Today on SciShow news, dead person wisdom is helping enrich our understanding of the natural world. How did Vikings manage to be such awesome navigators? And is heart disease inherent in human beings? Scientists think mummies may have the answer.
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Influenza has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with 7.3% of US deaths last week caused by pneumonia and the flu, just above the epidemic threshold of 7.2%. Flu activity was widespread in 47 states, up from 41 the previous week. Influenza kills about 24,000 Americans each year.
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The increase in flu cases raises the question: Will we ever see another outbreak like the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which killed between 20 and 50 million people, representing 1-3 percent of the global population. This short documentary — Hospitals Full-Up — compares health care from 1918 with what’s available today.
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Want to stay healthy this winter? Forget about cough drops and cold medicine. Go out and buy a six-pack of beer. A new study has shown beer contains a chemical can can ward off a common virus. Of course, Sapporo, the Japanese beer brand, funded the study, so no telling if it is completely scientific. If you’re concerned, play it safe — and stock up on a 12-pack. H/T Instapundit
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Joe Rago from the Wall Street Journal examines the impact of Obamacare at the state level. While some states have moved to establish Obamacare exchanges, other states have signaled they will resist doing so. A third group of states haven’t weighed in yet on the matter. Rago says states holding out against Obamacare not only fear being saddled with high costs down the road, but also burdensome regulations.
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By reducing or eliminating competition, Obamacare threatens to cause explosive increases in US health care costs. The reason: Patients don’t have the incentive to seek out value when third-parties such as private insurance companies or the government pick up the tab for medical services. Reason.TV examines the Surgery Center of Oklahoma as a case study in this principle and as a possible alternative model for Obamacare.
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Women are in for a rude awakening, at least those who supported the re-election of Obama-Biden thinking they were taking a stand on behalf of greater choice. Kennedy from Reason.TV explains, ” From jobs to health care to education, let’s face it ladies, we’re screwed…and not in the much needed 50 Shades of Grey way.”
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New York’s Nanny Mayor Michael Bloomberg can’t resist playing the role of “Father Knows Best.” Under his rule, New York leads the nation in imposing bans and limits on fast foods, cigarettes and sodas. Now, Bloomberg is also waging a paternalistic war to badger women into breastfeeding their children. Kennedy from Reason TV checks in with Susan Burger, a certified lactation consultant, on the mayor’s latest broad-stroke initiative.
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Without oxygen, we’d all be toast. But while it’s an essential element to life, oxygen does cause internal degradation in our bodies. One of the more common effects, called oxidative stress, is believed to contribute to aging. Oxidative stress is similar to the rust you see in metals, a process also unleashed when the metals come in contact with oxygen. Hank Green explains what’s afoot with the Big “O,” and we’re not talking about Obama, in this case. H/T SciShow
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Growing numbers of Leftist cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, have instituted bans on plastic bags, citing the destruction of wildlife caused by bags discarded into the environment. But the most common alternative — the reusable, cloth grocery bag — is now being shown to have unwanted side-effects, allowing for the spread of harmful bacteria, especially coliform bacteria such as E. coli.
Jonathan Klick, a fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center, says more than half of reusable grocery bags tested in San Francisco were found to contain E. coli, and deaths due to E. coli infections have increased at least 50 percent in the city since its plastic bag ban went into effect. “Up until now the entire discussion has really been on the environmental benefits and no one has really talked about the costs — not only the costs of the loss of convenience of plastic bags, but certainly not the health costs,” Klick asserts. More from PERC.
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Remember Drew Barrymore raising a ruckus when she strolled down a red carpet flashing a wild swath of armpit hair? Now, an American physician wants women to adopt the French “au naturale” look for their nether region as well.
The physician, Emily Gibson, claims the popular “Bare Down There” fashion increases the risk of infections and sexually transmitted diseases, so she’s opposed to women shaving, waxing, plucking or using laser treatments to remove their pubic hair. “Pubic hair does have a purpose, providing a cushion against friction that can cause skin abrasion and injury, and protection from bacteria,” she says. “It is time to declare a truce in the war on pubic hair and allow it to stay right where it belongs.”
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Her call has spurred Taiwan’s Next Media Animation to poll its nearly 50,000 YouTube subscribers on the raging question of the day: “To Wax or Not to Wax?”
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Not to be a contrarian, but the Japanese have conclusively demonstrated that proper hair removal can have healthy consequences, regardless of Dr. Gibson’s claims.
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