This recent study ties getting the measles vaccine to a drop in overall childhood illnesses, as speculated, " These
results provide population evidence for a generalized prolonged
(roughly 2- to 3-year) impact of measles infection on subsequent
mortality from other infectious diseases. Fluctuations in childhood
mortality in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Denmark are
explained by a simple weighted integral that describes the prevalence of
measles immune memory loss and thus captures the impact of measles
infection and immune depletion. "
In brief, a measles infection may wipe out already established immunity
present in an individual, and getting the vaccine ensures that a person
doesn't get measles, and their immune system retains the immune 'memory', recognizing pathogens it has previously fought. Virology is really, really cool sometimes. (Okay, biased opinion, virology is cool ALL the time, even when we'd rather not be dealing with that cold, thankyouverymuch.)
A very good friend (Hi, LZ!) recently celebrated a birthday, and decided to show the 1940s classic Disney's Fantasia in the background while we all played board games. i and several others in attendance had not seen the entirety of this movie before, and was quite frankly astonished by the sheer trippiness of the content. While looking into it, the back story (as documented by wikipedia, granted) is really interesting, " Disney considered using a well-known conductor to record the music for added prestige. He happened to meet Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1912, at Chasen's restaurant in Hollywood,
and talked about his plans for the short. Stokowski recalled that he
did "like the music"; was happy to collaborate on the project, and
offered to conduct the piece at no cost.[18]
Following their meeting, Disney's New York representative ran into
Stokowski on a train headed for the East Coast. In writing to Disney, he
reported that Stokowski was "really serious in his offer to do the
music for nothing. He had some very interesting ideas on instrumental
coloring, which would be perfect for an animation medium".[18] ". i like the idea of these two huge names getting so excited about bringing classical music to Americans, and resultant dancing ballet-gators.
Monkey gland sauce, a sauce that sounds reminiscent of American BBQ sauce, does not contain monkey glands, despite the provocative name. i was reading about the South African meat dish biltong (courtesy of seeing an item featured here), which is like a thick cut beef jerky, and came across the name.
John Collins is responsible for folding a paper airplane (called Suzanne?!) that has flown the Guinness World Record recognized greatest distance in the world, and will show you how.
NPR's Sandwich Mondays has finally gotten around to reviewing a Wisconsin tradition, Fried Cheese Curds. Best line? " In the Midwestern version of the Bible, the serpent tempts Eve with cheese curds. It's called Wiscon-Original-Sin. ". Exactly. In other news, Sandwich Mondays is no longer a thing.
We were talking about repairing a squeaky piece of lab equipment last week in lab when i (incorrectly) stated that WD-40 is corrosive. Because it's under patent, they don't list the 'ingredients' on the side, but someone did mass spec to determine them. Turns out, mostly hydrocarbons.
This is a buzzfeed article concerning the term 'basic', as applied to American white female consumers, defined by urban dictionary as "An adjective used to describe any person, place, activity involving obscenely obvious behavior, dress, action.
". i was not familiar with the term, which is why i read the entire thing, but it makes a salient point, "Unique taste — and the capacity to avoid the basic — is a privilege. A privilege of location (usually urban), of education (exposure to other cultures and locales), and of parentage (who would introduce and exalt other tastes). To summarize the groundbreaking work of theorist Pierre Bourdieu: We don’t choose our tastes so much as the micro-specifics of our class determine them. To consume and perform online in a basic way is thus to reflect a highly American, capitalist upbringing. Basic girls love the things they do because nearly every part of American commercial media has told them that they should. ". It's interesting commentary on the concept of choice and availability.
As i linked to James and Kelly AT earlier this week, here are incredibly detailed images taken by a highly talented non-professional astronomer. i particularly like the solar ones.
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