The Good And The Bad
The Nobel Committee as made another practical decision:
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to a trio of researchers for improving the resolution of optical microscopes.
Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner used fluorescence to extend the limits of the light microscope.
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The Nobel Committee said the researchers had won the award for “the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy”.
They developed a system that allows researchers to see minute details at the cellular/molecular level without using an electron microscope. This makes it less expensive to do all kinds of basic research.
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CNN reports on the death of Thomas Eric Duncan:
(CNN) — Several Ebola patients treated in the United States have survived, but the first person ever diagnosed with the deadly virus on American soil didn’t.
Thomas Eric Duncan died Wednesday at a Texas hospital, 10 days after he was admitted.
“Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola. He fought courageously in this battle. Our professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are also grieving his passing,” hospital spokesman Wendell Watson said in a statement.
When they reported that Mr. Duncan had been put on dialysis, I knew he was dying. The end stage of Ebola involves the failure of the body’s organs. The people who survive generally have strong and healthy immune systems that will eventually conquer the virus, if the victim can be kept hydrated and protected from secondary infections.
October 8, 2014 16 Comments
