• The Pied Piper of Mucus

    By Posted on 11.19.2009 20 Comments

    The plastic tube Sandy Hawkins hands me looks more like a toy horn than a medical device. Blowing into it, he tells me, will do wonders for my chest cold. I glance at the dozen or so people enjoying their mid-afternoon Starbucks and give it a few skeptical puffs.

    11.17.2009 at 04:58pm - Comment by wsp2

    It's apparently cleared for home use in Canada and the European community. My feeling is that due to the litigious nature of the US and to be able to legally state the claim about it's intended use, Medical Acoustics had to get the FDA approval and have it delivered by prescription only. It's a bummer though. I thought it would be good for even more minor ailments such as congestion due to colds and allergies.

  • Science

    My Quest To Analyze Every Man-Made Chemical In My Body

    By Posted on 11.2.2009 20 Comments

    Let’s start with the bad news: You are saturated with man-made chemicals, some of them toxic. Today’s exposure began when compounds in your shampoo and shaving cream seeped into your skin cells, and during your morning coffee, when you drank chemicals that were released into your brew as hot water ran against the plastic walls of your coffeemaker. It continued all day as you touched industrial chemicals in packaging, or walked through pesticide-sprayed lawns, or cooked dinner on nonstick pans.

    11.5.2009 at 02:12pm - Comment by wsp2

    The Web site for Environmental Working Group is http://www.ewg.org, not .com as indicated in the article.

  • Technology

    The World's Spookiest Weapons

    By Posted on 5.14.2008 20 Comments

    Atom bombs are just the beginning. In the last half-century, the greatest military minds on Earth have developed an arsenal of weapons to make mutually assured destruction seem tame. Whether these masterpieces of destruction come from miles above Earth or millimeters below the skin, they have one thing in common: they're spooky as hell.

    5.16.2008 at 11:28am - Comment by wsp2

    We don't need science to wipe us out. We're pretty much doing it to ourselves anyway.

  • DIY

    Cure for the Failed Credit Card Swipe: Part Deux

    By Posted on 3.31.2008 5 Comments

    Remember the flurry of discussion generated by our original article about prodding a bashful credit card into making a good swipe? Well, those creative minds at SparkFun Electronics (SFE) have now entered the fray.

    4.4.2008 at 11:47am - Comment by wsp2

    Speaking of fraud, a while ago I read an article which said I should write "ASK FOR ID" on the back of my credit card as opposed to signing it. I did, and after using it for a couple of years now it appears most businesses aren't worried about fraud. >95% of the time nobody checks my ID or even looks at the back of the card.

  • The Environment

    Why Trashing the Oceans is More Dangerous Than We Imagined

    By Posted on 4.1.2008 13 Comments

    Last fall we reported on the growing mess of garbage swirling in the North Pacific Gyre. Its a swath of ocean arguably the size of the continental U.S. where all the plastic refuse from Asia and the western coast of North America ends up when its washed out to sea. Turtles mistake bags for jellyfish and birds mistake floating chips for prey. Animals have been discovered starved to death because the entire contents of their stomachs were plastic fragments. Sail a boat out to the middle of the gyre and the problem is in plain sight. Unfortunately for us, the more severe problem is the one we cant see.

    Article Rating:
    4.4.2008 at 10:46am - Comment by wsp2

    I read a similar article last year in "Best Life" magazine ("Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?"). It's indeed a sad state of affairs, but the truth is that the large majority of the population just don't care. I try my best at reducing the amount of plastic I use and recycle what I can't avoid, but most people have the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality when it comes to the Gyre. Until people realize that this isn't just another crusade from those crazy "eco-terrorists", it'll get worse.



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December 2009: Best of What's New

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