How did
hookworm infections slow the economy of the postbellum South? Do
body mites play a role in diseases such as rosacea? Did
fermenting seal flippers in Tupperware instead of traditional containers increase Native Alaskan botulism rates?
Body Horrors is the blog of microbiologist Rebecca Kreston, who aims to explore the intersection of infectious diseases, the human body, public health and anthropology.
posted by emjaybee
on Sep 24, 2011 -
36 comments
Glass Microbiology "These transparent glass sculptures were created to contemplate the global impact of each disease and to consider how the doctoring of scientific imagery affects our visualization of phenomena."
posted by dhruva
on Sep 3, 2009 -
9 comments
Athanasius Kircher was the
17th century's Jesuit version of the
übergeek. His scholarly attentions were drawn to egyptology, astronomy, magnetism, languages, optics, music, geology, mathematics and many many other pursuits. The
"dude of wonders" invented novel machines such as the
mathematical organ and
magnetic clock, established one of the first museums, published about 40 academic works (with
beautiful accompanying illustrations) and was globally revered as one of his time's greatest intellectuals. He is also the main link in the
Voynich manuscript mystery. [
MI]
posted by peacay
on Aug 7, 2005 -
12 comments
Beyond the science fair. Behind a veneer of shoddy web-design lies a brilliant idea: getting grade- and high-school students to do actual scientific work. For example, "10 students from New York, Texas and Virginia joined three World War II veterans and a retired railroader from Virginia" and discovered a way to make walls
self-sterilize. The guy behind it is
Carl Vermeulen.
posted by greatgefilte
on Jun 7, 2005 -
6 comments
Henrietta Lacks, a Baltimore housewife, died in 1951.
Some of her cells did not die. In fact, had they been allowed to grow unchecked, they
would have taken over the world by now. As it is, even as they proved invaluable to medical researchers, their baffling ability to regenerate resulted in contamination of three decades of cellular research, costing medical researchers millions of dollars. As far as science can tell, Henrietta's cells will never die.
Creepy!
posted by stupidsexyFlanders
on Oct 10, 2002 -
29 comments