http://boingboing.net Brain candy for Happy Mutants Mon, 20 May 2013 12:43:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 http://boingboing.net/2013/04/26/how-animals-pass-disease-to-hu.html http://boingboing.net/2013/04/26/how-animals-pass-disease-to-hu.html#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:23:12 +0000 Maggie Koerth-Baker http://boingboing.net/?p=226886 listen to a fascinating podcast discussion with David Quammen. Quammen recently published a FANTASTIC book, Spillover, about zoonoses — the diseases that humans contract from animals. This includes bird flus like H7N9. It also includes AIDS and a whole host of familiar viruses and bacteria. Bonus: Scary disease girl Maryn McKenna has a cameo in the podcast, discussing the way news media (in China and the US) are covering H7N9 and what you can do to better understand what's happening. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2013/04/26/how-animals-pass-disease-to-hu.html/feed 6 http://boingboing.net/2013/04/22/what-you-need-to-know-now-abou.html http://boingboing.net/2013/04/22/what-you-need-to-know-now-abou.html#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:05:12 +0000 Maggie Koerth-Baker http://boingboing.net/?p=225770 The Toronto Star's Jennifer Yang has a great, one-page breakdown that will get you caught up on just about everything you need to know — including how scared you should be. For the record, the answer to that is complicated. We aren't near a pandemic yet. But we do need to get a better handle on understanding how this virus works so we can stop it from spreading. It's a serious situation and the news is not all good news. But we don't seem to be at a point where anybody outside of China and the international public health community should be in an urgent crisis mode. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2013/04/22/what-you-need-to-know-now-abou.html/feed 3 http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/the-science-of-flu-season.html http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/the-science-of-flu-season.html#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:46:41 +0000 Maggie Koerth-Baker http://boingboing.net/?p=206543 But why? (Consider this an open thread for all your favorite humidifier recommendations.) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2013/01/18/the-science-of-flu-season.html/feed 28 http://boingboing.net/2012/03/07/why-has-this-flu-season-been-s.html http://boingboing.net/2012/03/07/why-has-this-flu-season-been-s.html#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:09:15 +0000 Maggie Koerth-Baker http://boingboing.net/?p=147523 Short answer: We don't know. Despite its ubiquity, there's a lot scientists don't know about the influenza virus. Helen Branswell is a great medical reporter. In this piece for the Winnipeg Free Press she explains why the flu virus makes seemingly simple questions frustratingly difficult to answer. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/03/07/why-has-this-flu-season-been-s.html/feed 12