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Really? The Claim: Green Potatoes Are Poisonous
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
THE FACTS
It sounds like a joke, or perhaps just an urban legend that grew out of Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham.” But food scientists say this one is no myth. The reality is that green potatoes contain high levels of a toxin, solanine, which can cause nausea, headaches and neurological problems.
( Read More )
It Will Take More Than a Wolf to Blow One House Down
By SIOBHAN ROBERTS, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
LONDON, Ontario — The hurricane season is now well under way, and as the buffer of El Niño rapidly retreats, the forecast is looking windy, with an estimated 17 “named storms” on the horizon of the Atlantic basin.
While hurricanes seldom hit here (the exception being the Category 4 Hurricane Hazel in 1954, in which a 7-year-old boy drowned), a team of wind engineers at the University of Western Ontario is nonetheless preparing for the worst: a Category 5 storm.
In a hurricane simulation study called the Three Little Pigs Project, a full-scale two-story red brick house will be hit with the equivalent of 186-mile-per-hour winds and sprayed with water until it is on the brink of collapse.
( Read More )
Little-Known Virus Challenges a Far-Flung Health System
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
A little-known virus is causing a big fuss in Micronesia, the Pacific island nation partly managed by the United States.
The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, produces an itchy rash, pinkeye, joint pain and fever. Since its discovery 60 years ago in an ill monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda, it has caused rare cases and outbreaks in Africa and Southeast Asia. There is no specific treatment or vaccine.
Now Zika has made its first appearance in Micronesia, on the island of Yap, where health officials say there have been at least 42 confirmed cases and 65 probable ones. Additional cases may be occurring on other islands.
While Zika does not seem to be fatal, it is posing unusual challenges to the public health system, not just in this remote chain of islands, about 600 miles east of the Philippines, but also in the United States.
( Read More )
Vital Signs: Insights: Big Yawn, Cooler Brain? Researchers Say Yes
By ERIC NAGOURNEY, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
Over the years, there have been many theories for why people yawn. It has been associated with sleepiness and boredom, and, incorrectly, with low oxygen levels in the blood.
“No one knows why we yawn,” says Andrew C. Gallup, a psychology professor at the State University of New York at Albany.
Now Dr. Gallup and fellow researchers have a new explanation: yawning, they said, is a way for the body to cool the brain.
( Read More )
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
THE FACTS
It sounds like a joke, or perhaps just an urban legend that grew out of Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham.” But food scientists say this one is no myth. The reality is that green potatoes contain high levels of a toxin, solanine, which can cause nausea, headaches and neurological problems.
( Read More )
It Will Take More Than a Wolf to Blow One House Down
By SIOBHAN ROBERTS, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
LONDON, Ontario — The hurricane season is now well under way, and as the buffer of El Niño rapidly retreats, the forecast is looking windy, with an estimated 17 “named storms” on the horizon of the Atlantic basin.
While hurricanes seldom hit here (the exception being the Category 4 Hurricane Hazel in 1954, in which a 7-year-old boy drowned), a team of wind engineers at the University of Western Ontario is nonetheless preparing for the worst: a Category 5 storm.
In a hurricane simulation study called the Three Little Pigs Project, a full-scale two-story red brick house will be hit with the equivalent of 186-mile-per-hour winds and sprayed with water until it is on the brink of collapse.
( Read More )
Little-Known Virus Challenges a Far-Flung Health System
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
A little-known virus is causing a big fuss in Micronesia, the Pacific island nation partly managed by the United States.
The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, produces an itchy rash, pinkeye, joint pain and fever. Since its discovery 60 years ago in an ill monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda, it has caused rare cases and outbreaks in Africa and Southeast Asia. There is no specific treatment or vaccine.
Now Zika has made its first appearance in Micronesia, on the island of Yap, where health officials say there have been at least 42 confirmed cases and 65 probable ones. Additional cases may be occurring on other islands.
While Zika does not seem to be fatal, it is posing unusual challenges to the public health system, not just in this remote chain of islands, about 600 miles east of the Philippines, but also in the United States.
( Read More )
Vital Signs: Insights: Big Yawn, Cooler Brain? Researchers Say Yes
By ERIC NAGOURNEY, The New York Times, July 3, 2007
Over the years, there have been many theories for why people yawn. It has been associated with sleepiness and boredom, and, incorrectly, with low oxygen levels in the blood.
“No one knows why we yawn,” says Andrew C. Gallup, a psychology professor at the State University of New York at Albany.
Now Dr. Gallup and fellow researchers have a new explanation: yawning, they said, is a way for the body to cool the brain.
( Read More )
