Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
It’s a banner week for the end of the world, because we’ve officially pushed atmospheric carbon levels past their dreaded 400 parts per million. Permanently. According to a blog post last Friday from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, “it already seems safe to conclude that we won’t be seeing a monthly value below 400…
Thanks to Affordable Care Act insurance reform, prescribed contraception must be covered by all insurance plans without a co-pay, meaning the majority of Americans now have access to primary forms of birth control—their “plan A” contraception. As nearly everyone who has ever had potentially procreative sex knows, however, the need for back-up is crucial to peace of mind, whether or…
Catherine Townsend-Lyon, 53, started gambling excessively when she was 30. As a result, her 40th birthday wasn’t much of a celebration: She was hospitalized, shortly after a suicide attempt. She’d tried to slit her wrists the day she’d missed her best friend’s funeral, after stealing money from her job at a credit service to play…
So, you think you love science? What does that mean to you, exactly? For most people, I’m guessing it means something like this: Image: NASA Or perhaps something like this: Image: National Institutes of Health That’s not what science is, though. That’s data, and like countless “Principal Investigators” of the science world (the professors who…
Few things match the delight of my dogs and myself at the sight of Floor Food. When it happens we’re like “Ooo! Floor Food!” and compete to dive on it and eat it first. Sadly, The New York Times reports that the Five Second Rule—the cherished belief among some humans that it is ‘safe’ to…
Imagine infusing thousands of wireless devices into your brain, and using them to both monitor its activity and directly influence its actions. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, and for the moment it still is – but possibly not for long. Brain research is on a roll at the moment. And as it…
Many people claim that they don’t need much sleep, insisting that even five hours a night is enough shuteye for them to feel rested. According to new scientific research, “habitual short sleepers” may actually be handling the brain tasks that most of us deal with during the night, like memory consolidation. From Medical Xpress: Both…
xkcd: Earth Temperature Timeline. Source: xkcd: Earth Temperature Timeline
An article has surfaced from the quagmire of bilge that is The Internet and it has caused, not without reason, a small tornado of outrage. Written as dating advice for “The Modern Man” (a misnomer if ever there were one), it promises a solution to the hot ‘n’ horny down-on-their-luck young bucks of the world…
Abstract BACKGROUND: It is essential to anticipate and limit the social, economic and sanitary cost of type 2 diabetes (T2D), which is in constant progression worldwide. When blood glucose targets are not achieved with diet and lifestyle intervention, insulin is recommended whether or not the patient is already taking hypoglycaemic drugs. However, the benefit/risk balance…