fluttza.com Blog

The most famous mummy in history, Tutankhamun, has had his artifacts exhumed and studied since 1922.  For the last two years, in an effort to reveal why the Egyptian ‘boy king’ died young, teams of scientists from Egypt, Germany, and Italy, have studied Tut’s DNA and come up with some interesting conclusions.

Apparently the new trend in high(er) education is to combine alcohol with highly-caffeinated energy drinks.  Oh well.  But those in the University of Florida’s (UF) College of Public Health and Health Professions took an interest in studying the actual effects of this trend….

The Annual TED Conference taking place February 9-13 in Long Beach, California has an elitism about it.  If you have $6000 to spend on an event – If you are an expert in the field of technology, entertainment or design – if you know how to deliver information in a new and innovative fashion – and of course there is that little matter about being invited – you might be worthy of  being considered a TED-Head with TED-Cred. If not, join the rest of us -  the club of TED-Fed D-Listers who can only witness the affair from afar, like a kid with no funds peering into the window of a candy store.

Pretty soon, we’re going to be a very happy nation and it will all be sanctioned by the medical establishment.  Aside from those with serious illnesses getting to take a few legal hits on a marijuana joint daily, our glass or two of wine a day has been shown to support cardiovascular health.  Now, we learn that beer, particularly beer with high levels of malted barley and hops, is good for our bones!

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have been experimenting with magnetic nanoparticles focused on attracting cancer cells so that they could be separated from healthy cells and removed from the site.

Since last week, when I wrote about certain blood pressure medications and their positive effects on memory, there have been a few new studies published relating the effects of medication and diet on blood pressure and dementia.  Just so that you’re not thinking deja vu all over again at what seems like a repetition of yesterday’s news, I thought I’d prepare a short summary of how these studies interrelate and what they mean to us.

The medical diagnosis of toilet seat dermatitis is a real one, but if it hasn’t come to your attention, it may be because most cases are found in underdeveloped countries… until recently.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which manifests itself in disturbing flashbacks, nightmares, paranoid behavior, and expressions of anger and hostility, had been medically diagnosed by empirical methods and by, essentially, ruling everything else out.  Until now.

This is an ad for a blood pressure medication, not one for an erectile dysfunction drug. Lowering one’s blood pressure can help to reduce the risk of heart attack during sexual activity, but what about lowering one’s risk of dementia? Researchers from Boston University looked into this relationship.

Speculation is circulating from reputable sources such as Mashable  that the New York Times is contemplating charging for content. While legacy newspapers have struggled to develop new business models to address dwindling subscriptions and ad revenue, it’s apparent that a metered system is on the table for consideration.