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D. Carleton Gajdusek, Who Won Nobel for Work on Brain Disease, Is Dead at 85
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., The New York Times, December 15, 2008
D. Carleton Gajdusek, a virologist who won the 1976 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on the mysterious epidemics now known as prion diseases, died last week in Tromso, Norway.
The cause of death is unknown, but Dr. Gajdusek (pronounced GUY-dah-shek) was 85 and had long had congestive heart failure, said Dr. Robert Klitzman, his biographer, who said he had spoken to him about a week ago. He was found in his Tromso hotel room on Friday morning about 24 hours after a manager saw him at breakfast.
In later life, Dr. Gajdusek became notorious when he was charged with molesting the many young boys he had adopted in New Guinea and Micronesia and brought to live with him in Maryland. He pleaded guilty to one charge, served a year in prison and left the United States in 1998, dividing his time between Paris, Amsterdam and Tromso.
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Findings: Tips From the Potlatch, Where Giving Knows No Slump
By JOHN TIERNEY, The New York Times, December 16, 2008
Now that hard times have arrived, now that we’re being punished for our great credit binge, what are we supposed to do for the holidays? The logical answer is to cut out the useless and the lavish, but I have it on the highest authority that it’s just not that simple.
The authority is Bill Cranmer, whom I consulted for holiday tips because he is a hereditary chief and elected leader of the Kwakwaka’wakw Indians, the world’s most experienced gift-givers. They’ve learned that exchanging presents is too important to be discontinued in any kind of economy.
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Get Along Without a Pinkie? It’s Tougher Than You Might Think
By DANA SCARTON, The New York Times, December 16, 2008
The pinkie, the humble fifth finger, has long been viewed as a decorative accessory, something to extend daintily from a wine glass. So what would you lose if you didn’t have one?
“You’d lose 50 percent of your hand strength, easily,” said Laurie Rogers, an occupational therapist who is a certified hand therapist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington. She explained that while the index and middle fingers function, with the thumb, in pinching and grabbing — zipping zippers, buttoning buttons — the pinkie teams up with the ring finger to provide power.
( Read More )
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., The New York Times, December 15, 2008
D. Carleton Gajdusek, a virologist who won the 1976 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on the mysterious epidemics now known as prion diseases, died last week in Tromso, Norway.
The cause of death is unknown, but Dr. Gajdusek (pronounced GUY-dah-shek) was 85 and had long had congestive heart failure, said Dr. Robert Klitzman, his biographer, who said he had spoken to him about a week ago. He was found in his Tromso hotel room on Friday morning about 24 hours after a manager saw him at breakfast.
In later life, Dr. Gajdusek became notorious when he was charged with molesting the many young boys he had adopted in New Guinea and Micronesia and brought to live with him in Maryland. He pleaded guilty to one charge, served a year in prison and left the United States in 1998, dividing his time between Paris, Amsterdam and Tromso.
( Read More )
Findings: Tips From the Potlatch, Where Giving Knows No Slump
By JOHN TIERNEY, The New York Times, December 16, 2008
Now that hard times have arrived, now that we’re being punished for our great credit binge, what are we supposed to do for the holidays? The logical answer is to cut out the useless and the lavish, but I have it on the highest authority that it’s just not that simple.
The authority is Bill Cranmer, whom I consulted for holiday tips because he is a hereditary chief and elected leader of the Kwakwaka’wakw Indians, the world’s most experienced gift-givers. They’ve learned that exchanging presents is too important to be discontinued in any kind of economy.
( Read More )
Get Along Without a Pinkie? It’s Tougher Than You Might Think
By DANA SCARTON, The New York Times, December 16, 2008
The pinkie, the humble fifth finger, has long been viewed as a decorative accessory, something to extend daintily from a wine glass. So what would you lose if you didn’t have one?
“You’d lose 50 percent of your hand strength, easily,” said Laurie Rogers, an occupational therapist who is a certified hand therapist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington. She explained that while the index and middle fingers function, with the thumb, in pinching and grabbing — zipping zippers, buttoning buttons — the pinkie teams up with the ring finger to provide power.
( Read More )
