This Blog Motivates Me...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/technology/google-education-chromebooks-schools.html  This is an article from the NYT about the encroachment of Google Schools into the classroom. "Today, more than half the nation’s primary- and secondary-school students — more than 30 million children — use Google education apps like Gmail and Docs, the company said." According to the article this has lead to the emphasis of certain skills in the classroom, such as teamwork and problem solving, while de-emphasizing more traditional skills such as the learning of math formulas. Parents are concerned by the urging of seniors to convert their school email accounts to GMail, with the potential for using the students personal information for marketing.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/world/americas/dinosaur-fossil-nodosaur-alberta-oil-sands.html This is an article in the NYT about a mine in Alberta which has yielded a dinosaur "mummy, 110 million years old. The "mummy", the best preserved specimen of its kind, was found by a shovel operator at  the Millennium Mine. It was photographed for The National Geographic.




https://www.sciencenews.org/article/yes-statins-protect-hearts-critics-question-their-expanding-use This is an article from Science News about the expanding use of the statins and its risks. Statins were discovered in the fermented broth of rice mold that blocks the enzyme action of HMG-CoA reductase, which lead to a discovery of a related compound by Merck which lead to Lovastatin and the rest is history, or rather, pharmacology.  The CTT trials in 1994 revealed other benefits from taking statins. There are downsides, such as effects on muscle (Baycol was removed from the market). A 2008 study in NEJM pointed out that more people developed Type II Diabetes if they took a statin than those who did not.Observational data following real-world data reveal side effects worse than the CTT study; more muscle pain in those taking statins (JAMA) compared with those taking placebo.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/health/immune-system-drugs-monoclonal-antibodies.html?_r=0  This is an article from the NYT about a study in NEJM about resistance developing to drugs. Many frontline therapeutics are monoclonal antibodies, which are proteins, and the body's immune system can make antibodies which react with the drugs making them inactive against their targets. Pfizer had a drug in clinical trials that reduced cholesterol but had to be pulled due to patients' lack of response because of antibodies to the drug.


http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery/ This is an article from Nat'l Geographic about the newly discovered Canadian nodosaur dinosaur fossil in Millenium Mine. The level of fossilization (it is a whole fossil) was produced by its rapid undersea burial. In most cases, as it describes in the article, it is rare that minerals replace soft tissues before they rot. The nodosaur is a type of Ankylosaur.


http://www.philly.com/philly/health/health-news/Dogs-Lyme-disease-ticks-sentinel-warning-humans-vet.html An article in Philly Inq. about how dogs can be used as indicators whither Lyme will be found next in humans. Although we don't catch Lyme from dogs, the tick bites humans and dogs from the tall grass where it lives. Since there is no foolproof blood test for Lyme and it is difficult to diagnose, modeling animal disease can help determine whether Lyme might be in the area. This study was done by North Carolina State U and is published in PLOSONE.
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 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/health/ivg-reproductive-technology.html  Article in NYT about the possible use of skin cells to produce babies, also known as in vitro gametogenesis. Researchers have published in Science Translational Medicine their objections to the implications for humans of this work which could potential produce babies from one parent.  Last year, researchers in Japan used IVG to make viable eggs from the skin cells of adult female mice, and produced embryos that were implanted into female mice, who then gave birth to healthy babies.


http://www.philly.com/philly/health/science/philly-museums-fossil-surgeon-reveals-ancient-past-20170519.html  This is an article from the Philly Inquirer about Fred Mullison of the Academy of Natural Sciences, a fossil surgeon who has built a cast of Tiktaalik Roseae from the Canadian Arctic. The fossil preparator was formerly a commercial photographer. Tiktaalik roseae, which resembles a fish, has muscular fins that allowed it to wriggle onto land for short stretches.



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/opinion/sunday/donald-trump-vs-womens-health.html?_r=0 This is an article from the Sunday Review of the NYT about the problems of throwing people off of health insurance and cervical cancer. The US has one of the lowest cervical cancer survival rates in the developed world and is preventable. Trump is linking funding of some organizations that provide cervical cancer screening to their support and support for abortion so the problem of cervical cancer low survival numbers will increase.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/you-still-need-your-brain.html Also from the Sunday Review an article about the Googlization of reading. The brain is better than Google in determining context which is provided by one's memory but not internet dictionaries. Also, memorization is quicker than looking up things, like equations, on the internet. The brain beats the internet in terms of speed and context but the internet bests the brain in terms of volume.




https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/18/climate/antarctica-ice-melt-climate-change.html This is a report from the NYT from above the Ross Sea in Antarctica.  Billions of tons of ice every year move from the land to the sea, which was thought to be immutable. But, according to this article, scientists fear that parts of the Antarctic ice sheet may be in the stages of an "unstoppable disintegration." This disintegration could result in the need for millions of coastal refugees to flee their homes for safety inland.


http://time.com/4784029/ebola-outbreak-congo/ This is an article about a new outbreak of Ebola virus in the Congo. Due to a conflict in the Central African Republic and the remoteness of the area of the outbreak, it is difficult for WHO workers to respond to the cases and it make take weeks to begin treatment of those affected.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/climate/trump-epa-budget-superfund.html  Article about 2018 budget cuts at EPA which would reduce by 40% the funding for EPA employees involved in developing and overseeing environmental regulations and 25% the Superfund cleanup funds.The budget would also eliminate funding on twelve state-run programs to protect watersheds, including the Chesapeake Bay.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/health/sodium-bicarbonate-solution-critical-shortage-hospitals.html?_r=0 This is a NYT article about the shortage of sodium bicarbonate, found in most kitchens but also a necessary ingredient for open heart surgery.  Pfizer, the main supplier, shifted its distribution location but now its own suppliers are also running low. They attribute the shortage, which is causing surgeries to be postponed, to "a confluence of factors."


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/well/family/pediatricians-say-no-fruit-juice-in-childs-first-year.html An article in the journal Pediatrics is recommending that children under the first year of life not be given fruit juice and furthermore that only four ounces of juice be given to one-to-three year olds. The idea is that consumption of fruit juice may cause babies to cut down on formula or breast milk, which are a preferred source of protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and calories. Parents are informed that whole fruit is preferable to juice and is a better source of fiber than juice. It is not certain whether the next U.S.D.A. guidance will forbid juice for infants based on these recommendations. But an agriculture department spokesman says that for the first time the very young will be included in the 2020 guidelines.

Tuesday Afternoon Massacre

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/climate/alaska-carbon-dioxide-co2-tundra.html?_r=0 This is an article from the NYT about a Harvard study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the carbon emissions from the North Slope tundra of Alaska showing that the carbon emissions have increased 70% since the 1970s. The "greening of the Arctic" is occurring as temperatures rise globally but also the study shows that by delaying freeze-up this warming trend also allows the processes that release carbon dioxide to continue longer.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/nyregion/dead-rivers-closed-beaches-an-acute-water-crisis-on-long-island.html An article from the NYT about the water crisis on Long Island and the water quality in the Great South Bay. Suffolk County has fewer houses using sewers than Nassau County to the west. A sewer was built for Babylon and parts of Islip but was so mired in corruption that other municipalities have not followed suit. There are algal blooms in the Great South Bay and the shellfish industry has fallen more than 90% since 1980. Homeowners are advised to invest in denitrification systems.




https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2017-05-09/study-side-effects-emerge-after-approval-for-many-us-drugs This is an article in USNews about site effects that have emerged after drug approval by the FDA. This study was published in JAMA and reviewed 222 prescription drugs approved by the FDA from 2000 to 2010.   71 flagged drugs caused reactions from serious skin reactions, liver damage, cancer and even death. These had all pass clinical trials for safety but possibly were not tested for a long enough interval.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/health/brain-defect-gut-bacteria-microbiome.html?_r=0 Article from NYT about a study published in Nature about a brain disease that has been linked to a gut microbe. Hereditary cerebral cavernous malformations cause bubbles in the brain which can burst, causing a brain hemorrhage and death. Manipulating the microbiome of newborns with a fecal transplant may provide a cure.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/health/new-gene-tests-pose-a-threat-to-insurers.html This is an article from the NYT Business section about people who are using 23andMe genetic testing kits to find out whether they have the ApoE4 and therefore are possible candidates for Alzheimers Disease. This revelation of their genetic propensity towards AD is enough to make them purchase the expensive Long Term Care Insurance. 23andMe promises not to reveal the results to insurance companies but if everyone who finds out about their genetic risks buys these policies and those with no such risk do not, paying out could be a crisis for the companies.



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/nyregion/exotic-animal-hospital.html This is an article about NY's only exotic pet hospital. They do not see cats and dogs. The article spotlights a duck with reproductive problems. The veterinarian had previously removed the duck's reproductive tract but somehow she kept laying eggs. She required $1,200 in reproductive surgery.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/health/salt-health-effects.html?_r=0 An article in the BYT about two studies done on Russian cosmonauts published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that determined that eating salt made one less thirsty and a further study that mice burned more calories when they consumed more salt. A theory from one of the observations was that the body produced more water with a higher sodium intake, possibly due to the effects of glucocorticoid hormones.