Category Archives: Science/Medicine

Phthalates are bad for you:

Bornehag, CG, J Sundrell, CJ Weschler, T Sigsgaard, Björn Lundgren, Mikael Hasselgren, Linda Hägerhed-Engman. 2004. The Association between Asthma and Allergic Symptoms in Children and Phthalates in House Dust: A Nested Case-Control Study, Environmental Health Perspectives, in press.

This study links exposure to phthalates found in household dust to rhinitis, eczema, and asthma in children.

…

Phthalates are industrial chemicals used widely in modern commerce. Over the last several decades, exposure to phthalates has become ubiquitous and virtually unavoidable. There are many types of phthalates, each with its own chemical and physical properties and toxicological characteristics.

This sounds like it may be a signficant finding. Eczema and asthma are rising very fast in developed countries (especially the UK), but no one is really clear as to why. This might explain it: phthalates are emissions from plastic bottles, plastic wrap, PVC, many cosmetics, vinyl tile, and many other ubiquitous modern creations.

And this is more than just a correlation — there's a biological mechanism suspected.

New Hypoxic 'Dead Zone' Found Off Oregon Coast:

For the second time in three years, a hypoxic “dead zone” has formed off the central Oregon Coast. It's killing fish, crabs and other marine life and leading researchers to believe that a fundamental change may be taking place in ocean conditions in the northern Pacific Ocean.

The event appears similar to one in 2002, when an area of ocean water with low oxygen content formed in the nearshore Oregon coast between Newport and Florence, causing a massive die-off of fish and invertebrate marine species. The fact that it's happening again is triggering concern among marine scientists.

…

Dissolved oxygen levels are a great deal lower than those seen in the past 40 years. This is a disturbing trend with an unknown cause that scientists now say may reflect a major change in ocean circulation patterns, with serious impacts on marine biology.

“When you see the same thing happening with this regularity, it suggests that something is fundamentally different,” said Jane Lubchenco, the Valley Professor of Marine Biology at Oregon State University. “This is a significant departure from normal conditions and you have to wonder what's going on. This ocean system has changed, and we're paying attention.”

According to an impeachable news source, the UK's Guardian, in an otherwise unremarkable story about how scientists now think that T.Rex achieved its enormous size by an sudden four-ton teenage growth spurt, followed by the sort of short life we expect for binge eaters, one finds this remark:

The T rex in the Steven Spielberg movie Jurassic Park famously snatched and devoured a lawyer cowering in a lavatory. Palaeontologists have since heartlessly adopted the lawyer as a standard unit of dinosaur diet.

Please say it ain't so.

Via Ascription is an anathema to any enthusiasm, a chart showing the theory of everything.

At least one of the following is fake.

• The Forgotten Technology A “a retired carpenter with 35 years experience in construction” rediscovers a technology that would have allowed a remarkably small number of low-tech workers to build Stonehenge or the Pyramids. Quote: “I found that I, working alone, could easily move a 2400 lb. block 300 ft. per hour with little effort, and a 10,000 lb. block at 70 ft. per hour. I also stood two 8 ft. 2400 lb. blocks on end and placed another 2400 lb. block on top. This took about two hours per block. I found that one man, working by himself, without the use of wheels, rollers, pulleys, or any type of hoisting equipment could perform the task.”

• Speed of Light May Have Changed Recently Quote: “A varying speed of light contradicts Einstein's theory of relativity, and would undermine much of traditional physics. But some physicists believe it would elegantly explain puzzling cosmological phenomena such as the nearly uniform temperature of the universe. It might also support string theories that predict extra spatial dimensions. The threat to the idea of an invariable speed of light comes from measurements of another parameter called the fine structure constant, or alpha, which dictates the strength of the electromagnetic force.”

• DVD Rewinder Quote: “Too many DVDs, and CDs and not enough time to rewind? Are your DVDs running a bit too slow? The DVD rewinder is the perfect solution! This rewinder has the exclusive Centriptal Velocity Spindle providing the world’s fastest DVD rewind!”

According to Boing Boing, channeling Neil Gaman (!), the MotoPhotoBlog I linked to a while back is semi-fraudulent. The pictures may be real, but the story isn't:

I am sorry to report that much of Elena's story is not true. She did not travel around the zone by herself on a motorcycle. Motorcycles are banned in the zone, as is wandering around alone, without an escort from the zone administration. She made one trip there with her husband and a friend. They traveled in a Chornobyl car that picked them up in Kyiv.

Snookered me.