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Mount Everest, in two billion pixels
You must have seen thousands of photographs of Everest. But there have been none like this:
Image shows Khumbu glacier from Pumori viewpoint near Mt. Everest. (Photo Credit: David Breashears)
According to NPR, the image is the result of a project by David Breashears, who has already climbed the highest mountain in the world five times. He used old images of Everest and its glaciers and combined them with new ones.
The photo is part of a broader project called GlacierWorks by the mountaineer Breashears, who made the much-acclaimed IMAX documentary “Everest.”
His project aims to document the current state of glaciers in the Himalayas and how the mountain and those glaciers are being affected by climate change.
links to full scale image here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/18/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/?tid=pm_pop
It's time to start asking serious questions about the safety of lube
Maggie Koerth-Baker
The stuff you use to make sex a little more smooth might have some serious drawbacks. Nothing has been proven yet — most of the data comes from disembodied cell cultures and animal testing, which doesn't necessarily give you an accurate picture of what's happening in humans — but several studies over the last few years have drawn connections between lubricant use and increased rates of STD transmission. (It also looks like some lubricants might kill off natural vaginal flora — the good bacteria that live "up there" and make the difference between a healthy vagina and, say, a raging yeast infection.)
Some of these studies have provided evidence suggesting that the ingredients in lubricants damage the cells lining the vagina and rectum — which would explain why those lubricants might facilitate STD transmission.
At Chemical and Engineering News, Lauren Wolf has a really well-researched, well-written story that will give you the low-down on this research without hype and without fear-mongering. Her story is easy to understand and explains what we know, what we don't know, and why this matters (besides the obvious, lubricants have been proposed as a possible means of applying topical anti-microbial STD preventatives).
more
http://boingboing.net/2012/12/19/its-time-to-start-asking-ser.html
The Chemistry of Snowflakes
A Clinical Trial and Suicide Leave Many Questions
By Judy Stone |
The suicide of Dan Markingson, a 26 year old man participating in a psychiatric trial, has again made the news, and will serve us for a life-time of study and discussion of research ethics, along with the TeGenero and Jesse Gelsinger cases.
Markingson began to show signs of paranoia and delusions in 2003, believing that he needed to murder his mother. He was committed to Fairview Hospital involuntarily after being evaluated by Dr. Stephen Olson, of the University of Minnesota. He was subsequently enrolled on a clinical trial of antipsychotic drugs—despite protests from his mother. This study was a comparison of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of first episodes of schizophrenia (aka the CAFÉ study), sponsored by AstraZeneca. The study’s structure was that of a Phase 4 randomized, double-blind trial comparing the effectiveness of three different atypical antipsychotic drugs: Zyprexa (olanzapine), Risperdal (risperidone) and Seroquel (quetiapine), with each patient to be treated for a year.
After about two weeks on study treatment in the hospital, Markingson was discharged to a halfway house—again over his mother’s objections. Over the coming months, Dan’s mother, Mary Weiss, continued to express concerns about her son’s deterioration, even asking if her son might have to kill himself before anyone else would take notice…then, in fact, her son violently committed suicide on May 7, 2004, mutilating himself with a box cutter.
The University of Minnesota and their IRB have maintained that the study was conducted appropriately and that they have no responsibility for Dan’s death. Dan’s mother and bioethicist Carl Elliott believe otherwise. Elliott has written passionately about the case regularly, with major articles being here and here.
more
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2012/12/11/a-clinical-trial-and-suicide-leave-many-questions-part-1-consent/
part 2
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2012/12/13/a-clinical-trial-and-suicide-leave-many-questions-part-2-investigator-responsibilities/
part 3
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2012/12/18/a-clinical-trial-and-suicide-leave-many-questions-part-3-conflict-of-interest/
Wednesday Toon Roundup 4- The Rest
Teachers
Rights
Right to Work
Cliff
End of the world
Season
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