BlodgettMusings on science, art and societyComplacency On SARS- May 8, 2003 The SARS epidemic seems to be going through several phases of public attention. First, we had the 'total mystery' phase. Then we had the 'yippee, we know what it is' phase. We're still in the next one, which one might call 'we don't know what the hell to do about it if you get it, apart from lock you up' phase. Quarantines are all very fine for containment, and seem to have worked in Vietnam, Canada, and here in the US. But we do urgently need to develop either a vaccine -- which will...http://blogs.salon.com/0001802/2003/05/08.html#a563 Time To Wake Up & Smell The Plutonium- May 8, 2003 The New York Times leads off today with a big piece on concerns about Iran's nuclear program, which by definition can't be 'peaceful.' But aren't we missing something here What about the North Koreans, a known gangster state, which is bristling with hostility A quick rewind: first these guys decided that the 'ceasefire is over'. Then they started making threats about what they might do. An 'unofficial spokesman' claims it has over 100 nukes, maybe even 300, targeted on the US, rather...http://blogs.salon.com/0001802/2003/05/08.html#a562 Mother Nature's Little Practical Joke On Cloners- May 4, 2003 Missing from their online edition, New Scientist had a very interesting piece on the editorial page of April 28 ... remember cloning That's what we may find ourselves saying, soon. It seems, according to soon-to-be-published work by researchers at North Carolina State and Texas A&M, that when you clone multiple copies of an original organism, you don't get the same results. In fact, the siblings are as different as they would be in an ordinary generation, litter or...http://blogs.salon.com/0001802/2003/05/04.html#a560 Something We Intuitively Know Is True- May 4, 2003 Back from a one-week vacation, with some assorted (non-Iraq or such stuff) items. Starting with this one, from New Scientist, telling us something 'we all knew,' but decided to suppress for the usual political correctness motives ... : "Songs with violent lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and emotions, suggests a study in US college students. The study contradicts a popular suggestion that music loaded with violent imagery, such as some rap and heavy metal, are cathartic in venting...http://blogs.salon.com/0001802/2003/05/04.html#a559 |