Yesterday in the hot, hot sun, I sucked down a mango smoothie. Immediately I stopped in my tracks, squinted my eyes, and put my hand to the pain in my forehead as I regretted my choice of beverage. In the July/August 2015 issue of Men’s Health, Dr. Jorge Serrador explains how cold beverages and foods cause this rapid-onset headache more widely known as “brain freeze”.
When I first learned that Jurassic Park 4 aka Jurassic World had been greenlit, I was cautiously excited. Just kidding – I was mostly really excited. I’ve been a dinosaur enthusiast for, quite literally, forever and it’s been over a decade since the last sub-par Jurassic Park sequel, Jurassic Park 3 (whose highlight was a spinosaurus vs. T.Rex battle that I feel obligated to share with everyone). Obviously, we were overdue for an ill-advised return to the dinosaur-filled islands of the Caribbean. Continue reading The Park is Open – Again!
Mary Roach, author of the weird sciency books Stiff, Gulp, and Bonk, should go on a comedy tour. Her research about human physiology is not simply regurgitated on the page. It is craftily masticated, suspensefully digested, and hilariously delivered for her readership to chew on. Outside of this blog, I write about evidence-based medicine. I do PubMed searches on things like “mycobacteria, prevalence, United States” and “typhoid fever, pathogenesis”. For her work, Mary Roach searches for things like “cadaveric, penis” and “kegeling, urine dribble”. Here are some fascinating curiosities of Mary Roach. Continue reading Chew on this: the curiosities of Mary Roach
Recently, a letter written in 1988 by beloved British children’s lit author Roald Dahl resurfaced. The letter was written on behalf of his deceased daughter Olivia, who caught measles and died in 1962 at the all-too young age of 7. Prior to the development of the measles vaccine, this was a horrifyingly common occurrence. In his letter, Dahl recounts the last day of Olivia’s life and pleads parents to vaccinate their children.
“In my opinion parents who now refuse to have their children immunised are putting the lives of those children at risk.”
-Roald Dahl’s 1988 letter
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that starts somewhat innocuously as a flu-like disease before exploding into an itchy rash that can spread all over the body. Measles is particularly dangerous when the virus infects the lungs and progresses to pneumonia or infects the brain and causes inflammation leading to seizures and brain damage. This brain infection is what ended poor Olivia Dahl’s life all those years ago. And although Roald Dahl recognized that the vaccine was not available in time to save his eldest daughter, he was conscious of the well-being of his other children and all the kids all over the world that are captivated by his fantasy worlds in books.
“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.
“I feel all sleepy,” she said.
In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.
-Roald Dahl’s 1988 letter
Continue reading Matilda, James, & Charlie would have been vaccinated
Perhaps the very worst aspect of humanity is our illusion of independence. Humans have evolved into self-thinking, -centered, and -indulgent individuals that have, for the most part, lost site of the microcosm that we inhabit and that inhabit us.
“Our bodies may belong to us, but we ourselves belong to a greater
body composed of many bodies.”
-Queen Elizabeth I
Eula Biss takes this social stance in her fascinating new book On Immunity: An Innoculation, which should find itself on every mothers’ reading list. The birth of Biss’ son transformed her from a relatively fearless woman into a MOM–one who will do quite literally anything to protect her child. Like any mother, Biss second guesses many of the decisions she has made on behalf of her son, including vaccinations. Continue reading Tending to our community garden
The periodic table of elements is one of humankind’s iconic symbols. Despite the fact that you may only know the names and properties of several elements, you no doubt recognize the grid. Theodore Gray takes this famous table to a new artistic standard in his now world-renowned book The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe. A bright and glossy black tome with a single element on each open 2-page spread, this is a great beginners resource for the visual depiction in high resolution photographs (if possible) and written description of each element. Accompanying each page are things in the world that are made up of the element. From common metals used in jewelry like silver and gold to rare earth metals like Lanthanum whose oxidation lights up camping lanterns, each element includes stories of how these elements are interesting to many more than just chemists.
If you or your kids are more digitally stimulated, there is also an iPad app ($13.99) that includes each page of The Elements book in HD. Or visit www.periodictable.com for free interactive fun with the elements. On this website, you can also purchase posters, placemats, and cards to enhance your child’s chemistry IQ.
A great companion activity to The Elements, is this 1000 piece puzzle that I recently put together. As you and your child add pieces to the puzzle, searching for similar-looking elements and browsing each name, symbol, and atomic number, I suggest looking up each element in the book or iPad app. When adding a new element to the puzzle, make sure to discuss what the element is and what it makes up in the world. Shout out, “I found Europium!” when adding this flaky rock to the puzzle, “And Europium creates fluorescence in light bulbs!”
Who knew chemistry could be so much fun!
The CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory is a nerdtastic comedy about a group of highly intelligent but often clueless physics guys and their wannabe actress gal pal. The later development of a pair of female characters as biologist girlfriends has mitigated some early complaints of too much sausage (though, to be fair, not very much testosterone), but it also added a much needed range of geekery to the ensemble.
One of the greatest unspoken aspects of The Big Bang Theory has been the assorted attire of the group. From Raj’s Cosby sweaters to Howard’s retro belt clips, every element of these characters’ clothing is meticulously chosen and meaningful to their personalities. My favorite clothing choice has been the various tee shirts worn by Sheldon and Leonard. Like the physicist characters that adorn them, many of these tee shirts have a scientific element (albeit mostly carbon). Here are a few of my faves:
Continue reading Many more than 2 “T’s” in The Big Bang Theory
There are three things that hit you fast when you watch The Knick, a new Cinemax miniseries directed by Steven Soderbergh. First, Clive Owen has an era-appropriate but annoying mustache. Second, the electronic, intermittently pulsing music is anachronistic – and yet it works (and is arguably the most memorable TV soundtrack since Game of Thrones). And finally, surgeries without gloves are really gross to watch even when fictional. While it would have been dangerous to be a patient at the Knickerbocker (more familiarly known as the Knick in the show), it’s entertaining and informative to watch the shenanigans of early 20th century medicine.
Continue reading Do you have any idea what the going price is for a fresh body these days?
In the 1980’s Thomas Dolby sang and synthesized:
It’s poetry in motion
She turned her tender eyes to me
As deep as any ocean
As sweet as any harmony
Mmm – but she blinded me with science
“She blinded me with science!”
First, the metaphor of an intelligent woman “blinding” (confusing) a man with “science” (technical jargon) is both humorous and accurate. Unfortunately, scientists have not made much progress in the last 30+ years to bridge the chasm that exists between us and the general public. Of course, this song could be a topic for an entire post, but I bring up this classic 80’s tune because it appears that many people are often “blinded” not by true scientific research, but what they think is science.
Upon initiating the design of my Yal
e College Residential seminar class, Biomedical Science in the Media, I scoured the interwebs for good and bad science reporting. One of the notable sites I came across, which later served as an inspiration for this blog, was Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science website. In his blog, Dr. Goldacre discusses and discredits science that is inappropriately reported and often misconstrued in the news. Along the way he presents the facts, if they are known, and highly educated conjecture if they aren’t. Goldacre is also an active broadcaster, campaigner, medical doctor, and academic that still manages to find the time to update his blog and write books. His first book, Bad Science, has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide and just happened to be on my personal summer reading list.