Category: Coping with COVID
Aromatherapy spray that killed two people in a multistate outbreak also killed pet raccoon
(NBC News) A lavender and chamomile-scented aromatherapy spray contaminated with deadly bacteria that killed two people in 2021 also killed one of the victim’s pet raccoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. In October 2021, investigators with the CDC discovered the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei in the lavender and chamomile scent of Better Homes & Gardens […]
Dec 20, 2022
Went to the local CVS today for an influenza vaccine and COVID booster #5. We were the only ones wearing a mask aside from the feisty senior citizen who rushed her cart up the adjacent aisle to beat us to the line. Got the shots, had COVID (for the first time) in late October, so […]
Dec 13, 2022
US Says Scientists Make Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion Energy
(Bloomberg) Scientists in California have made a key breakthrough in nuclear fusion, a technology with the potential to transform the global energy landscape. Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco were able produce a fusion reaction that generated more energy than it consumed, according to a person familiar with the research […]
Dec 13, 2022
Where is everyone getting those AI avatars?
Have you seen the new avatars on social media recently? They are idealized versions of our friends and family, and a pretty cool way to express your inner superhero. The pic above is an AI generated version of my friend Julie, who does not really have red hair, except for that time she had a […]
Dec 6, 2022
The SMS Text message is turning 30
(BBC) The text message is celebrating its 30th birthday – the first was sent to a mobile phone by a Vodafone engineer in Berkshire in the UK on 3 December 1992. It was sent in order to test out the tech, and read “Merry Christmas”. Neil Papworth sent it to one of the firm’s bosses, […]
Dec 6, 2022
The Virus Formerly Known as Monkeypox
Monkeypox A recent NPR Goats & Soda article reports that the WHO gives us one year to stop using the term Monkeypox, as the disease’s original name plays into “racist and stigmatizing language.” The international monkeypox outbreak drastically raised the disease’s profile in Europe and the U.S., affecting more than 100 countries in all. As […]
Nov 29, 2022
Inside the billion-dollar meeting for the mega-rich who want to live forever
(MIT Tech Review) Hope, hype, and self-experimentation collided at an exclusive conference for ultra-rich investors who want to extend their lives past 100. I went along for the ride. “Who wants to live forever?” The immortal words of Freddie Mercury blast from the speakers as blue lights swivel around the room and a smoky mist […]
Nov 28, 2022
It’s Thanksgiving week in the U.S, which means Americans are traveling to gather with family, and descending upon the grocery stores to buy all of the delicious carbs, and a turkey. We lived in Germany for several years, and always enjoyed our little village grocery store that put out a display of what they thought […]
Nov 21, 2022
Skin compounds associated with attractiveness to mosquitoes
(NIH) Better knowledge of why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes could lead to new ways to prevent mosquito bites. In turn, this could help prevent mosquito-borne illnesses, which sicken hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Mosquitoes use four types of molecules called co-receptors to […]
Nov 20, 2022