bruorton

Hi everyone, I'm back after an absence due to two days of high fever, and several days of recovery -- which most of you already know, of course, from Kaph. Meanwhile, however, I've been accumulating so many weird science items I don't know what to do with them all.

First, something I meant to post on before I got sick: doctors are trying to select the right candidate to receive the world's first face transplant. The face will come from a cadaver. Doctors say that because a face is formed by the muscle and bone structure underneath, the recipient will not look like the dead donor; I was unnerved by the prediction that "the chance it will work is around 50%." What the hell happens if it doesn't?!

Another interesting medical note, a number of hospitals in Kansas will soon start testing (as in using in patients) a new FDA-approved synthetic blood called PolyHeme.

I also learned just this morning that a robot is soon to be deployed into an unexplored shaft at the heart of the Great Pyramid. The shaft has never been explored, though it was discovvered in 1872; some involved in the project hope it will finally lead to the actual burial chamber of the builder of the world's largest pyramid.

In other pyramid news -- proof that I don't call these "weird science" posts for nothing -- Chinese scientists are setting out to investigate a 50m high pyramid in the western province of Qinghai, held by some to be of alien origin. Never having been investigated before (?!!), it contains strange metal pipes that have been tested and found very old, despite being on a mountain in a remote area occupied by only a few nomadic herders. What little is known about the site prompted one scientist to comment that the idea that it had ET origins was "understandable." Huh? Or maybe, Whoa!

And finally, for the sake of humor, anyone who has been aware of the recent debates over teaching "Intelligent Design" in schools as though it has a scientific standing might be amused to visit the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Very good contemporary satire -- including a graph that clearly correlates global warming trends to the decrease in pirate activity. Amazing!

Whew. Well, that's more than enough for now.