The Natural World Battles On

Five dumb guns, an octopus damages its home, and doctors feel threatened by science

By M. Farbman Posted 03.03.2009 at 12:42 pm 1 Comment

The M203

Field and Stream has posted its picks, complete with video, of the five dumbest guns ever seen in TV and movies.

Also in today's links: a clever octopus, a live pink dolphin, and mold versus art.

A little octopus decided it was going to have some fun one day, and flooded the aquarium it called home.
"Comparative-effectiveness research" is reportedly provoking horror on the part of politicians and physicians -- who would rather use ineffective but comfortable methods of treatment. With a name like "Why Doctors Hate Science," you know this is a provocative one.
And now for something completely cute: a pink dolphin. (Now, I know I like to poke fun at the Telegraph's reporting, but seriously, the ratio of quotes to non-quote lines in this article is 11:4. It's pretty hard to make a story about a pink dolphin be unreadable, but they tried their darnedest.)
Black mold has not encroached further on the famous Lascaux cave drawings, nor has it gone away. "The cave is sick and is currently resting," said the head of the cave's scientific committee.

Octopus Opening a Jar: Matthias Kabel

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1 Comment

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ford2go

03/04/09 at 2:43 am

I won't say that the medical link is without merit. However, I do not believe that is entirely accurate.

Efficacy studies, I would guess, focus on the results for the symptom being treated. Do they, I wonder, note side effects. In my own case, I have switched to a different blood pressure midicine. It is slightly more effective than the old one, but that's not the main issue. With the old one, I developed a chronic cough, which was severe enough to inerfere with sleep. My insurance and I split the cost increase, although they do complain.

I also quesstion the studies to some extent. "Study" implies that there is a straightforward procedure to come to an objective conclusion. This is not, in fact, easy to do. You have to make sure that the measurement technique is comprehensive and accurate. You have to have a large enough sample to be meaningful. And, your sample has to truly represent the variables in the population.

Years ago insurance companies had inaccurate weight vs risk charts. It turned out that their sample was not really representative of the population.

And while I doubt that any of the studies are intentionally biased, they seem to be done by folks with a vested interest in reducing cost.

This is not to suggest that physicians are entirely right.
I am just raising issues with the accuracy of the other side.