tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120325528971381822012-02-17T06:40:02.645-05:00News and commentary from the desk of a science journalistBennoreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-55699907010805891122011-12-18T15:48:00.000-05:002011-12-18T15:49:11.759-05:00

Zack, bottomless, is undergoing potty training. Here he entertains his sister.

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-87450252773721424072007-08-29T15:12:00.001-04:002007-08-29T15:15:41.771-04:00

Medical quality maven Avery Comarow has just posted an item that doctors should read q.d.--that is, every day--to remind them of an easy way to prevent one kind of medical error.

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-4745081353355697482007-08-20T08:01:00.000-04:002007-08-20T08:11:41.260-04:00

An article in the Washington Post today describes the likely effects of global warming on precipitation patterns around the globe. It quotes (on the second page) Richard Seager of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory saying that Dust Bowl-like droughts in the first half of this century will create "climate refugees." That phrase still gives me the willies.The graphic that

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-3482644313422437132007-08-16T05:37:00.000-04:002007-08-16T07:51:07.589-04:00

I've been thinking about it a lot recently. Now I'm typing about it--in the darkness. Or at least as close as my world is going to get to darkness this morning. I woke up at exactly 5:00 a.m., according to the only artificial light in my bedroom, the three glowing red digits of my alarm clock. And yet I could see quite clearly: my closet, the door, the art on the walls. And, of course, the

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-59571629532424280652007-07-06T08:31:00.000-04:002007-08-16T07:50:40.606-04:00

A short item buried in the Metro section of today's Washington Post offers a reminder, if we needed one, not to use corded electronic equipment when the weather is threatening. On Wednesday, July 4, a D.C.-area fellow got a jolt when, during a thunderstorm, power surged into his house and into the computer perched on his legs. He's okay, thank Physics, but he -- and I -- relearned an important

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-20568271626052935852007-06-13T22:40:00.000-04:002007-07-01T13:57:21.472-04:00

In a brief, unusual report (password required) in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report a pair of cases of celiac disease in farmers who inhaled gluten while feeding their animals. Celiac disease is condition that some people develop if they consume wheat gluten or certain related proteins. A gluten-free diet is the best way to reverse the abnormal reaction and prevent it

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-91771476075348991392007-06-03T12:56:00.000-04:002007-06-03T13:25:21.640-04:00

Yesterday, cancer researchers reported at a meeting in Chicago that a drug derived from shark cartilage is not an effective treatment against an aggressive form of lung cancer. That study is at least the second test of the putative cancer drug to produce disappointing results.To date, no clinical trial has found shark cartilage to be effective against cancer in people. The accumulating evidence

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-40216040332903444732007-06-03T11:34:00.000-04:002007-06-03T12:56:34.560-04:00

In an intelligent op-ed piece in yesterday's Times, Dr. L. Masae Kawamura, director of the tuberculosis control section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, suggests that the attention-grabbing case of an Atlanta man with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis could have a positive influence on public health.

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-1606754939698686312007-06-02T19:58:00.000-04:002007-06-03T13:39:35.173-04:00

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 68 of Massachusetts' 74 hospitals offered "Primary Stroke Service" as of November 14, 2006. Unfortunately, the department neglects to name the PSS hospitals. But since the list includes most of the state's medical centers — and since ambulances are supposed to divert to the closest PSS if they suspect a patient has stroke — it's a good

Bennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-49950448979427347192007-06-02T17:23:00.000-04:002007-06-03T11:34:34.133-04:00

A Reuters story that appeared today in The New York Times reports the failure, in a late-stage clinical trial, of an experimental stroke treatment derived from vampire bat saliva. The drug, desmoteplase, showed promise in smaller, earlier trials. But it failed to outperform a placebo treatment in the recent trial, which involved 186 patients.The disappointing outcome of the trial serves as a

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-79049785369120635362007-05-27T07:52:00.000-04:002007-08-29T15:18:22.558-04:00

This morning's New York Times has an A1 story on the effects of climate change in the remote Alaskan town of Newtok. After the jump, a haunting clause appears: "[T]he people of Newtok ... are now among the first climate refugees in the United States."Climate refugees. How many more will there be?

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-77250726397528822972007-04-24T16:09:00.000-04:002007-04-24T16:14:58.067-04:00

Did you know that there's a disorder called Moebius syndrome? Neither did I.I just got an emailed press release from Jacob Licht, who writes that he is on the board of directors of the Moebius Syndrome Foundation and that he has a daughter with the condition, which he describes as follows:"Moebius Syndrome is a rare neurological condition that causes facial paralysis, preventing its victims from

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-37882389675086152352007-04-24T15:17:00.000-04:002007-04-24T15:50:01.990-04:00

I came across an interesting study last night that I'm thinking about writing up for Science News. The upshot is that scientists have reconstructed the 1000-year history of metallurgy in the Andes.In the process, they've gleaned some new insights into how and when ancient Andean peoples, including the Inca and their predecessors, used bronze and silver. Traces of metal-containing ash (spewed out

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-7486994470605583372007-04-23T15:20:00.000-04:002007-04-23T15:49:58.059-04:00

Couldn't resist the headline, since I was just blogging about puns. SOx, of course, are sulfur oxides, which are byproducts of fossil fuel use. The EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee is tasked with evaluating the hazards of polluting air with SOx and NOx, or nitrogen oxides. But they've got a couple of foxes sampling the hen house's air quality, according to the Center for Science in

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-47897277933341517402007-04-23T14:49:00.000-04:002007-04-23T16:10:59.585-04:00

It's probably worth taking a moment to explain the rather obscure origin of the name this blog bears. When I was an undergrad, I spent a season on the sailing team, mostly as a 'crew' (the jib-handler) in a two-person sloop called a 420. One of the duties of the crew is to hike out -- that is, to lean as far out over the windward gunwale so that your weight counterbalances the force of the wind

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-82809643085031379092007-04-23T14:02:00.000-04:002007-04-23T14:35:29.779-04:00

Before I make my first substantive post, I need to draw attention to the fact that I have at least one conflict of interest. Namely, I'm a staff member at Science News magazine. And while my employer is not paying me to promote the work of my colleagues, I do plan to blog about it from time to time because I admire so much of their reporting.With that preamble, I want to remark on the latest

Bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512032552897138182.post-60263429172879736512007-04-23T13:38:00.000-04:002007-04-23T13:45:30.927-04:00

I guess it's about time I started blogging.-Ben

Bennoreply@blogger.com0