91˿Ƶ

Subscribe to the OSS Weekly Newsletter!

Is Your Forehead Good Enough for a Fever Check?

5 Jun 2020

Your forehead is about to get a lot of action. Is it greasy? You may want to wipe that sweat off. In the age of COVID, our forehead will become the target of fever spot checks. Thermal cameras and...

Space Flight and Duct Tape

5 Jun 2020

Just four months after Apollo 11’s historic landing on the moon in 1969, “Intrepid,” Apollo 12’s lunar lander, made a perfect landing. It was expected that in April of 1970, “Aquarius,” Apollo 13’s...

Can a blood test determine if you’re a morning or night person?

22 May 2020

The 24-hour internal clock in your brain is known as your circadian rhythm and its personal manifestation is your chronotype—which varies greatly on an individual basis....

How Antivirals Create Paper Jams That Stop Viruses in Their Tracks

15 May 2020

Here’s a counterintuitive fact: an antiviral drug does not kill a virus. The real virus killers are the virucides, like alcohol and bleach, that tear the virus apart. It’s all in the name, with “...

Knocked Out, Put Under, Anesthetized and Sedated: Different Types of Anesthesia

27 Apr 2020

If you’ve read the article I wrote about why patients are allowed to drink clear fluids but not eat before surgery you’ll know that I recently had surgery to repair the ACL and meniscus in my left...

Why Am I Allowed to Drink Clear Fluids Before Surgery, but Not Eat?

22 Apr 2020

While preparing for my recent knee surgery I was given a lot of instructions. Where to park, how to dress, when to arrive, what to bring and even what (not) to eat and drink. Like many surgical...

Can You Picture This? Some People Can’t

17 Apr 2020

A daydream solved an important problem in the 19th century. Chemists were trying to elucidate the molecular structure of benzene, a petrochemical that is now used in the production of styrene and...

How Long Can a Virus “Live” Outside the Body?

8 Apr 2020

One of the frequently asked questions about the SARS-CoV-2 virus is how long the virus can live outside the body. “Live” is not exactly the appropriate term, as viruses are not really "alive"...

Conclusions Change as Evidence Accumulates

1 Apr 2020

I remember once giving a talk on vitamins and having someone come up to me after with a comment along the lines of “I was in your class years ago and you were talking about the benefits of vitamin...

Pages

Back to top