Drs. Rider, Zook, Boettcher, Wick, Pancoast, and Zusman took my breath away today (11 August 2011). These MIT researchers may have developed a “broad-spectrum” anti-viral and published the results in PLoSOne. That’s right- it kills many different kind of viri. Just like penicillin was able to do against bacteria.
Continue reading Bye, Bye, Viri!
I do not consider myself an expert on K-12 education, but I have opinions. (You can find some of my thoughts on Stuart Nager’s blog.) But, I do understand undergraduate and graduate education. And, over the past 30 years, I have seen changes that scare the bejesus out of me.
Continue reading 144 to 120? Really?
I wrote a few weeks ago about some new devices the police are acquiring to enable facial recognition. I said, we can expect such devices to find widespread use- way beyond their original intent. (You do know the GPS on your phone not only tells you where you are, but everyone else, as well?)
Continue reading Big Brother Owns Your Phone!
Drs. Gleason and Bulovic (ChemE and EE departments of MIT), along with 7 other researchers (ChemE, EE, and Materials Science of MIT) have made a tremendous breakthrough in solar “panels”. Why is “panels” in quotes? These panels can be “printed” on copy paper, tracing paper, tissue, and newsprint. They can even be folded into different shapes. (These results were published in Advanced Materials.)
Continue reading Solar Panels on Paper- really! And, more!
A “new” study of chemical processes in living things is being evaluated; it’s called metabolomics. Basically, one studies the end products of cellular processes. It was first proposed after World War II, when paper chromatography was in vogue- and which did not afford enough data for the study to truly advance. Then, gas chromatography/mass spectrometers were developed (1970’s), which let us really begin to study the metabolites, along with the development of NMR spectroscopy.
Continue reading Metabolomics? Are you kidding me?
Come on- you know you watch TV. The dozens of programs all showing spy cameras that prevail on our streets. Within seconds, someone claims they are going to do “facial recognition” of these fuzzy images to identify and compare them to the driver’s license photos. Well, unless these are NSA grade materials, that is not happening- yet!
Continue reading Big Brother is Coming to Town- YOUR town!
The end of an era. The news claims it started 30 years ago. The era of shuttle flights. But, really, the first shuttle’s genesis started when I entered college in 1968, or when President Nixon signed the bill approving its development and construction in 1971. And, the water system development happened in mid-70s. But, this discussion really isn’t about the space shuttle.
Continue reading The end of an era? What it really means!
Remember what happened in the late 80’s and early 90’s? When every day, we heard about a new fiasco with managed care treatment of its insured (customers, patients)? Well, it’s coming back, with a vengeance, I fear.
Continue reading PacMan is alive and well
For 57 years, patients have been receiving Coumadin to reduce the risk of blood clots. What most of them don’t know is that their “drug” really rat poison- warfarin. That is not really the problem (other than the “yech” factor)- it’s that the effective dosage is difficult to ascertain and maintain. Too low a dose- and the potential for bleeding out exists; too much warfarin- and the patient’s blood congeals, precluding blood flow. Certain foods (broccoli, spinach, among other Vitamin K laden vegetables) interact with the drug, and each patient has a different response to warfarin; women with menstrual cycles, obviously, have a more difficult time maintaining the optimal dosage. Basically, the only way to determine the effective dosage is to monitor the blood clotting time (which is not performed daily or weekly)- it’s “hit or miss”.
Continue reading Big changes afoot (pun intended) for blood clot control…
What’s the difference between remission and a cure? A remission means we can’t find OBVIOUS signs of cancer in the patient’s body. A cure means there are no cancer cells in the body- the body’s immune system has destroyed the cancerous cells. We use similar terms for HIV-AIDS, too.
Continue reading New cancer treatment- one specific for the patient!