Category Archives: Science/Medicine

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the environment around here is not so terrible.

Shame about that global warming thing.

Update: More gloom on sea levels

This has nothing to do with the conference, honest, but I can’t help but wonder if there might not a link between Boing Boing, Corpses are rotting more slowly than they used to and the presence of formaldehyde in diet drinks.

Bulletin from UM:

The first two cases of H1N1 flu (swine flu) in Florida were recently confirmed: one in Broward County, the other in Lee County. To date, there have been no confirmed cases in Miami-Dade County or at the University of Miami. The University continues to carefully monitor the situation.

The University has created an H1N1 flu crisis decision team led by Joseph Natoli, senior vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer; Patricia Whitely, vice president for student affairs; and Howard Anapol, director of UM?s Student Health Service. The team is meeting daily to evaluate the latest developments and proactively determine appropriate steps for the University community in close collaboration with the Miller School of Medicine?s Division of Infectious Diseases.

University leaders are maintaining regular contact with local and regional Departments of Public Health and have a fully functional pandemic management plan in place.

More at University Communications H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) Information and Resources page.

Meanwhile, these have popped up on campus:

I snapped that picture yesterday in the main food court. (Click on it for a bigger image.) The company's web site says it is 70% Isopropyl alcohol, which I suppose is why it works on viruses.

By the way, the previous text on the UM page (now vanished?) read in part as follows:

There have been no documented cases of swine flu on campus or in South Florida. The University of Miami is carefully monitoring the situation with the guidance of the Miller School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, and will maintain regular contact with local and regional Departments of Public Health. The University is also taking a number of proactive steps to address the evolving situation.

I imagine commencement is one of those events that epidemiologists worry about.

I'll be honest: At first I thought that this posting on Heavy Boots was total nonsense, one of those urban legends.

But for a lark I tried the quiz on a very smart person I happen to know, one who didn't have much of a science background. And — spookily — it was right on script, down to the heavy boots.

So there is something to it.

The mind boggles. (How long before all the boggle is used up, I start to wonder.)

Please tell me that this Wonderful Life thing is a made-for-Internet-event like LonelyGirl15, not something real. It's got to be. Got to be.

Wonderful Life is a daily regimen involving a powerful and organic oral supplement and a spiritually based ritual practice.

… The Wonderful Life daily practice is based on a combination of vinyasa yoga, ancient Siberian folk song and dance, and contemporary extreme walking.

Is Wonderful Life safe?

Wonderful Life is 100% safe because it is 100% organic and herbal.

…

Are there any side effects?

In the first two weeks of use, those following the Wonderful Life regimen experienced fatigue, delirium, vivid dreaming and sleep walking. In the third week, people experienced short bouts of mania. People following the Wonderful Life regimen should not operate vehicles or heavy machinery in the first 21 days of use. During the forth through sixth weeks, most people experienced a waning of side effects as the benefits of the regimen began to take root.

Some people taking the Wonderful Life supplement continued to experience mania, combined with delusions of grandeur, hyperhidrosis and hallucinations. In these cases, once the use of the supplement had been discontinued, these people returned to a normal resting state within 72 hours. The presence of these side effects occurred in only 15% of Wonderful Life testers.

Less than 2% of people following the Wonderful Life regimen experienced seizures and migraine-like headaches after six months of use. It is recommended that people following the Wonderful Life regimen discontinue use of this product after 120 days to avoid serious injury.

(Spotted via a link from RockCookieBottom)

Update (4/28/09): Unfortunately, the map is not accurate.

H1N1 Swine Flu Map.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Key:

Pink markers are suspect
Purple markers are confirmed
Deaths lack a dot in marker

RSS Feed of new H1N1 Swine Flu Cases

Amazingly, there are none near here yet. Diseases don't usually work like that.