NYTimes: Hard Lesson in Sleep for Teenagers

Uh-oh. Lots of increased risk in kids (poor grades, risk-taking, sadness) who don't get enough sleep. And sleeping in on weekends doesn't help.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/sleep-for-teenagers/?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone

Adolescents who do not receive adequate rest have trouble keeping up in the classroom and are more vulnerable to other health problems. And catching up on sleep on the weekend won't help.


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Ebola virus survivability and aerosol spread

Scary!

Ebola virus can be transmitted with just a single aerosolized organism, and can last several hours in the dark even when dried out on a countertop. 

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php

Here are some excerpts:

INFECTIOUS DOSE: Viral hemorrhagic fevers have an infectious dose of 1 - 10 organisms by aerosol in non-human primates.

...however, airborne transmission has not been demonstrated between non-human primates 

INCUBATION PERIOD: Two to 21 days 

 STABILITY AND VIABILITY

All information available on stability and viability comes from peer-reviewed literature sources depicting experimental findings and is intended to support local risk assessments in a laboratory setting.

DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY: Unknown...Although clinical trials have been completed, no vaccine has been approved for treatment of ebolavirus. Similarly, no post-exposure measures have been reported as effective...There are no known antiviral treatments available for human infections.

SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISINFECTANTS: Ebolavirus is susceptible to 3% acetic acid, 1% glutaraldehyde, alcohol-based products, and dilutions (1:10-1:100 for ≥10 minutes) of 5.25% household bleach (sodium hypochlorite), and calcium hypochlorite (bleach powder), 

PHYSICAL INACTIVATION: Ebola are moderately thermolabile and can be inactivated by heating for 30 minutes to 60 minutes at 60°C, boiling for 5 minutes, or gamma irradiation (1.2 x106 rads to 1.27 x106 rads) combined with 1% glutaraldehyde. Ebolavirus has also been determined to be moderately sensitive to UVC radiation.

SURVIVAL OUTSIDE HOST: Filoviruses have been reported capable to survive for weeks in blood and can also survive on contaminated surfaces, particularly at low temperatures (4°C). One study could not recover any Ebolavirus from experimentally contaminated surfaces (plastic, metal or glass) at room temperature.  In another study, Ebolavirus dried onto glass, polymeric silicone rubber, or painted aluminum alloy is able to survive in the dark for several hours under ambient conditions (between 20 and 250C and 30-40% relative humidity) (amount of virus reduced to 37% after 15.4 hours), but is less stable than some other viral hemorrhagic fevers (Lassa). When dried in tissue culture media onto glass and stored at 4 °C, Zaire ebolavirus survived for over 50 days. This information is based on experimental findings only and not based on observations in nature. This information is intended to be used to support local risk assessments in a laboratory setting. 

Power shades and blinds

I thought these were a good idea: motorized blinds that are solar-powered so you don't have to rig up an electric cord to them. 

http://www.somfysystems.com/en-us/index.html

Elephants Able To Detect Rainstorms 150 Miles Away from Popular Science

"in 2011 alone, poachers killed one out of every 12 African elephants. Yikes!":

  Elephants Able To Detect Rainstorms 150 Miles Away

Massive Claw

This massive claw is designed to assemble under-sea platforms for oil and gas production, I think. The story is told in time lapse because it's so huge.

http://youtu.be/7gU2ieExfqA

Buick fender portholes

Rival cheap smart phone gets good review

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/technology/personaltech/oneplus-one-review-high-hopes-for-low-price-phone.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone

If OnePlus can navigate the perils of the cutthroat smartphone business, it may be giving us a peek of the glorious future of great, cheap phones.


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