Assorted Links

Thanks to Dave Lull and Anne Weiss.

Toads predict an earthquake. The clueless comments are amusing.
The prize for lifetime achievement in public relations goes to . . . the Bank of Sweden
Plagiarism Today (a website)
“There are indeed significant regional variations in expenditures on medical services, unexplained by differences in medical need or health outcomes, but correlated with the numbers of specialist physicians and the availability of hospital beds in each area.” Skip Part 1 of this review.

Thanks to Marian Lizzi.

“When you are good [at your work], you must apologize.” Italian academia.
no effect of omega-3
clinical trials of new MS therapy go ahead in spite of MS society disapproval. Canadian MS society leaders have managed to convince themselves it could be bad to learn more about a plausible and possibly revolutionary therapy for MS. “A true clinical trial must be conducted at more than one institution and in more than one province” with “well over 1000 participants,” said Yves Savoie, the president of the Canadian MS society. If a study had only 999 participants, he would disapprove of it!

Thanks to Casey Manion and Anne Weiss

papers about the efficacy of Vitamin C in treating a wide range of illnesses
the so-called Medical Revolution — stem cells, etc. Good description of how the hype — this or that “revolution” — has been misleading time after time.
how to make prosciutto. Prosciutto is high in umami. The umami flavor gets stronger over time as the protein breaks down.

Thanks to Dave Lull, Dennis Mangan and Anne Weiss.

Thanks to Paul Sas, Ryan Holiday, and Casey Manion.

A well-done study about the July spike in medication deaths. From The Browser.
How microbes protect us
Correlation between sitting and mortality, equated for physical activity.
Exercise and weight loss. I had a similar experience: After an extremely intense racquetball session, I lost 6-8 pounds over the next two weeks.

Thanks to Peter Couvares and Casey Manion.

During the Foxconn suicide epidemic, several media outlets said the suicide rate was lower than expected. “Members of the media have been killing off their own credibility at an alarming rate.”
Fascinating blog about quality control in China. “Factory workers are paid by the number of pieces they make. Sometimes they see they are working on defective goods, but they keep working instead of sending the bad pieces back to the previous operation.”
The unsustainability of higher education.
the Dear Abby of math problems. “The next bubble to burst is higher education. . . . It’s too much one-size-fits-all.” And that one size fits the professor.
BBC radio documentaries
Raw food leaders no longer raw or vegan

Thanks to Alex Chernavsky.

“ant tribes” near Beijing
What exactly is umami?
Is omega-3 an antidepressant?Â “Initial analyses failed to clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of Omega-3 for all patients taking part in the study. Other analyses, however, revealed that Omega-3 improved depression symptoms in patients diagnosed with depression unaccompanied by an anxiety disorder.” Are they fooling themselves? Maybe not. My research suggests that morning faces can reduce only depression but also anxiety disorders. So if you have depression without an anxiety disorder it may indeed have a different cause.

Thanks to Anne Weiss.

Category: Assorted Links