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I confess: I swallow gum and seeds. Am I lazy? Suicidal? At least it's safe...
Really? The Claim: Swallowed Gum Takes a Long Time to Digest
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
THE FACTS
For generations, parents have told their children never to swallow chewing gum, lest it sit undigested for days, weeks or even years.
This is, for the most part, an old wives’ tale. Swallowed chewing gum typically passes through the digestive tract without harm and is eliminated at the same rate as other foods.
( Read More... )
All I could think when I saw this story was that those doctors are not wearing nearly enough protection while handling bats who could potentially have Marburg. This is a disease where "not as bad as ____" doesn't really apply, because not being as bad as Ebola is small consolation. It is pretty big news to have confirmation of the animal reservoir, however.
At a mine in Uganda, left and center, bats are being captured and tested by doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, right. International health groups are jointly studying whether the bats harbor the Marburg virus.
Venturing Into the Mines of Uganda, in Search of the Marburg Virus
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
Researchers reported for the first time last week that they have found the Marburg virus in a nonprimate species — bats.
( Read More... )
And while I'm scaring you...
Mite harvestmen, relatives of daddy longlegs, have a typical range of less than 50 miles, and they cannot disperse well.
A Daddy Longlegs Tells the Story of the Continents’ Big Shifts
By CARL ZIMMER, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
Few people have heard of the mite harvestman, and fewer still would recognize it at close range. The animal is a relative of the far more familiar daddy longlegs. But its legs are stubby rather than long, and its body is only as big as a sesame seed.
To find mite harvestmen, scientists go to dark, humid forests and sift through the leaf litter. The animals respond by turning motionless, making them impossible for even a trained eye to pick out. “They look like grains of dirt,” said Gonzalo Giribet, an invertebrate biologist at Harvard.
As frustrating as mite harvestmen may be, Dr. Giribet and his colleagues have spent six years searching for them on five continents. The animals have an extraordinary story to tell: they carry a record of hundreds of millions of years of geological history, chronicling the journeys that continents have made around the Earth.
( Read More... )
Like NYC needs more air quality problems...
Survey Shows a High Rate of Asthma at Ground Zero
By ANTHONY DePALMA, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
Rescue and recovery workers at ground zero have developed asthma at a rate that is 12 times what would be expected for adults, according to findings released yesterday by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
( Read More... )
Really? The Claim: Swallowed Gum Takes a Long Time to Digest
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
THE FACTS
For generations, parents have told their children never to swallow chewing gum, lest it sit undigested for days, weeks or even years.
This is, for the most part, an old wives’ tale. Swallowed chewing gum typically passes through the digestive tract without harm and is eliminated at the same rate as other foods.
( Read More... )
All I could think when I saw this story was that those doctors are not wearing nearly enough protection while handling bats who could potentially have Marburg. This is a disease where "not as bad as ____" doesn't really apply, because not being as bad as Ebola is small consolation. It is pretty big news to have confirmation of the animal reservoir, however.
At a mine in Uganda, left and center, bats are being captured and tested by doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, right. International health groups are jointly studying whether the bats harbor the Marburg virus.
Venturing Into the Mines of Uganda, in Search of the Marburg Virus
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
Researchers reported for the first time last week that they have found the Marburg virus in a nonprimate species — bats.
( Read More... )
And while I'm scaring you...
Mite harvestmen, relatives of daddy longlegs, have a typical range of less than 50 miles, and they cannot disperse well.
A Daddy Longlegs Tells the Story of the Continents’ Big Shifts
By CARL ZIMMER, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
Few people have heard of the mite harvestman, and fewer still would recognize it at close range. The animal is a relative of the far more familiar daddy longlegs. But its legs are stubby rather than long, and its body is only as big as a sesame seed.
To find mite harvestmen, scientists go to dark, humid forests and sift through the leaf litter. The animals respond by turning motionless, making them impossible for even a trained eye to pick out. “They look like grains of dirt,” said Gonzalo Giribet, an invertebrate biologist at Harvard.
As frustrating as mite harvestmen may be, Dr. Giribet and his colleagues have spent six years searching for them on five continents. The animals have an extraordinary story to tell: they carry a record of hundreds of millions of years of geological history, chronicling the journeys that continents have made around the Earth.
( Read More... )
Like NYC needs more air quality problems...
Survey Shows a High Rate of Asthma at Ground Zero
By ANTHONY DePALMA, The New York Times, August 28, 2007
Rescue and recovery workers at ground zero have developed asthma at a rate that is 12 times what would be expected for adults, according to findings released yesterday by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
( Read More... )
