Category: science

  • Exercise for Brain Health

    Exercise for Brain Health

    University of Iowa research shows that exercise could help for protecting us against Alzheimer’s disease. After age 65, our risk for this category of dementia doubles every 5 years. Even if scientists develop effective and safe senolytic compounds that could allow us to live to be 200 years old, that won’t be happening in the…

  • Hot Water Heater Out, Cold Showers In

    Hot Water Heater Out, Cold Showers In

    Our hot water heater went kaput yesterday and I’ve now endured the only 2 cold showers I’ve ever taken in my life that I can recall. Sena will be doing sponge baths, even though I’ve told her cold showers are great, easy, and healthy. Her hesitation might have something to do with my screams while…

  • Do You Get the Zoomies or the Zennies?

    Do You Get the Zoomies or the Zennies?

    Does your pet dog, cat, or sloth ever get the zoomies? We don’t have pets; I just read about animals getting the zoomies the other day. It’s an interesting phenomenon. Right after a bath, a dog might race around the yard, getting all dirty again. They look like they’re having great fun and veterinarians say…

  • FDA Recommends Inclusion of BA.4/5 Component for COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses

    FDA Recommends Inclusion of BA.4/5 Component for COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses

    The FDA announced the recommendation that COVID-19 vaccine booster doses include Omicron BA.4/5 component.

  • FDA Advisory Committee Approves Adding Omicron component to the Next Covid-19 Vaccine

    FDA Advisory Committee Approves Adding Omicron component to the Next Covid-19 Vaccine

    On June 28, 2022 the FDA Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee came to a majority “yes” vote to the question: “Does the committee recommend inclusion of a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron component for COVID-19 booster vaccines in the United States?” The meeting was recorded and is available for review.

  • We Are Going to Be Like the Jetsons!

    We Are Going to Be Like the Jetsons!

    Sena has been telling me for years that someday soon we’re all going to be like the Jetsons, flying around in bubble-top saucers. It turns out she may be right. There’s a news story out about the Jetson Flying Car, which I saw on the Good News Network.  It’s a compact flying car that runs…

  • Hammerhead Worm Invasion!

    Hammerhead Worm Invasion!

    The other day Sena and I were talking with a landscaping consultant about a job we’d like done on our backyard patio. He uncovered a worm in the dirt, and it seemed to wriggle energetically. Jumping worms had been in the news a lot last month. The consultant picked it up and the worm seemed…

  • Learning About Monkeypox

    Learning About Monkeypox

    The University of Iowa podcast Rounding@Iowa, hosted by Dr. Gerard Clancy, MD talked with Infectious Diseases specialist Dr. Jeffery Meier, MD about the essential facts about Monkeypox for health care professionals, recorded on June 2, 2022. This podcast would also be interesting to anyone interested in learning more about Monkeypox.

  • Invasion of the Pregnant Man Emojis!

    Invasion of the Pregnant Man Emojis!

    I just saw a pretty funny story in the news about an old guy who was not allowed to donate blood at a Scotland blood bank because he refused to answer a new questionnaire asking whether or not he was pregnant. I thought that was uproariously funny. Then I read the rest of the story…

  • The Proof is Way Out There

    The Proof is Way Out There

    I watch the History Channel show, The Proof is Out There, hosted by Tony Harris, an American journalist and filmmaker. The show reviews videos of paranormal events, supposed cryptids, and other weird stuff and generally ends up debunking at least half of them. I’ve seen some of the videos on another TV show, Paranormal Caught…