A Great First Paragraph

Some excellent writing courtesy of Dr. Jerome Groopman:

On a spring afternoon several years ago, Evan McKinley was hiking in the woods near Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. McKinley (a pseudonym) was a forest ranger in his early forties, trim and extremely fit. He had felt discomfort in his chest for several days, but this was more severe: it hurt each time he took a breath. McKinley slowly made his way through the woods to a shed that housed his office, where he sat and waited for the pain to pass. He frequently carried heavy packs on his back and was used to muscle aches, but this pain felt different. He decided to see a doctor.

Read on to learn about why doctors misdiagnose their patients.

Link roundup

1. Funny headline: "Homeopathy's Ineffectiveness Saves Lives." (As a demonstration, people ingested what should have been massive overdoses of "medication." But since the "medications" were homeopathic, they contained no active ingredients and had no ill effects.)

2. Even funnier, Zach Galifianakis's latest Between Two Ferns.

3. Conan O'Brien aired hilariously offensive mock Groupon commercials.

Link roundup

1. "Boston emergency services debuted a specialized ambulance designed to carry obese patients on Tuesday, and the retrofitted vehicle was promptly needed on two calls, authorities said."

2. Dancing Pyro from Team Fortress 2 animated gif.

3. Adventure Time as an 8-Bit RPG.

*Previously: Printable Adventure Time Monopoly board.

*Buy Adventure Time Awesome Hats at Amazon.

Doctor Cat

Doctor Cat by Sarah Sobole, who has art on sale at Etsy.

Link roundup

1. Check out the remarkable face on this caterpillar. (I don't think it's photoshopped?)

2. Lady on a motorbike.

3. Anyone received a letter like this? Anthem Blue Cross sent us a letter that simply says, "Our records show that your child may not have received an immunization that is included in a recently updated shot schedule. We've included a postcard that serves as a reminder to schedule an appointment with your child's health care provider." The letter does not tell us which shot they think we might have missed. And the "postcard" is a promotional insert from Pfizer that emphasizes the importance of vaccines.

Clever packaging for placebos

Keep an emergency cure on hand for everything with Stephanie Beneteau's placebos.

*Buy emergency kits at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Gavin Newsom is against San Francisco's proposed ban on Happy Meal toys.

2. Laura Park draws the view from her hospital bed. Via.

3. Part of a long interview with Nigella Lawson:

In New York, there is an explicit morality associated with locavorism.

Now I get that. I understand it entirely but I don't buy into it. In the Victorian age the peasants just ate local and in season and the aristocracy spent fortunes building greenhouses and growing pineapples. It was a class issue. It was about the elite. Now suddenly because of supermarkets and air travel, the masses — if you want to talk in class terms — can get out of season produce. So what do the elite do? They say If it is not seasonal, if it is not local, it isn't good. So although there is probably in and of its self there is moral value in it, I distrust elitist attitudes in food.

*Buy Happy Meal toys at eBay.

Inside the Outbreaks

Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service by Mark Pendergast:

Since its founding in 1951, the Epidemic Intelligence Service has waged war on every imaginable ailment. When an epidemic hits, the EIS will be there to crack the case, however mysterious or deadly, saving countless lives in the process. Over the years they have successfully battled polio, cholera, and smallpox, to name a few, and in recent years have turned to the epidemics killing us now--smoking, obesity, and gun violence among them.

The successful EIS model has spread internationally: former EIS officers on the staff of the Centers for Disease Control have helped to establish nearly thirty similar programs around the world. EIS veterans have gone on to become leaders in the world of public health in organizations such as the World Health Organization.Inside the Outbreaks takes readers on a riveting journey through the history of this remarkable organization, following Epidemic Intelligence Service officers on their globetrotting quest to eliminate the most lethal and widespread threats to the world's health.

Here's a positive review. The book is available at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. The gloves astronauts wear during spacewalks make their fingernails fall off. Via these sites.

2. "Routine prostate cancer screening does not appear to help men live longer, according to a new study that pooled the best available data on the controversial topic." Via.

3. The new Martha Stewart show is pulling in dramatically less viewers than the Golden Girls reruns that used air in the same time slot. Via.

*Buy NASA patches at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. How to make a Luke Skywalker pinata.

2. What to do if a body part falls off (like an eyeball, or tooth, or toe...).

3. Use a pen to rethread a drawstring.

*Buy The Star Wars Craft Book at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Thomas Barnett:

China does control--currently--about 95% of production [of rare Earth oxides], but only because it's cheap prices drove other mines out of competition.

But in reality, China accounts for only 30% of the world's known reserves, and existing mines can all be restarted within a couple of years. So China only "controls" because it keeps the price low.

2. Ecstasy is being used to treat soldiers with PTSD.

3. A Miami Dolphin lost a $50,000 diamond earring during practice.

*Buy diamonds at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. From a Freakonomics interview with a malaria expert:

In the 1930s, when malariologists figured out that England’s malaria had vanished because English malarial mosquitoes preferred pig and calf blood to human blood, and the local livestock population had boomed, they called for a pig under every bed as a solution to malaria.

2. Models of the Macy's Day Parade floats designed by Takashi Murakami.

3. Beached whale that showed no signs of leaving (or dying) any time soon euthanized with explosives.

*Buy Takashi Murakami toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Awesome eye exam photo.

2. Last Exit to Nowhere's new Back to the Future t-shirt is now in stock.

3. American McGee's Alice ARG.

*Buy Alice in Wonderland toys at eBay.

Awesome trip through an MRI

Jen Rarey posted some great sketches depicting her (not so) awesome MRI.

Link roundup

1. Courtesy of Urban Outfitters, download 25 free tracks from iTunes.

2, Maybe fevers are good for you. (That point is made at the beginning of Neal Stephenson's tremendous novel Confusion, which I'm currently reading for the second time.)

3. Interview with the game designer for Batman: The Brave and the Bold The Videogame (which I'm looking forward to playing with my boys).

*Buy Brave and the Bold toys at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Article about vivisection at UCLA and the people that resort to terrorism in an effort to stop the experimentation. The article focuses on a scientist who shaves his eyebrows and draws them in.

2. Signalnoise t-shirts.

3. Crude (but funny) Valentine.

Ear, nose, and throat doctor signage

Bunnies star on these signs for an ear, nose, throat and dizziness doctor in Japan.

*Buy Hello, Please! Very Helpful Super Kawaii Characters from Japan at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. The convicted Lockerbie bomber is still alive - - he obtained a compassionate release after Libya found a doctor to opine that he would live less than than three more months. The doctor is "embarrassed" that his opinion was so wrong.

2. Read Chip Kidd's introduction to a new edition of All-Star Superman.

3. Lifehacker's guide to staying safe on public WiFi networks.

*Buy All-Star Superman at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Police officers in Southern California were simply investigating reported drug sales when they stumbled upon a body - - the suspect had preserved a woman's body with dry ice in a swank Newport Beach hotel room for a year.

2. Fascinating comic about homeopathy, especially discussing the claim that water has a memory. Via.

3. Bare knuckle fighting is much safer than boxing with boxing gloves on.

*Buy The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing at Amazon.

Lego mech (link roundup)

Lego mech by Legohaulic.

And a few more links:

1. Kos accuses the polling company he hired of feeding him falsified results. Polls he relied on to conclude that core Republicans "are conspiracy mongers who don't believe Obama was born in the United States, that he is the second coming of Lenin, and that he is racist against white people." Via.

2. It's pretty funny when tekkoman buys a suit.

3. 3,500 nurses have managed to obtain licenses in California even though they've lost their licenses in other states. Via.

*Buy Lego minifigs at eBay.