Posts from — March 2015

Great news if it can be duplicated: 1,000-year-old onion and garlic eye remedy kills MRSA

Scientists recreated a 9th Century Anglo-Saxon remedy using onion, garlic and part of a cow’s stomach.

They were “astonished” to find it almost completely wiped out methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, otherwise known as MRSA.

Their findings will be presented at a national microbiology conference.

These were laboratory findings, which is great, but can it be used internally with the same efficacy?

It makes sense that not having seen this treatment for centuries, the bacteria wouldn’t be selecting for resistance, as they probably did a millennium ago when it was used for eye infections.

The BBC reports on two aspirants – NSA shooting: One dead after car rams security gate.

These two fools disguised themselves as women and attempted to enter the NSA compound. The civilian NSA Police opened fire when they refused to follow orders to leave. One died at the scene, and the second went to the hospital. If they had gotten through the gate and managed to get to the building with the tires on their car shredded by the spikes, the internal force would have probably blown them to kingdom come. The force that guards NSA didn’t include an ‘Officer Friendly’ when I was there in 1960s, and it is unlikely they have gotten any nicer after 9/11.

The BBC continues coverage of the round the world flight:Solar Impulse plane leaves Myanmar for China

Solar Impulse, the fuel-free aeroplane, is up in the air again on the fifth leg of its round-the-world flight.

The vehicle, with Bertrand Piccard at the controls, left Mandalay in Myanmar (Burma) just after 21:00 GMT on Sunday, and is heading for Chongqing in China.

The intention is to make a brief stop there, and then try to reach Nanjing on the east coast of the country.

This would set up Solar Impulse for the first of its big ocean crossings – a five-day, five-night flight to Hawaii.

They are stopping to allow the Li-ion batteries to fully charge from the sun and to permit some real rest for the pilot.

The aircraft is actually Solar Impulse 2. Solar Impulse 1 was flown to prove the concept of flying all day and night in a solar powered aircraft. The modifications that resulted in model 2 are improvements based on testing of the original.

Not all aircraft crashes are disasters, some are a bit humorous.

The CBC reports: Plane with nobody aboard crashes at Nipawin, Sask. The only “injuries” were to the pilot’s pride and wallet.

It is normal to set the brakes before starting the engine(s), but some aircraft don’t have brakes, which is why you should have wheel chocks to keep them from moving until the pilot is on board.

German officials are reporting that the copilot was being treated for clinical depression and did not inform the airline. He was also having problems with a personal relationship.

I am experiencing the final cold spell of the year, just before Easter, as is the norm. The wind is forecast to shift on Sunday and we should be back in the 70s.

The Alpha Returns

Slurp!

[Editor: Ms Underhouse stopped by for dinner looking a lot thinner than she has recently.]

The Friday Ark for lots of animal pictures.

Airlines are changing procedures and requiring two pilots in the cockpit at all times. Welcome to the world of camping toilets on the flight deck.

In the midst of everything else, my main battery back-up unit failed. It probably needs a new battery. I have two others that I brought on-line, but they don’t have all of the features of the main unit, or the capacity unless they are both used. This required crawling under desks in my computer room with the assistance of two cats.

At the insistence of friends I got the DVD of an apparent TV show, “Game of Thrones”. It would appear to be something Home Box Office paid for. I know them only as an extra cost movie channel on cable, when I had cable back in the 1980s. I didn’t make it through two episodes before ejecting it. I had already seen how it was going to progress and didn’t like any of the main characters. A little girl and the young wolves were interesting, but they didn’t get serious screen time. I’m not surprised I didn’t like it. It is based on a series by George Martin (who added the second R for obvious reasons) and I don’t like his books.

Oh, we had thunderstorms most of today, so the cats had better sense than to be outside for pictures. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day, although somewhat cooler.

The BBC is reporting on the Germanwings Alps crash and some interesting information has been revealed today.

The voice recorder has been located. Although it is battered, the investigators say they can retrieve the data. An unidentified investigator said that it sounds like one of the two pilots was locked out of the cockpit and trying to get in.

The aircraft had climbed to its cruise altitude of 38,000 feet, but began descending rapidly without reporting anything to air traffic control. Radar lost the aircraft at 6,800 feet at about 10 minutes into the descent.

There is also a report that the aircraft flew into the mountain, rather than falling. If there had been an airborne explosion it would have fallen.

They haven’t located the second box, the flight data recorder.

Update: The BBC is reporting that the French prosecutor is now saying that the co-pilot ‘wanted to destroy plane’. This opinion is based on information from the voice recorder and the necessary control changes required to descend and fly into the ground.

I’m dealing with some real life stuff that is absorbing a lot of time because some people just won’t take a hint.

The news isn’t compelling and the race is over.

I will list the awards at some point, but will be tied up with government agencies in the foreseeable future. I don’t have the problem but I must provide information about someone else’s problem.

Managing apartments is not a fun part-time job.

What look like white azaleas in the picture below are actually pink, as this shows. I think it was the light conditions when I took the picture that faded the colors the camera captured.

How tough? When is the last time you met anyone who broke their opponent’s humerus [upper arm bone] while arm wrestling.

It was a spiral break, which means the bone was twisted until it broke. Normally the elbow or shoulder would dislocate before that happened.

It helps to know that for a long time during the off season Aliy worked as a carpenter, swinging a hammer all day, and like she said, she keeps in shape.

As an aside, when someone asks “heads or tails” in an Alaskan bar, it isn’t about flipping a coin. They are betting on the way someone is going to fall when they pass out. They are a fun-loving people.

Ben Harper’s time for the sprint was beaten, by the Mackey brothers, but Laura Allaway and her 14 puppies bested them by a minute at 2 hours 24 minutes.

Cindy Abbott and 13 puppies are out of Safety at 9:11PM CDT with the Red Lantern. GNU Terry Pratchett
The Iditarod Trail Committee shut everything down before Cindy made it in. They closed down at 9PM local and are flying people back to Anchorage.

Finished at Nome
51 Chuck Schaeffer (67)^R 3/21 5:24PM CDT
52 Brian Wilmshurst (50)^Q 3/21 6:18PM CDT
53 Yvonne Dabakk (33) 3/21 6:55PM CDT
54 Lev Shvarts (40)^R 3/21 7:03PM CDT
55 Yuka Honda (60)^Q 3/21 9:32PM CDT
56 Alan Stevens (77)^R 3/21 9:43PM CDT
57 Becca Moore (47)^R 3/21 11:56PM CDT
58 Steve Watkins (66)^R 3/21 11:57PM CDT
59 Mark Selland (17)^R 3/22 12:22AM CDT
60 Alan Eischens (7)^R 3/22 12:56AM CDT
61 Isabelle Travadon (43)^R 3/22 5:26AM CDT
62 Marcelle Fressineau (25) 3/22 7:31AM CDT
63 Lachlan Clarke (5) 3/22 12:16PM CDT
64 Cindy Gallea (64) 3/22 1:57PM CDT
65 Trent Herbst (75) 3/22 2:57PM CDT
66 Cindy Abbott (10)^R 3/23 12:14AM CDT Φ
[Read more →]

Ben Harper saved something for the finish and came in 20 seconds before Linwood Fiedler. Ben also has the fastest time between Safety and Nome at 2 hours 27 seconds.

It’s nice to see Yuka Honda at White Mountain. In her first attempt at the Yukon Quest she spent over a day getting over Eagle Summit. She and the puppies were so worn out that she had to scratch at Mile 101. Update: Yuka has finished at Nome!

Cindy Abbott is out of Elim with the Red Lantern. GNU Terry Pratchett

Finished at Nome
31 DeeDee Jonrowe (29) 3/20 8:10AM CDT
32 Curt Perano (21) 3/20 10:11AM CDT
33 Justin Savidis (19) 3/20 1:35PM CDT
34 Charley Bejna (38) 3/20 3:07PM CDT
35 Seth Barnes (23)^R 3/20 7:05PM CDT
36 Benjamin Harper (37)^R 3/21 5:28AM CDT
37 Linwood Fiedler (27) 3/21 5:28AM CDT
38 Allen Moore (57) 3/21 5:52AM CDT
39 Mike Santos (61) 3/21 8:07AM CDT
40 Rohn Buser (31) 3/21 8:21AM CDT
41 Matt Failor (15) 3/21 11:42AM CDT
42 Jason Mackey (72) 3/21 1:32PM CDT
43 Lance Mackey (30) 3/21 1:32PM CDT
44 Rick Casillo (52) 3/21 1:37PM CDT
45 Timothy Hunt (68) 3/21 1:45PM CDT
46 Laura Allaway (49)^R 3/21 4:03PM CDT
47 Monica Zappa (53) 3/21 4:13PM CDT
48 Heidi Sutter (76)^R 3/21 4:39PM CDT
49 Lisbet Norris (41) 3/21 4:41PM CDT
50 Rob Cooke (2)^Q 3/21 5:23PM CDT
51 Chuck Schaeffer (67)^R 3/21 5:24PM CDT
52 Brian Wilmshurst (50)^Q 3/21 6:18PM CDT
53 Yvonne Dabakk (33) 3/21 6:55PM CDT
54 Lev Shvarts (40)^R 3/21 7:03PM CDT
55 Yuka Honda (60)^Q 3/21 9:32PM CDT
56 Alan Stevens (77)^R 3/21 9:43PM CDT
[Read more →]

I wasn’t kidding, and I’m not doing this to annoy certain people in New York who are dealing with snow, yet again.

Those are the two pear trees across the street from me at the top.

In the middle are the two types of drawf double-bloom azaleas that are normally hidden by the much larger fuchsia and pink full-size bushes in the bottom picture.

Update: New York isn’t as bad off as Canada’s east coast.