August 2009

  • Throw Away Your Shoes! Or, Wait, Don’t!

    By erika on 8/31/09 3:07pm
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    Barefoot RunningBarefoot RunningIf you have been following the latest running revolution, then you have already heard of the barefoot movement.  The New York Times jumped on the bandwagon this week, with a three page article on running barefoot.

    Proponents of barefoot running point to the fact that foot related running injuries have not decreased since the 1970s, when running shoes were first introduced on the market.  In fact, some kinds of injuries have actually increased - not that anyone can directly blame the shoes for this, of course.


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  • Using Heroin to Treat Heroin

    By becksta on 8/26/09 11:45am
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    Prescription HeroinPrescription HeroinThe NYT headline says it all and I for one can't believe my eyes: Study Backs Heroin to Treat Addiction. What's next? Cigarettes cure cigarette addiction? A shot of whiskey followed by a PBR cures alcoholism? The Canadian study appears to have been more than "politically motivated" and seems little to do with anything actually resembling treatment.

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  • Flu Comes From Space!

    By erika on 8/10/09 11:35am
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    The Influenza Virus - Alien Life Form?The Influenza Virus - Alien Life Form?Well, not really, but this was just too rich to pass up.  Over the weekend I found myself lying in bed wide awake at 3AM for no apparent reason.  I went downstairs and flipped through the channels until I found an episode of MegaDisasters on The History Channel.  Typically this show is far too anxiety provoking for me to watch, but this time I was drawn in despite myself.

    The episode was called "Alien Infection," and proposed the theory of infection coming from outer space, borne on the tails of comets.  The tails lash our atmosphere as the planet drives through them, and all that cometary debris enters our upper atmosphere.  And WHAT IF THERE WERE GERMS?


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