Friday, June 15, 2007

Baby monitor picks up video from NASA 

"An elementary school science teacher in this Chicago suburb doesn't have to turn on the news for an update on NASA's space mission. She just turns on her video baby monitor. Since Sunday, one of the two channels on Natalie Meilinger's baby monitor has been picking up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis. The other still lets her keep an eye on her baby." (Yahoo! News)

6/15/2007 08:30:00 AM   •  

Lineman, Dead at 36, Exposes Brain Injuries 

"...the fourth former National Football League player to have been found post-mortem to have had a condition similar to that generally found only in boxers with dementia or people in their 80s. " (New York Times via abby)

6/15/2007 07:08:00 AM   •  

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Check the meter! 

The newest take on urban camping: "Sometimes you come upon a product that makes you go: Uh, what? The thing in the picture is one of those. At first we thought it was a Fisher Price attempt at a car cover, until we noticed the scaffolding and the woman -- who's standing up -- 'unzipping the door.' But when we realized what it actually is, we had all kinds of questions that began with 'Why would anyone ....' Wait until you see what's inside. We won't spoil the surprise. " (AutoBlog)

6/14/2007 11:25:00 PM   •  

Bush's European disaster 

Sidney Blumenthal in Salon: "I returned from Europe a week before President Bush departed for the G8 summit in Germany. In Rome and Paris I met with Cabinet ministers who uniformly said the chief issue in transatlantic relations is somehow making it through the last 18 months of the Bush administration without further major disaster. None of the nonpartisan think tanks in Washington can organize seminars on this overriding reality, but within the European councils of state the trepidation about the last days of Bush is the No. 1 issue in foreign affairs."

6/14/2007 08:01:00 AM   •  

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

NanoKid 

(Yes, this got federal funding) (ScienceBlogs Molecule of the Day)

6/13/2007 11:37:00 PM   •  

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Jihad Etiquette 

"With Islamist violence brewing in various parts of the world, the set of rules that seek to guide and justify the killing that militants do is growing more complex. This jihad etiquette is not written down, and for good reason. It varies as much in interpretation and practice as extremist groups vary in their goals..." (New York Times )

6/12/2007 12:34:00 PM   •  

Sorry, Gotta Go 

Helps End Unending Phone Conversations: "When you're on the phone and need to get off the phone... 1. Pick a section 2. Click on any sound file. You'll have the perfect excuse for saying 'Sorry Gotta Go!' "

6/12/2007 10:59:00 AM   •  

Monday, June 11, 2007

The American Liberal Liberties Union 

Wendy Kaminer's controversial Wall Street Journal op-ed piece: "...the ACLU is being transformed into just another liberal human-rights group that reliably defends the rights of liberal speakers."

6/11/2007 11:14:00 PM   •  

I think, therefore I am. 

Interesting findings in neural plasticity, from the weblog of neuroscientist Michael Merzenich. He describes the current status of our understanding of cortical representations of the surface of the body (what has been known as Penrose's homunculus since its discovery several decades ago), emphasizing findings that show it is plastic in realtime. [thanks, Joel] He finishes with what might be considered to be the neuroscientist's equivalent of the get-a-bigger-penis spam-mails.

Labels: neuro

6/11/2007 10:39:00 PM   •  

The sky at night: 

50 things you never knew about the full moon (Independent.UK)

6/11/2007 09:13:00 PM   •  

And so it ends... 

The Sopranos goes dark: "Instead of taking Tony down out of karmic retribution, Chase got his karmic revenge on us for caring too much about this 'jack-off fantasy on TV' in the first place. ...immortalized eating onion rings, chuckling, focusing on the good times." (Salon) Given the focus on the soundtrack and the abruptness of the fade to black at the end, I myself favor the interpretation based on Bobby's memorable line to Tony several episodes ago about how you "probably don't even hear it coming when it happens."

6/11/2007 06:40:00 PM   •  

The Disorder Is Sensory... 

...The Diagnosis, Elusive: "No one has a standard diagnostic test for these sensory integration problems, nor any idea of what might be happening in the brain. Indeed, a diagnosis of such problems is not yet generally accepted. Nor is there evidence to guide treatment, which makes many doctors, if they have heard of sensory problems at all, skeptical of the diagnosis.Yet in some urban and suburban school districts across the county, talk of sensory integration has become part of the special-needs vernacular, along with attention deficit disorder and developmental delays. Though reliable figures for diagnosis rates are not available, the number of parent groups devoted to sensory problems has more than tripled in the last few years, to 55 nationwide.And now this subculture wants membership in mainstream medicine. This year, for the first time, therapists and researchers petitioned the American Psychiatric Association to include 'sensory processing disorder' in its influential guidebook of disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Official recognition would bring desperately needed research, they say, as well as more complete coverage for treatment, which can run to more than $10,000 a year." (New York Times )

Labels: neuro, psych

6/11/2007 11:40:00 AM   •  

Dr. Kevorkian’s Wrong Way 

"Dr. Jack Kevorkian — a k a “Doctor Death” for helping chronically ill and terminally ill patients commit suicide — has emerged from prison as deluded and unrepentant as ever. Brushing aside criticism by other supporters of medically assisted suicide that his tactics were reckless and harmful to their cause, Dr. Kevorkian asserted: “I did it right. I didn’t care what they did or didn’t do. When I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right.” The irony, of course, is that he did it wrong, and in performing assisted suicides so badly, he besmirched the movement he hoped to energize. If his antics provided anything of value, it was as a reminder of how much terminally ill patients can suffer and of the need for sane and humane laws allowing carefully regulated assisted suicides." (New York Times editorial)

6/11/2007 11:37:00 AM   •