- FDA has filed warning letters against companies selling ear candles – You can see some of the letters here under March 2.
- Church must accept reality of false memories of sexual abuse – “The notion that therapists can help people to ‘recover’ memories of sexual abuse causes serious harm to patients and their families, writes psychologist Chris French.” From Mark.
- Baby weight self-flagellation – “Brooks shames herself for loving family meals, the smell of baked bread, and the flavor of cheese. I don’t consider that out of control; I consider that being human. But it’s not so simple in our culture of excess, especially for women.”
- Human gut microbes hold ‘second genome’ – “We have about 100 times more microbial genes than human genes in the body. We also have 10 times more bacterial cells in our body than human cells.” From Dave.
Re: the letters to ear candlers…nice! I had a guy from Wally’s Natural Products commenting on my ear candling blog post…those ear candling fans make weird claims. I especially love the last paragraph in the letter. I’ll be checking their website to make sure they follow through!
Human gut microbes hold ’second genome’ …
See http://schuhlelewis.blogspot.com/2010/02/you-dirty-thing-you.html : “In the average adult are 100 trillion human cells and 1,500 trillion microbes. At best you are a little more than 10% you. We’re all just petri dishes with shoes.”
Cute cartoon.
Am I the only one that read that as “Human gut microbes hold ‘second gnome'”?
My mind went crazy for about 3 seconds with the awesomeness of having microbial gnomes in my stomach… then I saw the ‘e’. And while a second genome is pretty bad ass, 2 gnomes living in my belly is way cooler!
I think I’m going to write a book called “derailing the internet by not wearing my glasses”
@Elyse: I’d read that. Probably with some derailing of my own.
I read “gnome” also…and I was wearing my glasses. Back to World of Warcraft I guess.
@Elyse:
That’s dirty!
Oh wait, I read it as “Railing the Intern While Baring My Assets”. Which is also an idea you might consider. As a book title.
@jtradke:
“The Infinite Meta Derail”
@LinzeeBinzee: I have an alternative location for them to stick their candles. ;-)
@QuestionAuthority:
You just gave me an idea for a new form of alternative medicine: the fire enema.
@Elyse:
What was the question again?
“We also have 10 times more bacterial cells in our body than human cells.â€
The geometry of this boggles my mind. Are they just a lot smaller than human cells by volume?
@Nicole:
Yes, they are much, much tinier than even the tiniest Eukaryotic cell. I’ll look it up in my biology textbook when I get home, if I remember.
@Nicole: The geometry of this boggles my mind. Are they just a lot smaller than human cells by volume?
As @catgirl said, yup. Another fun fact: there are more bacteria cells on your skin than skin cells in your skin. Just shaking hands with someone sets up a cross-cultural bacteria orgy on an epic scale.
@davew:
That’s why I always greet everyone I meet with a wet tongue kiss.
@Nicole: An e. coli bacterium is about 3 micrometers long and a skin cell is about 30 micrometers in diameter. The mitochondria in cells are not-so-coincidentally about the same size as bacteria. (mitochondria, chloroplasts and bacteria probably share a common ancestor)
Wait. Candles… you stick in your ear? Christ. Are people dumb or what?
Puts me in my place. Now I realise I’m a thermos flask for bacterial soup.