular Science explains, we are exposed to far more amounts at other unsuspecting sources like using old CRT monitors and the insane amount on a flight from NYC to LA!! Yikes. So unless you walk into a nuclear plant, we have not that much to worry about. Oh and there’s a rather great note at the bottom of the blue chart that states that cell phones generate ZERO radiation!!!
Are you an overprotective parent or a neglectful dad?!
I just read this article and learned that the kids with over-protective parents and/or neglectful fathers grow up with slow brain growth! 😮 Wow… we all want to protect our kids… but with something like this, it does bring up a good counter point of when is a parent too protective?!
To think that my being overly protective can prohibit or slow my kids’ brain growth and development is shocking to say the least! In the end, I am sure as a parent, we would want to choose safety over intelligence but if we can balance that well and not bind our own kids, we should make conscientious choice to do so… even if it’s only half true!
While I understand that many will display concern to avoid blame game, it does raise up a good point that when you overprotect a child, that child will become less and less involved in decision making process, let alone thinking for themselves… that’s the biggest factor/danger that any parent should be aware of…
Again, as a parent, if I had to choose between safety of my kids and their intelligence, I’d choose safety hands down… but if I can help it, I need to also learn to let go and let them start “walking on their own” whenever I can.
All of us Asians have gone through much of this in our childhoods, mine included, but since most of us came out decently (or so I tell myself :P), surely it isn’t the end of the world…
It is however, very shocking to learn that NEGLECTFUL FATHTERS have equal impact on inhibiting the children’s mental development!! o_O I am more concerned about that… Time to spend more time with my kids!!!!
Hooray for Red Eyes!
Well, it’s the end of January… and though it’s technically winter, here in the warm state of Texas, it’s ripe season for allergies! >.< Erg… how I dread these next two months…
I have tried, Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra, and Xyzal. None seem to work well. Right now, my eyes are irritated and inflamed. And because of that, my eyes are hot, red, and puffy. Oh the glory and joy of enduring this time of the year… I am pretty much allergic to more or less all the tree pollens out there as well as severe allergies to cats and dust. Yeah… It’s a good thing that people don’t make food out of tree pollens! LOL
I have tried Neti pot which is very temporary relief. My co-worker/mom-at-work, June keeps telling me to just get the allergy shot and be done with it. However, I have HUGE fear of needles… and this shot is the mother of them all!
What is this post about? Just my ranting and hoping for some sympathy… back to life… but if you have another medication for me to try, don’t hesitate to suggest it!
EDIT: Friend of mine, Jon Park, an optometrist suggested I give Lotemax (by Bausch & Lomb) a try to relieve my inflamed and irritated eyes. And it works!! Mixing that with Claritin and Neti pot is making this allergy season much more endurable!