Happy Holidays..

The Best Holiday Beers and Libations for 2012

Those pretentious beer snobs may be right: Ever get told that, to really appreciate a Guinness, you have to travel to Ireland? Four researchers took it upon themselves to travel the globe and find out, collecting "data on the enjoyment of Guinness and related factors." The enjoyment of the stout was tested in 71 pubs spread over 14 countries, and the conclusion is that it really is more enjoyable on its home turf, a finding that "remained statistically significant after adjusting for researcher, pub ambience, Guinness appearance, and the sensory measures mouthfeel, flavor, and aftertaste." However, the researchers admit that their study has some limitations, so they're hoping to expand on it a bit.

Weird Science enjoys a pint of Guinness more in Ireland

Thanks to David Van Sickle, we'll soon be able to track (and hopefully eliminate) recurring asthma attack outbreaks. Sickle, a scholar in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is working with students in the biomedical engineering program to create an asthma inhaler with a built-in GPS receiver.

The project is still in its early stages, but David's goal is to eventually map out danger zones that could be life-threatening to those stricken with the lung disease. He already has it all mapped out: "rescue inhalers" will pinpoint the location of each asthmatic attack and cross-reference it with other devices, attempting to detect new locations and trends that previously flew under the radar undetected by asthma researchers. Sickle envisions a time when his technology can help researchers discover exactly why people suffer from asthma.

"It will allow us to better target public-health interventions to the places and times when people are really suffering," Sickle said.

Disease detective plans GPS-enabled asthma inhaler

Thats not good!

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MILWAUKEE (AP) - Kellogg Co. said Monday federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers, as a Midwestern grocer and General Mills Corp. recalled some of its products because of the scare.

Also Monday, Midwestern grocer and retailer Meijer Inc. said it was recalling two types of crackers and two varieties of ice cream because of the possibility of salmonella contamination: Meijer brand Cheese and Peanut Butter and Toasty Peanut Butter sandwich crackers, and Peanut Butter and Jelly and Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

Kellogg says FDA confirms salmonella in crackers

Apparently the Georgia Board of Medical Examiners decided this year, in its wisdom, that no one but a doctor can authorize the flu shot.

They actually called the flu shot “a dangerous drug.” On 9-11 no less:

On Sept. 11, the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners issued a statement saying that only doctors can give permission for patients to have flu shots.

“Under both federal and Georgia law, influenza vaccine is considered to be a dangerous drug,” the statement said. “Georgia law requires a valid patient-specific prescription.”

Georgia flu scandal

A decade of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo is continuing to kill about 45,000 people each month - half of them small children - in the deadliest conflict since the second world war, according to a new survey.
..
The majority of deaths have been due to infectious diseases, malnutrition and neonatal- and pregnancy-related conditions. Increased rates of disease are likely related to the social and economic disturbances caused by conflict, including disruption of health services, poor food security, deterioration of infrastructure and population displacement. Children ... are particularly susceptible to these easily preventable and treatable conditions," the IRC survey says.

War in Congo kills 45,000 people each month | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Introducing lucid, Absinthe Supérieure. lucid represents a breakthrough product for the U.S. market, as it is the first true, Grande Wormwood-based Absinthe of its type since before prohibition. Unlike imitators in the U.S. and the many so-called "Absinthe" products that litter the international markets, lucid is crafted directly from select whole herbs, including Grande Wormwood, and never from cheaper assemblages, macerations, extracts or oils.

Lucid - The Legal Absinthe

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Lovers of dim sum, beware.
]
] A study in Hong Kong has found the tiny, mouthwatering
] Chinese snacks are high in fat and sodium and excessive
] consumption will increase the risk of obesity.
]
] "You definitely cannot have a dim sum meal every day
] because it's not possible to get a balanced diet that
] way," said Ho Yuk-yin, a consultant with the government's
] Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, who led the
] research.

Dim Sum Too High in Fat, Sodium - Study

] BERLIN (Reuters) - Women watching erotic films are
] stimulated in a part of the brain associated with
] planning and emotion, research from scientists in Germany
] said Friday.
]
] Unfortunately the researchers were not able to determine
] if their findings meant that while men lost themselves in
] the moment the busy modern professional woman was also
] planning her wardrobe, scheduling the vacation and
] juggling her tax receipts.

What Is She Thinking About During Sex?

] CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Drinking in moderation appears
] to reduce heart-related deaths in men with high blood
] pressure, new research suggests, challenging the belief
] among many doctors that alcohol should be off-limits to
] such patients.
]
] In the study, men with high blood pressure who reported
] having about one or two drinks a day were 44 percent less
] likely to die of cardiovascular causes such as heart
] attacks than men with hypertension who rarely or never
] drank.

Ill drink to that! :)

CNN.com - Study: Drinking may cut hypertensives' heart risk