Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Even the most well-defended castle wall can be surmounted if you manage to fool the guards into lowering the gate. Such is the case with HIV and the T-cell. But now we might have a way to hoist the AIDS virus on its own petard. How HIV and the New Would-Be Vaccine Work HIV first…
Coffee is one of life’s rarest pleasures: a delicious drug that’s also good for you. When scientists study the long-term health effects of coffee drinking, they find that, on the whole, the apparent benefits (such as a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) outweigh the costs (like a heightened risk of certain…
HUNTING FOR THE END OF THE LONG TAIL • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 Today in Tedium: 1995 was the year that Billy Corgan got in our faces and shouted, “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage!” And since then, we’ve only gotten angrier as a society. All of our…
A gerbil (Rodrique Ngowi/AP) After nearly eight centuries of accusing the black rat for spreading the bubonic plague, scientists say they have compelling evidence to exonerate the much-maligned rodent. In the process, they’ve identified a new culprit: gerbils. It’s always the cute ones you have to watch out for, isn’t it? According to a study published in the…
The next time one of your friends starts raving about their FitBit, especially if it’s the kind of friend who can’t shut the fuck up about their latest “find” and effectively ruins happy hour for everyone else who just wants to lose their inhibitions at the end of a tough week, feel free to stop…
For a week, The Toronto Star has been taking criticism over a story detailing health problems experienced by young women after they took the HPV vaccine. Some in the medical community called it alarmist and scientifically-unsound. The publisher, John Cruickshank, now says the paper failed the public and let them down. Cruickshank tells As It Happens…
Marin County is the odd hippie commune in the college that is the United States. You know what I’m talking about — that rundown house on the edge of campus which you would walk by only to get to the Arts Center, because passing by meant watching unwashed students spitting kombucha into each other’s mouths….
In 2012, a proactive Australian anti-vaxxer named Stephanie Messenger self-published a children’s book called “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles.” With the book, Messenger endeavored to “educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully.” The book’s illustrated cover features a girl frolicking in a meadow with her stomach…
Melanie’s Marvelous Measles is a book about how awesome it is to catch the measles. Children ages 4-10 are invited to learn that the measles is actually pretty fun, has no serious possible side-effects, and is something kids should look forward to getting. The book includes helpful medical advice, like that measles is easily avoided…
Are we really going to do this? Yes, apparently. We are going to have a “debate” about Is It Good To Vaccinate Your Kids, Yes Or Not Yes? (The answer is “yes,” by the way.) Let’s start with the good news, and then we’ll move on to the “Christ, is it cocktail o’clock yet?” bad…