Commentary
laelaps | March 19, 2010
Earlier this week David Williams (Stories in Stone), Michael Welland (Sand), and I started a blog series about the details of publishing a popular science book (Parts 1, 2, and 3), but I have been a bit underwhelmed by the response. I had been hoping for some input from other published authors, questions or comments from aspiring book writers, and for the series to take the form of a conversation. Instead I feel like I am talking to myself. Is there anything anyone would like to know about the process of writing a pop-sci book? Or would you all prefer that I just get back to the science…
grrlscientist | January 31, 2010tags: iPad, MADTV, technology, commentary, NSFW, satire, parody, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
It's rude, it's disgusting, it's NOT SAFE FOR WORK! (but admit it, all of you thought this very thing when you first heard the name of Apple's newest technology, didn't you)
ksharpe | March 25, 2009Originally posted by David Dobbs
On March 23, 2009, at 9:34 AM
I've had mixed reactions to Gladwell's writing over the years: I always enjoy reading it, but in Blink, especially, when he was writing about an area I knew more about than in his other books, I was troubled not just by what seemed an avoidance of neuroscientific explanations of attention and decision-making, but by an argument that seemed to come down to "The best way to make decisions is the quick gut method, except when it's not." I was also troubled by ... well, I couldn't put my finger on it. But Joseph Epstein has:
Too…
mementomori | January 22, 2008If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
-Winston Churchill
Point number one: "Work-related stress can kill, study finds"
Point number one again: "The team conducted seven surveys over a 12-year period and found chronically stressed workers -- people determined to be under severe pressure in the first two of the surveys -- had a 68 percent higher risk of developing heart disease."
Point number one a third time: "Stressed workers eat unhealthy…
mementomori | January 21, 2008The New York Times has a story published last Friday about American men traveling to Mexico to receive a treatment for prostate cancer that is not approved in the United States. The article implies that this treatment is an unproven entity and may be unethical. I'm not so certain about this, so let's take a look.
The treatment is called High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound, or HIFU. The title of the story is:
"Despite Doubts, Cancer Therapy Draws Patients"
Doubts? Who's doubting the treatment - the doctors who perform it? The company who makes the product? The patients themselves? Of…
mementomori | January 16, 2008The following is a hypothetical advertisement seen on a community sign, let's say by a bus stop.
ARE YOU EXPERIENCING ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS?
*chest pain, pressure, discomfort, tightness or squeezing, with or without nausea / sweating
*inability to breathe
*loss of consciousness
*worst headache of your life including at least the past six incarnations
*uncontrollable vomiting, or vomiting up blood
*hemorrhage from the rectum, with or without light-headedness
*traumatic injury
*abdominal pain that is severe enough to interfere with your ability to remain upright, not to mention remain calm,…
mementomori | January 6, 2008"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional."
Most all of us like to receive sound medical advice, even if we have no intention of following it. Perhaps this is why some experts relay information in a style reminiscent of filling the lifeboats of the Titanic. By trumpeting alarums for diseases deemed potentially life-threatening, doctors forget how easy it is to spook the general public. Hey, I'm scared enough as it is - God help my physician if I read a list of symptoms followed by the words "See Your Doctor Immediately!" I might just defenestrate myself to get to the emergency room…
mementomori | January 2, 2008A new study from Johns Hopkins shows that by sampling oral tissue from patients with a history of head and neck cancer doctors can predict with some accuracy the presence of a recurrence or of another primary tumor (presumably from the oropharynx). I found a couple of things about this report fascinating - first, the oropharyngeal tissue was not obtained by performing blind biopsies, which requires general anesthesia and O.R. time. Rather, the cells were collected by the patients themselves in a simple manner - gargling and spitting, and who doesn't love to do that, especially while…
mementomori | December 19, 2007"Drinking green tea may fight prostate cancer"
To: MSNBC Chief Editor
Re: Headline writers
Dear Sir:
It has come to our attention that many of your readers are misinterpreting the headlines of news stories you post on MSNBC. We bring this to your attention in order to forestall any unfortunate behavior that could be linked to anyone acting on a potentially misleading headline posted on your site. For example, the lead listed above implies that drinking green tea may be an effective treatment for prostate cancer. As the body of your story correctly states, what the researchers from Japan…
mementomori | December 18, 2007Death rates from cancer continue to fall in the United States, dropping more than 2 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, cancer experts reported on Monday.
They found important declines in deaths from lung, prostate and colorectal cancers in men, as well as in breast and colon cancer among women. Lung cancer deaths were still on the rise among women but this increase slowed, according to the report.
We're always grateful to hear such encouraging news from medical statisticians, but how can we use this information in our daily lives? Perhaps it would help to first remind ourselves of…
mementomori | December 7, 2007"Let's see - what should I do today...YouTube? IPod? Watch a DVD? Surf the 'net? Watch a little television? Uh, what was I thinking? Oh, who cares - I hate my life anyway."
A lack of physical activity leads to depression and dementia, evidence presented at the British Nutrition Foundation conference shows.
A new study from the U.K. shows that regular physical activity cuts the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 30 to 40%.
It is unclear why there is such a great effect but it could be associated with benefits to the vascular system as well as release of chemicals in the brain.…
mementomori | November 30, 2007A report from MSNBC identifies seven food items commonly thought to be nutritious (or at least harmless) but actually either filled with nasty ingredients or stripped of healthy ones.
If I may be permitted, I'd like to summarize the author's findings. The seven deadly snack foods (and their sins of comission and omission) are these:
1. Granola bars - aw, c'mon - that ain't true...they are good for you...I refute it thus! [kicks display rack full of Three Musketeers] (sugar and chocolate, little protein/fiber/vitamins)
2. Bottled tea beverages - (full of sugar and spices, but little tea,…
mementomori | November 24, 2007"Yes, I'd like a dozen doughnuts, please."
"Are you sure, sir? If I were you I'd run as fast as I could from this shop and head for the nearest bakery for some whole grain bread."
"You work here and you're trying to discourage me from buying your product?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but you see - I'm pre-med at State U, and I found out that doughnuts are not good for your health."
"Pre-med? You already sound like one of those sanctimonious medical bloggers. Just give me the doughnuts - on second thought make it two dozen doughnuts, Mr. Know-It-All."
'Yes, sir, and thanks very much - you just…
mementomori | November 19, 2007Here's a bit of encouraging news for patients afflicted with the brain tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM):
U.S. biotechnology company Genentech, Inc. said on Sunday its blockbuster cancer drug, Avastin, showed encouraging results for patients with the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
A pilot study from Duke University Medical Center, published in the Journal of Clincial Oncology, showed that the combination of irinotecan, a chemotherapy drug, plus the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab produced a significant improvement in the response rate and 6 month survival of patients with…
mementomori | November 7, 2007I adhere to a certain practice on such a regular basis that my family has resigned themselves to residing with someone that exhibits what they consider to be quirky, if not downright bizarre behavior. No, it's not that 'certain practice'. Now it turns out I'm not so loony after all:
"Study Shows People Who Fast Are Less Likely to Have Artery Blockages"
A study of 4500 men and women who fast on a regular basis revealed that they were less likely to be diagnosed with coronary artery disease than those patients who do not fast. Those who fast were 39% less likely to have the disease, defined…
laelaps | November 3, 2007
During the 1990's I can scarcely remember a time when one television station or another wasn't playing at least one of the four JAWS movies, TBS, TNT, or WPIX often devoting an entire day to films about killer oceanic creatures. Still, of the four films JAWS 3 (or 3-D, if you like) was one of the b-movies that was always making the rounds, and it's gratuitous special effects make it an easy target for this week's cheesy movie selection.
Although I didn't realize it as a kid, JAWS 3 picks up the story of the Brody family at a Sea World theme park (Sea World Orlando, a landlocked theme park,…
mementomori | November 2, 2007"There will be sleeping enough in the grave."
-Benjamin Franklin
Question: What kills more than 1550 Americans and injures another 71,000 every year?
A. Drowning
B. Accidental discharge of firearms
C. Viral hepatitis
D. Malignant melanoma
(Answer below the fold)
Answer: "None of the above."
Drowning kills 3,529
Firearm accidents kill 649
Viral hepatitis kills 5,382
Malignant melanoma kills 7,952
The correct answer is: falling asleep behind the wheel while driving.
"Drowsy driving is big killer in U.S"
Although studies have found the condition to be nearly impossible to fight off…
mementomori | October 31, 2007Attention All Lovers of the Following:
Hamburgers (also known as "our national pastime")
French Fries (also known as "coronary sticks")
Pastries (apply directly to hips to cut out the middle man)
Sugary Drinks (the answer to this riddle: "What is the slowest known way to commit suicide?")
Beef (sorry, Fred - brontosaurus steaks are gefahrbringend)
Pork (th-th-that's all, folks!)
Lamb (Mary had a little, and look what happened to her)
Bacon (a.k.a. colon cancer fertilizer)
Ham (see "Bacon")
Sausage (see "Ham")
Lunch Meat (see how it is made for the best deterrent)
Alcohol (Hic! Hey, even the…
laelaps | October 27, 2007
Until I saw this 1972 film I had no idea that amphibians wanted to rule the world, but apparently they are cold-blooded masterminds bent on destroying Homo sapiens, or at least wrecking a crotchety old man's birthday. Oddly enough, however, Frogs doesn't even live up to it's own name, there being only one frog in the entire film (most of the "frogs" are really toads), but such considerations didn't stop the filmmakers from buying everything that slinked, slithered, or crawled from the local pet shops and creating a classic, putrid piece of movie cheese.
The eco-thriller is a bit of a sub-…
mementomori | October 22, 2007Does keeping a positive mental outlook help cancer patients to live longer?
People who are depressed about their cancer are no more likely to die than people who keep a positive outlook, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
The choice of medical reports that news services choose to disseminate continues to fascinate me, including this latest bit of research involving 1100 patients with locally advanced cancer of the head and neck area. I'm sure they picked this story because of the popular conception that those who keep a positive outlook when fighting cancer will have a better outcome. If…