Knowledge accretes in bursts and puffs, as in this study: “Bacterial Transfer by Blowing Out Birthday Cake Candles,” poster presented at Clemson University’s 5th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Poster Forum April 12, 2010. Mentors: Paul Dawson and Inyee Han, Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition Students: Danielle Lynn, Jenevieve Lackey, Johnson Baker, Sutton […]
Tag: bacteria
Applying bacteria to solve the Burnt Pancake Problem
The Burnt Pancake Problem — a mathematical problem whose history Simon Singh recently put in context, in an article in The Guardian — can be attacked by using bacteria. This paper explains how: “Engineering bacteria to solve the Burnt Pancake Problem,” Karmella A. Haynes [pictured here], Marian L. Broderick, Adam D. Brown, Trevor L. Butner, […]
A Preliminary Public Health Look at Hospital Fist-Bumps
On the theory that sometimes little things help lessen problems caused by little things, comes this little paper: “Reducing pathogen transmission in a hospital setting. Handshake verses fist bump: a pilot study,” P.A. Ghareeb, T. Bourlai, W. Dutton, W.T. McClellan, Journal of Hospital Infection, epub September 19, 2013. (Thanks to investigator Marek Hlavac for bringing […]
Nosocomical [sic] infections from Holy Water?
From a medical point of view, not all religious practices are always 100% risk free. See, for example, a recent Improbable article : ‘Official word: The body of Christ is not and cannot be gluten-free.’ But gluten intolerance is not the only area for concern – what about Holy Water in hospital chapels for example […]