From Improbable Research:

One of the dilemmas all professors occasionally face in the classroom is what to do about sleeping students. Should we ignore them and let them snooze away? Or should we awaken them?

The tragedy!

A Bristol Royal Hospital for Children team found the frequency of nursery rhyme violence was more than 10 times greater than in pre-9pm programmes.

Speaking of things that are addictive…

The World did a segment on Round-Up resistent coca in Columbia. They interviewed Joshua Davis who wrote an article for Wired on the subject.

Over the past three years, rumors of a new strain of coca have circulated in the Colombian military. The new plant, samples of which are spread out on this table, goes by different names: supercoca, la millonaria. Here in the southern region it’s known as Boliviana negra. The most impressive characteristic is not that it produces more leaves – though it does – but that it is resistant to glyphosate. The herbicide, known by its brand name, Roundup, is the key ingredient in the US-financed, billion-dollar aerial coca fumigation campaign that is a cornerstone of America’s war on drugs.

The most disturbing part was this:

He does have a clear sense of how the new plant is affecting his region. At first, he says, the aerial spraying was successful, but now, with the arrival of Boliviana negra, it’s affecting only those who are growing lawful crops. “The truth is that the fumigation drives us to the one thing that will survive – and that is Boliviana negra,” he says. “Not bananas, not yucca, not maize.”

The Colombian and US governments want farmers to grow legal crops, he explains, and in the past have paid them to eradicate coca. But though American embassy officials insist that the spraying campaign is more than 99 percent accurate, Don Miguel says that almost all the farmers he knows and represents report that legal crops are sprayed as well. He says that his own tree farm was sprayed, pushing him to the edge of bankruptcy. If Boliviana negra will guarantee income for farmers, Don Miguel says, they will grow it and have less incentive to discuss eradication with the government.

HOBBITS!

Who wants to know what’s going on? (Sorry–brief movie flash)

It’s been a strange week. I’m actually quite busy at work, with a substantial project on my desk right now. But it’s a fun project, so I’m not upset, I just feel like I’m firing on all cylinders all day long.

As far as school goes, I’m working on my paper/project, which is on the ethical/legal issues of Euthanasia/Physician Assisted Suicide. Although it’s not the most cheerful subject out there, it’s not quite as depressing as you’d think. There are two questions I’ll need to answer: Is PAS legal and is PAS moral? Interestingly enough the answers to those questions will not necessarily be the same, but my biggest challenge will be separating my opinion from the conclusions I draw. Of course there is no way I can completely separate my morality/ethics completely from the subject, but it is my job to look at this with an open mind, to see the arguments presented by both sides.

Precisely unlike how things work during a presidential election.

There’s been some interesting health news recently.

A recent study found that Tai Chi increased patients mobility and seemed to act as a treatment for heart failure. I’ve often wished that my grandmother lived closer, so that she could take classes in Tai Chi, and other elderly exercise programs. But I’ve been particularly interested in Tai Chi, because it has a reputation for being easy on the joints and low impact.

The NY Times had an interesting article on the relationship between prayer and healing. As someone who strongly believes in free will, I am somewhat discomforted by the idea of praying for something. I believe that what happens in this world is due to human action and choice, but I do believe that faith does have benefits, because it gives people a sense of comfort and well being, both of which seem to be related to positive health outcomes.

There is a fascinating new study from UNC about mortality rates in the workplace.

Hispanics — especially in the South — suffer more fatal occupational injuries than blacks or other groups.

“We observed that southern workers have higher rates of fatal occupational injury than workers in the rest of the country,” said Dr. David B. Richardson, research assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. “And, among workers in the South, Hispanic men are now the group with the highest rate of fatal injury on the job.”

So death rates for blacks and whites have decreased, while death rates for Hispanics have increased.

The article mentions some possible reasons for this trend, “on-the-job communication barriers, assignment of more hazardous tasks and failure of employers to invest in training and protective gear for workers who might be short-term or illegal,” but I wonder whether it is due to the fact that the most dangerous jobs are now being given those willing to take low pay just to have a job? (See Eric Schlosser‘s Fast Food Nation and his discussion of slaughterhouses and meat packing plants in the US.)

So looks like I shan’t be getting a flu shot this year.

The biotech company Chiron will have its flu stocks destroyed, due to sterility concerns.

Last year the US had 87 million doses last year, and there were shortages. This year it looks like there will be only 54 million doses available in the US.

If you’re not familar with the flu and how flu vaccine is produced, you may be wondering why they just don’t make some more to cover the shortage. The short answer: because it takes a long time to make the vaccine. Five months on average.

If there is a shortage of vaccines, then those of us who are healthy should refrain from getting the vaccine, and allow those who have health problems, such as the elderly, to get the vaccine instead.

So what can we do to keep from getting the flu this winter? First and foremost: WASH YOUR HANDS! Keep your hands away from your face! WASH YOUR HANDS! Finally everyone should know what it’s like to have OCD, as they wash, Wash, WASH! (Here’s a hint: Lotion keeps your skin from drying out, and it is NOT un-manly to use hand lotion. That’s why they make unscented versions.)

It’s also important to stay healthy. Sounds stupid, but it’s true. Reduce your stress. Eat well. Get plenty of sleep and plenty of exercise. All these things will help you stay healthy, and staying helathy will reduce your chances of getting the flu.

And remember that the flu is no laughing matter. If you do start to get sick, drink plenty of liquids (I recommend orange juice for the vitamin C), take asprin or something else to keep your temperature down, get lots of rest, and STAY HOME!

Keep you germs to yourself!

An archeological dig in Yorkshire, England has found that Medieval surgeons were more advanced that previously thought.

The skull in question, dating back to the 11th century, had been struck a near-fatal blow by a blunt weapon, causing a severe depressed fracture on the left hand side.

Closer examination revealed the victim had been given life-saving surgery called trepanning.

A rectangular area of the scalp, measuring 9cm by 10cm, would have been lifted to allow the depressed bone segments to be carefully removed.

This would have relieved the pressure on the brain.

I find it fascinating whenever we discover that ancient peoples had far more advanced medical or technical skills that we typically give them credit for.

I still wouldn’t want to go back and live in those times, but it’s interesting to know that many advanced medical treatments were developed long ago, and that not all knowledge was lost in the western world during the dark ages.

This, though, is the most fascinating quote:

“It seems most probable that the operation was performed by an itinerant healer of unusual skill, whose medical acumen was handed down through oral tradition.”

Where did such a skilled surgeon come from? Was it really oral tradition passed on locally, or was it perhaps a foreign doctor, wandering the world? There were, I believe, doctors in the world at that time who were familiar with such techniques.

I can imagine a doctor going from place to place and country to country throughout the world looking for new techniques or local herbs and medicines, and healing people in exchange for knowledge of local traditions.

I can also imagine a time traveler going back and doing something similar, but I find that far less romantic for some reason.

The 30th was the day the 2004 IgNobel awards were presented.

If you haven’t read the Annals of Improbably Research, I highly recommend that was well.

AND they have a blog!

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

The leaves will be changing color any day now.

WWII bomber emerges from glacier

A long hot summer in Iceland has revealed previously hidden parts of a British warplane that crashed on a glacier in May 1941.

The Fairey Battle bomber has been re-emerging slowly from the ice since 1995, monitored by aviation enthusiast Hordur Geirsson.

The BBC also has links to previous stories on the glacier and on the recovery of the bodies of the airmen

This story reminds me of the unearthing of bodies buried in the permafrost in the search for clues to the pandemic of 1918.

For $19.99 a month and as little as 7 cents a minute, customers can go to the company’s Web site, log in and then type the number that they want to call and the number that they want to appear on the caller ID screen of the recipient’s phone.

For an additional fee, they can also specify names that can appear along with their telephone numbers.

That’s it. I’m getting rid of caller ID and saving a substantial amount on my phone bill.

Aides to (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) say he will sign legislation approved on Thursday that could allow up to 75,000 hybrid drivers, mainly those behind the wheel of a gas-sipping Prius, to use car pool lanes even when taking to the road alone. The governor hopes the perk will encourage more people to buy the cleaner-burning cars, but by doing so, he will give the Japanese-made Prius vaunted status in a state where nearly 30 million registered vehicles compete for every inch of open asphalt.

…

“What Bill Ford ought to be doing is spending his time figuring out how to out-compete the Japanese,” Mr. Angelides said. “The bill has objective standards, and any car company, including Ford, could produce a clean-burning, fuel-efficient hybrid that meets the standards.”

The Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid also meet the fuel effeciency standards.

So American car makers have fought tooth and nail to keep cafe standards from raising, and now they’re fighting to stop a rewards program for those who purchase fuel efficient vehicles.

As for Ford whining that the Escape hybrid doesn’t quality… at 31 mpg, my standard Corolla gets better gas mileage than that–we’re gotten 41 mpg on the interstate. So to call the Escape hybrid fuel efficent is a joke.

If people want to buy urban attack vehicles, they most certainly may, but those people can suck it up when gas prices go through the ceiling. I certainly don’t want to listen to their complaints, since their gas guzzling is only exacerbating the problem. So drive what you like, but you don’t get to drive an SUV and complain about gas prices when you knew your monstrosity got low mileage when you bought it,

A recent post at The Main Point, has got me thinking about quality of life.

In my Gerontology class last year, one student said that if he got so old they took away he’s driver’s license, he’s just kill himself, because he couldn’t take that big a limitation. My first thought was to wonder how someone in Gerontology could even think that such a small limitation as loss of driving privledges would be worth dying for.

My second (less charitable) thought, was that: the shape he was in, he was looking at Type II Diabetes and a bunch of other health problems, onsetting at a young age, so his life expectancy might not be very long at all, especially if he thought that losing his driver’s license was a major limitation.

Remembering that incident reminded me that what seems, from the perspective of a young and healthy youth, an unbearable burden, might not seem like that big a deal when you live it on a daily basis.

This is not to say that I believe that disease and illness are a blessing, or a message from God for the individual, either positive or negative. If anything, they are a spur from God to work to advance or medical research to treat debilitating illnesses and conditions so that everyone can live a healthy life.

My initial grounds for considering health, wellness and well-being stem from knowing my grandmother, and what a remarkable woman she is. She has had rhumatoid arthritis since she was in her 30s, yet at the age of 87 still keeps her own house. She’s had two knee replacement surgeries, yet still needs to use a cane when she leaves the house. She hasn’t driven for years, and has great difficulty getting up and down stairs, and up from chairs.

Desite all this, she’s one of the most positive people I know. She may worry, and she may complain a little about aches and pains, or her allergies, but those things don’t dominate her life.

What came to my mind from all of this musing upon death, health, and life, is a reminder that we are not defined by our limitations, but are defined by what what we achieve and we do.