I can't imagine what that phone is doing when it rings in my pocket...

Despite the fact that even the American Cancer Society has deemed conventional cellphone use as extremely low risk, it's never quite reassuring when three prominent neurosurgeons go on Larry King Live and admit they never hold their cellphones to their ears. Then you might watch this video, and get really freaked out. Granted, it's probably some clever fake, but still, aren't you just a wee bit more reluctant to put that phone up to your ear?

A real Robocop can't be that far behind...

Dean Kamen is a world-renowned American inventor responsible for medical breakthrough devices such as the insulin pump to neat gadgets that we still don't quite know what to do with like the Segway.  His current work focuses on robotic appendages for amputees, and he's already close to perfecting a prototype arm to submit for clinical trials.  Dubbed the "Luke" arm after Luke Skywalker, this video shows just how advanced this artificial limb is in real life.  I had to blink a couple of times watching the amputee suited up with this thing because I thought I was watching a science fiction movie for a minute.

'Cause I guess when you're stoned, you'll forget to buy more during the day...

I don't have significant chronic pain that would warrant a prescription for marijuana and I've never smoked weed, but I guess when you need it, you need it quickly. This was the oddest thing I read all day:

Vending Machines Dispense Pot in LA

By DAISY NGUYEN
Associated Press Writer

The city that popularized the fast food drive-thru has a new innovation: 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines.

Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.

"Convenient access, lower prices, safety, anonymity," inventor and owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said, extolling the benefits of the machine.

The rest of the article is here. I was especially tickled by this guy, or rather his indication for needing pot:

A man who said he has been authorized to use medical marijuana as part of his anger management therapy said the vending machine's security measures would at least protect against illicit use of the drug.

Anger management therapy? Oh, c'mon! I'll bet his nickname is "Drama," too.

A few extra calories never hurt anyone, and maybe it will give you an extra year or two on your life...

Sometime in the past couple of years or so, my Body Mass Index (BMI) edged into the obese range, prompting me to get in the pool and back in the gym over the summer. I had grand plans to somehow get myself back to my svelte college BMI that was in the normal range, but alas, I think age, the accompanying decreases in metabolism getting older brings, and my lack of inhibition when it comes to fatty food, is preventing me from getting there. A new study that will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, however, may make me feel a bit more satisfied about my overweight frame. From The New York Times:

Linking, for the first time, causes of death to specific weights, they report that overweight people have a lower death rate because they are much less likely to die from a grab bag of diseases that includes Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, infections and lung disease. And that lower risk is not counteracted by increased risks of dying from any other disease, including cancer, diabetes or heart disease.

As a consequence, the group from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute reports, there were more than 100,000 fewer deaths among the overweight in 2004, the most recent year for which data were available, than would have expected if those people had been of normal weight.

Now there's probably more to this study than meets the eye, and I don't think the purpose of this report is to give us all carte blanche to get crazy with cupcakes. Still, I kind of like having a reason to not feel so guilty about that extra slice of pizza I eat every so often.

Killer germs from outer space...

I was always under the impression that some crazy killer microorganism was going to be released from the abyss of the sea while humans dug into the inhospitable ocean depths for oil and mineral deposits. But who would have thought that our mere excursions into space might actually be responsible for creating some deadly pandemic to the Earth? From The New York Times:

The germ: Salmonella, best known as a culprit of food poisoning. The trip: Space Shuttle STS-115, September 2006. The reason: Scientists wanted to see how space travel affects germs, so they took some along -- carefully wrapped -- for the ride. The result: Mice fed the space germs were three times more likely to get sick and died quicker than others fed identical germs that had remained behind on Earth.

Apparently, 167 genes in the "space" Salmonella had mutated, possibly in response to their microgravity environment.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Just in case Firecracker George ever falls off the wagon...

We used to call Nintendo "kiddie cocaine," and I guess we weren't that far off the mark. The American Medical Association this weekend for their annual policy meeting where one of the planned agenda items is a discussion of whether video game addiction should be considered a separate and unique psychiatric condition to be included in the DSM-V, the anticipated latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual that comes out in 2012:

The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars.

The culprit isn't alcohol or drugs. It's video games, which for certain kids can be as powerfully addictive as heroin, some doctors contend.

A leading council of the nation's largest doctors' group wants to have this behavior officially classified as a psychiatric disorder, to raise awareness and enable sufferers to get insurance coverage for treatment.

In a report prepared for the American Medical Association's annual policy meeting starting Saturday in Chicago, the council asks the group to lobby for the disorder to be included in a widely used mental illness manual created and published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Man, imagine being holed up in detox for treatment of World of Warcraft addiction. What would happen? Would you just be yelling "LEEEEEROOOOOY JEEEEEENKINS!" all the time till the tremors and sweats stopped?

Breakout the Zyrtec! It's allergy season!

Man, the Vernal Equinox may not be until next week, but when the tree pollens explode like it did here in St. Louis yesterday, it's already Spring in my book. As I type this, I have tears streaming down my face and a Kleenex stuffed in my nostrils which gets displaced every three minutes when I sneeze.

It rained here last night, meaning the molds will likely crop up with the next warm up, in addition to the trees. Talk about a one-two punch knockout to my allergy profile. It's days like these that I seriously consider moving to Greenland.

Misery, thy name is allergies!