For some ...

... jail is too good of a sentence.

Results taken from air samples reveal that a body was decomposing in the trunk of a car driven by the mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony, a local TV station reported.

Detectives with cadaver dogs said in July they detected the smell of human decomposition coming from the trunk of the Pontiac that the mother, Casey Anthony, was driving when police began investigating the dispappearance of her little girl, who was last seen more than two months ago.

The University of Tennessee "Body Farm" conducted the tests on the car's air samples Aug. 10, and on Wednesday their conclusion was released: a human corpse had been decomposing there, according to WESH-2 TV.

Nope, didn't see this one coming. Not at all.*sigh*

E. coli outbreak in Oklahoma

Over 42 instances of infections with pathogenic Escherichia coli have been reported in NE Oklahoma recently. Samples have been sent to the CDC, so the strain responsible should be known shortly.

Though it doesn't say specifically, the symptoms sound like this is caused by a enterohemmorhagic (EHEC) strain of E. coli. The strain O157:H7, often referred to as the "Jack in the Box" strain, is an EHEC strain.

Link to the FDA's Bad Bug Book describing the EHEC.

I suppose I could be wrong but ...

... I think it's obvious that this stupid, selfish dimwit killed her daughter.

Argh!

I hate the Phillies!

... and the Mets bullpen.

Food for thought ...

Resetting forgotten passwords and Facebook are linked.

Disease Highlighted: Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer has been in the headlines several times this year. Most recently, Gene Upshaw succumbed to this disease. Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with it a few months ago, and I'm sure quite a few people have heard of the author of The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch (last link is to his CMU webpage). Here is a CMU page devoted to his Last Lecture.

This disease is nasty. It's the fourth largest killer of cancer patients in the US, and only 1 in 5 diagnosed with this cancer survive their first year. This cancer is also genetically linked, so predisposition to this cancer can be inherited.

There are some tests for early detection, which are outlined here, and here.

Q&A: Pancreatic Cancer

Properly terrified means, what?

Pooping yourself? Because if this had happened to me, I imagine that's what I would have done.

The French officials said the plane lost 26,200 feet of altitude in five minutes before the landing, which the pilot requested.

Is it just me, or are a lot of planes falling from the sky lately? All the more reason for me to drive everywhere.

"I think it's fair to say there was muffled consternation in the first few seconds," passenger Pen Hadow told Sky News. "People were clearly suffering with the shock of it, but on the whole ... people had a stiff upper lip about it and they were resigned to their fate. They were properly terrified.

"They thought they were going to meet their maker. And that's not an exaggeration," Hadow added.

Give this guy the Understatement Award of 2008.

Wind Turbines == Bat Killing Machines

Windturbines cause barotrauma in bats.

Ninety percent of the bats they examined after death showed signs of internal hemorrhaging consistent with trauma from the sudden drop in air pressure (a condition known as barotrauma) at turbine blades. Only about half of the bats showed any evidence of direct contact with the blades.

So?

The majority of bats killed at wind turbines are migratory bats that roost in trees, including hoary bats, eastern red bats, and silver-haired bats. While little is known about their population sizes, the researchers said, those deaths could have far-reaching consequences.

Bats typically live for many years, in some cases reaching ages of 30 or more. Most also have just one or two pups at a time, and not necessarily every year. "Slow reproductive rates can limit a population's ability to recover from crashes and thereby increase the risk of endangerment or extinction," said Robert Barclay, also at the University of Calgary, noting that migrating animals tend to be more vulnerable as it is.

All three species of migratory bats killed by wind turbines fly at night, eating thousands of insects—including many crop pests—per day as they go. Therefore, bat losses in one area could have very real effects on ecosystems miles away, along the bats' migration routes.

Currently ...

Reading

Listening To

Take your tray and shove it!

My goodness, the things people will complain about.

Advocates of the trayless cafeterias say if students can't pile on the food as Bluto did, they might consume fewer calories and keep off those unhealthy pounds often gained in college.

Try telling that to hungry coeds who simply make more trips to the counter.

...

Convincing the central West Virginia school's nearly 1,400 students, however, could take time.

"I think that's kind of ridiculous," said freshman Rebecca Riffle, who used a legal-size notebook to help carry her plate to a table. "Whenever there's a bunch of people here at one time, it gets crazy. You have people bumping into you, so if you're balancing stuff, you're going to end up dropping something or breaking something."

Umm, Rebecca ... you're going to have to balance a tray anyways. I've seen more food spilled by someone carrying a tray, than I have without. Don't be a ninny.

Food Recall

Canadian Food Recall - 4 dead, 21 others sick from listeriosis.

"Because the onset of symptoms of listeriosis can occur up to 70 days after contaminated food is consumed, it is expected that the number of confirmed and suspected cases will continue to increase over the next several weeks," the Public Health Agency said in its Saturday statement.

A list of the recalled foods can be found here.

Open Letter To Russia

Dear Russia,

STFU.

Sincerely,
Tom

Tensions are going to be increased because NATO is helping Georgia recover? What about threatening to nuke Poland? What the hell is wrong with these people?

Astronomy Geekage

Ten Ancient Astronomy Sites As Seen From Space.

Will people ever learn?

New Orleans still in danger of being flooded. $14.8 Billion dollars spent on inadequately protecting New Orleans? I wonder how many miles of coastal wetland, an area which would definitely protect New Orleans, you can create using $14.8 Billion dollars?

Interesting ...

... perhaps before we all start complaining about negative campaigning, we can at least see where we've been.

John Adams lived long enough to see his son become president in 1825, but he died before John Quincy Adams lost the presidency to Andrew Jackson in 1828. Fortunately, that meant he didn't have to witness what many historians consider the nastiest contest in American history.

The slurs flew back and forth, with John Quincy Adams being labeled a pimp, and Andrew Jackson's wife getting called a slut.

Was John Adams pimping Andrew Jackson's wife?

Carbon Sequestration ...

... new technique for storing carbon dioxide identified.

In his small-scale reactor, Van Essendelft grinds a serpentine rock mixed with water and acid. The combination of grinding and chemical action (mainly the acid) breaks down serpentine into magnesium and silica, which is essentially sand. He then adds ammonia and pumps CO2 in. The ammonia neutralizes the acid, allowing the CO2 to dissolve and react with magnesium, forming magnesium carbonate.

Magnesium carbonate is similar to chalk and has several applications. For example, Van Essendelft says, it could be used instead of limestone to produce cement.

This would be an interesting means of carbon sequestration for anaerobic digestion (AD) on-farm. You already have a surplus of ammonia from the animal waste, and about 35% of the bio-gas from AD is carbon dioxide.

Tom Coburn (R-OK) says ...

... too many government workers not showing up to work in record numbers.

No word as to whether that includes Congress which is currently on their one month summer vacation through September 7th.

Open Letter to George Lucas

George,

You suck.

Tom

PS: Tell Samuel L. Jackson he sucks too.

It's good to be the king ...

... my latest manuscript is out for peer review.

Generally ...

... I'm against the death penalty, but then people like this come along and make me reconsider. At the very least, it makes me willing to make exceptions.