Diverdowndoc

My recent adventure to Titusville, FL to the Discovery shuttle scrub.

Jamaica pictures are going up- my apologies for the delay!

Get Vaccinated - Forbes.com

Initially, an act of fate struck: The virus grew half as quickly as normal flu, making vaccine yields lower and further narrowing the window to vaccinate children and stop the pandemic. Then several factors within our control compounded the problem, and the virus had time to spread. First, because of complex regulatory hurdles set by the Food & Drug Administration, companies chose not to use immune system boosters called adjuvants, which the rest of the world uses. Second, our FDA has for years made it too expensive and too complicated for vaccinemakers to use newer, more advanced and efficient methods of vaccine manufacturing. Current FDA regulations are so strict and regulators so timid that not even the polio vaccine or Tylenol would be approved today.

via www.forbes.com

The same arguments about why pseudoscience and hysteria shouldn't determine health policy. For pete's sake- vaccinate!

patient faking seizure in ER

via www.youtube.com

The way my day goes not infrequently. In fact, I had a patient just like this tonight who had already lied to me (I verified it!) who wanted to talk to the CEO. Sigh.

Science-Based Medicine » Oppose “Big Floss”; practice alternative dentistry

We survived almost all of human history without it. Yet in the last 100 years people have allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by a huge corporate conspiracy into believing that we “need” their products. They cite studies and claim we don’t understand science; they ignore ancient folk wisdom and have no respect for our intuition. They peddle their products without regard to the dramatic increase in chronic diseases and weakened immune systems of recent decades. I’m speaking, of course, of “Big Floss.”

via www.sciencebasedmedicine.org

Is this why I have such a hard time getting the kids to brush? Do they know something I don't?

From Tibet to Infinity and back again | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

A bunch of folks have let me know about a new video that starts in the Himalayas and accelerates you out to the edge of the Universe, and then back again. It’s done by the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, and was directed by data visualization expert Carter Emmart. Make sure you click the high-def button!

via blogs.discovermagazine.com

Whoa! I guess it doesn't much matter if the towels are folded right.

Terroreidolia | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

If the sacred image of your holy Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is going to come to you, it won’t do so in a rainbow, or the leaves of a holly tree, or flock of birds – hehe – but in a smelly Brillo pad soaking in your three-day-old macaroni and cheese. He should check the bottom of his empty cans of Bud Light for an image of the Virgin!

via blogs.discovermagazine.com

I think it looks more like my seventh grade math teacher, Mrs. Skinner.

Testing my TypePad link- did it work?

Facebook is the new crack

I've been on FB for about  a year now, but so many more people I know are on it that I started doing it again and have discovered the new crack.  This is but a sample- a video that implanted a semi-permanent ear-worm for me.  Enjoy.  Thanks, CrossGirl!

Exploding banana-head guy

At the risk of being a copy-cat, I just have to post this here, though I saw it on Dave Barry's blog first. 

Dave said it best:

"IF YOU SEE ONLY ONE VIDEO TODAY OF A GUY WHOSE HEAD IS COVERED WITH BANANAS CONTAINING FIRECRACKERS THAT HE LIGHTS ONE AT A TIME

...make it this one."

This was too weird to not post here as well.